In a quirky building on a side street near Holborn you can find a little piece of British seaside fun. The wonderful Tim Hunkin has the popular Under the Pier Show at Southwold in Suffolk, full of coin-operated machines, and he has now opened Novelty Automation with the same sense of fun.

It's free entry and you buy tokens at the desk to work the variety of machines. You could take a very short microbreak, decide on the fate of a cute lamb, or get involved in money laundering.


For a small room he's packed a lot in. Alien Probe always seems to be popular but not so many are brave enough to try Autofrisk - the hands inflate and pat you slowly moving up and then down. Another choice for the not-ticklish is The Chiropodist who will check your toes.

We bought 5 tokens for £4.50 and then spent time considering which machines to try on our first visit. Cycle Pong - like the old video game but you pedal backwards and forwards to stop the ball - was a definite but it was hard to choose after that as we wanted to try everything! I'll definitely go back again soon.

This wonderful mix of humour and engineering means this is a unique collection and fun for adults and families. You can visit for free but the real joy comes from interacting with the machines.

You can also see Tim Hunkin's work in the Secret Life of the Home gallery at the Science Museum.

Contact Information

Address: Novelty Automation, 1a Princeton St, London WC1R 4AX

Opening Hours:

Wednesday: 11am-6pm
Thursday: 11am-8pm
Friday: 11am-6pm
Saturday: 11am-6pm

Official Website:www.novelty-automation.com

Use Journey Planner or Citymapper to plan your route on public transport.

See also Things to Do Near The British Museum.