Niche Museums

When entomologist Mervyn Grove Palmer retired to Ilfracombe after a career collecting exhibits for museums from South America, he was disappointed to learn that the town lacked a museum.

In 1932 he opened a new museum in the old laundry building of the Ilfracombe Hotel, displaying exhibits from his own collection as well as items donated by the local townspeople. The museum collection has been growing ever since.

The museum's own website describes it as "a cross between an Edwardian collector’s study and your Granny’s attic". The result is a delightfully eccentric assortment of items. Don't miss the cupboard full of bats, or the intriguing collection of one hundred year old wedding cake samples.

The drawers in the museum deserve special attention. I particularly enjoyed how the moths were categorised into "British Moths" and "Foreign Moths".

The museum also hosts a two-headed gosling, a two-headed kitten and bones from a human foot, "purchased from a young lad for 6d in 1932".

Home of the National Fairground Collection, Dingles has over 45,000 indoor square feet of vintage fairground rides... and you can go on them! Highlights include the last complete surviving and operational Moonrocket from 1939, Brett's Ghost Train from 1947 and Edwards’ Dodgems, a 96 foot track with cars dating back to 1932.

This convenience store hosts a stunning taxidermy collection, nested among and occasionally overwhelming the other items that it sells.

They have the Spruce Goose! Howard Hughes' incredible wooden flying boat, which held the record for largest wingspan of any aircraft from its first (and only) flight in November 1947 until finally being beaten in April 2019. You can tour the plane and if you pay to have your photo taken they will let you sit in the cockpit. The museum also hosts an SR-71A Blackbird, Titan II and Titan IV ICBMs, a Mercury Space Capsule and dozens of other historic aircraft.

This boat-shaped building was built in 1941 as a base for the Sea Scouts. It now houses the headquarters for the Environmental Volunteers and incorporates an event space and a tiny collection of taxidermy birds.

A 300,000 square foot working warehouse where you can see sculptors and artists making floats for parades in New Orleans and other cities, and explore a vast collection of floats from previous years.

Marion Held has been collecting devils for twenty years - novelty objects mainly from Europe, depicting the Devil, Krampus, Mephisto and more.

Marion assured us that there was nothing satanic about her collection: "These are European devils: they sit on your shoulder and they tell you to drink!"

Her collection is now available to see in her home - a converted church - by appointment only.

So you want to see a vast number of animal bones? This collection was established in 1898 but has exhibits that date back even earlier, including the skeleton of Louis XV's rhino which died at the hand of a revolutionary in 1793.

Opened April 19th 2016 to provide access to historic cartographic information in both paper and digital forms. An incredible collection of beautiful old maps.

Tiny museum dedicated to Madagascar's pirate history. The exhibits are in French but an English translated handout is available, which makes copious use of the word "booty".

London's best kept secret: a gallery of hand made satirical coin operated arcade machines built by Tim Hunkin. Enjoy a micro break holiday, launder money through the credit crisis, operate a personal nuclear reactor and spy on celebrities with a drone. Delightful.

Founded in 2011 by H. H. Dorje Chang Buddha III, who claims to be a reincarnation of Buddha and is responsible for most of the art in the museum. Each piece is accompanied by a plaque which explains its artistic merit in effervescent terms.

More than 20,000 sets of salt and pepper shakers from around the world. Everything you can imagine has been captured in the form of a shaker. Highlights include NASA salt and pepper shakers and branded salt and pepper shakers from different airline first class flights.

Incredibly varied installation art located in a 1920s Mediterranean-style house. Visits by appointment only.

So many trains, some dating all the way back to 1862! Everyone loves trains. They also have historic carriages, including restored Pullman dining cars you can explore. One of the carriages is mounted on a motion simulator providing a delightfully mild rocking sensation.