please empty your brain below
Strangely enough, I actually did come across it by accident, when I was in the area looking for a pub. Luckily, it was open, and I agree that it was old school (in both senses of the phrase) but interesting. A pub down the road - the Dulwich Woodhouse - has a newspaper cutting on display about the fire that burned the Palace down. If you can't get into the Museum, at least you can read that while having a pint.

Baldassaro | 19.02.09 - 9:13 a.m. | #

Not my personal pet peeve, but it gives me a nerdish thrill to be the first to tell you that you have misused the word "enormity".

A nony mouse | 19.02.09 - 9:21 a.m. | #

I've had a special liking for Crystal Palace since my school days. Keen for any alternative to football or rugby, I put down for squash and, as a result, became one of a small band who got to enjoy a weekly trip around the south circular, to the then smart and modern sports complex at Crystal Palace: we'd played at other squash courts, but the ones here were really cool as they had glass viewing panels.

I've been lucky, too, in later years, to have been able to visit the old station and pedestrian subway (as shown in one of your links) during one of their rare open days.

I thought there would have been more done to preserve what there had been of the race circuit, but there seem to be fewer and fewer traces of it as the years go by. The full size race cars may be long gone, but there's still an area that is regularly used by RC enthusiasts.

The thing that still puzzles me comes from seeing a photo of the site taken after WW2, which showed a surprising amount of the base structure and a fair amount of its ornamentation (statues, etc) still in place and reasonably intact. There's certainly much less of it present now, which kind of begs the question of, hey... where did it all go???

RogerW | 19.02.09 - 9:30 a.m. | #

http://www.askoxford.com/concise...normity?
view=uk

One-legged crutches man | 19.02.09 - 10:05 a.m. | #

That doesn't beg the question:
http://begthequestion.info/

One-legged crutches man | 19.02.09 - 10:07 a.m. | #

I normally visit Crystal Palace area on Tuesdays, I did not know of the museum so a weekend trip is a must now.
Thanks for the link about Baird TV originally being at Crystal Palace. I think most people associate Alexandra Palace with early TV.

John | 19.02.09 - 10:12 a.m. | #

Hmmm. Whenever my dad used to hear anyone on TV or the radio saying "... and none of them are..." his heart rate would double and he'd say "None IS!!!"
My dad died in 1997.
People on the TV, however, are *still* happily saying "none are..."
I've largely taken the view things like these aren't really worth a heart attack

RogerW | 19.02.09 - 10:50 a.m. | #

If you visit the IanVisits website, you'll find details of guided tours of the park - which will make a visit to the museum even more relevant and interesting.

Exit, pursued by a Bear | Homepage | 19.02.09 - 11:11 a.m. | #

I don't remember any of it, but the first year of my life was spent in Anerley, so I suppose I should go and have a look.

Sarah | Homepage | 19.02.09 - 12:01 p.m. | #

Totally fascinating in every possible way.

It's very interesting to see the ruins, which almost look like they could be used in a scene from 'The Time Machine'.

That really must have been something.

john | Homepage | 19.02.09 - 3:22 p.m. | #

I loved this museum too - and it's well worth visiting the Victorian dinosaurs while you're in the park!

Caroline | Homepage | 19.02.09 - 4:54 p.m. | #

Yo. Just thought I'd let you know I gave you a big up on Blogs.com when they asked me what my top 10 fave London blogs were. Check it out:
http://www.blogs.com/topten/top-...logs/
index.html
Your pal
Brian Pigeon of Pigeon Blog

Brian Pigeon | Homepage | 19.02.09 - 6:39 p.m. | #

So looking forward for Barnet to come up DG. I grew up in Hendon and as a kid spent many hours playing in Sunnyhill Park and the Church Farmhouse Museum's garden (which had a lovely pond with a weeping willow). I was a pupil at St Mary's School. St Mary's is the church that the museum is connected to.

Christian | 19.02.09 - 9:02 p.m. | #

enormity =
"a quality of momentous importance or impact"

Which sums up old Crystal Palace rather well.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 19.02.09 - 10:40 p.m. | #

Sounds fascinating. I'll have to go there myself someday.

Andrewh | 19.02.09 - 11:17 p.m. | #

My Concise Oxford says:

Usage. The use of enormity in sense 4 is often found, e.g. the enormity of the problem, but is regarded as incorrect by many people.

So, it's debatable then.

Craigaroonie | 20.02.09 - 6:06 a.m. | #

I found a computer model of the Crystal Palace.

http://www2.iath.virginia.edu/lo...u/london/model/

Oliver | 21.02.09 - 5:05 p.m. | #

An interesting find (the computer model, that is)

I've found something, too, which is an answer to my own question, the one about the statues and ornamentation. It seems a lot of items were sold off in an auction in 1957.

We are, perhaps, fortunate, that the site still retains its sphinxes. Maybe they were simply too big to take away?

RogerW | 22.02.09 - 10:38 a.m. | #

Tried to visit the museum on Saturday 7th March. Closed. There's a note on the door saying "Museum closed until further notice because of internal damage caused by criminal damage to the roof". They are right, you can see that somebody has tried to rip the lead or zinc from the roof ridge.
Anybody know who organises trip to the listed underpass?

Bruce | 07.03.09 - 9:55 p.m. | #











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