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London Transport Museum Yearbook 2008/09 Yearbook 2008/09 London’s journey – past, present and future
London Transport Museum
Yearbook 2008/09
Yearbook 2008/09Supported by
London Transport Museum Covent Garden Piazza London SW1H 0TL Tel. +44 (20) 7379 6344
London Transport Museum Ltd Charity number 1123122 Company number 6495761
Registered address: Windsor House 42–50 Victoria Street London SW1H 0TL
London Transport Museum (Trading) Ltd Company number 6527755
Registered address: Windsor House 42–50 Victoria Street London SW1H 0TL
ltmuseum.co.uk
London’s journey – past, present and future
London Transport MuseumLondon’s journey – past, present and future
Yearbook 2008/09
London Transport Museum is
an educational and heritage
preservation charity whose
purpose is to conserve and
explain London’s transport
heritage. It offers people
an understanding of the
Capital’s past development
and engages them in the
debate about its future.
05 Message from the Chair of Trustees and Chief Executive
07 Introduction
09 Education and engagement
Encouraging safety and citizenship
Mind the skills gap
17 Access and museum operations
The power of objects
User-generated content
23 Heritage and collections
Getting communities talking
The art of the poster
31 Future plans
Future generator: the results
37 Income and support
44 Performance review
46 Statement of accounts
48 Public programme
51 Trustees and advisors
04 05Message from the Chair of Trustees and Chief Executive
Message from the Chair of Trustees and Chief Executive
Sir David Bell and Sam Mullins, LTM
We are delighted to present the first London Transport Museum (LTM) Yearbook to celebrate our wide-ranging work for the benefit of the Capital, based in a freshly redesigned museum in Covent Garden.
In addition to presenting an overview of the charity’s activities, this Yearbook includes seven short articles which offer a closer look at specific aspects of the Museum’s work.
The 18 months since LTM reopened in November 2007 have seen the Museum bedded down – a new charity governance model instituted, a new Visitor Services team installed, the mounting of four special exhibitions, the publication of a top-selling book, the regular running of heritage trains and buses, the implementation of new styles of engagement and collecting, and the creation of a Thought leadership programme. It has been a remarkably fruitful period where LTM has proved to be a platform for influence well beyond the confines of Covent Garden. We are a museum at the heart of London and one of its success stories.
LTM’s progress since reopening can be seen in its record visitor numbers and increased public engagement, both on-site and online. By the close of July 2009, over 500,000 visits had been made to the new Museum, 302,000 of those in 2008/09. This represents almost 50% more than the annual average of 209,000 in the decade before the Museum closed for refurbishment in 2005. We are proud of the new Museum’s achievements and the recognition we have received for the whole spectrum of our work, from exhibitions and marketing to education and visitor services.
The year’s full and varied programme included The art of the poster exhibition, which looked at the artworks behind LTM’s much-loved collection of classic posters. This major exhibition was well received by both press and public. The Spectator praised it as ‘a real oasis among the alarms and excursions of London today’.
Outstanding among the year’s many other events were topical debates about the role of transport in creating environmentally sustainable cities. Our new Thought leadership programme engages pre-eminent transport, urban planning, and infrastructure experts on issues such as the engineering skills gap, urban development and new ways of working. As public transport forms the lifeblood of major cities across the world, LTM seeks to share thinking about transport issues and be a place where new ideas can be tested. We seek not only to present our own knowledge, but to be a venue where the knowledge of others is disseminated and debated.
Future projects include World city: stories from London. This programme of community and youth engagement for London’s Cultural Olympiad will look at how journeys to and within London shape identity and a sense of place across the Capital. In partnership with the London Museums Hub, it will culminate in a major exhibition in 2012, London journeys, and will be closely followed by Underground 150 in 2013, marking the anniversary of the world’s first underground railway opened in 1863.
As always, we are grateful for the partnerships that enable us to broaden our funding base and extend the Museum’s reach more widely across London. We would like to express our gratitude to all our supporters and funders within Transport for London (TfL), the Museum, Libraries and Archives (MLA) Council’s Renaissance in the Regions initiative, LTM Friends and our many corporate and charitable sponsors.
Our staff and volunteers also deserve our sincere thanks for their outstanding work in making the new LTM such a success. We look forward to an exciting future for the Museum and to welcoming the many people who visit and support us.
0706 Introduction
Education and engagement Led by the Museum’s Learning department, our education and engagement activities deliver innovative learning opportunities to a wide range of audiences through on-site activities and a variety of outreach programmes off-site.
Access and museum operations Led by the Visitor Services department, our access and museum operations make the collection available for the enjoyment of people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds. This is accomplished through the permanent displays in LTM galleries, special events at the Depot in Acton and extensive online resources.
Heritage and collections Led by the Collections department, our heritage and collections work involves preserving, managing, researching and acquiring transport-related objects and information. The public use of this material is made possible through exhibitions, heritage vehicle outings and other collections-based activities.
Future plans LTM aims to maintain user numbers by mounting a major exhibition every year, develop our online content, increase young people’s engagement with engineering and remain a venue for thinking about London’s future.
London Transport
Museum’s mission is
to collect and share
knowledge about the key
role of transport in the
development of London’s
past, present and future.
08 09Education and engagement
Education and engagement
10 11Education and engagement
LTM Learning department offers a range of educational opportunities inside the Museum and throughout the community. Our on-site schools programme hosted 24,000 pupils in 2008/09. The programme addresses the needs of students and teachers by creatively linking the Museum’s collections to diverse topics including art, history, design, technology and engineering.
The Safety & Citizenship programme engages primary and secondary school pupils through interactive sessions. These build the practical skills required to use London’s public transport system, including how to avoid dangers, dealing with emergencies and getting help.
Our audience development team delivers a vibrant and diverse programme for groups that face barriers to museum engagement. Outreach activities such as reminiscence sessions with older people and storytelling for children at community centres across London attracted nearly 3000 participants. Six interactive projects with community groups produced an in-depth series of exhibitions and videos.
