Private Mathew Clay living up to his name by falling in a ditch full of it. He's lucky his name wasn't Pte. Manure.
A great report from a great museum Koppi. I enjoyed revisiting this place through your pictures, I can't just drop in any time I want because I live on the other side of the world. For anyone who finds themselves in London this is a very interesting place to visit and I found some good books in the gift shop too.
Interesting point about the photography, I like museums like The British Museum, that are aware that they are public institutions and that most of the collection is public property so they allow photography for personal, non commercial use and for genuine study (Which is what we're doing here). Because sharing information with the public is what museums are for isn't it?
But I realise that some museums rely on sales to keep running so they want you to buy a ticket to see the collection and buy the postcards and books from the gift shop to remember it by. If a museum has a no photography policy I generally abide by it (though I might have a few sneaky shots of extra special things like Bronze Age Beakers... because they never have a postcard of the really cool thing in the gift shop do they? Just the mediocre crud).
Anyway, I was visiting Aspley House, in London, The Duke of Wellingtons house, which I thoroughly recommend to anyone in London with some time on their hands. I payed an entry fee and bought some of the books and postcards in the gift shop. I didn't see a sign saying photography was allowed (I didn't see a sign saying it wasn't either) so I did the right thing and I didn't take any photos of the collection.
Then I saw the Wellington Monument in the public park across the road and thought that a pic of the Wellington Monument taken from inside Wellingtons house would be a cool thing to have. And it's perfectly OK to take pics of the Wellington monument, I already had a few snaps of it from a previous visit to London. A staff member saw my camera and said "Excuse me, you're not allowed to take photos in here". I said "I'm not taking a photo of in here, I'm taking a photo of out there". To which she replied "Oh well... I suppose that's alright". I got a shot of the Bronze Welly and the Winged Victory that's also in the park but I didn't take any more photos. Not even when The Lifeguards rode past outside.
Here's the thing. There were about 8 or 10 other people touring the house at the same time and it seemed to me that most of them were using their mobile phones to film every flamin' thing in the house. And no-one said a word to them. I get it, I had a camera so it's "No photography allowed" but they were using mobile phones, and that doesn't count as photography does it.
You guys can make up your own minds. Is this a picture of a piece of public art, in a public park, placed there openly for the perusal and enjoyment of the general public. Or is it a clandestinely purloined image of commercially sensitive and copyrighted celebrity curtains.
I like to see reports like yours Koppi and I think they are a good advertisement for these places. When I see pictures of a good museum it just makes me think I'd like to go there.
P.S. There's some great stuff to see in Aspley house but the revelation of what The Iron Duke kept at the foot of his staircase is worth the entry fee all by itself.