Clangers, Bagpuss and Co at the Museum of Childhood

My 6 year old adores The Clangers and I have pretty fond memories of them from my own childhood. So when I heard the Clangers were coming to the Museum of Childhood I knew we would have to go. Yesterday we packed our own little Clangers and headed off to the Underground.

The Museum of Childhood is a lovely place to visit. It’s in an historic building and there is lots of room to explore the exhibits and displays. The Clangers, Bagpuss & Co. display is just inside the entrance of the museum and consists of display cases, a place to try your own stop animation and a room to sit and watch episodes of your favourite childhood shows.

Oliver Postgate’s voice and Peter Firmin’s puppets shaped the childhood memories of millions since they started collaborating in the 1950s. As well as telling the story of Bagpuss and The Clangers, the exhibition goes behind the scenes of some of their other creations; Pogles Wood, Noggin the Nog and Ivor the Engine.

I remember the Clangers and Bagpuss so it was a real treat to see scripts and the original puppets. Did you know the Clangers clothes were inspired by something worn by Twiggy? I especially loved the x ray of one of the Clangers showing their skeletons were made from Meccano.

I didn’t remember Pogles Wood, Noggin the Nog or Ivor the Engine but my husband did. The original drawings were lovely to look out, as was some of the original recording equipment.

We were able to learn more about how Oliver and Peter developed their stop-frame animation techniques and have a go ourselves. We finished off by sitting and watching some original episodes. I don’t think the children even noticed that the episodes were old, they were drawn into the characters and stories.

The exhibition is open until October 9th and entrance to the museum and display is free.

You may also be interested in our other Clangers posts:
Clangers Home Planet Playset review
Clangers Squeeze and Whistle plush
Clangers the Brilliant Surprise Book
Clangers planet play scene
Clangers sun catchers
Clangers returns to tv