LTM library supported 600 visitors conducting independent research on public transport issues. Whether they were authors, family historians or visitors inspired to dig a bit deeper, the library service assisted them in gaining the most relevant access to our large store of primary and secondary sources of transport information.
A significant new approach to schools began in 2008. It was inspired by TfL’s Skills and Employment Strategy, which identified a shortfall of engineers in the UK. In response, LTM developed a set of inspirational hands-on activities for young people. Over 500 students took part in a trial programme which allowed them to meet engineers from TfL, explore career paths and educational options, and participate in a unique engineering challenge called ‘Eggsperiment’. Ninety-five percent of the participants stated that the event increased their understanding of engineering and we are actively seeking to find partners to expand this area of engagement in the future.
Education and engagement
1312 Education and engagement
This year the Museum joined forces with leading law firm Eversheds to launch a new Thought leadership programme for industry professionals. This annual series of thought-provoking and challenging events enables industry colleagues to come together and debate issues affecting their business. It was launched in March 2009 with Mind the skills gap chaired by TfL Commissioner Peter Hendy. Subsequent sessions included Technology and changing travel behaviours chaired by Steven Norris and De-carbonisation and you chaired by David Quarmby. Future sessions in 2009 will cover Funding transport, High-speed rail and Intercity travel.
1514 Education and engagement
The team engages the children in a variety of ways. Role-play is used to get young people thinking about different scenarios they might encounter, including how others might experience their behaviour. Structured discussion offers a forum for debate and asking questions. We also work in schools where children are experiencing difficulties or causing problems while making their journeys. In 2008/09 an additional 48,000 young people were seen in response to reported youth behaviour issues on the transport network.
These restorative programmes are especially rewarding. This year the British Transport Police referred a 14-year-old boy to the team. He had been arrested for track trespass and criminal damage on the Underground. Through a series of sessions run by LTM, the boy was asked to reflect on his behaviour and the reasons for it. He met one of our VSLOs from the British Transport Police who had first-hand experience of the tragic consequences of track trespass. Finally he had an educational tour of the Museum Depot, where the dangers of criminal damage and track trespass were explained in full. Part way through the scheme, the boy left the gang he had been with and by the end the arresting officer felt able to advise the Courts not to pursue any further action against him. The boy’s family felt that they had benefited from the intervention as much as their son. As the young man said, ‘I’m glad I got caught. I would have done worse otherwise.’
Chris Nix is the Safety & Citizenship Programme Manager. More information about the programme can be found at www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/corporate/projectsandschemes/communityandeducation/safetyandcitizenship
One of LTM’s most far-reaching educational activities is the Safety & Citizenship programme, which promotes safe, responsible and respectful behaviour on London’s transport network.
Delivered by the Learning department, Safety & Citizenship works because it focuses on direct, personal engagement between TfL staff and young people. Rather than giving lectures, we create time for well-trained adults, equipped with engaging resources, to discuss with children and young people what happens when they travel on public transport.
Since it was established in 2005, the programme has had immense success. In 2008/09, the team worked with over 130,000 children and young people in Greater London, with funding provided by London Buses, London Underground, and the Community Safety Enforcement and Policing team. The core staff are supported by 80 trained Voluntary School Liaison Officers (VSLOs), including bus drivers, Tube staff, revenue officers and transport police.
Safety & Citizenship employs a variety of resources to engage young people with the experience of travel – from display boards to inflatable trains, single-deck buses to mock Underground stations. With these, the programme prepares children who, at 10–11 years old, are about to begin travelling independently. It gives them the skills and attitude to make those journeys with responsibility and awareness. Knowing how to do this is essential in the Capital, where many children take public transport to and from school. As a result, LTM works free-of-charge with virtually all 10–11-year-old children in London. Last year over 88% of primary schools booked LTM sessions, and we reached 82,000 Year 6 children.
Encouraging safety and citizenship
Chris Nix, LTM
Industry experts at Mind the Skills Gap brainstormed a variety of solutions and suggestions that might rectify the problem. This may be a good time to encourage students to give engineering another look. Even in the difficult economic climate, infrastructure construction is predicting a record 7% growth over the next seven years. Transport investment is thriving internationally, with £400bn of known investments planned for the next 10–12 years. In the context of rising unemployment, the choice of engineering looks like a healthy option for young people.
Firms from across the sector have recognised that the skills shortage is something that will affect their business in the future. Many are taking steps to address the issue through different means. TfL’s Project Brunel is evaluating how to address this critical challenge. Other organisations are looking at their graduate training, schools outreach and also internal training processes. Participants agreed that the role of government is crucial. Funding has been allocated to help industry in their plans for improved training opportunities, but access to that support requires promotion and strategic commitment to reassure firms that projects will have a reliable flow of investment.
Recruitment is key, and everyone agreed that firms will need to find ways to draw from a larger pool of talent to attract the brightest and best young people into their world.
Hillary Alexander is a consultant at ARUP, a global firm of consulting engineers, designers, planners and project managers and a lead supporter of LTM Thought Leadership programme.
Why is it that 50% of engineering graduates do not go into industry after graduating?
That was one of the issues delegates discussed in March 2009 at the first in a series of Thought Leadership events organised by LTM and law firm Eversheds. The Mind the Skills Gap business breakfast was chaired by TfL Commissioner Peter Hendy and its delegates came together to address what can be done about the predicted skills shortage in the transport sector.
Recent research by the Department for Transport (DfT) has found that by 2013 there will be an estimated 26% gap in the skills required for London’s transport infrastructure projects. This presents a critical challenge for major projects such as Crossrail, Thames Tunnel and Thameslink. ‘There is one overall reason for committing to the skills agenda,’ warned Peter Hendy. ‘The numbers are so high and the gaps are so wide that if the industry fails to act now, then it will fail in terms of cost or delivery.’
