CAMBRIDGE EXAM, THE STONES MEET THE WATSONS

Today has been an exciting day. The Stones and The Watsons have meet with The Grandma in Hospitalet de Llobregat.

After travelling around the world in an unforgettable trip, The Stones have joined The Watsons and have gone together to do their A2 Cambridge Exam. It has been a wonderful experience.

The Grandma has said goodbye to another beloved family and she returns to her home hoping that she could find another one to continue travelling, learning and sharing unforgettable moments.

Thanks to The Stones and thanks to The Watsons for trusting in this project and for being part of it. Remember that you are eternal because myths and dreams never die.

More information: If I Can Dream

Cambridge Assessment English, or Cambridge English, is the biggest of three main exam boards forming Cambridge Assessment, a non-teaching department of the University of Cambridge.

The organisation contributed to the development of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), the standard used around the world to benchmark language skills. Its qualifications and tests are aligned with the levels of the CEFR.

Cambridge Assessment English develops and produces Cambridge English Qualifications, courses and tests and IELTS, of which Cambridge Assessment English is an owner.

The first Cambridge English exam was produced in 1913 by UCLES (University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate).

UCLES had been set up in 1858 to provide exams to students who were not members of a university.

The first UCLES examinations took place on 14 December 1858. The exams were designed to test for university selection and were taken by 370 candidates in British schools, churches and village halls. Candidates were required to satisfy the examiners in the analysis and parsing of a Shakespeare text; reading aloud; dictation; and composition on either the recently deceased Duke of Wellington; a well-known book; or a letter of application.

Female candidates were accepted by UCLES on a trial basis in 1864 and on a permanent basis from 1867. Cambridge University itself did not examine female students until 1882 and it was not until 1948 that women were allowed to graduate as full members of the university.

In the mid to late 19th century, UCLES exams were taken by candidates based overseas -in Trinidad (from 1863), South Africa (from 1869), Guyana and New Zealand (from 1874), Jamaica (from 1882) and Malaya (from 1891). Many of these candidates were children of officers of the British colonial service and exams were not yet designed for non-native speakers of English.

In 1913 UCLES created the first exam for non-native speakers of English -the Certificate of Proficiency in English. This may have been prompted by the development of English exams ‘for foreigners’ by other universities.

In 1913 the exam could be taken in Cambridge or London, for a fee of £3 (approximately £293 in 2012 prices). The exam lasted 12 hours and included:

-Translation from English into French or German: 2 hours

-Translation from French or German into English, and English Grammar: 2.5 hours

-English Essay: 2 hours

-English Literature: 3 hours

-English Phonetics: 1.5 hours

-Oral test: dictation (30 minutes); reading aloud and conversation (30 minutes)

The 1913 CPE exam was taken by just three candidates. The candidates were able to converse fluently, expressing themselves on the whole, with remarkable ease and accuracy. However, all three candidates failed the exam and none of them were awarded a CPE certificate.

From 1939 onwards, thousands of refugees from the Spanish Civil War and occupied Europe started arriving in the UK and began taking UCLES exams while stationed in the UK.

UCLES launched the Lower Certificate in English (LCE) to meet the demand for certification at a lower level than CPE. A Preliminary exam, at a lower level than LCE, was also offered from 1944 as a special test to meet the contingencies of war. These were the first steps towards developing language assessment at different levels.

UCLES tests were made available for prisoners of war in Britain and in Germany. In Britain 1,500 prisoners of war took the exams, almost 900 of them Italians. In Germany, the War Organisation of the British Red Cross and Order of St John of Jerusalem made arrangements for UCLES examinations to be offered at prisoner-of-war camps with many Indian prisoners of war, in particular, taking LCE or School Certificate exams.

Exams were also maintained clandestinely in continental European exam centres, which frequently meant unusual measures, including acts of determination and courage. However, UCLES was unable to fund and support the growing international network of English language examination centres around the world. 

Meanwhile, the British Council had a brief to disseminate British culture and educational links. In March 1941 a formal Joint Agreement was signed between the two organisations to collaborate on the distribution of UCLES exams around the world. This started a long-lasting relationship, which continues to this day.

More information: Cambridge Assessment English

We all have dreams.
But in order to make dreams come into reality,
it takes an awful lot of determination,
dedication, self-discipline, and effort.

Jesse Owens

LAS VEGAS, BIG ENTERTAINMENT IN THE NEVADA DESERT

The Stones and The Grandma have just arrived to Las Vegas to spend a few days after the casinos had been opened again. The family has chosen the Caesars Palace to stay and enjoy the city.

