Remembering Hornimans Museum.

Seated around the large mahogany dining table, our family of ten, waited for our cup of tea from the enormous brown enamel tea pot, that was nearly always brewing on the big iron kitchen range, our turn came eventually as you had to wait there was a pecking order, elders first, children by age. “Can I have more milk in mine please?”
Dad said “If you only knew the trouble to get that tea for us you would not dilute it so with milk”. “What do you mean Dad”. Dad was always ready to go into great lengths to explain anything that we put to him.
“ You are lucky to live just a few blocks from the Museum that was built by the man Frederick Horniman whose father John Horniman had made a fortune bringing Tea to England, in 1826, as he travelled to far off countries China and India to find tea growers he collected all kind of things brought them home to his house Surrey House in London Road Forrest Hill. As his collection grew he had in 1901 a Museum built to exhibit all those things some are very strange.”
I cant recall the date , but I think it was about 1938, we the three older boys, got on the tram outside our home, travelled the short distance along Lordship Lane to the Southern Railway bridge that spanned the road from here it was called London Road, (If you were in time you might see the Steam Engine pass overhead).
We now passed the Hornimans Gardens, these looked to us like a large park, The tram stopped outside the Horniman Museum, as we got off there was the tall Tower that had the entrance to the Halls and Balconied galleries. We passed through the Turnstile not having to pay to get in, there was displayed on the wall the history of the Tea Trade and the Horniman involvement, but we could see a Knight in shining armour on a black horse just inside, so tea now got forgotten about.
There was a Clock a very tall and wide one. On the hour it would chime and a door opened at one side and Twelve Apostles slowly passed to vanish through the door on the other side, as each Apostle passed it would turn to face the viewer, except Judos who turned his back. Just outside the back door was a stone seat made from a solid piece of Granite it looked like a armchair, we had heard stories that if you sat in it you could hear the drums of the Tribes, or you could ask for a wish for the future, one who sat there jumped up quickly and would not say why, so nobody else ventured a try.
We learned about all sorts of things, and saw things that made you wonder about where they had come from and those people, a woman from a native tribe had rings around her neck so that her neck stretched to a foot long.
Our stomach at long last dictated our return ride on the tram.
As we once again sat awaiting Tea, Dad said “What did you learn at the Museum?).
“Dad In 1875 they first packed tea in sealed paper packages to sell in Grocers shops, when it was brought by ship it was put into ply boxes lined with tin foil.” “So you enjoyed your visit to the Museum then?”
“ Try your tea with no milk, the way it should be.”
We did taste it but by the look on our faces reminded us of those Aborigines warriors faces in the Museum, so we all thought that adding milk is better for us as we are only young children.