The Heath Robinson Museum is for students of illustration, lovers of landscape paintings, advertising enthusiasts and academics, dads building contraptions in sheds, believers in fairies, children with time to dream, couples stuck in tiny flats, people who put holes in cheese, artificial teeth testers and anyone who’s ever held something together with a bit of string.
‘When you look across his work, William Heath Robinson really did document an era. He showed how people were living and he showed the mentality of people by gently – and sometimes subversively – poking fun at it. He had a lovely mockery towards modernism but at the same time enjoying the architecture and the way people lived. It’s as powerful and important as looking at a history book or a novel or indeed looking at great paintings. It’s wonderful that there is a special place for Heath Robinson’s work. I am over the moon.’
— Michael Rosen, former Children’s Laureate, who was brought up in Pinner
‘Heath Robinson’s drawings are like tiny films of a vanished time, caught in the amber of his exquisite draughtsmanship. We can smell them, taste them, feel their 19th century sunshine on our modern skins.’
— Manjula Padmanabhan, India’s first woman cartoonist and creator of SUKI-YAKI in India’s Business Line
‘Heath Robinson was a wonderfully humorous and influential cartoonist and illustrator, and we are delighted that money from National Lottery players has helped to create a place for the public to see his marvellous works. A.A Milne once said “One of the advantages of being disorganized is that one is always having surprising discoveries” – and just like this museum, no matter how many times you come back, you will always discover something new and surprising.’
— Stuart Hobley, Head of Heritage Lottery Fund London
There are two films below featuring the Museum. Thank you to our 14-year old volunteer Zain Ahmed for his 4 minute film of the Grand Opening of the Museum on 15th October 2016 and to Harrow Film Makers for their 14 minute film about how the Museum came to be built, the opening and what it means for our Community.
