London Open House 2018

This year I signed up to volunteer only on Saturday afternoon, and planned the next day to go and visit buildings at Greenwich. The day dawned - somewhat - it was pouring with rain and I hoped that I would be able to keep warm whilst on duty. I headed off on the train for Piccadilly - Burlington House - the Linnaean Society. By the time I volunteered this was one of the only society/institute buildings that still required volunteers, even though I volunteered early. Never mind. It was easy to find as it is in the forecourt of the Royal Academy, where I am always darkening the doorways with my curiosity and thirst for culture, and I know the toilets well too. 

After finding the place where I would be standing, giving out information sheets, I went to see if the Faraday Museum was open. This museum is housed in the Royal Institution which is in a nearby street - Albemarle Street - and is the most fantastic Regency building. It is a huge frontage for a small street. I thought this building might be open to the public for Open House, but no, there was an event on, and I asked about the Faraday Museum but it is open only during the week.  So I intend to do that another time.

Which Institute do you think this is?

That's the Royal Society of Chemistry. I thought they seemed open and accessible. 

What about this one?

Yes! It is the Geological Society. They have two lecture theatres, and a fine library.

This is why I like Open House, I had never heard of Smith before, and his excellent map.

Mary Anning, the fossil hunter of Lyme Regis. 

I hadn't heard much about the Linnaean Society, except that Darwin lectured on Origin of the Species there, and not in the current building either. It is named for Carl Linnaeus the Swedish naturalist, and contains his collection and all his papers, which seem to be kept in a frozen vault in the basement, in case London suffers a huge disaster. But if you go to their website - this is a link you can see that all their treasures are online, including the diaries of Alfred Russel Wallace, and many other interesting items, and they also put on lectures for the public on all manner of botanical and zoological topics. They have a small part of Burlington House. I enjoyed being with my fellow volunteer and giving out information sheets to all the interesting people - posh, Japanese, very married and quite a few gay, who wanted to see the building. It was a good afternoon and our three hours passed quickly in conversation and in informing people about the other parts of the building open to the public. Loved it.