The gap in engineering staff has many causes. One is the difficulty that the ageing workforce has in inspiring young people to choose engineering as a career. Women, too, as well as those from diverse backgrounds, are not being recruited in sufficient numbers. Only 10% of engineers are women and more should be encouraged into the industry.
Another problem is the competition the UK faces from a booming international transport construction industry, as well as internal competitors. Traditional sectors such as utilities, power, rail and highways, alongside newer sectors such as nuclear decommissioning and new power stations, all demand resources. This in turn creates more competition for skills in the transport sector.
Mind the Skills Gap
Hillary Alexander, Arup
16 17Access and museum operations
Access and museum operations
18 19Access and museum operations
Over 300,000 people visited LTM in 2008/09, making it the most successful year in the Museum’s history. Operating the Museum every day except Christmas Day and Boxing Day, the Visitor Services team achieved a consistently high standard of customer service throughout the year and attained Visitor Attractions Quality Assurance Scheme (VAQAS) Accreditation as a result.
When our Acton Depot opened to the public on two weekends during 2008/09, over 7000 people visited. The November weekend had a family-fun theme, while ‘London’s Transport in Miniature’ in March featured model railway and tramway layouts and was the most popular open weekend that has ever been held at the Depot.
The popularity of the permanent galleries, particularly with families, was enhanced by a range of events that attracted new audiences. We participated in the London Design Festival in September 2008 and created a programme of events as part of the London Festival of Architecture which included a talk on Shanghai eco-city Dongtan and a talk by Wayne Hemingway on his vision for sustainable communities.
In June 2008, the Museum opened its Futures galleries, sponsored by Orange. These include the Future Generator – an interactive that presents four different urban living scenarios that could be realized by 2055 and allows visitors to discover which scenario they are most likely to bring about by their actions. The galleries were launched with a major public debate: Survive or thrive? Urban choices for the 2050s, which was chaired by BBC Radio Four presenter, James Naughtie.
Our online museum was also launched in 2008. It makes available online the entire collection that is on display at Covent Garden. In addition, for the first time we put an entire special exhibition, The art of the poster, online in order to preserve all the text and provide future access to the exhibition via the web. For the centenary of the LT roundel logo in September 2008, we launched a roundel web resource which included many web firsts for the
Access and museum operations
Museum – high-quality zoomable images, a flash-based matching pairs game, Web 2.0 Flickr group feed integration and a new online evaluation module.
The Museum also enhanced the website with Share your memories. This facility allows web visitors to add their personal interpretation of the Museum’s objects. Its goal is to capture stories and information that will enrich the meanings of the collection for new and culturally diverse audiences.
2120 Access and museum operations
The gallery display about transport staff was shaped by one such donation. In 1999 a box of photographs appeared on a curator’s desk with no indication as to where it had come from or from whom. The only evidence to go on was that they were all associated with Rye Lane bus garage and dated from 1957–60. They were a wonderful series of snapshots of garage social events, many featuring the same smiling man.
Years later one of the images was selected for a gallery in the new Museum, where it is now proudly displayed, helping to tell the story of London Transport workers.
In 2008, a visitor arrived at LTM, asking if we had received the photographs he had donated almost ten years earlier. We quickly recognised him as the ‘mystery man’ in the Rye Lane photographs. We took Joe Taylor, now in his late 80s, along with his son and grandson, to see the wonderful photograph in the gallery. Joe was delighted to see the photo up on the wall and over the next few weeks contributed many memories which we recorded.
When we ask visitors today, all confirm that they find something of themselves in the transport story. Londoners remember childhood journeys on bus and Tube. Many recall stories their grandparents told them. The collection holds amazing power as a source of memory and imagination.
Kerry Foster is Assistant Director, Visitor Services. John Bull is Assistant Director, Learning and Public Programmes.
When LTM was looking to reinvent itself, we recognised that the display of our outstanding collections held the key.
When we asked potential visitors how we could deliver a world-class museum, people loved the appeal of objects, but demanded that we use them in imaginative ways. ‘It should be full-on,’ said one young adult. ‘Bombard you with colour… really waking you up to see the everyday.’
The creative use of the LTM collection became our goal. We would use objects to transport visitors to another place or time, capturing their imaginations, prompting memories, surprising them with stories they didn’t know. When people are startled by what they see in the galleries, their often childlike wonder reminds us that in some ways, we all share the eyes of younger visitors. It’s a quality no museum would want to lose, and we were determined to hold onto it.
LTM is a favourite museum for children. Each year, over 20,000 visit in school groups and 90,000 as part of families. They give many reasons for coming – the children’s galleries and interactives, the shop (a perennial favourite for school groups) – but it’s the objects that come out top:
My favourite vehicle was the horse-drawn tram. It was made in 1866. It was my favourite because it had special tracks. I learned that the bus used to tip over. I will remember the bus forever because it was funny. Owen, Eltham Junior College
Personal memories are another attraction for visitors. Every day people share with us anecdotes prompted by our galleries. It is this interaction between public and collection that keeps the objects alive and enhances LTM displays. People even bring new objects to add to our collections.
The power of objects
Kerry Foster and John Bull, LTM
The objectives were innovative, and to our knowledge no other Museum has achieved this same level of integration between physical museum, website and the collation of UGC, where public memories get automatically fed back into the institution’s collections management system.
But would people use it? A web-based survey informed us that visitors were very interested in the community of voices that UGC provided. And people were keen not just to contribute stories, but to read comments made by other visitors. One year into the project, over 200 moderated contributions have gone live onto our site. They have also been entered into our catalogue and are now part of the Museum’s historical object records. Users can access and comment on 17,000 images and objects.
We have had some great submissions. One contributor was an ex-bus conductor now living in New Zealand. The tales he submitted were so detailed and interesting that we developed his stories into a ‘featured contributor’ section of the website, with zoomable images on the records he commented on.
An additional benefit to our UGC platform is that in collecting users’ memories of specific objects, we have attracted several hundred cataloguing queries that challenged or corrected existing Museum information. These UGC submissions are now forwarded to the curatorial department for verification and possible inclusion in the catalogue. The web has provided a truly global resource for LTM, not just taking the collection across the world, but making the world’s knowledge a part of the Museum.
