Journeys

Journeys - an exhibition about travelling, holidays and modes of transport to get you there.

In the days before the internet, how did people plan their holiday? How much did it cost to travel and what did early passports look like?

‘Journeys’ explores the many ways people have travelled, from everyday trips across Cornwall to life-changing voyages across the world. Through personal records, photographs and objects, the exhibition reveals not just how people got from place to place, but what those journeys meant to them — the anticipation, the challenges, and the memories they created along the way.

Long before digital navigation, journeys were carefully considered and mapped out. Routes were traced through guidebooks and landscapes crossed on foot, by coach, bicycle or by motor, and experiences were captured in photographs, scrapbooks and diaries. These records offer glimpses of both ordinary and remarkable moments — from local travel shaped by bus routes and timetables to more personal stories of determination and adventure.

Among them is the diary of Grace Gilbert, who travelled to Antigua in the 1820s aboard a packet ship — an unusual and courageous journey for a woman of her time. Her story sits alongside other accounts of travel further afield, revealing the realities of long-distance journeys and the people who undertook them.

As well as looking outward, ‘Journeys’ reflects on Cornwall as a destination in its own right. Through the eyes of visitors — artists, students and holidaymakers — we see how Cornwall has long been experienced, recorded and remembered by those arriving from elsewhere.

Together, these stories highlight the importance of journeys both big and small, reminding us that travel is not only about reaching a destination, but about the experiences, encounters and records left behind.

This exhibition opens on Tuesday 30 June and runs until November 2026. ‘Journeys’ is free to visit during our usual opening hours.