Bayeux tapestry

[Crosorbled]

Will benefit claimants get reduced price tickets to see the Bayeux Tapestry ?

That's what DH is saying, though he still queued for ages to get a ticket. I want to see the Reading one more than the real one, which I've seen dozens of times already in France. I bet the Reading one gets really busy soon.

I was in the virtual queue for 5 hours yesterday and when I got to the front everything was sold out. Will try again in January and for the final slot later next year but I’m wondering, given how popular this is, if it might just be better to wait until it’s gone back to France, and visit the non-penisy one in Reading instead (to compare and contrast).

I went to the Samurai exhibition a few months back which was excellent but a bit of a scrum at points. Fearful that this will be worse and spoil the experience.

I wonder how long ticket holders are allowed to look at it?

We saw it a good few years ago when we were in Normandy on holiday and just entered the museum ad-hoc. It is absolutely amazing but I think I’ll wait until it returns to France and combine it with another holiday there. Getting tickets for these things can be far too much of a hassle and a few recent exhibitions I’ve been to at the British Museum have been overcrowded in my opinion even with timed tickets.

So they are presenting it full length and flat. You go in on a walkway and look down on it before going down to look from it level

in France it is displayed on the wall and not full length

I am so happy that there is a huge interest in this exhibition. It shows that our love of history is as strong as ever. This at a time when the push in schools and universities is for STEM course at the cost of the Humanities.

Top rated history and archaeology degree course are being shut , yet we still clamour to see what is a very expensive exhibition for many people.

I went to see the tapestry in France a few years ago. It's amazing. Incredibly details, and for fabric to have survived so well for so long is incredible.

I'm going as well. Really looking forward to it.

a time when the push in schools and universities is for STEM course at the cost of the Humanities.

Science is hugely important in history and archaeology. Chemical analysis and so on. We shouldn't split Science and humanities as we do.

The BM say to allow about 40 minutes for your visit, so hopefully not too hurried along.

I have seen it several times (school trips, I was a French teacher) in Bayeux. I think it is amazing and I am delighted to have been able to book tickets to see it in the UK.

Why? As @reluctantbrit and others say

• It’s an almost 1000-year-old fabric artefact, just wow
• It tells a story of an astonishing historical event
• It’s also a fascinating social history document – the hairstyles, the barbecue, the clothes, so so much
• It’s beautiful and the colours are intense
• It’s in Latin – love it (I did Latin O level, it was a big thing in my school)
• I am a history nut and I love anything like this

If it’s not for you then that’s fine. I mean I wonder why people pay a lot more £££ to watch Harry Styles from a great distance away (well I don’t, they can do that for sure – but it’s not for me) – but then I also spent ££ to be at the Paris Olympics. We all like different things and that’s fine.

Btw yes no scrum for tickets – logged on at 10am, was told how long the queue was, bought tickets about 2pm. Like others, we found there was lots of availability. Maybe a lot of ppl tried to log on later in the say? We were able to book a Sunday afternoon no worries. Sorry to those who couldn’t get through :( tbh when I saw the availability at 2pm I was amazed to see later it had sold out, but more tickets released later this year. Get the BM to send you alerts.

I guess I am lucky that I can log on to a queue website at work and just get on with my work tasks – obvs lots of ppl cannot do that

But apparently there's no penises cos the Victorians didn't approve!

If you like tapestry and you're in Scotland or happy to visit then this one is amazing The Great Tapestry of Scotland | Scotland's history like never before

I don’t know why they don’t just open for longer hours to soak up the demand. The V&A did that for Marie Antoinette fashion recently. Couldn’t get tickets but then they released a load of “after hours” tickets. Rest of museum was closed but that was fine.
I saw BT once as an 11 year old and again when I took my kids when they about the same age. It is impressive and so many scenes are memorable from primary school lessons.
Enjoy.

One summer I saw it every week for about 3 months.

i worked for a kids adventure company based near by, the kids stayed a week at a time, so we had to take a new set each week.

that was years ago now. I'd like to see it again, but not packed in like sardine.

some people will be thrilled to know it's only £2 cheaper for a disabled person than a regular off peak ticket.

We live right in the middle of 1066 Country so it’s part of our everyday lives. Our lovely MP managed to get priority booking for local people and free train travel for local children. I have seen it and was absolutely blown away by it (whilst pedant-ing to myself that it’s actually an embroidery, not a tapestry).

Argh I was in the queue for 7 hours, joining it the second I realised it was open but after work. By the time I got in it was 3am and fast asleep...
At the start there were 72,000 people ahead of me in the queue so I figured the chances were slim.

I've seen it in Bayeux, and yes the room had about 10 people in it, but DH and the DC haven't seen it.

More tickets will be released later in the year - it's showing till next summer. So you might not have missed out yet.

Also, if they do extra late night openings for popular exhibitions, it's usually in the last month or two.

I saw it about 15 years ago and it is something well worth seeing. I hope those who wish to see it get tickets when the next batch are released.

I vote for Reading as well. A nice collection of Huntley and Palmer biccie tins.

There is a lovely park nearby with a bandstand and a big Red Lion. And I also like the Museum of English Rural Life - MERL. That's just about walkable from the Reading Museum. All free to all. Plus, Reading has a huge number of shoe shops, if that's your bag.

No need to go to Reading. You can see it all on-line without leaving your home, every stitch and penis.

https://www.bayeuxmuseum.com/en/the-bayeux-tapestry/discover-the-bayeux-tapestry/explore-online

I just hope, Just Stop Oil, Palestinian Action etc, leave it alone.

MERL is one of my favourite museums.

It's definitely well worth seeing in the flesh, I've been twice to the Bayeux museum and the audio guide was brilliant, you could just immerse yourself in the tapestry so it started to feel like a movie. The colours and sense of movement are amazing. We just let the tour groups in a hurry go past us.

Probably won't visit London to see it, for us it's almost as far as France, but would encourage anyone who hasn't seen it to go!

Me too (pedant) & technically crewel work 🙄😂

Sometimes I wonder at my brain

Please don't all come to Reading! Our museum is one of DS2s favourite days out and one of the reasons he loves it (ND and MH issues) is that it's always so quiet and empty there.

But if you do come, the Forbury Gardens and Abbey Ruins are great for a picnic. And MERL is fab too.