Rob Lansdown is Assistant Director, Support Services. Bryan Wills is Head of Digital Resources. LTM online resources can be accessed at ltmuseum.co.uk
Obtaining user-generated content (UGC) through tools such as Flickr, YouTube and MySpace is now common practice within other websites.
So how do museums embrace this increasing web 2.0 trend and what benefits can it bring? The challenge isn’t so much technical, as finding ways to integrate UGC with existing curatorial research and present it to the public in meaningful ways. Bringing it in is one thing; making sense of it quite another.
In March 2008, LTM launched its own UGC platform as part of The Online Museum, a project funded by the MLA’s Renaissance programme. The new LTM website would present all the newly opened Museum’s objects, together with gallery text. But adding UGC would enable users to participate in the Museum. They could engage with the objects then and there, telling their own stories about LTM objects, giving an extra, often highly personal dimension to more traditional forms of object explanation.
LTM’s plan was ambitious. We wanted to link and store UGC in our internal collections management system, so we could expand the information available about any object we had. Users would have access to the Museum’s research resources, but they would also be part of an exciting dialogue with the Museum.
To make the UGC worthwhile, we had to create as fully integrated a system as possible. Other institutions needed to be able to share the platform, and LTM also wanted to associate web-based submissions with other material, such as memories collected and catalogued digitally by community curators.
User-generated content
Rob Lansdown and Bryan Wills, LTM
2322 Heritage and collections
Heritage and collections
2524
The core of LTM historical collection comprises material collected by London Transport since 1925. The collection now totals 350,000 objects and its breadth has relevance well beyond transport history. The objects are a central intellectual resource to study subjects that range from industrial design to the social and economic history of London. Last year, LTM added 3742 items to the permanent collection, including a Saviem French motorbus from 1977 and a newly commissioned artwork from Sir Peter Blake.
Ensuring that our heritage rolling stock is available not only for display, but for operation is a key objective of our curatorial work. A fully restored four-car unit of 1938 Tube stock made three successful trips onto the London Underground network in 2008/09 and has undergone detailed examination to renew its certification for operation in 2009/10. Four other vehicles from the road collection received attention to enable them to operate outside of the Museum premises and carried passengers at special running days. The high quality of the Museum’s conservation programme was recognized by the Historic Commercial Vehicle Society, which awarded our 1936 AEC Tower Wagon the first in class award for its standard of restoration and presentation.
As the Museum has grown, the Collections department has implemented innovative ways to develop, record and interpret the collection, in part to reflect more fully the experience and interests of London’s diverse communities. The Community Curator project works with a number of partners, including the A1 Centre in Holborn, Soho Chinese Community Centre, Hackney Museum and the Anglo-Caribbean Tea Club.
LTM special exhibitions attract visitors of all ages, backgrounds and abilities. The exhibition programme is also an opportunity for the Museum to reinterpret collections from non-traditional perspectives, incorporating community voices and working in partnership with external experts, artists and other institutions. A key aim in 2008/09 was to support such work with lively talks and events, which drew on both our reserve collections and content acquired by working with new partners.
Heritage and collections
Heritage and collections
2726 Heritage and collections
The new LTM’s first major exhibition was The art of the poster: A century of design, which celebrated 100 years of graphic design for the Underground and London Transport. Sponsored by American Express, it featured over 60 original designs – many displayed publicly for the first time. A richly illustrated book, London Transport posters: A century of art and design, accompanied the exhibition. An award-winning marketing campaign, supported by Clear Channel, attracted over 45,000 visitors to the exhibition during its six-month run. The art of the poster is now on international tour.
2928
an audio-visual display that will be part of the exhibition. Their involvement will, we hope, encourage other visitors to explore what’s interesting about their own localities.
Sound recordings are a particularly effective means of personalising objects in the collection. The Sound Bites audio trail uses voices to illuminate objects currently on display at LTM. But its methodology is doubly empowering, for it is not LTM, but other groups who do the oral history interviews. For Black History Month, pupils from Acton High School drew on objects to interview TfL staff about their experiences. As well as building young people’s skills and confidence, the recordings created a unique archive, and their dialogues were refreshingly outside the usual museum parameters. London’s Chinese diaspora communities also worked with the Museum to record their responses to objects and experiences to offer a new perspective on the collection.
Film, too, has become a key feature of community collecting. Digital storytelling has created a dynamic new platform for gathering contemporary perspectives on travel and transport in the Capital. Participants are taught how to create a short film, and then use the collection to relate what’s important to them. Partners have included Tate Modern’s Community Film Club and Thames Reach, a charity that works with homeless and vulnerable adults. The latter films highlighted the participants’ different talents from song-writing to animation, and gave the makers not just access to the Museum’s resources, but made them a part of its success. The new films will become part of the Museum’s collection for future generations to experience and enjoy.
Jane Findlay is Community Curator and Martin Harrison-Putnam is Senior Curator.
Museums are changing the way they interpret their collections. Gone is the single stern voice of the institution or all-knowing keeper.
Curators today look to collect multiple voices, examining the significance of objects from a wide variety of viewpoints and bringing people formerly overlooked into the museum conversation.LTM has been at the forefront of these new practices. Creative approaches to community consultation, social networking, contemporary collecting and exhibition co-curation have encouraged both traditional and non-traditional audiences to share in the process of interpretation. The Museum works in partnership with communities across London to capture their experiences of travel and transport in the Capital. We’ve developed a wide range of methodologies, often using new technologies to facilitate access for everyone and appeal to younger participants.
One way we engage communities is to incorporate their lives into our displays, not just asking for their involvement, but putting their efforts on public show. Painting Lives worked with the Chinese Community Centre in Soho to reinterpret Chinatown, a 1987 oil painting by John Bellany. The project explored identity and representation by asking: What did the work mean to Chinese audiences today? Participants responded by creating their own artworks, and the portraits and masks they produced were displayed alongside Bellany’s original painting in The art of the poster exhibition.
