The London Archives — Attraction in London

We came for the free World War II exhibition, and spent about 30 minutes. It’s compact but very interesting lens on wartime London, shedding light on aspects of WWII not often covered in other exhibits.

It goes through how London managed during the war and is well-curated, with photographs, ordinance maps showing bombing damage, daily records, and personal records. There are candid insights to the era, such as accounts of the nightclub bombings, experiences of evacuated children, the ambulance service, and food rationing. It also shares things like the Wordsworth’s department store magazine and their practical challenges like supply chain disruptions and staff shortages, as well as the 1943 London County planning for post-war development ideas for neighborhood planning.

Accessible via stairs or lift. The stairs have some additional interesting vintage photos.

Clean toilet facilities on the 1st floor.

Open during the week and one...

The archives are an excellent resource for finding out about the history of London so it's a pity that it feels so difficult to get to. It's poorly signposted and approaching from Bowling Green Lane, there was one sign that pointed in the wrong direction and no further signs. The entrance to the archive isn't obvious, either. To use the archive, you need to register and go there personally to get your pass (their History Card) before you can order resources, which effectively prevents new users from requesting research materials online. When I went to get my History Card, I had to wait 20 minutes to be seen in spite of there being 2 registrars available - one seemed to be doing nothing. Getting resources takes a minimum of 25 minutes from the order being placed. Free lockers. Clean toilets. Space to eat sandwiches. There's free access to worldwide Ancestry. There was an interesting exhibition about Londoners when i was there, on till...

The Magnificent Maps exhibition is very interesting and detailed. Worth a visit and it’s brilliant that it is a free exhibition which runs until 29 March 2023.

The LMA is open Monday to Friday, but worth checking their website to see which Saturdays they are open. Currently they are open the following Saturdays from 10-4pm: 14th January, 11th February, and 11th March.

When you arrive you need to sign in, and store all bags and coats in a locker (thankfully the lockers are free to use and you don’t need to have any cash in order to securely lock them).

The exhibition took us about 30-45 minutes to go around, and was very informative with a lot of information boards and excellent signage. They also run some talks about specific maps, but we had just missed one when we arrived.

Definitely worth a visit, and an interesting range of multi-media exhibits including sound recordings in...