Discovering London's transport history through green lenses
As part of this year’s cohort of Young Freelancers, I was excited to start my first brief working as co-producer with fellow Young Freelancer Daisy to develop a green-themed scavenger hunt for the Museum After Dark programme.
While working on this brief, I had the opportunity to research various parts of the Museum’s collection and as a result I gained a deeper understanding of the interesting and different relationships between London’s transport and the environment. For example, I learnt about the negative impact that steam trains had on the environment and the health of the general public back in the late 1800s. I also learnt about some of the more environmentally friendly side of transport history, such as the introduction of trolleybuses in the 1930s. Although they are no longer a prevalent form of transport, there has been hopeful discourse about their re-emergence in different parts of the UK.
I also had the pleasure of learning about the disused tunnels of Highgate High Level station, now used as a bat sanctuary, a literal example of how transport and nature can interact. It was interesting to see in comparison to the failed attempt of transport and nature interaction in Metro-land. Although the Metro-land project did not deliver on the utopian dreams it advertised, it did leave us amazing posters and artwork which are definitely worth having a look at when visiting the Museum.
Working on this brief, I was able to develop a more profound understanding of the history of London’s transport, especially from an environmentally conscious perspective. In addition, this project enabled me to meet, work with and learn from various members of the Museum’s Learning team.