For the Museum’s latest exhibition Suburbia (opening October 2009), residents in Golders Green, the first Tube suburb developed in 1907, created a walking tour of their suburb. In addition, local residents’ views about what makes their suburb unique have been incorporated into
Getting communities talking
Jane Findlay and Martin Harrison-Putnam, LTM
some of the greatest names in 20th-century art and graphic design, including Edward McKnight Kauffer and Edward Wadsworth.
Research ranged widely. Photographs of posters in situ over the past 100 years were unearthed. Original letters and papers relating to individual works were discovered. Over 1000 information records were developed with photographs and interpretive text, leading to a new history of TfL’s poster heritage with contributions from the V&A, Central Saint Martins, Whitworth Art Gallery and others. London Transport posters: A century of art and design garnered very favourable reviews. The history of the posters was ‘beautifully and intelligently documented in this book’, wrote the New Statesman.
The final outcomes were an immense success. In 2007 the entire collection was placed online in a fully searchable database, and within a year, over two million pages had been accessed across the globe. Improved tours of the poster and artwork collection have become a popular feature of Acton open weekends, while the exhibition, The art of the poster: A century of design (October 2008–March 2009), drew over 45,000 visitors during its six-month run.
That the collection still inspires visitors more than justifies Frank Pick’s original faith in the power of the poster. With new works commissioned by TfL every year, the collection continues to develop. It is a mirror of the everyday lives of Londoners, a living art of the city that millions experience every day. It will surely inspire visitors for years to come.
David Bownes is Interim Head Curator. He edited London Transport posters: A century of art and design (2008) and authored one of its articles: ‘Selling the Underground Suburbs 1908–33’.
The Tube has been called the longest art gallery in London, thanks to the Underground’s continuing policy of using outstanding poster designers to sell its services.
Begun in 1908, under the enlightened direction of Frank Pick, Underground commissions have left LTM with one of the world’s greatest poster collections, designed by some of the world’s leading artists.
The 2008 centenary of posters on the Underground gave LTM the perfect opportunity to celebrate this rich legacy of art and design. The posters are a perennial favourite at the Museum, popular with the public and a fascinating pictorial history of life in London. LTM had a new bespoke space in the redesigned building, and project funding from the MLA’s Designation Challenge Fund (DCF). But we hoped to do more than just trot out a predictable display of elegantly framed posters.
The Museum wanted to reach all prospective viewers, so we divided the main public outcomes into four, based on extensive audience research: complete online access (via LTM website) which would be free to anyone; improved physical access to the reserve collection at Acton; scholarly publication to showcase new research; and the exhibition itself as an engaging public forum for all our visitors, supported by talks, films and other events.
Preparation began in 2006 with a massive retrospective of the collection, including the preparation of almost 5000 posters and the digitisation and conservation of LTM’s unique collection of 850 original artworks on which the posters were based. These featured works by
The art of the poster
David Bownes, LTM
Heritage and collections
3130 Future plans
Future plans
32 33
The importance of developing our audience and collections, and making the best use of our recently renovated Museum and Acton Depot remain at the forefront of LTM’s short- and long-term agenda. Although we face a difficult economic climate, in 2009/10 the Museum aims to host at least 275,000 visitors and attract at least 900,000 unique visitors to the online museum, obtain at least £370k in funding from corporate memberships and sponsorship, grow the retail contribution to the charity by 5% and review all costs to seek efficiencies and increase value for money.
Our key areas of programme delivery for 2009/10 are to:
• Launch the major exhibition Suburbia, which will examine the role of transport in creating the myth and reality of the suburb in London
• Engage young people in engineering activities in order to provide skills and learning
• Develop the Thought Leadership programme to establish the Museum as a forum for debate about the future of London and its transport
• Create a strategic plan for developing Acton Depot to extend collections access and educational engagement
• Extend the website with two major pieces of work: our London Museums Hub-funded Online Film collection and the Virtual Assistant programme that will use web technology innovatively to answer enquiries online
Future plans
Future plans
34 35
environmental damage, but the volume and speed of traffic remains high.
In ‘Living local’, only green transport is permitted. Car use is expensive and restricted. We use efficient public transport, but travel shorter distances.
‘Energy shock’ describes a world suddenly without fuel. The global economic system is severely damaged. Cities decline and there are local conflicts over resources. Lawlessness and mistrust are high.
‘Carbon controlled’ shows a future where reducing carbon emissions constrains personal mobility. A tough national surveillance system deducts individuals’ carbon points each time they travel or use electricity. The rich buy energy credits from the poor.
Future Generator results tabulated so far are consistent across rural, urban and non-UK participants. Most people are willing to change habits for the good of the future. Few wish to head towards an energy crisis, although many are troubled by a world run by intelligent technology.
If the current results of the Future Generator come to fruition, by 2055 we will be living in a London of villages, where most people live, work, shop and play in the same neighbourhood and commuting is a thing of the past. Life is eco-friendly, buildings sustainable and power is clean, green and generated locally. Scientists will have engineered low-emission vehicles for public transport, emergency services and recycling schemes. Life will be local, but computers will still be an important portal to wider communities.
Rob Lansdown is Assistant Director, Support Services. Future Generator can be found at http://future.ltmcollection.org
What will London be like in 2055? Wracked by energy shortages? Super-efficient from new technologies? So green we’ll be back to taking the horse out for a ride?
Future Generator is a fascinating interactive that asks visitors to reveal their lifestyle priorities. It then generates a future urban scenario based on widespread use of those choices. Visitors can play the game in the Museum, and since April 2008, anyone online at LTM website can also sit down and predict the future. So far over 6000 people have had a go.
How does Future Generator work? A series of flash-card choices asks you to state some preferences. Seasonal fruit, or all-year food availability? Tradition or innovation? The answers are weighed, and the programme then creates and leads you through a 3D city environment that represents the future your choices would create. You also get the overall picture based on every participant’s input. What’s emerging is a compelling portrait of lifestyle demands and social responsibility.
