A day in Firepower - Royal Artillery Museum

This visit is part of my crazy London tube challenge. The museum is in Woolwich Arsenal and the nearest tube is the DLR Woolwich Arsenal station. It's just 5 minutes walk from the station through the Woolwich Market. 

Woolwich Market

It was super hot day today, hotter than usual, so it was not too comfortable to be outside in the sun too long. I didn't explore much of the town but I did get to have a look at the market. It dated back to 1600. The market square is quite big but not many stalls around as it close at 1pm. There are few homeless people loitering around so I didn't linger too long. I was a little bit scared to take out my camera so I took some pictures of the market using my phone instead.

There's an interesting couple of statues on top of the arch which I wonder what it means though.

Drink fountain & cattle trough

There's a derelict looking stone that I saw in the market square with 'Metropolitan: Drink fountain & Cattle Trough' emblazoned on it. Did some 'googling' and it says that at one time cattle were brought in to go to the RACS (Royal Arsenal Cooperative Society) abattoir off Garland Road, part of their Woodlands Farm. There were even cattle pen on the station's platform.

Once through the entrance gate, I saw a blue cannon and a anti-aircraft tank in the middle of the square. The Wellington headquarter was on the left side of the square. It's not open to public. I also saw that the area will be developed into CrossRail and high-end residential area. I hope it won't damage the historical buildings around.

The admission price is 5.30 pounds for adult, which I considered cheap as the artilleries collections inside were priceless. The gallery starts with British army involvement in several high profile wars like Falklands, Balkan War, Iraq & Afghanistan. The highlight of the museum is, of course, the tanks and cannons from the 1700 up to modern times. 

The artillery gallery is split into two level, the ground floor exhibit modern artillery and upper floor the historical artillery. There's huge difference in size and weight between the old cannons and new guns. Most of the guns are from the second world war.

I think modern artillery are less interesting than the historical ones as all are in boring green army colour and focus more on firepower compared to artistic part of the guns/cannons.

Now, the old guns are more interesting to look at. It even has red-coloured cannon! There's one 18th century bronze gun that was cast for Sultan of Mysore, Tippu Sultan who ruled in Southern India.It is thought that it;s one of a kind in existence. The most unique one is the dragon cannon that they found in India as well. It's ammunitions are even decorated with artistic carvings. Now that's my style of firepower :-)

There was a group of school children visiting at the same time that I was there. At first, they were quite noisy but then some of them were scolded (nicely, of course) by the staff, then it quite down. I don't mind the noise otherwise it'll be only me in the museum and that would be scary. There's a medal gallery room which was locked at first, but then it was open for visitor for 1/2 hour. Perhaps for me??

I guess the museum is maintained by the military as most of the staff I saw have the militaristic-type look. Ah, you know what I mean right!. Overall, it was an interesting visit. For tanks/guns enthusiast, this place is a treasure. 

After looking at irons and metals, it is a breath of fresh air when you step outside the museum. Walk along the Thames Path and enjoy the riverside view before going home.

Note: There'll be a World War 2 gun firing event at the museum on 20 June 2015 at 11.30, 12.30 and 2.30pm. Their History team will be in uniform and fire the 2 pound anti tank gun. I'm definitely going to see this!