Pollock’s Toy Museum

This is a real London treasure. It’s a toy museum and shop (a brill toy shop, too) housed in two adjoining houses in Fitzrovia, one 18th Century, the other 19th. It’s not that we’re dotty about toys per se, but Pollock’s is irresistible. You go up windy staircases and in and out of small interconnecting rooms and everywhere you look there are fantastically charming tableaux showing treasures, toy theatres, and every kind of teddy, toy, tin soldier and doll – some very old, some from far flung spots, all of them clearly treasured in their day. The way they are displayed and the accompanying information is really imaginative and touching. The whole place is so atmospheric and transporting that it makes you feel quite odd and dreamy (like you’ve entered many childhoods), but in a good way. This is a great place to take kids (of any age, but as it is for looking rather than playing, not so great for toddlers) on a rainy day, and you don’t need to book. Just show up, pay the entrance fee, and go through the small door on the right….