The scenarios show how the future of London and its transport depends on decisions we all make. The goal is to get as many people as possible to reflect on the long-term environmental implications of the transport and other choices they make today. The game raises public awareness of economic and environmental issues, but also empowers individual involvement by emphasizing the role each of us plays in determining the future.
The player’s choices are measured against four main scenarios. Each represents an extreme possible future. ‘Always on’ is a society made possible by intelligent technology. It is driven constant information, consumption and competition. Cleaner fuel technologies reduce
Future Generator: The results
Rob Lansdown, LTM
Future plans
3736
Retail and eCommerceA number of initiatives were successfully undertaken this year by London Transport Museum (Trading) Limited, the Museum’s commercial trading arm. Of note was the launch of a new range of stylish home furnishings incorporating bus and Tube train moquette seat fabric. Off-cuts from the manufacture of the furniture are used to make high-quality accessories including handbags, wallets and doorstops that combine leather and moquette. This initiative was recognised in January 2009 by the Association of Cultural Enterprises with an award for best new product range of 2008 in the sector.
Venue hireOur Grade II listed building in Covent Garden has two principal spaces available for corporate and media events: the main Museum galleries (available for evening hire) and the stylish 121-seat Cubic lecture theatre (available for day or evening hire). Both spaces have been very well received by clients and corporate sponsors, who appreciate the top-quality venue, fully specified facilities and unrivalled central London location. Last year LTM hosted several high-profile events, including unveiling the Lotus Elise car and launching the Prince’s Trust/Bombardier partnership.
Income and support
The wide range of charitable activities the Museum offers is supported by income generated from retail and commercial activities, fundraising, marketing and the generous donations of time and funds by Museum volunteers and Friends.
Income and support
38 39
MarketingThe marketing priority for the Museum in its first full opening year has been to raise awareness of the new brand offer and reach new audiences. The challenge has been to counter the public perception, highlighted by audience research, that before refurbishment the Museum was `a place for lads and dads’.
Our strategy has been to launch a major campaign using radio, print and outdoor media to highlight new and exciting LTM content. The print campaign featured subjects ranging from the first female commuter, Mrs Beeton, to a design comparison between Stalin’s Moscow Metro and London Underground stations. It also included an award-winning radio advert read by the late Harry Patch, a First World War Tommy, about the use of London buses to transport troops to the Western Front. We invited people to see ‘their’ London in 2055 by using our interactive Future Generator exhibit. The overall campaign emphasized the diversity of stories that can be told by transport. It appealed to both traditional and new audience groups, including families, young urban professionals and Londoners of all ages.
We particularly targeted art and design enthusiasts with a range of programmes. Most important to this audience development strategy was our campaign to promote The art of the poster exhibition. The effectiveness of this campaign was recognised by winning ‘Best Marketing Campaign’ in the Museums and Heritage Awards for Excellence 2009.
Fundraising American Express Foundation donated $175,000 and worked with the Museum team to promote The art of the poster exhibition. The potential audience for the exhibition was extended thanks to the contribution of Clear Channel, which donated outdoor advertising space worth over £350,000. We also received grants from John Lyon’s Charity and Osborne Clarke to develop an accompanying educational programme.
New learning resources to promote skills and careers in the transport industry to school-age children were made possible by a Luke Rees-Pulley Charitable Trust grant of £30,000. In addition, public access to the Museum’s library and collections housed at the Depot will now be significantly improved thanks to a grant from DCMS/Wolfson Foundation Museums and Galleries Improvement Fund of £44,000.
The Museum also raised funds through its annual fundraising dinner, which was attended by nearly 400 transport industry guests and included Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, and Peter Hendy, Commissioner of TfL, as guest speakers.
Income and support
40 41
VolunteersThe Museum relies heavily on the many volunteers who provide their time, skills and expertise to a variety of departments. In 2008/09, 160 individuals gave their time to support Museum activities. Areas of involvement included the library, guided tours, working with the collections, oral history projects, photo library and the Acton Miniature Railway. During the period, a phenomenal 6900 hours were contributed by the volunteers. We aim to build on this achievement and develop our volunteer base even further in future.
In addition, significant support was given to the Safety & Citizenship programme by Volunteer School Liaison Officers drawn from across TfL and allied transport companies. The VSLOs provide invaluable real-life experience of the transport network and are a major part of the programme’s success.
London Transport Museum FriendsMany of our volunteers are members of the London Transport Museum Friends, a charitable organisation established ‘for the advancement of public education in the history of transport’, in particular by assisting and encouraging the work and activities of the Museum. The Friends provide valuable expertise, knowledge and enthusiasm, as well as financial support to the Museum. Thanks to the Friends’ generosity, the Museum was able to purchase a number of significant items for the collection between 1 April 2008 and 31 March 2009, as well as fund ongoing restoration projects.
Corporate supportersThe Museum believes in establishing relationships that work hard to achieve the business needs of both the Museum and our partners. Corporate membership offers networking opportunities such as our annual Covent Garden dinner, members’ receptions and our series of Thought Leadership debates. It also includes free or discounted use of the Museum’s unique galleries, state-of-the-art Cubic Theatre and stylish board room, as well as free entry to the Museum for company employees.