During these days, the family wants to meet Dani Ocean and his friends, Céline Dion, Gil Grissom and his CSI team and Elvis Presley.

Las Vegas, Spanish for The Meadows, officially the City of Las Vegas and often known simply as Vegas, is the 28th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County.

The city anchors the Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area and is the largest city within the greater Mojave Desert.

Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city, known primarily for its gambling, shopping, fine dining, entertainment, and nightlife. The Las Vegas Valley as a whole serves as the leading financial, commercial, and cultural center for Nevada.

The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous for its mega casino-hotels and associated activities. It is a top three destination in the United States for business conventions and a global leader in the hospitality industry, claiming more AAA Five Diamond hotels than any other city in the world.

Today, Las Vegas annually ranks as one of the world's most visited tourist destinations. The city's tolerance for numerous forms of adult entertainment earned it the title of Sin City, and has made Las Vegas a popular setting for literature, films, television programs, and music videos.

More information: Mayor & City Council

Las Vegas was settled in 1905 and officially incorporated in 1911. At the close of the 20th century, it was the most populated American city founded within that century, a similar distinction was earned by Chicago in the 19th century. 

Population growth has accelerated since the 1960s, and between 1990 and 2000 the population nearly doubled, increasing by 85.2%. Rapid growth has continued into the 21st century, and according to estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, the city had 651,319 residents in 2019, with a metropolitan population of 2,227,053.

As with most major metropolitan areas, the name of the primary city, Las Vegas in this case, is often used to describe areas beyond official city limits. In the case of Las Vegas, this especially applies to the areas on and near the Las Vegas Strip, which is actually located within the unincorporated communities of Paradise and Winchester.

Nomadic Paleo-Indians traveled to Las Vegas 10,000 years ago, leaving behind petroglyphs. Anasazi and Paiute tribes followed at least 2,000 years ago.

A young Mexican scout named Rafael Rivera is credited as the first non-Native American to encounter the valley, in 1829. Trader Antonio Armijo led a 60-man party along the Spanish Trail to Los Angeles, California in 1829.

The area was named Las Vegas, which is Spanish for the meadows, as it featured abundant wild grasses, as well as the desert spring waters needed by westward travelers. The year 1844 marked the arrival of John C. Frémont, whose writings helped lure pioneers to the area. Downtown Las Vegas's Fremont Street is named after him.

Eleven years later, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chose Las Vegas as the site to build a fort halfway between Salt Lake City and Los Angeles, where they would travel to gather supplies. The fort was abandoned several years afterward. The remainder of this Old Mormon Fort can still be seen at the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and Washington Avenue.

Las Vegas was founded as a city in 1905, when 45 ha of land adjacent to the Union Pacific Railroad tracks were auctioned in what would become the downtown area. In 1911, Las Vegas was incorporated as a city.

1931 was a pivotal year for Las Vegas. At that time, Nevada legalized casino gambling and reduced residency requirements for divorce to six weeks. This year also witnessed the beginning of construction on nearby Hoover Dam. The influx of construction workers and their families helped Las Vegas avoid economic calamity during the Great Depression. The construction work was completed in 1935.

In late 1941, Las Vegas Army Airfield was established. Renamed Nellis Air Force Base in 1950, it is now home to the United States Air Force Thunderbirds aerobatic team.

More information: Las Vegas, Nevada

Following World War II, lavishly decorated hotels, gambling casinos, and big-name entertainment became synonymous with Las Vegas.

This view of downtown Las Vegas shows a mushroom cloud in the background. Scenes such as this were typical during the 1950s. From 1951 to 1962, the government conducted 100 atmospheric tests at the nearby Nevada Test Site.

In 1951, nuclear weapons testing began at the Nevada Test Site, 105 km northwest of Las Vegas. During this time, the city was nicknamed the Atomic City. Residents and visitors were able to witness the mushroom clouds and were exposed to the fallout until 1963, when the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty required that nuclear tests be moved underground.

In 1955, the Moulin Rouge Hotel opened and became the first racially integrated casino-hotel in Las Vegas.

The iconic Welcome to Las Vegas sign, which has never been located within municipal limits, was created in 1959 by Betty Willis.

During the 1960s, corporations and business tycoons such as Howard Hughes were building and buying hotel-casino properties. Gambling was referred to as gaming, which transitioned it into a legitimate business.

