Brent Museum

#182

Inside Willesden Green Library, this gallery stitches Brent’s story from prehistory to present with objects you can read close-up: British Empire Exhibition souvenirs, Wembley matchday ephemera, migration keepsakes, factory tools and protest placards. It’s a primer on how a London borough formed—through railways, sport, work and waves of new neighbours.

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Opening Hours

Sunday: 12:00 – 17:00

Monday: 10:30 – 20:00

Tuesday: 10:30 – 20:00

Wednesday: 10:30 – 20:00

Thursday: 10:30 – 20:00

Friday: 10:30 – 20:00

Saturday: 10:30 – 17:00

What's not to miss inside?

Wembley & the British Empire Exhibition

Frames the 1924–25 mega-exhibition that remade Wembley and set the stage for the old Stadium’s fame.

Maps, tickets and souvenirs chart 27+ million visits and the site plan that wrapped around the Empire (later Wembley) Stadium.

Spot pavilion names on a period map, then match them to present-day street lines.

📍 Central case and wall panels

White Horse Final & Stadium Lore

Uses programmes and photos to tell the story of the 1923 FA Cup Final crowd and the ‘Twin Towers’ era that followed.

Paper ephemera makes crowd control, celebrity teams and national rituals tangible.

Compare typography and pricing on pre-war programmes to post-war issues—who was the imagined fan?

📍 Sport section

Work, Migration and the High Road

Personal objects and shopfront photos map Irish, Caribbean and South Asian settlement onto everyday streets.

Recipe books, saris, club badges and trade signs show how culture moved into cafés, mandirs and markets.

Pick one family story; follow it across objects—arrival papers, workplace passes, festival flyers.

📍 Community histories bay

Industry & Rail

Tools, packaging and staff badges link factories (e.g., food and light engineering) to the Met and mainline railways that fed them.

A short hop on rails turned fields into workshops, terraces and stadium terraces.

Trace a commuter’s 1900s ticket against a growth map: transport as a time machine for a borough.

📍 Local industry case

🤓 Fun Facts

The British Empire Exhibition at Wembley (1924–25) drew over twenty-seven million visits; Brent Museum holds original site plans and souvenirs that document the layout and legacy.

The 1923 ‘White Horse’ FA Cup Final inaugurated the Empire Stadium’s mass-event identity; match programmes and photographs in local collections capture the moment the venue became a national symbol.

The Grunwick strike (1976–78) in Willesden—led largely by migrant women—left placards, newsletters and badges now used in displays to teach labour rights and coalition-building.

The opening of Wembley Park on the Metropolitan Railway (late 19th century) catalysed suburban growth; early tickets and advertising in the museum show how rail sold ‘Metroland’ living.