All of London - Memories of a Museum volunteer inspired by our Connections map

Hi everyone! We are Thomas and Bill, volunteer Welcome Hosts at the Museum. We work alongside the Customer Services team to assist visitors while they explore our galleries. In this blog, I, Bill, am going to share Thomas’s thoughts about one of his favourite objects in the Museum, the Connections map.

When we are in the ground floor gallery, we like to spend time by the giant map, helping visitors by answering their many questions. Can you guess what is the question that visitors ask us most often… Where are the toilets please?!

We often look at different aspects of the Connections map together, and talk about what Thomas thinks about when he sees the map. He says that it reminds him of All of London. All of London is a brilliant title as it reflects the scope and essence of the Museum, as well as everything in it. 

Thomas likes to see where the BBC Studios are on the map, close to Oxford Circus. He would love to visit the studios and see where the news is broadcast from. He also likes to find the landmarks of London: Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, 10 Downing Street, London Bridge, Tower Bridge. 

The River Thames is shown clearly on the map and that helps Thomas to work out where some of the places are. For example, he likes to use the map to remind himself which direction the major airports are from central London. He knows that Heathrow is west of London, Gatwick is south of London, Stansted is north of London… but which airport is east of London? You must ask Thomas if he remembers that when you see him at the Museum! 

Thomas said that the map also reminds him about all the theatres in London and the shows he has been to see, from the Lion King and School of Rock, to Wicked and Harry Potter, and his favourite, Les Misérables.

He has often wanted to know where some of London mainline stations are on the map. In particular King’s Cross and Liverpool Street, as he sometimes travels to those stations to get to the Museum; St. Pancras, which reminds him of a 1st class trip to Loughborough to look around a college, when he enjoyed breakfast on the train; and Euston, where he takes the train to visit his grandma in Northampton. 

We both recently returned to volunteering at the Museum and look forward to welcoming you in Covent Garden. You must come say hi when you spot us next to the giant map!