The year 1995 marked the opening of the Fremont Street Experience, in Las Vegas's downtown area. This canopied five-block area features 12.5 million LED lights and 550,000 watts of sound from dusk until midnight during shows held at the top of each hour.

Due to the realization of many revitalization efforts, 2012 was dubbed The Year of Downtown. Projects worth hundreds of millions of dollars made their debut at this time, including the Smith Center for the Performing Arts, the DISCOVERY Children's Museum, the Mob Museum, the Neon Museum, a new City Hall complex, and renovations for a new Zappos.com corporate headquarters in the old City Hall building.

More information: History

Las Vegas is the expression, in glitter and concrete,
of America's brittle and mutating id.

 John Burdett

ENJOYING PEOPLE'S HISTORY MUSEUM & HAWKSMOOR

Today, The Stones have visited the People's History Museum in Manchester.

José Stone was very interested in this visit because he is a great supporter of trade unions. The family has discovered the history of Manchester focused in the labour successes of its citizens.

The People's History Museum, the National Museum of Labour History until 2001, in Manchester, England, is the UK's national centre for the collection, conservation, interpretation and study of material relating to the history of working people in the UK.

It is located in a grade II-listed, former hydraulic pumping station on the corner of the Bridge Street and Water Street designed by Manchester Corporation City Architect, Henry Price.

The museum tells the story of the history of in Great Britain and about people's lives at home, work and leisure over the last 200 years. The collection contains printed material, physical objects and photographs of people at work, rest and play.

Some of the topics covered include popular radicalism, the Peterloo Massacre, 19th century trade unionism, the women's suffrage movement, dockers, the cooperative movement, the 1945 general election, and football. It also includes material relating to friendly societies, the welfare movement and advances in the lives of working people.

The Trade Union, Labour and Co-operative History Society operated a collection at Limehouse Town Hall between 1975 and 1986. The museum moved to Manchester and re-opened in 1990 at the Grade II* listed former Mechanics' Institute at 103 Princess Street.

In 1994, the museum opened the Pump House People's History Museum containing a public gallery at the present site on Bridge Street. The two sites were renamed the People's History Museum (PHM) in 2001.

More information: People's History Museum Manchester

The Bridge Street site closed for a £12.5m redevelopment in October 2007. The redevelopment included the refurbishment of the existing Pump House and the construction of a four-storey extension alongside it. A glass walk way was constructed to link the two buildings. The museum reopened on 13 February 2010.

The People's History Museum holds one of the largest collections of political material in Britain, beginning with the early 19th century.

It focuses on the history of democracy with objects relating to the right to vote making up a large part of the objects on display. The collection includes 2,000 posters focused on elections and political campaigns, 300 political cartoons, 7,000 trade union badges and tokens, as well as 95,000 photographs. With over 400 trade union and political banners, People's History Museum holds the largest banner collection in the world and visitors to the museum can see banners being conserved in Main Gallery Two in the Textile Conservation studio.

The museum actively collects contemporary material. Through projects such as Play Your Part, the museum makes the historic collections relevant to present day issues.

PHM also houses the Labour History Archive and Study Centre, an important archive of material relating to the history of working people in Britain. Its collections include the archives of the Labour Party, the former Communist Party of Great Britain, the co-operative movement and the Department for Work and Pensions. It also contains documents relating to Chartism, general elections, the First World War, women's suffrage and the 1984–1985 miners' strike.

More information: Visit Manchester

There's people coming in who've never done any politics at all, who've never been in a trade union, they've never been in a political party, they've never done anything, but they do feel a kind of urgency.

Susan George

 

After visiting the Museum, the family has dinner in one of the most prestigious and expensive restaurants of the city, Hawksmoor. Ivan Stone has chosen this restaurant because of its great fame, especially its steaks and its bakery.

More information: Hawksmoor Manchester

 I'm a leader at the restaurant. If I do this, the people at the restaurant will try to do better. I believe in that, and that's the way it is.

Salt Bae

LONDON'S EYE & WESTMINSTER ABBEY, PAST & PRESENT

The Watsons are confined at Grandma's home

Today, The Grandma has had an intense day.

On one hand, she has contacted urgently with The Watsons. They are in Sant Boi preparing the Yolanda Watson's campaign to go to Eurovision but because of CODVID-19 they have been confined at Grandma's home.

On the other hand, The Stones are in London with her and the British government has not taken extremely measures yet. For this reason, they continue visiting the capital of England.