Income and support
42 43
Leader
ALSTOM Transport*
Angel Trains
Arriva London
Bombardier Transportation UK
East London Bus Group
FirstGroup UK Bus*
Halcrow Group
Herbert Smith*
Driver
Capital & Counties CG Ltd
Covent Garden London*
EnterpriseMouchel*
Eversheds*
The Go-Ahead Group
Ringway Jacobs*
Sacker & Partners
Westinghouse Rail Systems
Member
Atkins
Capgemini
Citylink Telecommunications*
Continental Automotive
Cubic Transportation Systems*
Deloitte*
EDF Energy Powerlink
FP Herting & Son
Freshfields*
Mott MacDonald
SGS UK
Telent Technology Services
Wates Construction
Associate
Ashurst*
Bircham Dyson Bell*
Birse Metro
Canary Wharf Group*
Freight Transport Association
Heathrow Express
Hyder Consulting UK*
KPMG
Lounsdale Electric
Mane Contract Services
Metroline*
YJL Infrastructure*
Honorary
4-Rail
Clear Channel*
Major funders
Transport for London
Heritage Lottery Fund
Major supporters
DCMS /Wolfson Foundation Museums and Galleries Improvement Fund
London Transport Museum Friends
Luke Rees-Pulley Charitable Trust
Principal sponsor
Tube Lines*
Sponsors
Alexander Dennis
ALSTOM Transport*
Arriva London
Axon Solutions
Capita
CBS Outdoor
Compak Ramps
Conran Design Group
Corus
Cubic Transportation Systems*
Docklands Light Railway
East London Bus Group
EDS
Eversheds*
FirstGroup UK Bus*
Hammonds
Hyder Consulting UK*
The Go-Ahead Group
Macquarie Group*
Mercedes-Benz buses and coaches
Metroline*
National Express UK
Network Rail*
NSL Services Group
Optare UK
Orange
Parsons Brinckerhoff
Peek Traffic*
Renaissance London
Ringway Jacobs*
SAP (UK)
Skanska McNicholas
Stagecoach London
Thales*
Toyota (GB)
Transdev
Volvo Bus
Wrightbus
Donors
Biffaward – a Landfill Communities Fund
Energy Saving Trust
Foresight, Government Office for Science
Garfield Weston Foundation
John Lyon’s Charity
Small donors
Coutts
The Fishmongers’ Company
The Goldsmiths’ Company
Osborne Clarke
Exhibition sponsor
American Express
Advertising support
Clear Channel*
Sponsors and donorsThe Museum would like to thank the following organizations for their generous support
Corporate membersLTM is grateful to the following companies for their support and generosity to the Museum in 2008/09
Income and support
* Thank you to companies who purchased tables at our 2008 Covent Garden dinner and auction. Thanks also to Amey, Balfour Beatty, CSC, London Overground Rail Operations, McKinsey & Company, Serco Integrated Transport and Siemens Traffic Solutions who also bought tables.
44 45
Charitable activitiesLTM’s performance since reopening has been strong in all three areas of charitable activity. Despite the economic downturn, the Museum welcomed over 300,000 visitors to its Covent Garden and Acton Depot locations during 2008/09 and there were 900,000 unique visitors to our new online museum. Our education and engagement work saw 24,000 school-age children at the Museum galleries. A further 137,000 pupils experienced the Safety & Citizenship programme at their schools. The high quality of the Museum’s heritage and collections work led to the award of full accreditation by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council on 25 September 2008. Furthermore, the curatorial team’s first major exhibition since reopening, The art of the poster, attracted 45,525 visitors during its six-month run. The exhibition generated additional revenue from book sales, talks and events amounting to over £20,000 and had a media reach of over 50 million which helped boost the Museum’s profile and attract new audiences.
Performance review
Pupils seen by the Safety & Citizenship programme
Museum and Depot visitors Education visits to the Museum
Actual Target
Unique visits to the Museum website
FinanceIn 2008, London Transport Museum changed its status from a Transport for London department to a registered charity incorporated as a subsidiary TfL company limited by shares. Under a Transfer Scheme agreement with Transport for London, the operation of the Museum, £28.7m of fixed assets and £0.6m of retail stock passed to London Transport Museum Limited at nil consideration. The fixed assets have been set aside in a designated fund and the sale of the stock allowed the Museum’s retail operation to generate profits that have been placed in a fund for future repairs and development.
As a charity, the Museum’s core operations are supported by an annual grant from Transport for London and supplemented with income generated through admissions, retail and trading activities, and grants and donations. During the 2008/09 period, the Museum supplemented its TfL grant of £5.47m with income from admissions, retail and trading amounting to £3.9m. In addition, the Museum received £2.1m in other grants and donations to support its charitable activities. The Museum spent £12.8m in the year, of which £1.8m was in support of the commercial trading operation. The majority of the expenditure, over £10m, related to the Museum’s charitable activities.
As a newly established charity without ready access to capital funds, the Trustees have set a target range for reserves of between £1m–£2m. Given the current economic climate, the Trustees intend to build up the reserves to the target level slowly and progressively, in stages consistent with the Museum’s overall financial position and its need to maintain and develop its charitable activities. At 31 March 2009, the Trustees designated an initial £500,000, drawn from the profits of commercial trading, in a Museum Development Fund.
Performance review
0k 50k 100k 150k 200k 250k 300k 350k
0k 30k 60k 90k 120k 150k
0k 5k 10k 15k 20k 25k
0k 200k 400k 600k 800k 1000k
302,122
300,000
136,912
23,619
22,500
918,214
800,000100,000
4746
Balance sheet
As at 31 March 2009
£000s
Tangible Fixed Assets 27,609
Current AssetsStock 682Debtors 886Cash 1,529
3,097
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year (2,402)
Net Current Assets 695
Net Assets 28,304
Represented byRestricted funds 45Called up share capital -Designated funds:
Fixed assets and buildings 27,609Pre-charitable liabilities 135Museum development 500
General fund 15
28,259
28,304
As at 31 March 2009
Unrestricted Restricted TotalFunds Funds Funds£000s £000s £000s
Incoming resourcesIncoming resources from generated funds
Voluntary income:Transfer of assets from TfL 28,834 - 28,834Core grant 5,471 - 5,471Other donations 820 - 820
35,125 - 35,125Activities for generating funds 2,851 3 2,854Investment income (bank interest) 65 - 65
Incoming resources from charitable activitiesEducation and engagement 1,346 346 1,692Access and museum operations 1,018 161 1,179Heritage and collections 4 213 217
2,368 720 3,088
Total incoming resources 40,409 723 41,132
Resources expendedCost of generating funds
Cost of generating voluntary income 597 3 600Commercial trading operations 1,775 - 1,775
2,372 3 2,375
Cost of charitable activitiesEducation and engagement 3,498 301 3,799Access and museum operations 3,953 161 4,114Heritage and collections 2,262 213 2,475
9,713 675 10,388
Governance costs 65 - 65
Total resources expended 12,150 678 12,828
Net incoming resources before transfers 28,259 45 28,304Gross transfers between funds - - -Net movement of funds in year 28,259 45 28,304
Reconciliation of fundsTotal funds carried forward 28,259 45 28,304
The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the period. All incoming resources and resources expended derive from continuing activities.
