Brunel Museum — Attraction in London

Excellent, small but perfectly formed museum detailing Brunel's achievement in building the first tunnel under a navigable waterway in the world. The museum comprises two parts: the pumphouse in which you'll find the ticket office, shop, displays and gallery and the other building is the top of the shaft that led to the tunnels under the Thames. We were greeted enthusiastically by the person selling tickets. She explained what was included in the museum and advised us to visit the top of the tunnel shaft first before coming back to see the displays and gallery. The top of the shaft is just a few steps away and you enter through a doorway that has been cut through the brickwork that forms the shaft. The wall of the shaft is very thick and the brickwork is reinforced with chains that circle the shaft and are set into the brickwork and held in place and bonded to the structure with mortar. The shaft has been 'capped' a few meters below ground level and you reach this space via a modern, well lit staircase. The top of the tunnel was covered during WW2 to prevent light from below escaping and also protect the shaft and tunnels from possible bomb damage. There was a guide giving an explanation of what you see around you, how it was constructed and used throughout its life. This was followed by a short video (projected on the wall of the shaft) that provided a little more information about the site. The brick construction, location of the original steps (that were used to access the tunnels when they were open to pedestrians) and the soot from steam trains are all clearly visible. The displays in the ticket office building provide information about the construction and challenges that were encountered and overcome by Brunel. The tunnel's use has changed greatly over time and the displays show how the tunnel was used and experienced by visitors, business and railways alike. The ticket office area sells some really nice items all of which relate to Brunel and the tunnel, from books, posters and greeting cards to London Brick vases, scarves and activity books for children plus a lot more. The museum is probably good for a 30 to 45 minute visit if you really make the most of it. For young visitors it will be interesting for a much shorter time. Make the museum the turn around point when walking the Riverside path along the Southbank. There are a couple of pubs (The Mayflower and also The Angel) just a short distance away along the Riverside path (towards town) and they both serve food. Combining a walk to the Brunel museum with lunch or dinner in the area would make an enjoyable outing that offers some perfect views of the river looking back towards the city. Given the small size of the museum, we won't be returning very soon, but as part of a day long walk of the south bank next summer, we'll definitely...

Short preview- an interesting little place but not worth the admission. Brunel was a great engineer with an excellent story to tell and it's great that this location has such a connection to the man. But, £6 is simply not good value for what you get: access to a single room with a small gallery and a viewing of a dull video (and I mean dull- interesting in places but disorganised with no focus, and consisting mostly of filler shots of bridges!). What's more, when we were there they were setting up for an event and making a considerable racket, not good when paying customers are trying to watch a video! When there, you also get a look at one of the original access shafts to the Thames tunnel which was nice. All in all, £6 is a pretty outrageous charge, something like £2-3 would be more reasonable. It's a shame because Isambard Kingdom Brunel would be a fantastic subject for a detailed gallery but here there's simply not the space. They've tried and I applaud them for that. But honestly, it's only worth it if you've a particular interest in the man or the historic Thames tunnel itself.

Incidentally, they also regularly hold events in the space, and they do seem good! Drinks, music, comedy nights etc. Maybe more of a draw than the...

I only go here for Midnight Apothecary - which happens mainly in the warmer months on Fri and Sat evenings but also the occasion evening for Halloween, Guy Fawkes and Christmas. Unfortunately the latest one - Halloween 2016 didn't live up to the hype or the atmosphere of the previous nights... There was no music (you could hear some coming from the underground shaft) but none for the outdoor area itself with the Halloween theme. The people sat by the fire hogged that space for the whole night when really they should have moved along to allow others to cook marshmallows. One of the cocktails tasted like cough syrup... In general though it just lacked atmosphere and ppl just didn't move around enough to allow everyone to enjoy the limited space to its maximum potential (apple bobbing was available but no one did it when we were there, you really need staff to motivate ppl to get off their seats and into the spirit of things)! Shame really. Luckily the food vendor (they did Greek style wraps with lamb or saganaki) was really...