The Grandma has created some guides to visit the city and they are enjoying the city, its inhabitants and its culture.

Àngels Stone has invited her new friend Ivan to join to the family during this visit.

More information: London

More information: London Visitor Guide

More information: London Museums in One Day

The London Eye or the Millennium Wheel, is a cantilevered observation wheel on the South Bank of the River Thames in London.

It is Europe's tallest cantilevered observation wheel, and is the most popular paid tourist attraction in the United Kingdom with over 3.75 million visitors annually, and has made many appearances in popular culture.

The structure is 135 metres tall and the wheel has a diameter of 120 metres.

When it opened to the public in 2000 it was the world's tallest Ferris wheel. Its height was surpassed by the 160-metre Star of Nanchang in 2006, the 165-metre Singapore Flyer in 2008, and the 167-metre-tall High Roller (Las Vegas) in 2014. Supported by an A-frame on one side only, unlike the taller Nanchang and Singapore wheels, the Eye is described by its operators as the world's tallest cantilevered observation wheel.

The London Eye used to offer the highest public viewing point in London until it was superseded by the 245-metre-high observation deck on the 72nd floor of The Shard, which opened to the public on 1 February 2013.

The London Eye adjoins the western end of Jubilee Gardens, previously the site of the former Dome of Discovery, on the South Bank of the River Thames between Westminster Bridge and Hungerford Bridge beside County Hall, in the London Borough of Lambeth.

Carolina & Juan Stone in the London Eye

The London Eye was designed by the husband-and-wife team of Julia Barfield and David Marks of Marks Barfield Architects. Mace was responsible for construction management, with Hollandia as the main steelwork contractor and Tilbury Douglas as the civil contractor. Consulting engineers Tony Gee & Partners designed the foundation works while Beckett Rankine designed the marine works.

The rim of the Eye is supported by tensioned steel cables and resembles a huge spoked bicycle wheel. The lighting was re-done with LED lighting from Color Kinetics in December 2006 to allow digital control of the lights as opposed to the manual replacement of gels over fluorescent tubes.

The wheel was constructed in sections which were floated up the Thames on barges and assembled lying flat on piled platforms in the river. Once the wheel was complete it was lifted into an upright position by a strand jack system made by Enerpac. It was first raised at 2 degrees per hour until it reached 65 degrees, then left in that position for a week while engineers prepared for the second phase of the lift.

More information: The London Eye

The project was European with major components coming from six countries: the steel was supplied from the UK and fabricated in The Netherlands by the Dutch company Hollandia, the cables came from Italy, the bearings came from Germany (FAG/Schaeffler Group), the spindle and hub were cast in the Czech Republic, the capsules were made by Poma in France and the glass for these came from Italy, and the electrical components from the UK.

The London Eye was formally opened by the Prime Minister Tony Blair on 31 December 1999, but did not open to the paying public until 9 March 2000 because of a capsule clutch problem.

The nearest London Underground station is Waterloo, although Charing Cross, Embankment, and Westminster are also within easy walking distance.

Connection with National Rail services is made at London Waterloo station and London Waterloo East station.

London River Services operated by Thames Clippers and City Cruises stop at the London Eye Pier.

More information: Visit London

When I was a youngster my grandparents
took me sightseeing and we went on the London Eye.

Stuart Broad

Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is a large, mainly Gothic abbey church in the City of Westminster, London, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster.

It is one of the United Kingdom's most notable religious buildings and the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English and, later, British monarchs. The building itself was a Benedictine monastic church until the monastery was dissolved in 1539.

Between 1540 and 1556, the abbey had the status of a cathedral. Since 1560, the building is no longer an abbey or a cathedral, having instead the status of a Church of England Royal Peculiar -a church responsible directly to the sovereign.

According to a tradition first reported by Sulcard in about 1080, a church was founded at the site, then known as Thorn Ey, in the seventh century, at the time of Mellitus, a Bishop of London. Construction of the present church began in 1245, on the orders of King Henry III.

Visiting Westminster Abbey with Ivan & Joseph

Since the coronation of William the Conqueror in 1066, all coronations of English and British monarchs have been in Westminster Abbey. There have been 16 royal weddings at the abbey since 1100.

