Museum of the weird and wonderful

I’VE always loved Tring Museum, but visiting last week I really appreciated for the first time how the place is testament to one man’s obsession with the natural world.

The museum is an absolute treasure trove, somewhere you can get up close and personal with some of our planet’s most exotic species (perhaps not the ideal place to visit if you’ve a phobia of taxidermy though).

The sheer scale of some of the creatures on show is breathtaking, from the huge mounted elephants’ heads on the wall of first floor gallery, to the gargantuan southern elephant seal, which makes you realise exactly why it was given its name.

Some of the animals have seen better days (no wonder as they’ve been around for so long), but this just adds to the quirky charm of the place.

And while you might think a museum where all of the exhibits are in glass cases would be a bit of a stuffy affair, you’d be wrong. When I visited the place was alive with groups of children on school visits, thrilled by the incredible array creatures on display.

For adults too, the place opens up a world of wonder. Did you know that British waters are inhabited by the bramble shark, a fearsome looking creature covered from snout to tail in ‘thorn-like denticles’? Scary stuff.

I’ve watched more than my fair share of nature programmes, but even I’ve never come across a pangolin, or scaly anteater. This tree-climbing creature looks exactly like an anteater, but is covered in hundreds of scales, like a little suit of armour.

Even the more familiar creatures are striking when you realise just how big they are – something television simply doesn’t convey. The ostrichs are gargantuan, and the huge water buffalo, gaur and bison make you see cattle in a whole new light.

This huge collection was bequeathed to the public by Lionel Walter Rothschild, the second Baron Rothschild, who lived from 1865 to 1937 and amassed the largest collection of natural history specimens ever collected by one man.

His passion for nature and documenting new species saw him collect more than 2.5 million butterflies and moths and 300,000 animal skins.

It all began when he started collecting insects at the tender age of seven. Being from a family of wealthy and distinguished merchant bankers meant he could indulge his hobby, and his father gave him a building in which to house his collections when he was just 12.

His story is fascinating – after two terms at the University of Bonn he decided to study at Cambridge instead, and arrived at Magdalen College with a flock of live kiwis.

He was forced to follow his family into banking, but was allowed to leave that profession in 1910 and founded the zoological museum with curators Ernst Hartert and Karl Jordan, believing their work would make a real contribution to understanding evolution.

The museum is an experience in itself, located in a residential street just a few minutes from the centre of Tring. You feel like you’re going back in time as you arrive at the the stunning Victorian building, and if you’ve the time you can take a walk around Tring Park, the former home of the Rothschilds. The land is now managed by the Woodland Trust.

A word of warning if you’re a tea and cake fan – the museum’s cafe is only open at weekends, although on weekdays its vending machines are available and you’re free to eat your own sandwiches in there.

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