Visiting London

[myk1066]

Hi all.
I'm off to London soon & want to know where may be good to buy badges.  Camden market is no good, I've been to Notting Hill but not sure which arcades/shops are best & I've also been to a small flea market near Regent Street in a church if I remember rightly.  I'm also planning on a visit to St Thomas's to the Great Hall to see the 300+ Nightingale badges.  I've done The London & St Thomas's museums so if there are anymore areas of interest please let me know.
Thanks
Myk1066

[Sarah Rogers]

hi mike, portobello road was hopeless.... its worth looking at the outised of the new london..quite am\zing! lizzie

[myk1066]

Hi Lizzie
Any suggestions?
Myk1066

[Sarah Rogers]

hi Mike, my husbnd has also tried covent garden..no luck, and chelmsford market has only yielded 1 physio badge..my brother in law goes there regularly.
If you fancy a good read, book a viist to the londons archives(prescot street) and ask to see miss luckes letters to her nurses!..but you do need to book ahead...her ideas about edith cavell as a nurse were not finding!
have you been to the old operating theatre..part of tommies?....we went there as student nurses...a few years ago..thats good
Lizzie

[Sarah Rogers]

Mike , another thought...if you go to the site of the old Middlesex...flattened but not developed because of the recession you can see thru...the only thing left i believe is the grade 2 listed chapel../mortuary///......(. a friend trained there , i visted her once..she had to share a room in her 1st year9we had our own at the london..might have been the east end not the west end !)... some good photos of it (the middlesex) on flikr. Lizzie

[backman]

Badge hunting in London is subject to considerable amounts of luck(much like everywhere else).I have picked up items at Covent garden in the past(antiques Mondays) but the last trip yielded only one overpriced UCH silver belt buckle which I passed on.I did look in the basement of Gray's antiques market where one stall occasionally had a badge but again rare.Camden is rubbish,Portabello too cluttered.Greenwich on Sunday wasn't too bad.The Angel Islington street market ok,Marylebone around Alfie's perhaps. I'm afraid the days of picking up an easy rare bargain are long gone.People recognise the prices that something like a Nightingale badge can fetch on ebay so dealers often prefer to sell on line.
How about a trip to Kew to the National Archive to peruse the GNC lists and records? I keep promising myself a trip one day but never have enough time.Don't know if you are an RCN member but the library have Meglaughlin's original notes about the badge designs that she was able to find.they also usually have a small range of historical items on display near to the library.You may be able to gain a visitors pass?
If you fancy a slightly different view of historical sites this is a useful book: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Walking-Londons-Medical-History-Ackroyd/dp/1853156191

Enjoy!