It is somewhat ironic that both my attempts to visit the London Transport Museum have come with transport problems. I had intended to visit last week but then the line between Reading and Paddington was closed due to an “incident”. Today the train was merely late.
Major Sidebar
Fortunately, in keeping with many others attractions, the London Transport Museum (LTM) operates a “pay for a day, return free for a year” ticket so I was able to rebook entry at no additional cost.
This got me wondering – why do museums and other attractions do this? The answer is, of course, money!
Gift-aid rules allow attractions to reclaim 25% of the ticket price providing there is no direct commercial benefit. HMRC rules state that if an admission fee grants you unlimited access for at least 12 months, the nature of the transaction legally changes from a single-use purchase into a form of seasonal right or annual admission. Because the pass covers a full year, the ticket is categorised differently, allowing venues to offer the entire admission payment as eligible for Gift Aid (provided they also offer a non-donation standard alternative to satisfy consumer choice).
There are other reasons too: firstly, there is the perceived benefit of having a full year’s access making you more likely to purchase in the first place. If you do come back you are going to spend more money with the attraction in the cafe and shop, for example. Though you’re probably not going to come back anyway as the return rate is low, somewhere between 5% and 30%, so they are probably not losing much money.
When choosing Gift Aid, you are doing the attraction a favour, but the money you have so generously gifted via this method comes from general taxation, so you are ultimately paying for it anyway, and it means less money for services such as health, education, and policing. I personally never choose the Gift Aid option.
I bet you didn’t expect a discussion on charity taxation in a post on the London Transport Museum!
Back to the plot
Ok, back to the museum. It occupies a corner of Covent Garden, one of the most expensive pieces of real estate in London I would imagine and this might explain why it isn’t very large.
The museum covers three floors and has a number of old carriages, trains, buses and taxis – including a classic Routemaster of the type I have been promising my dad for years! All are beautifully preserved and many you can go into and sit. There are also displays showing everything from original tube maps, photos and moquettes (the seat coverings) along with the obligatory cards giving the exhibits some colour.
Spread over two floors is also a very good exhibition of art deco posters. This was a real oasis of calm as it was completely enclosed from the rest of the space and not somewhere many children ventured! There is something pretty unique and beautiful about the designs of the posters which were first seen in the 20’s. I’d love to see such designs gracing the walls of the tube today.
I spent an enjoyable hour and a half wandering the halls there and if I was in the area in the next twelve months, well eleven now, I could imagine popping in again but it’s not somewhere I’d be a regular visitor to.
