I've just returned from a long weekend in Scotland that included a trip Dundee.
While there we took a trip to Discovery Point - a museum centred on the the historic Antarctic exploration ship "Discovery".
The RRS Discovery (RRS stands for Royal Research Ship) was the vessel that took Scott, Shackleton and others on the 1901 British Antarctic Expedition.
The centrepiece of the exhibition is the ship Discovery which is the stunning finale to a visit that takes a couple of hours. It is all tremendously informative, including a 10-minute film show in a cinema that seats about 100.
There are real artefacts from the voyage and excellent hands-on exhibits for the kids to get involved-in. But to have the ship there to see, touch and experience makes it a really memorable experience.
The building in which it is housed is not particularly impressive but the exhibition, run by a charitable trust, has won lots of awards.
It cost £8-a-head for adults. It was good value for money and an excellent way to spend a damp Sunday afternoon, followed by an excellent value-for-money pub meal just three minutes walk away.
I could not help comparing and contrasting Discovery Point with the Museum of Liverpool, which we had visited a week earlier.
They are very different. Discovery is focussed on a single theme. It made a great impression to learn about the ship - in the port where it was built - along with the story of the expedition and its crew.
Clearly they are two different propositions, but being beside a river and mainly designed to entertain occasional visitors and tourists, there are some parallels.
The Museum of Liverpool is free but sadly, I have to say that I found it something of a disappointment.
To be fair the building is more impressive inside than I expected to be, although it is already showing signs of wear, with nasty scuff marks and dirt showing on some areas of the matt emulsion paint finish.
The exterior is quite incongruous for the setting. It's best point being that it is nowhere near as offensive to the eyes as the three black blocks at Mann Island, which are simply monstrous.
Give the architect his due, the interior is spacious and airy and appeared to cope well with the large numbers of visitors on the day we were there.
To be fair, we spent only an hour at the Museum of Liverpool, which is perhaps unsurprising since only two-thirds is yet open.
I will refrain from a final verdict until the first floor is unveiled, but my general first impression was that this was an opportunity missed.
The giant model of the Lutyens unbuilt RC Cathedral is undoubtedly the "star attraction" and well worth seeing.
But the rest seems to be an incoherent hotch-potch of competing topics, without a worthwhile theme or story for the visitor to carry away.
I got the feeling that the curators had drawn-up a "tick list" of elements of the city that they felt simply had to be covered, so they stuck-in exhibits to tick those boxes - hence the intolerant kaleidoscope effect.
There is also far too much "recent history" for my taste, and far too little material from bygone times. There were too many displays where pressing buttons lights-up locations on a map that seem quite pointless. A list of cricket grounds. Why?
If there is a theme, it is perhaps one of Liverpool indulging in a bout of self-congratulation - and frankly I found that all rather embarrassing.
In 2007 - for the 800th birthday of the city - there was a film that consisted of a speeded-up representation of the city's development from a fishing hamlet to the Second City of Empire. You could watch it time and again without getting bored.
I'd like to see that film updated and added to the museum, with a suitably informative narration, to tell visitors of the incredible story of the place that became the great City of Liverpool and the people that made it great.
Ironically the best things about the whole trip were the vistas from the windows. The views are superb and were very popular with lots of visitors.
It's good to have a Museum with a View and I am sure it will remain popular. Pity we do not yet have a Museum that adequately reflects the story of the city and its people.
Closure of the CUC in Liverpool - sad day
(Tue 03/01)
Banksy the religious bigot
(Thu 29/12)
The Big Yin is on his way... I can't wait
(Thu 10/11)
A tale of two museums
(Tue 30/08)
Rosie Cooper - we need more politicians like her
(Mon 06/06)
