Brighton Toy and Model Museum

Childhood memories

By Maureen Brand, North Laine resident

A wander around the Toy Museum will delight both the young and the old. Over 10,000 exhibits are on display, collections from the last 100 years. The young find their favourites, which may be tinplate toys, dolls, puppets, games or the working railway layouts. Those older are often heard to exclaim as they spot a toy from their past: perhaps a ship, the Meccano or a tiny teaset.

This museum within North Laine is housed underneath the station concourse, with the front door in the underpass at the start of Trafalgar Street, Nos 52-55. Look around when you go inside. You are in arches, old stores from the 19th century. The space directly inside the Museum used to be stables for ten horses - look up at the semi-circular hay spaces towards the ceiling. A silo for hay was at the rear. To the left the higher (floor) area of the Museum was once the barrel store. During World War II the army used the arches.

A registered charity, the museum is led by its founder and Director Chris Littledale and a dedicated group of volunteers. At the moment it is not open on Sundays and Mondays but they welcome you there on Tuesdays to Saturdays. Up to date information on the Toy Museum, including opening times, may be found on the Museum website.