A recent blogger had fun in the museum, during what sounds like a busy weekend of museum visiting in London!

On the eve of Remembrance Sunday, another post to remind you of the work of the women who worked on the canals in the Second World War, who risked their lives in locations that were frequently attached from the air, to keep war traffic moving by canal boat. Our recording of Emma Smith's memories is available on SoundCloud.

There is not much remembrance of canal workers, few if any memorials around. This programme looks worth watching on Sunday.

A couple of weeks ago we posted pictures of the British Transport Waterways sign that had been found in a Canal and River Trust maintenance building. There were - and still are, two mysteries. 1. Where was it displayed originally? We still do not know although we think it was almost certainly in London. 2. What is the word after "this"? It is a four-letter word, from the spacing, and the penultimate letter is probably S but we cannot really make this out. The news is that the Canal and River trust have kindly donated the sign to the London canal Museum and we have collected it. One of the pictures shows it with some packaging to protect it in the back of a hired van. It has been taken to a specialist carpenter and the pictures are of the sign in his workshop, some way from London. The carpenter specialises in conservation work and has a remit to replace the missing parts but to preserve and protect the original material to the maximum possible extent. We are spending some hundreds of pounds on the conservation and transport costs. The front will be cleaned to the extent that it can be cleaned without damage to the lettering or paint surface. - it is quite dirty. The sign was at Adeleide Dock near Southall, where CRT have maintenance facilities. It was previously at a now-closed facility at Norwood. We don't know much about its past. The intention is to hang the sign on the wall of the museum early in 2018. If anyone can add any more information to what we already know, please post it here, or in a private message. We would love to know what that word was, find a photo, or to know more about the boat trips advertised and where they went.

There are a few places available today on the 1510 boat. They are not bookable online or by telephone but available on a first-come, first-served, basis to people who come in person to the museum.

A few pictures from the #halloween weekend so far....

Just to remind everyone the museum is open until 2100 Saturday and Sunday and although the boat trips are mostly sold out except for the last few on Sunday, you can visit the museum and enjoy the indoor things at normal entry charges without booking. #halloween

This year we are providing more entertainment for The Amazing Halloween Experience in the museum. The boat trips through the tunnel are now fully booked apart from the latest trips on Sunday evening. But the museum will be open to visitors until 2100 both days and there is no need to book in advance to come to the museum and enjoy the in-museum part of the event. We will have: -Ghost story telling by Kate the Witch, 1645, 1730, 1830, 1930 and 2030 -Which Witch, a performer who has emerged for Halloween from the depts of the canal, who will be roving the building and may be coming to get you! -Face painting -The drama students from Wac Arts will be doing some live performance art in the ice wells this year and it will be on a Halloween theme. -As usual the museum will be decorated with ghostly apparitions, spooks and spiders and (after 1630) atmospheric lighting to see the museum in a new light! So, even if you have not managed to secure a place on one of the tunnel boat trips, there is plenty going on at this museum this saturday and Sunday evening. Normal entry charges will apply to those who are not travelling by boat. Beware of the ghosts.

Watch what happens when we add the magic ingredient to our blood potion

Come and find out what's cooking in the witches' kitchen today!

An update on the activities planned for tomorrow. There will be a quiz, with prizes, that involves a trail around the museum discovering the answers to the questions. We'll be making Ice Scream for Halloween. There will be a science experiment with some common ingredients that make a potion bubble. For the daring, there will be a chance to try and identify a witch's ingredients without being able to see them. Yeeeuk! There will be some Halloween-themed crafts, printing, painting and sticking things. And as usual a short boat trip on the canal. No need to book, bring the kids at 1030 or 1330.

This weekend's Amazing Halloween Experience is getting full and there are hardly any spaces left on Saturday. (If you have already booked, in some cases there is room for one more person to be added to your party). On Sunday most of the early boats are already booked. There is space available later on in the evening. The activities in the museum are available without booking. This year we have face-painting, ghost-story telling, and a live performer Which Witch who may be coming to get you..... Rivers have a powerful magic... In Scotland and Ireland, superstition holds that each river demands one life as its due each year. Rivers, such as the Styx, are a common theme in mythology as gateways to the other side, the land of death. It is also said that no vampire, demon, ghost, or attacking spirit can follow one across a river… They are meeting places, a bridge between worlds, a sanctuary. What you think is sunlight sparkling on the surface may just be the glimmer of enchantment. Even London’s waterways have their own magic, though it’s easy to miss it with all the lights and noise and bustle. Once upon a time, the people of London believed in magic and in the monsters who walked amongst them, but nowadays they are too busy on their phones and on their computers and the monsters have been forced into hiding. Except at Halloween, when the veil between the worlds is at is thinnest, and monsters amongst us show their faces. One such creature is the Which Witch. Dressed in pondweed, she has made her home at the bottom of the canal, eating rats and the animals that fall into the water and drown. She is hundreds, maybe thousands of years old, and as clever and curious as she is magical. And she is lonely. At Halloween, she emerges from the depths to search for other creatures. Meet her, if you dare. You might be who she’s looking for…