BAFM MEMBERS NEWS - 1
Friends Welcome HRH Prince Philip
Methil Heritage Friends
Methil Heritage Centre has become an integral part of its community, by staging events and exhibitions throughout the year, primarily of local interest. A recent exhibition, ‘Methil and The Merchant Marine’, was the result of a huge amount of research by Bill Gold, Secretary of Methil Heritage Friends, telling the story of the ports in and around Levenmouth. It took the form of a historical perspective on all aspects of shipping from the 17th to the 21st centuries, both in peace and war, and looked back at a time when Britain’s merchant fleet was the largest in the world. At one point Methil shipped out over three million tons of coal annually, but it wasn’t just ‘black diamonds’ that passed through the docks, flax, wool and many other goods were imported - and there are even tales of ships from West Wemyss playing a part in the transportation of slaves and convicts.
During the exhibition the Centre had a very special visitor, when His Royal Highness, Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh, was given a warm welcome by all those present. Prince Philip was accompanied by the Lord Lieutenant of Fife, Margaret Dean and was greeted at the entrance by a Guard of Honour provided by Methil Sea Cadets.
After introductions to the Provost of Fife, Frances Melville, and other local dignitaries, Prince Philip was escorted round the exhibition by Bill Gold and Graham Ritchie, Museum Assistant. He then met and chatted with Libraries and Museums staff and members of Methil Heritage Friends. The visit concluded with a presentation of an ink drawing of HMS Wallace from the Friends. (The Duke served on HMS Wallace, as part of the Rosyth Escort Force during the Second World War, when it was engaged in convoy escort duties in the Firth of Forth.)
Margaret Nikolic, Libraries, Arts, Museums and Archives Team Leader said, “It was a memorable afternoon. Everyone was so excited and we were delighted it all went so smoothly. The Friends of the Centre do so much to raise the profile of Methil and it’s great to see some of the work they do recognised in this way.” Graham Ritchie, who is based at Methil Heritage Centre commented, “We were delighted to welcome Prince Philip and he seemed genuinely happy to be here. All in all, the visit went very well and it was a privilege to meet him and speak with him in such detail.” The Friends added to their growing archive of local history by gathering numerous stories of Methil’s maritime past from the many visitors to the exhibition.
[Spring 2012]
ROYAL VISITOR
FRIENDS OF SEGEDUNUM MUSEUM
In June this year Friends and staff of Segedunum Museum in Wallsend, Tyne and Wear were delighted to welcome a Royal visitor, when HRH The Duke of Kent made a private visit. He viewed the fort and the surroundings from the tower, then visited the Roman Gallery before touring the bath house. The Duke was presented with a bottle of ‘Centurian’ beer, specially bottled to mark the 10th birthday of the Segedunum Museum - a fitting present to receive in a Roman Bath house!
[Autumn 2011]
ONE OF LONDON'S FRIENDLIEST MUSEUMS
THE FRIENDS OF THE GEFFRYE MUSEUM
The Geffrye Museum
The Geffrye is one of London’s most friendly and enjoyable museums. It explores the home from 1600 to the present day, focusing on the living rooms of the urban middle classes in England, particularly London. A chronological sequence of period rooms show how homes have been used and furnished over the past 400 years, reflecting the changes in society and patterns of behaviour as well as style, fashion and taste.
The museum is set in the former almshouses of the Ironmongers’ Company, elegant, 18th century buildings in Shoreditch, East London. It is surrounded by attractive gardens, which include an award-winning herb garden and a series of period gardens showing the changing style of town gardens from the 17th to the 20th century (open April through October).
The Geffrye almshouses were built in 1714 by the Worshipful Company of Ironmongers, with funds bequeathed by Sir Robert Geffrye, former Lord Mayor of London and Master of the Company. The almshouses comprised fourteen houses, each with four rooms, providing retirement homes for up to 56 pensioners. In the 18th century, the surrounding area was largely rural, cultivated by market gardeners supplying Londoners with fresh vegetables and herbs. As London expanded during the 19th century, the area became the centre of London’s furniture and clothing trades and the farmland was built over with terraced housing, factories and workshops. By 1910, the area had become one of the most heavily populated areas of London with severe overcrowding and little sanitation, and the Ironmongers’ Company decided to sell the almshouses and move to the cleaner, safer suburbs.
The almshouses and gardens were bought by the London County Council in 1912, mainly to provide a public open space in such a densely populated area of London. The Council was subsequently persuaded by leading members of the Arts and Crafts movement to convert the almshouses into a museum related to the local furniture industry. Its purpose was to provide a reference collection of furniture of a ‘fine standard of technical and artistic excellence’ to educate and inspire the local workforce.
The Geffrye Museum opened in 1914. By the 1930s, the furniture industry was relocating from Shoreditch, and in 1935 management of the Geffrye was taken over by the Education Committee of London, with a remit to provide London schools with a unique resource for learning about the history of domestic life. The collections were organised into period rooms, the structure of which still exists now.
