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 Post subject: London's Natural History Museum
PostPosted: Fri Aug 12, 2011 2:37 pm 
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I always try to go to every city's mineral museums.
The entrance to the Natural History Museum in London is awesome.
Image

Here is a closeup of the Medusa on the right posing with a stalagmite and giant ammonite.
Image

But sadly, perhaps it's budget cuts, the museum's exhibits are covered in a thick layer of dust....so thick it is seriously distracting from the objects in the cases. Also the cases are lit in a way that makes many of the minerals and gems difficult to see.

Couple interesting areas:
#19: Kyanite:
Image
Spodumene (These gems would be totally transparent if someone dusted them off :cry: )
Image
#16 Zoisite
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 Post subject: Re: London's Natural History Museum
PostPosted: Fri Aug 12, 2011 3:50 pm 
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It's always a bit dusty looking. So many gems and collections of gems...Still better than a walk down hatton gardens

One of my favourite places to visit in london. Dinosaur exhibit is also fab


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 Post subject: Re: London's Natural History Museum
PostPosted: Fri Aug 12, 2011 3:58 pm 
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I volunteer to dust the gem collection at the Natural History Museum. :D (London, for shame! As far as I've ever heard, that's one of the top mineral collections in the WORLD.)

Thanks for sharing the pictures Barbra, and enjoy your visit!

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 Post subject: Re: London's Natural History Museum
PostPosted: Fri Jun 15, 2012 1:34 pm 
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There are two entrances to the Natural History Museum in London. The one Barbra has posted used to be the entrance to the Geological Museum on Exhibition Road. Alan Jobbins was curator of minerals and gemstones here for thirty five years. In 1988 it was merged with the NHM - a new gallery being created to connect the two museums.

In what was always the NHM up the stairs on the right at the far end of the the mineral gallery there is a new modern gallery called the vaults with exceptional gem and minerals on display. Here is a link to it

http://www.mindat.org/article.php/101/The+Vault+-+Natural+History+Museum+London

I like the 57.26 ct Padparadscha from Sri lanka. I will have to try and get a good photo of the stone.

Here are others links regarding the NHM and the Geology Museum.

http://www.london-sightseeing.co.uk/geological_museum.php

http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit-us/history-architecture/geological-museum/index.html

http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit-us/history-architecture/

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 Post subject: Re: London's Natural History Museum
PostPosted: Sat Jun 16, 2012 5:38 am 
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Did you visit The Vault too?

Edit: ah, just read Dave's reply properly... ECHO...


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 Post subject: Re: London's Natural History Museum
PostPosted: Wed Aug 01, 2012 2:25 pm 
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The queue for the Natural History Museum one weekend recently was many hundreds of yards long over cromwell road round past Kensington tube station and down Brompton road :shock:
IF there is a queue use the the old Geology museum entrance never seen much of a queue there :)

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