Category: Past Exhibitions

  • Trade – often copied, never equalled

    Thirty years ago, in October 1990, an idea was born that changed the face of night clubbing forever!           Trade night club, early 2000s The 1980s’ London gay-club scene was already thriving, playing disco, alternative electronic and early house music in venues such as Heaven, the…

  • We’ll Meet Again: VE-Day Celebrations

    We’ll Meet Again: VE-Day Celebrations

    As the final installment of the exhibition We’ll Meet Again: Islington on the Home Front in Photographs 1939-45, we look at how the people of Islington and Finsbury celebrated Victory in Europe Day, or ‘VE-Day’ in May 1945. Monday 7 May 1945 marked a joyous occasion – the formal surrender…

  • Researching We’ll Meet Again: a volunteer’s experience

    Researching We’ll Meet Again: a volunteer’s experience

    At Islington Museum we are lucky to have a dedicated team of volunteers that share their skills and expertise with us regularly. These volunteers assist us with a huge range of activities on a daily basis, from customer service, to collections work, educational assistance and research. A recent addition to…

  • The German Destroyer in Finsbury

    The German Destroyer in Finsbury

    The captured Messerschmitt Bf 110, pictured above on display outside Finsbury Town Hall, Garnault Place in October 1940, became the most photographed Luftwaffe plane of WW2. The aircraft was a twin-engined heavy fighter or ‘Zerstörer’ (‘Destroyer’ in English) flown by the Luftwaffe and some other nations during WW2. It was…

  • We’ll Meet Again: Carry On!

    We’ll Meet Again: Carry On!

    As part of the exhibition We’ll Meet Again: Islington on the Home Front in Photographs 1939-45, we delve further into life on the Home Front for the people of Islington and Finsbury during the Second World War. Whilst the people of Britain had to adapt to new ways of living…

  • Each bob you pay keeps the bomber away: The Islington Spitfire

    Each bob you pay keeps the bomber away: The Islington Spitfire

    Lord Beaverbrook, the Anglo-Canadian media tycoon Max Aitken, came into the British Government in early 1940 to help speed up aircraft production. He was an advocate of public appeals to raise funds for things like raw materials and also encouraged the public to shop thriftily to help the war effort.…

  • We’ll Meet Again: Home Front Preparations

    We’ll Meet Again: Home Front Preparations

    As part of the exhibition We’ll Meet Again: Islington on the Home Front in Photographs 1939-45, we look at how the people of Islington and Finsbury prepared the Home Front for the Second World War. The people of Britain endured the Second World War in an overwhelmingly stoical manner. The…

  • We’ll Meet Again: Bomb Damage – Islington in Action

    We’ll Meet Again: Bomb Damage – Islington in Action

    As part of the exhibition We’ll Meet Again: Islington on the Home Front in Photographs (1939-45), we delve deeper into the significant bomb damage suffered in Islington and Finsbury. Britain began preparing for the devastation of war on the home front well before the Second World War began. With the…

  • We’ll Meet Again: Bomb Damage – Destruction

    We’ll Meet Again: Bomb Damage – Destruction

    As part of the exhibition We’ll Meet Again: Islington on the Home Front in Photographs 1939-45, we look at the significant bomb damage suffered in Islington and Finsbury. The Second World War turned the home front into the battlefront. On 7 September 1940, Dornier and Heinkel bombers, escorted by Messerschmidt…

  • Revelry and jubilation, bonfires, squibs and brass bands: VE-Day celebrations in Islington and Finsbury 1945

    Revelry and jubilation, bonfires, squibs and brass bands: VE-Day celebrations in Islington and Finsbury 1945

    “After days of suspense the news was announced that on Monday afternoon [7 May 1945] the German Government had capitulated. War in Europe was over”, so announced the North London Press. The following day, Tuesday 8 May 1945, became known as VE-Day (Victory in Europe Day), with Winston’s Churchill famous…