As the burial site of more than 3,300 persons, usually of prominence in British history including at least sixteen monarchs, eight Prime Ministers, poets laureate, actors, scientists, military leaders, and the Unknown Warrior, Westminster Abbey is sometimes described as Britain's Valhalla, after the iconic burial hall of Norse mythology. A late tradition claims that Aldrich, a young fisherman on the River Thames, had a vision of Saint Peter near the site. This seems to have been quoted as the origin of the salmon that Thames fishermen offered to the abbey in later years -a custom still observed annually by the Fishmongers' Company.

The recorded origins of the Abbey date to the 960s or early 970s, when Saint Dunstan and King Edgar installed a community of Benedictine monks on the site.

More information: Westminster Abbey

The abbot and monks, in proximity to the royal Palace of Westminster, the seat of government from the later 13th century, became a powerful force in the centuries after the Norman Conquest.

The Abbot of Westminster often was employed on royal service and in due course took his place in the House of Lords as of right.

Westminster School and Westminster Abbey Choir School are also in the precincts of the abbey. The Choir School educates and trains the choirboys who sing for services in the Abbey.

Westminster Abbey is renowned for its choral tradition, and the repertoire of Anglican church music is heard in daily worship, particularly at the service of Choral Evensong.

The bells at the abbey were overhauled in 1971. The ring is now made up of ten bells, hung for change ringing, cast in 1971 by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, tuned to the notes: F#, E, D, C#, B, A, G, F#, E and D. The Tenor bell in D (588.5 Hz) has a weight of 30 cwt, 1 qtr, 15 lb (3403 lb or 1544 kg).

The Westminster Abbey Museum was located in the 11th-century vaulted undercroft beneath the former monks' dormitory in Westminster Abbey. This was one of the oldest areas of the abbey, dating back almost to the foundation of the church by Edward the Confessor in 1065.

More information: Visit London

Westminster is a piece of this city's energy,

something the contemporary world has forgotten.

Alessandro Michele

THE SCIENCE & NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUMS IN LONDON

Joseph de Ca'th Lon is waiting for The Stones

I am Joseph de Ca'th Lon. I am 55. I was born in Switzerland, an amazing beautiful country situated in the confluence of western, central, and southern Europe. It is a federal republic composed of 26 cantons, with federal authorities seated in Bern.

Nowadays, I live in Terrassa, Barcelona. I speak seven languages Romansh, Italian, French and German that I learnt in my native country thanks to my work as a banker in the Swiss National Bank; Catalan and Spanish that I learnt thanks to live in Terrassa after my retirement and English because of my work.

I love Archaeology and Astronomy. They are my life and my great passion. I also like diving, trekking and looking at sky.

I have got few but excellent friends. I am a shy person who prefers staying at home reading. I met The Grandma in Saint-Tropez (France) where we enjoyed our money and our prestigious social position every summer. Some years later, she arrived to Switzerland to open a bank account in my bank office. She was looking for someone to trust on. She did not want to invest her money to earn more, she only wanted to have her money safe and secure.

We are good friends. At the beginning, we had different points of view but we have changed. We are that that we live.

More information: Joseph de Ca'th Lon, Swiss Personality

Today, The Grandma has asked me to travel to London to visit the Science Museum in the afternoon and the Natural History Museum at night with her new family, The Stones. I have accepted. She has told me she was going to delay a little because she wanted to do business alone in the City. It is a post Brexit age and we are under a pandemic situation. The stock exchanges are going down and this is a good moment to invest. Remember! There are always people who take beneficts from disasters. It is sad but it is true.

I am here, waiting for the arrival of The Stones firstly, and The Grandma later. The Grandma has explained me that this morning, they have been studying some English before preparing their visit to the Museum. They have been creating a transport guide to arrive to South Kensington using prepositions of time and they have checked the tube map while The Grandma has been reading Occitan poetry while she was waiting for being attended in the Bank of England.

Welcome to these wonderful museums. I hope you like them.

More information: Prepositions of Place

More information: The Tube

The Science Museum is a major museum on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, London. It was founded in 1857 and today is one of the city's major tourist attractions, attracting 3.3 million visitors annually.

Like other publicly funded national museums in the United Kingdom, the Science Museum does not charge visitors for admission, although visitors are asked for a donation if they are able. Temporary exhibitions may incur an admission fee. It is part of the Science Museum Group, having merged with the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester in 2012.

The museum was founded in 1857 under Bennet Woodcroft from the collection of the Royal Society of Arts and surplus items from the Great Exhibition as part of the South Kensington Museum, together with what is now the Victoria and Albert Museum. It included a collection of machinery which became the Museum of Patents in 1858, and the Patent Office Museum in 1863. This collection contained many of the most famous exhibits of what is now the Science Museum.

