First Impressions

Can you guess what this post is about? I can almost hear some of my friends saying, “Elementary, my dear Sharayu,” and they would be quite right. This is indeed about one of my favourite detectives Sherlock Holmes.

The Sherlock Holmes museum is located at Baker Street. While the official number of the building is 239, Baker Street, the museum authorities have successfully named the museum premises as 221B, Baker Street after overcoming several bureaucratic hurdles. A green door with a large green sign greeted us at the entrance and a sign that said ‘Closed’. We had arrived too early – the museum had not opened for the day. We hung around, took a few pictures and were among the first visitors for the day. On the ground floor is a souvenir shop where we purchased tickets and entered the house. A flight of stairs led us to a small landing from which one door opened out into the study and another led to Holmes’ bedroom.

Though there was a fire burning in the study, our very early arrival had not given them enough time to change the date on the calendar kept on the mantelpiece. The study contains Holmes’ armchair, his violin, his chemistry set, Dr. Watson’s medicine bag and a few other odds and ends. Visitors can be photographed wearing Holmes deerstalker cap, with his pipe in one hand and magnifying glass in another. There are several books laid out in the study including dictionaries, medical volumes, The Peerage, chemistry texts, etc. The room has a very authentic look, though it was much smaller than I expected.

A door near the fireplace led us into the bedroom, which is furnished with a bed, a wash stand and a dresser. We then proceeded to Dr. Watson’s room on the second floor. The interesting objects in this room include a display of Dr. Watson’s diary containing handwritten notes on ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’ and Holmes’ monographs on various subjects. Next door was Mrs. Hudson’s room which now contains memorabilia from Holmes’ various cases – the Napoleon busts, some knives and weapons, the wooden box from the Musgrave ritual, the severed pair of ears, relics from the Wisteria Lodge case and a collection of personal belongings of Sherlock Holmes (his citations, medals, pocket book, cap, pipe, magnifying glass, maps, photographs, etc.)

On the landing outside these rooms stands a figure of Billy, the page boy, dressed in a blue uniform with gold buttons looking properly deferential. This figure was only a hint of the delights awaiting us on the third floor. On this floor are characters reproduced from the books. They are so cleverly done that a glance is sufficient to recognize the person and the story concerned. There was Jack Pendergast from The Gloria Scott, Miss Violet Hunter from The Copper Beeches, The Man with the Twisted Lip, a scene from the Musgrave Ritual, Lady Frances Carfax, Dr. Roylott from The Speckled Band, a scene from The Beryl Coronet, Professor Moriarty, Jabez Wilson from The Red-Headed League among others. The scene from the Musgrave Ritual was the one where Holmes and his friend look down into the cellar at the dead butler. When we first entered the room, the butler was sprawled on the floor, but we couldn't see either Holmes or Musgrave looking down at him. When we entered the room some time later after looking at the other exhibits on the floor, we found that a hole had opened up in the ceiling and Holmes and Musgrave were looking down at us with a lamp in their hands. The early arrival of so many tourists had thrown them off guard and they had forgotten to uncover the opening in the ceiling!

It was sheer delight to see the wax figures and recollect the stories associated with them. The museum is a must-see for any Sherlock Holmes’ fan.

After the enjoyable visit to the museum, we purchased some souvenirs and went to St. John’s Wood. This is the nearest station to ‘Lord’s – the home of cricket’ and we were just in time for the 12 o’clock guided tour. The tour began in the Pavilion where we visited the Long Room in the heart of the Pavilion. It is the room through which cricketers make their way out onto the ground. It is also a cricket-watching room for members of the MCC as well as a cricket art gallery. The pictures depict the game over four centuries and there are portraits of some of the most well-known names in the history of the game. We were regaled with stories of why umpires held a cricket bat in the early versions of the game to why it evolved from a two-stump game to the present three-stump version. The long room has a very lovely view of the ground but unfortunately photographs are not allowed in this part of the tour. We walked through the Long Room into the Committee Room. This is the room where the rules of the game are discussed and modified by the relevant authority; it is also the room where the English national side is selected. The room has portraits of several prominent members of the MCC and a very good view of the ground. We heard the story behind Lord’s and the MCC and also the etymology of words like cricket and wicket.

We were then taken to the English Dressing Room; the Australian and Indian dressing rooms were in use by the Oxford and Cambridge tennis teams that day. The dressing room had the Honours Board for the English side which is a lasting reminder of exceptional batting and bowling performances in Lord's Tests. Similar Honours Boards for Australian and Indian players are put up in their respective dressing rooms. There was a stunning view of the ground from the balcony outside the dressing room.

We went outside the pavilion to see the balcony where Kapil Dev had raised the World Cup in 1983 - apparently a place of pilgrimage for Indian cricket fans - and then went into the MCC museum to see the original Ashes urn. All through the tour our guide was taking pot-shots at the English side for having lost the Ashes. It was here that the significance and the origin of the Ashes was narrated to us. We toured the museum which has a large collection of memorabilia donated by players from all around the world.

We were then taken outside into the stands and walked around the ground towards the media centre. The media centre is located exactly opposite the pavilion. It has an aerodynamic design and is made completely of aluminium. It can seat 250 journalists and has broadcasting rooms for all major radio and TV channels. We were taken into the media centre which also provides a view of the MCC indoor training school and the nursery ground. We had an excellent view of the ground during this outdoor tour and the view from the media centre was breathtaking. The distinctive 8ft slope of the ground is clearly visible from the media centre and was pointed out by our guide.

A very quaint fixture in Lord’s is the weathervane next to the Mount Stand. It is shaped like Father Time with stumps and a ball. I found it very fascinating.

The guided tour ended in the media centre. We were left to wander about the stands or look around the museum on our own. It was my first visit to a cricket ground and our guide Martin made the visit highly enjoyable with his cricket stories and well-timed humour. Though I am not a cricket fan, I will look upon my visit to Lord’s as one of the highlights of my trip.

We had a late lunch in on a Regent’s Park bench overlooking the Boating Lake. Regent’s Park is located in the vicinity of Baker Street and until you approach it, you will never realize it’s there. While we only walked along the Boating Lake side, it also houses the London Zoo, the Queen Mary’s Garden, a sports pavilion, sports pitches, an open air theatre and more. We also caught sight of the renowned London Business School right opposite the park.

It was a day well spent. My desire to see the Sherlock Holmes museum was fulfilled, and the Lord’s tour was a delightful revelation. Click here to see the photographs of this trip. For Sherlock Holmes fans a complete set of pictures of the museum have been uploaded here.

Posted by Sharayu on Tuesday, February 27, 2007 at 7:32 pm | Permalink