something of an accidental adventure then, look you see, which i would seem to have hinted at the general specifics of in the title. this does indeed (quite) relate to our recent trip to that there London place, and one of the things we did there. an entirely unplanned and rather random thing, in this case.
let me be quite, if not perfectly, clear up front. i have absolutely no issue, quarrel or other such negative implication towards the literary creating that is Sherlock Holmes. rather, i have just not had all that much of an interest. which, now that i think, is peculiar. the only Sherlock Holmes adaptations i can recall watching are the rather smart ones they did with Peter Cushing in the titular role, as someone got be a DVD box set of them as a gift. also, the recent (ish) Sherlock Holmes films which had that Robert Downey jnr lad in them. further, i really do (or did) like that re-imagination of Holmes as House in House, with even a Wilson thrown in as a Watson for good measure. with all this considered, then perhaps i should explore more Holmes things. also yes, i did indeed go and see that Young Sherlock Holmes film at the cinema in the 80s. it was not bad, and featured a during or post (i forget which) credits scene, something modern "hero" films thrive on doing.
we, as a family, had little or no interest or plan in visiting anything in London pertaining to Sherlock Holmes. this was not for discriminatory reasons. the only reason anything pertaining to him (the fictional character presumably retains gender when being discussed) came up was when i mentioned in passing we would be going near "his house" when taking the tube to Baker Street so as to visit Madame Tussaud's celebrated house of wax.
but went to both his address and the museum housed in it we did. for what reason, or why? well, it was raining, and we had something of a three hour wait between registering our arrival at Madame Tussaud's with pre-booked tickets and the time they were prepared to let us in.
going to the museum then made sense. queuing for some forty minutes to get entry and then however long the "tour" of the museum took would burn up some time, keeping the boys partially entertained and providing some relief from the rain. also, my (considerably) better half and at least one of the boys have watched that most recent of BBC adaptations of Sherlock Holmes, starring him what was Dr Strange out of Avengers, so there was some interest.
the cost for our "standard" family of four (two children, one grown up and one person of adult age) was £50. although that feels very eye watering and bank account demolishing to write, by London standards this is something which is curiously affordable. but, be warned, i would suggest that you only go out of your way to attend this Sherlock Holmes museum if you are a really, really, really, really big fan of the character, and would be satisfied enough to just say that you have set foot in the premises in which he lived in an entirely imaginary way.
oh, indeed, that is me (moi) on Baker Street, just outside the tube station. a station which i would imagine is quite prone to flooding, considering how open the entrance is, but no matter. yes, i figured that they had placed a statue of him there with a pipe, so it would be perfectly agreeable and acceptable to pause and have a cigarette with the chap, keeping him company in adverse weather conditions.
unless i am quite mistaken, or i hallucinated it (very possible, what with all that clean fresh air due to the spectacular success of the congestion charge), the bus route for Baker Street was given the number 221B. some might view that as a relentless marketing approach, i would rather prefer to see it as simply being a lovely touch.
there you go, then, the sign on the railing by the address advertising the Sherlock Holmes Museum. or should i perhaps say "museum". one dictionary i consulted defined the word "museum" as this - a building in which objects of historical, scientific, artistic, or cultural interest are stored and exhibited. that strikes me as being quite right, or on the button, or on the money.
once inside the Sherlock Holmes Museum, however, you get the sense that they have an entirely different definition, or understanding, of the word. whilst of course one would not expect any items or artefacts which directly belonged to an imaginary character, one may well have presumed that something of actual pertinence was present. maybe an item which was known to have belonged to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, perhaps, or maybe a prop or two from any one of the several (many) film and tv adaptations of the adventures of the popular detective. but, no. one gets to see a number of items which have been procured and put on display that have a slight relevance to the character, but no direct relation as such.
but, as i said, if you are a major fan, then one would imagine it is quite enough to simply say you have been to 221B Baker Street. in fairness this is something i would not hesitate to do for my literary passions. off the top of my head, i would totally go to the video store where Patrick Bateman frequently rented the VHS of Body Double from.
i feel, or fear, that i am coming across as unduly harsh. whilst i feel obliged to warn anyone who is contemplating going of what to expect, it was also overall a genuinely good experience. the staff on hand were both knowledgeable and polite, and you would have to dare to presume that they share a passion millions across the planet have for the creation that is Sherlock Holmes. whilst the majority of items on display may have no overt connection to author or creation as such, it is not to say that they lack interest. far from it, for a great deal of effort has gone into creating a posh Victorian house. the sitting room, for example, is a most splendid thing to see.
something i have tried to do in life is always remember that there is no such thing as a stupid question, but that it is possible to give a stupid answer. that is to say one should always encourage people to ask questions, and not scare them away by humiliating them with a condescending answer just because you assume someone should already know the information. mercifully the staff at the Sherlock Holmes Museum have the same approach, for they fielded questions such as "was Sherlock Holmes real?" and "how long did he live here for?" in a most courteous, polite and informative way.
one question of interest that someone asked was of how long the museum had been going. it turns out that the answer to this is since the early 90s. they were a bit cagey and reticent on information, but it seems someone bought it around then and turned it into more of a shrine than a museum to this celebrated literary creation.
that is indeed a bust of the imaginary Sherlock Holmes, one of the items on display. it seems that the staff prefer this presentation of the character, for he does not appear to be wearing one of those "deerstalker" hats. apparently he never worse such an item in the novels, with that being added by film and tv adaptations.
a particularly pleasing aspect of the Sherlock Holmes Museum is the gift shop. quite a lot of thought has gone into this. one may purchase quite a number of marketing items pertaining to the detective and his assistant. all of them appear well thought out, sensible, interesting and (best of all) are priced exceptionally reasonably.
whereas setting foot in the real address of a fictitious character would be a plus for Sherlock Holmes fans, i am going to suggest that simply visiting Baker Street, having a look at the place from outside and then buying one or two nice items from the gift shop would be sufficient. but, up to you.
but what, you ask, of the other reason that Baker Street is quite famous? yes, i know, and you know, and i know that you know that i know you are wondering about the splendid song Baker Street by Gerry Rafferty. well, there was a smart rock and roll memorabilia shop on Baker Street i visited (see the recent post on Bowie postcards), but otherwise nothing overt that i noticed which celebrated the song. it is likely that i passed the flat Rafferty stayed in which inspired the tune, or looked right at it.
there was only so much time we could spend queuing for the Sherlock Holmes Museum and actually going in to it, of course. so as to pass further time in waiting for Madame Tussaud's to let us in, we also wandered around aspects of Regent's Park. and here i am in it, with the legendary BT Tower partially visible in the background.
we also took a wander in the general direction of Lord's, since it was there and indeed there was supposed to be a Test on. however, the excessive rain meant there was no play to be had, which is always sad generally but all the more so when it is an Ashes Test. we did not make it as far as the ground, but we did see lots of well tempered Australians, somewhat bemused to come all this way as just to be cold, wet and left with no cricket to watch.
getting (somewhat) back to the point, i must confess i have an impulse, or urge, to grab my box set of Peter Cushing starring Sherlock Holmes adaptations. our accidental visit to the museum, then, must have had some particular benefit.
as far as i am concerned, any Sherlock Holmes fan who has the means to do so would probably visit 221B Baker Street irrespective of what anyone said of the place. but still, if all of this has been of some use or interest to someone somewhere, then happy days.
be elementary to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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