the david livingstone centre

It was absolutely amazing I was here with a school on friday baird memorial I learned a lot of facts the tour was good and we had to look for wee tiny animals I got 7 out of 10 I obviously didnt look I was to excited to learn facts about david livingstone my favourite part was the storytelling and the dark bit withall the pictures of with his friends him lying on the floor dead saying his prayers.

Step Back in Time at Shuttle Row and see how David Livingstone lived and worked before embarking on his explorer adventures, see the exhibits brought back from Africa and learn how he helped abolish the slave trade before being brought back on a long ship journey to be buried in Westminster Abbey

I'm a member of the National Trust so my visit was "free" but it is worth popping in if you are already in the area.David Livingstone was born there and there are personal exhibits,eg the room in which he was born & his surgical instruments.Some of the explanatory posters are tired and I think children would quickly become bored.

Dear Sharon,Thank you - it's always lovely to receive a comment with a title like yours.While we've not got the funds to install too much new technology, we do know that the museum isn't really designed for children and are trying to change that - we've got a few ideas for how we can improve next year to make sure 'little explorers' have an exciting visit! I hope that if you come back in future they'll have a really amazing time.Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment.Best wishesAlison

Dear Glasgowgirl,Thank you - hearing that someone will be back is really the best feedback! I'll pass on your comments to our team - we are always trying to improve, so getting comments from visitors on what was good and what get better is really invaluable.Thank you for taking the time to review.Best wishesAlison

Dear Caroline,I'm sorry that you were disappointed to find us closed on the morning of Sunday 14th September. Historically, our Sunday opening hours have always been 12:30pm-5pm, with the mornings used for safety and maintenance tasks such as testing the fire alarms. Our opening times are published in National Trust for Scotland guides and leaflets, on our website, and on noticeboards on site. Our website will also reflect any last-minute changes to opening hours (on very rare occasions we have closed due to terrible weather). Checking this will help you avoid disappointment when visiting. It also has details of our winter close season, which runs from Christmas Eve to the 1st April.News that will please you is that starting next April, we will be opening from 11am-5pm everyday. This is because we have recognised that over the last few years, visitors have started arriving on Sunday mornings and been disappointed to find us closed - and this is the last thing we want! We hope that this change will make things easier for everyone, and better reflect the times that people now want to visit us.Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment.Best wishesAlison

I chanced upon the museum whilst supporting my son's 10 day LE to JoG's cycle ride in aid of his Uganda charity last month. Since the visit I have read Tim Jeal's "Explorers of the Nile" whose source I have visited three times. I had not appreciated Livingstone's major role in the story, thinking of him more as a Zambesi explorer and missionary so the visit prepared me well for the bigger picture. I recommend the book highly, Jeal of course wrote an earlier book on DL (and Stanley to name but two). And I highly recommend a visit to this museum before reading - or after! The style of presentation didn't bother me.

This facility has been on my doorstep for years but I only visited it the other day.Great exhibition and very informative.If travelling by car it is best to approach via Blantyre than Bothwell as the parking is closer and more secure and there is less of a distance to walk.

My wife and I spent a couple of hours last week at this great museum. It tells a great story of David Livingstone and his amazing travels as a Doctor, Missionary on the African continent. It also highlights his boyhood and growing up in a wee Room in a tenement and has some wonderful items to test your memories. If you have longer it is also a Gateway to the River Clyde pathway.

I knew of David Livingstone but the David Livingstone Centre gave me a new appreciation of this great man as a mill child and worker, independent learner, explorer, faithful loving husband, father, son, and son-in-law, humanitarian, and missionary. No wonder his marker is prominently displayed in Westminster Abbey and that there are large memorials to him throughout the country. Being able to see the one-room dwelling where the Livingstone family lived was a highlight of our time there. If ever a man rose above his humble beginnings to true greatness, it was Livingstone! (By the way, if you're in Edinburgh, do make the effort to read Livingstone's handwritten letters. There is a large collection in the National Library of Scotland. The letters are available online but there is something special about reading the ink on the paper realizing how far they came to tell Agnes how much her father loved her, for instance. The library staff is helpful as well as professional - no "sweeties" in the library, please, and purses are stowed away in a locker in the reading room - and they go out of their way to accommodate visitors to actually peruse these windows into Livingstone's soul. Well worth the effort to get a library card and make an appointment!) There is enough in the Livingstone Centre museum, located in the original housing of the mill, to fascinate a student of history and entertain any curious visitor. There are a variety of types of Livingstone possessions on display. There is some kitsch but even that gives a visitor a sense of what Livingstone was all about. This IS definitely a place to visit if you're in Scotland. Livingstone is a true hero, venerated from the days of his great exploits and still appreciated today. He was as loved by his African colleagues as by the people of his homeland. I highly recommend the Livingstone Centre as educational, instructive, and a means of understanding Scottish industrial history.

Wheelchair access to this museum is via a lift which is tucked away at the back the reaches al the floors. The guide was extremely helpful and a mine of information. There is a gift shop and exhibition centre and a park.

Firstly to say that the tour guide was most informative, he explained very well and with the map i understood where Mr. Livingstone had been. Just sadly I did not take his name. A big thank you to him.As a visitor from Southern Africa, (we drove to Hamilton on 8th August) I could understand the type of country he was going into.When I was a child our history had been about David Livingstone, in a small way. After my visit I have more respect for the man who travelled to the unknown and all its dangers.I found the room where the family were housed most fascinating.The park and buildings are lovely, just found the restaurant could be little more inviting. hope its in for a revamp as well.Staff are friendly in the shop, interesting to find the Bothwell castle close by, (family name )

We visited on a very rainy day, so gave the gardens a miss. The staff in the gift shop/ café were friendly and welcoming. We were left to our own devices in the museum as there were no guides, this wasn't a huge problem as the exhibits were very well explained, however, I have impaired mobility and would have made use of the lift if there had been a member of staff available to assist as this was a stipulation of use. The statue and fountain in the grounds were both excellent! Would love to return on a fine day so we could see the gardens!

Yes the Centre is needing a revamp but that does not detract from gaining great insight about this remarkable man and his family life.My grandchildren loved the dressing up box and took great interest with the quiz.The surrounding parklands are lovely and the 'World Fountain' outside the café is very interesting. The Lion attacking David Livingstone statue at the entrance is remarkable.My family and I had a good time at the Livingstone Centre and we wish them well for the future.The café serves good basic snack food and we were served by a very friendly member of staff..

First impressions of the David Livingstone Centre is how friendly the staff are. We visited the afternoon of Saturday, 9th August 2014 and we were greeted by lovely girl at pay desk who was very welcoming and informative. We then walked into the house itself and we were greeted by a female guide who certainly knew her stuff. The exhibition is very informative and the kids had a quiz to complete which went down very well. Gardens and surrounding area very nice and interesting to walk through. Picnic tables were appreciated. Café nice but very little left by time we got there. What we had was reasonably priced and café was clean. Shop stocked with lots of good items, some of which we bought. Would recommend for an afternoon out. Staff should be proud of the good job they are doing.