Statement of accounts
Consolidated statement of financial activities Including income and expenditure account
Statement of accounts
48 49
LTM Presents: Friday LatesBrief Encounter screeningVivienne Westwood, ManifestoBBC Arena Cab Driver screeningHalloween: Mind the GhostExhibitionists Art NightDrive, Ride, Walk The Routemaster Rocks
Friday evening events
Ealing Library storytelling
Every Object Tells a Story object-handling session
Social Surfers computer skills activity
Bizarre Buses craft activity
1a Children’s Centre storytelling
Our Stories touring community exhibition
Underground Style on the Piccadilly line tour
Routemaster Tour with Joe Kerr tour
Cab Driver (dir. Zimena Percival) film
Knowledge Quiz with Derek O’Reilly quiz
A1 Centre digital story-making project
Black History Month community events
Sense of Place walking trail
Sense of Place contemporary collecting project
National Year of Reading storytelling
The Big Draw drawing activities
We are the Champions storytelling
We Built this City craft session
Our Stories touring community exhibition
Powerful Posters drawing activities
Be Safe Week storytelling
Team Read with Westminster Libraries reading event
Cultural Olympiad open weekend
Public programme
The Museum offers a wide range of exhibitions and programmes that cater to London’s diverse community. Below is a selection of the events and activities that our visitors took part in during 2008/09:
Last Stop
Promotion in Motion: Advertising on the Underground Past Present and FutureThe art of the poster: A century of design
New Bus for London
Survive or Thrive? Urban Choices for the 2050s debate
Pop goes the Routemaster with Travis Elborough talk
A Pioneering Eco-City talk
Building for the Future with Wayne Hemingway lecture
The Roundel and the London Transport Poster Collection talk
Fantasy Piccadilly line with Nils Norman talk
Frank Pick Legacy talk
Pictorial Posters at the Turn of the 20th Century talk
My Father and Graphic Design talk
Fashioning the Tube Posters and the New Consumers talk
Artist Simon Patterson talk
Pictures with a Sting: Interwar Modernist Posters talk
Richard Wentworth in Conversation with Emily King talk
The Intelligent City: The New Publicity and Design Reform talk
Selling the Underground Suburbs talk
Art for All? The Public Response to Underground Posters talk
New Bus for London Designer Showcase talk
Exhibitions
Talks, debates and lectures
Activities and events
Public programme
continued…
50 51
Board of Trustees
Sir David Bell Chair
Robert Ian Arthurton
Roger Cooke
Leon Daniels
Jeremy Fraser from 03/09/08
Judith Garfield
Glenn Lyons
Timothy O’Toole* to 30/04/09
Valerie Todd* to 11/01/09
Janet Vitmayer
David Wetzel* to 02/06/08
David Worthington from 11/03/09
Samuel Mullins Chief Executive
Audit Committee
Roger Cooke Chair
Sir David Bell
Leon Daniels
Company Secretary
Howard Carter
Ellen Howard
Directors of London Transport Museum (Trading) Limited
Christopher Gilbert
Samuel Mullins
Randeep Sidhu
Michael Walton
David Worthington
Principal Bankers
HSBC 8 Victoria Street London SW1H 0NJ
Auditors
KPMG LLP 1 Forest Gate Brighton Road Crawley West Sussex RH11 9PT
Principal Legal Advisers
TfL In-House Legal Department 6th Floor Windsor House 42–50 Victoria Street London SW1H 0TL
Farrer & Co. 66 Lincoln’s Inn Fields London WC2A 3LH
Trustees and advisors
Kipper’s Birthday Party family event
Biggest Brightest London children’s activitiesBus Bonanza craft activities
Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus theatre show
Be Safe Week Safety & Citizenship activities
Acton Carnival family event
Amersham Heritage Day heritage day
Shoreditch Festival family event
Textiles Project in Ealing Central Library community activity
In the Studio film
Reversing the Process craft project
TfL LGBT Staff Network museum visit
National Science and Engineering Week in collaboration with Brunel Museum
science and engineering activities
1a Children’s Centre at Acton Depot filming day
Community Forum networking evening
Platform in Focus youth photography project
Secrets of the Depot design project
Camden Debating Challenge debate
TfL 500 Engineering Career Days engineering career days
Lambeth Academy Engineering Diploma project engineering diploma project
1938 Tube Train outing
Bow Garage Centenary
Northern line 70th
Potters Bar Garage
Gravesend public running day
Worcester public running day
Dorking and Guilford running day
Amersham public running day
Southend running day
Heritage vehicle outings
Activities and events (continued)
* Nominee of Transport for London
Trustees and advisors
03
The art of the poster
exhibition was praised by
Spectator magazine as a ‘real
oasis among the alarms and
excursions of London today’.
All images © London Transport Museum and Transport for London, 2009
London Transport Museum
Yearbook 2008/09
Yearbook 2008/09
Supported by
London Transport Museum Covent Garden Piazza London SW1H 0TL Tel. +44 (20) 7379 6344
London Transport Museum Ltd Charity number 1123122 Company number 6495761
Registered address: Windsor House 42–50 Victoria Street London SW1H 0TL
London Transport Museum (Trading) Ltd Company number 6527755
Registered address: Windsor House 42–50 Victoria Street London SW1H 0TL
ltmuseum.co.uk
London’s journey – past, present and future
