Nightingale Museum Latest In London's Line-up
Why not save on the flight (but remember the family travel insurance, which is always important) and head to London for a day. The capital is of course full of tourist attractions, parks and decent nightlife, but among the most newsworthy of its tourism line-up at the moment is one of its many and varied museums, the brand new Florence Nightingale museum, which is located on Lambeth Palace Road.
The museum opens next month, on the 12th May, to coincide with the birthday of the 19th century nurse, best known for her commitment to better sanitation and conditions within the British army and nursing in general. Nightingale, who later acquired the nickname 'The Lady of the Lamp', served in the Crimean War fought between Britain and her allies and Russia between 1853 and 1856, treating many injured soldiers and helping to shape many modern nursing practices in the process.
The museum cost £1.4 million to create and comprises three themed pavilions, each dealing with a different area of Florence Nightingale's life. The first explores her childhood, whilst the second and third look at her life during the war and as a campaigner, respectively.
Among the many objects on display in the museum will be some relics of enormous symbolic value to Nightingale's life and career, including the Turkish lamp, once used in Scutari hospital, which may well have resulted in her nickname; a writing tablet from Nightingale's early days; and a medicine chest that the nurse took to the battlefields of Europe with her. The museum will also have exhibitions which focus on the nursing profession itself, looking at its development since Victorian times and celebrating just how far it has come since the carnage of the Crimean War.
