M is for........

Maharajah at the Manchester Museum.

This is the skeleton of an Asian elephant called Maharajah.
He was bought in 1872 from a travelling circus in Edinburgh by James Jennison who owned Belle Vue Zoo in Manchester. (He was alive then, not a skeleton)

There was a bit of bother getting him into a horse box on the train at Waverley Station and so he was walked the 200 miles from Edinburgh to Manchester.
With his 20-inch tusks, he became the star attraction at Belle Vue Zoo providing rides for visitors until he died 10 years later from suspected pneumonia.

Manchester Museum has some great Natural History Galleries as well as a vivarium and aquarium that is always popular with children. When my two eldest were small there were live alligators on display. They are not there now.

Owned by the University, the Museum opened to the public in 1888 and was designed by Alfred Waterhouse (he designed the Natural History Museum in London).
I love it and admission is FREE!!

Cycled over to see Jeff for breakfast after his night shift and then had a quiet day doing my own stuff.
A wander round the museum was followed by a walk in Whitworth Park.

Lovely day.

Sherlock Holmes & Watson go to a Rock Museum.
They walk around for a while when Watson notices that there is a rock that doesn't have a display name.
"What kind of rock is that?" he asked Sherlock.
"Sedimentary, my dear Watson!"

more Manchester stuff