As time goes on, more and more quiet corners of the museum are revealing themselves. Empty shelves with display lights off might look a bit sad, but they are sign of progress. The first floor gallery is going great guns, especially this week. Our collections of shells and corals have been removed and safely stored in crates, and the majority of our small spirit specimens have been packed and cushioned, too.
Over in the reptile display, our large array of freeze-dried specimens are being prepared for packing. Snakes, chisel-teethed lizards and tortoises of all shapes and sizes have been photographed, labelled and designated their own particular boxes. By this time next week, that will be another dark, empty corner
At this stage it’s hard to imagine what the new space and displays will look like when the refurbishment is complete, but it will undoubtedly be an improvement. It will also be great to look back at these shots in two years’ time with a degree of nostalgia remembering that prior to these 1960s fittings, our collections were simply housed in an enormous wooden shed.
Inside the Cocoon 