Toon Times at the Discovery Museum

The Discovery Museum is a local history and science museum based in the centre of Newcastle Upon Tyne. It is a free museum and it is always interesting to visit. It shows you all about life in Newcastle and Tyneside from the past to the present day. You get a closer look at the maritime history of the area and find out all about the scientific discoveries that were developed here and went on to change the world. The displays are interactive and you can easily spend several hours wandering around the different floors of the Discovery Museum.

As you enter the Museum you can’t miss the Turbinia, a 35m steam powered vessel that was once the fastest ship in the world. Her fascinating story is told on the walls as you walk past. Whilst we lingered in on the first floor, travelling back to a Newcastle from the past, the reason we were visiting was to see the new Toon Times exhibition.
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Those of you not from Newcastle might think this is an exhibit about cartoons, but you would be wrong. It is an exhibit charting the history of Newcastle United football club from 1881, when it began, to the present day. Toon is how town is pronounced in a Geordie accent and the Newcastle United football fans call themselves the Toon Army. If you live in Newcastle you will know that football is a passion amongst the fans.

Entry to the exhibit is a recreation of walking into the tunnel at St James park. My son walked in as if adoring fans were watching him. The exhibit itself is one room, but has a lot jam packed into it. There is a recreation of the changing room with the shirts from different years on the walls where my son posed. You can see the silverware we won in the past, alongside the shirts and programmes.
The history of the club is given in detail on the wall and makes fascinating reading. It shows how the game of football has changed over the years along with the club.

My son had fun identifying past legends and spotting their signed shirts. Afterwards he told me which players had signed which shirts for which matches.

I found the old photographs and letters really interesting, showing the teams of yesteryear along with the football they used to play. It is an absorbing exhibition that you can easily spend a while in. You also have the opportunity to add your football memories to the exhibit by writing them on labels and adding them to the wall at the back.

Toon Times will be in the Discovery Museum until the 5th October. If you get a chance  it is worth a visit. We really enjoyed looking around and learnt a lot about the history of Newcastle United football club.