The Manchester Museum....

Alfred Waterhouse was the 'go to' architect for Manchester in Victorian times. His buildings still dominate the city centre and fill us with awe and, in one case, dread. He was responsible for the original Manchester University buildings, the Palace Hotel which he built as the HQ of the Refuge Assurance Company and our magnificent Town Hall of course. He was also responsible for Strangeways Prison that certainly filled me with dread when I saw it, so much so that I burst into tears. I was 5. If it was designed to put people off doing things that might get you a room in it for a year or so, it certainly worked with me. But my favourite building of his isn't actually in Manchester but *whispers* is in London. The Natural History Museum in Albertopolis decorated with fossils and with Sabre Toothed Tigers and Pteradactyls sitting on the windowsills is one of my favourite buildings ever. And it's full of dinosaurs.

Mr Waterhouse might have been amused (or not) by a sight I saw yesterday. An inflatable version of his Manchester Museum in front of his wonderful Gothic Town Hall in Albert Square. What it is, is a mobile classroom. When museum staff take exhibits round schools they can now take the actual museum as well. It can be inflated in the assembly hall of the school and an entire class can sit in it. It even has a screen where videos can be projected. It's a good idea. They hope that when they visit schools in areas where they don't naturally visit museums and galleries, they might be inspired to do so after visiting this version. Cool idea.