Sailor Town
You will probably descend the stairs depressed by what we are capable of. The second floor begins in the 19th Century and is home to Sailor Town - a life size and rather spooky recreation of a poverty-stricken East End street at night. Even on a Sunday afternoon, you may find yourself stalking the raggedy paving stones of this dark, gloomy alley alone, peering into a primitive living room, window-shopping at the mildly-grotesque Animal Emporium or entering the tiny, spit and sawdust pub. The rest of this floor uses more conventional means, such as models, display panels and videos, to narrate the next 150 years of the roller coaster history of London's docks.
Forage among the pebbles
Finally, down on the ground floor, there is a large and unusual children's area, called Mudlarks, in which your kids can try on a diver's mask, haul sacks of grain or forage among the pebbles of a stream. You can get refreshments at the modest ground floor cafe, adjacent to a large model of HMS Northumberland. Admission to the museum is £5 for adults (free for children) and the tickets are valid for a year. Well worth it. 8/10