Tube strike hack: museums on the go!

It seems all that anyone can talk about in London this week is the tube strike. And can you blame us? Not only will it take hours to get to work, sitting in traffic (if you are lucky enough to be sitting) but it is seriously cramping our museum social style! But fear not! Even if you have had to cancel your plans to trek home on foot, you don't have to miss out. We've assembled a list of amazing online tours, galleries, exhibitions and archives that all you to experience all the wonder of museums without even leaving your bus seat: 

You might be here, but you could be in a quiet gallery via your smartphone. 

• Investigate the Great Train Robbery with the British Postal Museum- http://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/exhibit/the-great-train-robbery/QQZcgLhm

Tate Audio Archive

•  Check out Tate’s Audio Arts Archive- http://www.tate.org.uk/audio-arts

• Take a digital tour of the British Museum’s collections from Asia to the Americas to the Middle East- https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/online_tours.aspx 

• Explore the Foundling Museum’s ‘Threads of Feeling’ exhibition from their textile archive- http://www.threadsoffeeling.com/

• Click through the British Library’s online gallery of early photography from Victorian Britain - http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/earlyphotos/index.html or the Evanion Collection of Victorian Ephemera- http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/evancoll/index.html

 

Victorian trade card for a 'pyrotechnis'

• Learn about history of Britain in the Caribbean using images and original documents at the National Archives- http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/caribbeanhistory/ 

• Stroll through Oxford for a tour of its scientific history, without giving up your seat- http://www.mhs.ox.ac.uk/features/walk/

• Brush up on your visual vocabulary as the Design Museum takes you through a Century of Chairs- http://designmuseum.org/exhibitions/online/a-century-of-chairs 

Mod style from the Design Museum

The Ministry's Gift Shop Guide.

Here at The Ministry we love the gift shop just as much as the exhibition. How else can you feel like a collector on a Museum professionals salary? Well, we have found ten of the best pieces in London Museum's Gift Shops for under £30

Thanks to That Fall by Naomi Campbell in the 90's
I'm far too scared to ever wear platforms this high but I
can still ogle Viv Westwood's beautiful shoes with
this postcard 
70p @  V&A

Who doesn't want a giant pen lid as a desk tidy.
At least you can't choke on it.
£11.95 @ Design Museum

It looks like she needs a cuddle. 
Grab this cushion cover for only £15 from Tate

Make a mistake and let David Bowie
correct it with this rubber
£1.50 V&A

Every Cabinet of Curiosity needs an indication that
you have been somewhere or are planning to travel.
This book is the perfect starting point and its colourful!
'Folio Society: What are the Seven Wonders of the World'
£24.99 @ British Museum

Isn't Vintage style apothecary a darling?
 For only £10 @ Museum of London
you pretend you're a medical collector like Henry Wellcome.

It couldn't get any cuter! Influenced by Ice Age Art
Exhibition the British Museum have these Mamommoth Tagua
Necklaces for £24.99. And it's fairtrade.

It's a Lego Lunchbox!
£10 @ Science Museum

Ermmm, so I found this 'Poo in a Box'
 @ Natural History Museum for £5
It's basically a great fertile starter to grow the sunflower seeds provided.

We all need a momento like this so we can ask ourselves
What Would Darwin Do?
This 11cm high Charles Darwin Bust is only
£18.00 from @ National Portrait Gallery