I went to Hendon on Monday for the first time since December 2003 and was disappointed overall, which is not good as I intend to take our youngest and my wife there in the near future and I don’t think, certainly from my wife’s point of view, who does like aeroplanes, that the trip will be much of a success.
I have been going since I was very young, and more often then too – I still have my 1974 edition of the guide book(!), when it was just the original hall and witnessed over the years the building of the BoB, Bomber Command (BCH) and Milestones Halls as well as the movement of the Graham-White building.
The BCH had no coherence to it anymore – I don’t think it is “marketed” as such any more – but it was all disjointed and there were loads of empty spaces. I agree with the comment regarding the Vulcan, it is wedged into the corner and is not well displayed as a result. The hall does not flow from the Milestones building very well either.
The Milestones building seemed much emptier as well than when it first opened too.
The original main hall was okay but again some parts are quite full and others have an empty feel to them. The original entrance lobby was just a dingy space with no appeal and just the cadet glider hanging from the roof. There seemed to be a lot of places on the whole site that seemed to be empty, wasted space. I was not impressed with the Belvedere rotor resting on a pad on the cockpit glazing of the EH101 either. The original dioramas in the upper galleries – more now wasted space – when it first opened were quite good and I am sure that a modern interpretation could be made in order to interest and engage young and old alike.
The BoB hall was always interesting when it first opened but agree it is in need of a revamp of sorts. Whilst there were signs up telling the public about the survey work going on it had a feel of a “car boot” with the bits of the aircraft plonked in all sorts of places, although my friend and I did comment that it was nice to see inside parts of the aircraft that you would not normally see.
Outside the state of the launches were not endearing and were not a good example to be set for the public. If they were under restoration then they needed a caption to state as such. I don’t believe that they should be outside either being of wooden construction although I do appreciate that they were sea going and would be out in all weathers.
The best presented part was the Graham-White building and the WWI display. This was clear and informative, although not sure about hanging the aircraft but it worked.
Overall the place seemed a little run down and unloved with aircraft being dusty too. The actual site of the museum also felt hemmed in by the new building going on that appeared not to take into consideration the museum as a neighbour. Information as to what the other buildings on site would have been used for and put them into context would have been nice.
I like the suggestions on here, of the 110 with the Lancaster, the Dornier 17 with a memorial to the German losses and more themed groupings – remember the Camm “collection” in the middle of the original hall?
The RAF has almost a century of history and it needs to be displayed better certainly here. Cosford, especially the Cold War building, certainly are a better visit.
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