Many museums in Great Britain display taxidermy in a large variety of forms. I took it upon myself to research into the best and most interesting among them in the event that we decide to pay the museum a visit and perhaps speak to members of the museum staff as strong material for part of the documentary.
The main museums in Britain that specialise in taxidermy are the following:
The National History Museum at Tring, The Booth Museum in Brighton, Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow, Oxford University Museum of Natural History in Oxfordshire, Ulster Museum in Northern Ireland and the Quex Museum in Kent.
Out of these many locations, the most convenient and available for us as a group in terms of travel etc. would be the National History Museum at Tring, the Booth in Brighton and the Oxford University Museum of National History.
Within the National History Museum a very eclectic range of taxidermy can b witnessed. This includes: British birds, a gorilla from Cameroon and even a smiling polar bear which greets you at the entrance. All the animals are encased in tall wooden cases on top of which stand an elephant and two rhinos.  |  The Booth Museum displays a vast array of British birds which are displayed in the collection of Edward Thomas Booth. A very devoted naturalist, Booth tried to capture examples of every bird in the country. These sit within a recreation of the animals natural habitat known as ‘environmental diorama’. |
Oxford University Museum of Natural History is the home place of a very important touchable collection of taxidermy. The museum displays such animals as cheetahs but also native British animals such as the fox and badger. Also on display is a mummified dodo head which is the most complete remains of the famously extinct bird anywhere in the world.
As part of my research in to taxidermy I have created two blogs on forums specifically designed for taxidermists to socialise with one another and talk freely about their shared hobby. Up on my blog I have attempted to engage with taxidermists from around the globe in an attempt to understand their passion and enjoyment behind the activity. This I hope will act as initial foundations for my research towards creating a documentary on this topic.
At present I have had little success at finding the answers I seek as it seems the people on the forums are reluctant to respond as perhaps they find my energetic questioning untrustworthy. I will however preserver and continue to create chat forums asking various questions surrounding the subject until I receive a small range of relevant and useful answers, even if it means subscribing to different taxidermy fan blogs. Below are two print screens from the one of the blogs.
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Below are some documentaries I have watched as part of my research towards taxidermy. The videos focus upon the same or similar themes to what we as a group intend to explore within our own film.
Taxidermy: Stuff the World (2005)
Heads or Tails - A Documentary About Taxidermy
Insides Out: A Closer Look At Taxidermy
Part 1
Part 2
This video was uploaded to youtube in 2011, I was unable to find any other date attached to it.
The Black Boy pub in Winchester is full of many stuffed animal of all varieties from domestic dogs, to monkeys all the way to leopards. Naturally a place like this was a perfect starting point for me to build my research on both taxidermy as a hobby and the people such a pass time attracts.
I have a meeting with the manager of the pub on Saturday the 6th of October who practices taxidermy herself. Within the meeting I hope to discuss the matter in great detail finding out how she got interested in the hobby, where she gets her resources from and how. Most Importantly I hope to use the interview as a large a gateway to finding other taxidermists who would be willing to take part in this potential documentary, perhaps even finding societies or clubs which practice the hobby.
Progress on this particular aspect of my research will be constantly updated.
As stated earlier on October 6th to carry out my first piece of active research towards the topic of taxidermy I went to the The Black Boy pub and met with the young woman buy the name of Polly Perry, who runs the place. A practitioner of taxidermy, she was more than happy to tell me everything I wanted to know on the subject. Our talk began by her telling me why she started practicing taxidermy. This started with her visiting the National History Museum and when in the taxidermy section, she saw a sign saying that there would no longer be real stuffed animals on display but instead fake plastic models would take their place, this being due to political correctness and the current climate. | 
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 | Very put out by this as she felt no substitute would accurately reflect the size of the animal and the texture of its fur or feathers half as well as the real thing, Polly decided that she would take it upon herself to create her own taxidermy museum with animals she had stuffed or collected herself. Although The Black Boy as a location and Polly along with her story would both be ideal places as far as filming is concerned to begin our documentary, part of the brief is that none of it can be filmed in Winchester, so such an encounter and only be used as research. |
Polly gave me the contact details of a man stationed in Salisbury who taught her the art of taxidermy which was apparently the “traditional way” although she could not remember the gentlemen’s name. This method involved using a substance similar to wood shavings which was molded in to the inner shape of the dead animal and then bound together with nylon thread to make the solid innards of the stuffed beast. According to Polly the man from Salisbury has been in the game for 20-30 years and is amazing at what he does. He also knows many other people who practice the hobby. Polly gave me his mobile number and so we will use him both as the initial subject within this documentary and as a stepping stone to finding other potential subjects for the piece should be end up using this idea. |  |
