Mammals on the move
25 August 2010
Some of RAMM’s 1.5million objects are so big that their galleries have to be virtually built around them.
The African elephant and Gerald, the much loved giraffe, were too big to move into storage and have remained on site throughout the redevelopment. Carefully wrapped to avoid damage from dust, impact and vibrations they were both on castors allowing them to be moved easily and the gallery refurbished around them.
Both will feature in a new gallery featuring a fascinating mix of iconic objects from RAMM’s collections and both are too big to fit through the doors.
Elephant aloft
On Monday 16 August, the African elephant lead the way, leaving the former natural history gallery through a floor-to-ceiling window. From Upper St Paul’s Street, a lorry then carried the elephant into Queens Street and round to the contractor’s compound in Northernhay Gardens where it was upended and securely repacked ready to be lowered through the roof into the new gallery.
On Wednesday 18 August it was hoisted over the Roman wall separating the garden from the museum into its new gallery, entering it tail first.
Gerald moves into his new gallery
The elephant was followed by Gerald the giraffe, the first of many iconic objects to enter the gallery and the first of the thousands of objects that will feature in the new displays when RAMM reopens next year.
Captured on film
The photos below show what happened on the day and there are more photos on our Facebook page.
