Igazi gyöngyszemek

But if you want something slightly different and away from the madding crowd, there’s no shortage of alternatives. We could mention the Lawnmower Museum, the Pencil Museum or even tip our hat to the Bakelite Museum – where better to pay your respects to the precursor of modern plastic? Több tucat sejtelmes, eldugott, szokatlan atmoszférájú hely vár arra, hogy leejtse az állunk, legyen akár a városközpont kellős közepén, vagy a város zajától egy kissé távolabb.

An area famed for its scenery and heritage is the south west of Cornwall. The town of St Ives, on its northern coast, has attracted and inspired artists for many years. Barbara Hepworth szobrász, Henry Moore kortársa – egyesek szerint ugyanolyan nagy hatású is volt – e városban lelt otthonra. The Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden, run by neighbouring Tate St Ives, displays dozens of her wood, stone, bronze and marble works, placed as she has wished before her death in 1975.

The garden is a wonderful place to ponder the links between art and nature – although Hepworth’s works are resolutely abstract, they were strongly influenced by the surrounding Cornish hills and coastline.

Lincoln’s Inn Fields, in the heart of the legal district, is an elegant square well known by lawyers but little visited by the throngs that pack nearby Covent Garden. A London legjobbjai közé tartozó, ám kevésbé ismert múzeumok jámboran húzzák meg maguk a városi sorházak között.

A modest queue of visitors outside its front door is the best clue to the location of Sir John Soane’s Museum, and the wait is well worth it, because it’s not only the rich and charming collection within that appeals, but the house’s interior and the way its treasures are displayed.

Each room is packed full of rare paintings, sculptures and antiquities, collected by architect Soane (not to be confused with Sir Hans Sloane, whose collection founded the British Museum) between the 1780s and his death in 1837. Az egymást követő kurátorok kötelesek olyannak megőrizni a múzeumot, mint amilyen Soane halálakor volt, így az egymáshoz közel álló kiállítási tárgyak sokasága valóságos vizuális parádét tálal elénk.

In south London, hidden away from the riverside and wharves in Southwark, The Old Operating Theatre, Museum and Herb Garret is one of the city’s more curious places to visit. Ez a Szent Tamás-templom tetőterében lévő műtő az ország legrégebbi műtője.

If you have ever bemoaned the hectic pace of modern life, a visit to this museum will make you glad that at least you live in a world with anaesthetic. 1847 előtt a sebészeknek nem állt rendelkezésükre megbízható módszer a betegek altatására, ráadásul a vik

If operations were painful, they were at least quick (an amputation could take less than a minute at the hands of a skilled surgeon) and you can see the original wooden theatre and learn the gory details of its past.

Its guided tours and regular events – speed surgery demonstrations anyone? – are typical of the country’s smaller and lesser-known attractions. Ezek bár nem versenyezhetnek az ismertebb helyszínek tárgyanyagával, ugyanolyan szórakoztatóak, látványosak és hasznosak tudnak lenni.