Wednesday 17 December 2014

Transport Museum

For those of you familiar with Covent Garden you will recognise this building, The London Transport Museum
 The Museum is housed in the old Flower Market Building.  Markets selling flowers, fruit and veg were established in Covent Garden from 1670 by the Earl of Bedford who owned a lot of the land in this area. From that time on it became London's main market for fruit, veg and flowers. In the 1800s buildings replaced the stalls in the central square and then more buildings were built around the square.  This building specialised in flower trading and dates back to 1871. It traded for one hundred years opening everyday of the year except for Christmas day.

Due to traffic problems in and around Covent Garden, the market moved to Nine Elms in Vauxhall, South London in 1974. This building was restored and opened its doors as the London Transport Museum in 1980.

As part of the year of the bus (2014) these new Routemaster bus sculptures have been painted by well known and aspiring artists and can be found in various locations around London. The one above is 'Busby' by Oliver Dean.






This one is the accessibus and brings together ideas from the Accessibility Research Group. There are lots of ideas and key phrases printed on the bus. The  windows have been paintedwith blackboard paint so you can share ideas about accessibility and the buses.




 I cannot leave the square without showing you the Covent Garden Christmas Tree. This was taken early on a Saturday morning before the crowds gathered. I will try and get a night time photo as this one doesn't really do it justice.











14 comments:

  1. I like that tree with a big bow!

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  2. cool building

    Hope your Wednesday is great :)

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  3. Nice parting shot, very creative! Love that big tree. :-)

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  4. Hi! The nice museum shots. Thanks for uploading the Covent Garden Christmas Tree.

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  5. Nice history and loved the Christmas tree!

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  6. The wonderful Covent Garden, I love this place. Thanks for showing us the Christmas decorations (and the lego - just catching up on your posts!). Take care xx

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  7. The red bow is great I have seen the same in suparmarket OBI at my place

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  8. I love the big red bow and the reflection in the silver ball. Do the buskers continue to perform around the tree?

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  9. LOVE the Covent Garden Christmas Tree and it's beautifully understated decorations!

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  10. Yes I know this Museum ! My son will be in London this weekend and I told him to go to Covent Garden what he certainly will do !

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  11. Hello There, I enjoyed your post today. I remember reading about the Covent Garden (now the Transport Museum)... The tree is gorgeous... Thanks for sharing.

    Sorry I haven’t been around much lately. I do try to read blogs—but just haven’t commented very much lately like I usually try to do. Please don’t give up on me. Hopefully my life will be back to ‘normal’— whatever that is (ha), sometime in January.

    I did get a cortisone shot in my knee —which has helped with the pain somewhat. In January, I will most likely have meniscus tear surgery…. BUT—in the meantime, I plan to have a fantastic Christmas —and hopefully get to see my kids/grands… God is Good.

    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  12. A lovely post ... The transport museum is neat, I always enjoy the snippets of history you share . And that tree is beautiful in daylight. The ornament up close could be your Christmas card! Either it or the tree really. Have a wonderful Christmas!!

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  13. This is one of our favourite museums in London.The bus idea is a fun one. Like the reflection in the bauble.

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  14. I don't think I have ever been to Covent Gardens but it is on the list like Kew Gardens

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