In 1883, the contents of the Patent Office Museum were transferred to the South Kensington Museum. In 1885, the Science Collections were renamed the Science Museum and in 1893 a separate director was appointed. The Art Collections were renamed the Art Museum, which eventually became the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Carlos Stone, our parachuter, with the Apollo 10

When Queen Victoria laid the foundation stone for the new building for the Art Museum, she stipulated that the museum be renamed after herself and her late husband. This was initially applied to the whole museum, but when that new building finally opened ten years later, the title was confined to the Art Collections and the Science Collections had to be divorced from it.

On 26 June 1909 the Science Museum, as an independent entity, came into existence.

The Science Museum's present quarters, designed by Sir Richard Allison, were opened to the public in stages over the period 1919–28. This building was known as the East Block, construction of which began in 1913 and temporarily halted by World War I. As the name suggests it was intended to be the first building of a much larger project, which was never realized.

However, the Museum buildings were expanded over the following years; a pioneering Children's Gallery with interactive exhibits opened in 1931, the Centre Block was completed in 1961-3, the infill of the East Block and the construction of the Lower & Upper Wellcome Galleries in 1980, and the construction of the Wellcome Wing in 2000 result in the Museum now extending to Queen's Gate.

More information: Science Museum

The Science Museum now holds a collection of over 300,000 items, including such famous items as Stephenson's Rocket, Puffing Billy (the oldest surviving steam locomotive), the first jet engine, the Apollo 10 command module, a reconstruction of Francis Crick and James Watson's model of DNA, some of the earliest remaining steam engines, a working example of Charles Babbage's Difference engine, the first prototype of the 10,000-year Clock of the Long Now, and documentation of the first typewriter. It also contains hundreds of interactive exhibits.

At the front of the museum to the east is Exhibition Road. Immediately to the south is Museum Lane and the Natural History Museum. To the rear is Queen's Gate and to the north is Imperial College.

During the visit to The Science Museum, Àngels Stone has been a little distracted. She has met an interesting man, Ivan, from Japan, and it seems that it could be the beginning of a great friendship.

More information: Visit London

For me too, the periodic table was a passion...

As a boy, I stood in front of the display for hours,

thinking how wonderful it was that each of those metal foils

and jars of gas had its own distinct personality.

[Referring to the periodic table display in the Science Museum, 

London, with element samples in bottles]

Freeman Dyson

The Natural History Museum in London is a natural history museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history.

It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum. The Natural History Museum's main frontage, however, is on Cromwell Road.

The Museum is home to life and earth science specimens comprising some 80 million items within five main collections: botany, entomology, mineralogy, paleontology and zoology.

With the Diplodocus, National History Museum

The Museum is a centre of research specialising in taxonomy, identification and conservation. Given the age of the institution, many of the collections have great historical as well as scientific value, such as specimens collected by Charles Darwin.

The Museum is particularly famous for its exhibition of dinosaur skeletons and ornate architecture -sometimes dubbed a cathedral of nature -both exemplified by the large Diplodocus cast that dominated the vaulted central hall before it was replaced in 2017 with the skeleton of a blue whale hanging from the ceiling. 

The Natural History Museum Library contains extensive books, journals, manuscripts, and artwork collections linked to the work and research of the scientific departments; access to the library is by appointment only.

The Museum is recognised as the pre-eminent centre of natural history and research of related fields in the world.

More information: Natural History Museum

Although commonly referred to as the Natural History Museum, it was officially known as British Museum (Natural History) until 1992, despite legal separation from the British Museum itself in 1963. Originating from collections within the British Museum, the landmark Alfred Waterhouse building was built and opened by 1881 and later incorporated the Geological Museum. The Darwin Centre is a more recent addition, partly designed as a modern facility for storing the valuable collections.

Like other publicly funded national museums in the United Kingdom, the Natural History Museum does not charge an admission fee. The museum is an exempt charity and a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, is a patron of the museum. There are approximately 850 staff at the museum. The two largest strategic groups are the Public Engagement Group and Science Group.

More information: Charles Darwin, the Genius of the Evolution

More information: The Galapagos Islands, Charles Darwin's Paradise

More information: The Jones Visit the Charles Darwin's Foundation

More information: Lonesome George, the last Chelonoidis Abingdonii

A scientific man ought to have no wishes,

no affections, -a mere heart of stone.

Charles Darwin