Over the years, the museum has acquired a collection of complementary decorative art, paintings, personalia and archives relating to English domestic interiors. Since becoming an independent charitable trust in 1991, the museum has embarked on an ambitious programme of developments, including refurbishing all of the period rooms, building a major new extension, and restoring one of the historic almshouses to its original condition, giving visitors a rare glimpse into the lives of London’s poor and elderly in the 1780s and 1880s.
The museum and gardens are regularly brought to life through an innovative programme of seminars, workshops, drama and music. Special exhibitions are mounted throughout the year, exploring a wide variety of themes relating to the period room displays. A traditional favourite at the Geffrye is the Christmas Past exhibition, when the period rooms are adorned with authentic festive decorations to reflect 400 years of seasonal traditions English homes.
The Friends of the Geffrye exists as a separate charity which supports the museum in a myriad ways. It is an active and friendly group which provides both practical assistance and encouragement, and helps to promote interest in the museum and its activities. A programme of events includes guided visits to lesser-known museums, private collections, galleries and places of historic interest, an auction, book sale or supper party at the museum, and a special private view of the Christmas Past exhibition each December.
JUST WILLIAM FILMED IN THE CLASSROOM
THE FRIENDS OF THE BRITISH SCHOOLS MUSEUM
Through the summer, BBC TV filmed a new series of ‘Just William’ stories around Hertfordshire and for the classroom scenes they came to the British Schools’ Gallery Classroom, where the tiered desks gave ideal camera visibility of the boys. For one week at the end of August, the Gallery (that actually opened in 1854) became a classroom in William’s Chinnington Hall School, 1954 - a time shift of exactly 100 years!
The film crew needed more space than the one classroom however - they took over the Lancasterian schoolroom and the Edwardian wing as well. What’s more, their catering, wardrobe and make-up vans were all parked at ‘base’ at Hitchin Girls’ School. Other filming nearby included locations at Bennington Lordship, Walkern Hall and a school hall in Harpenden.
The new production is a series of four ‘Just William’ stories broadcast on BBC TV early this year; we had hoped for broadcasts at 5.30 on Sunday afternoon (the children’s TV slot many of us remember well), but it was not to be; the broadcasts were at lunchtime in the holidays. There were many protests, mostly from the grown-ups and we’ve heard a repeat is likely, perhaps it will be at a more favourable time? The Gallery was filmed for three of the episodes. Stars who came to the British Schools included Daniel Roche (of ‘Outnumbered’) as William Brown, Bruce MacKinnon as teacher Mr Attwater, Denis Lawson as Mr Marks the Headmaster and John Sessions as Mr Wellbecker. Lisa Kaye plays the school secretary - and we will never forget the around twenty other naughty schoolboys, and several dogs, who really gave the Gallery, and the playground, a new look!
Filming provided a very useful income from the BBC, and a chance for good publicity. A photo appeared in The Comet, and Terry Ransome was interviewed on BBC Three Counties Radio. The museum is now in touch with the Just William Society which will, it is hoped, include coverage of the filming in its newsletter.
Richmal Compton wrote nearly 40 William books between 1921 and 1970, the last was published posthumously. One of those amazing ‘museum connections’ - Carola Scupham told us that her mother was taught Latin by Richmal Crompton. ‘Just William’ Stories have been adapted for television three times previously - once for ITV in the 1970s and twice for the BBC in the 1960s and the 1990s.
The British Schools Museum is an independent museum and makes a small admission charge. Entry to the Tea Room and Shop is free. School classes and group visits are available by previous arrangement.
DEVELOPMENT GRANT
COMBE MILL SOCIETY
It has been announced that Combe Mill Society has been awarded a development grant of £72,700 by the HLF. The money will be used to conduct surveys, explore effective ways of interpreting the Victorian industrial and social heritage to a wider audience and to estimate the cost of conserving the building. Ways to improve visitor access will be investigated and specialists will examine how to repair the original Cornish steam-raising boiler.
The HLF first-round pass means that the Combe Mill Society can now progress to the second stage of the HLF application process. The project will start immediately and should lead to an application early in 2011 for the full £626,000 of HLF support that they are seeking for the project.
Combe Mill Society began restoring the Mill in the late 1960s and has held public steaming events each year since the mid 1970s. The Society has recently signed a 35 year lease on the Mill; this gives it the security of tenure that grant bodies need when considering funding applications. The Society totally depends on the proceeds of its Open Days to generate the income needed to maintain and operate the industrial museum.
Until it was taken out of service in 2005, the original Cornish boiler was the oldest working example of this type in the world, still operating in situ. Combe Mill was once the powerhouse and workshop of the Blenheim Palace Estate sawmill. It is located in what was known as Combe Yard, being the Estate’s maintenance base. The other Grade II listed buildings within Blenheim Palace Sawmills, as the yard is now called, have been converted into office accommodation and for storage use, but Combe Mill remains as it was in the 1950s, when the building became redundant.
Stuart McLeod, Head of the Heritage Lottery Fund for the South East said, “We look forward to hearing from the Combe Mill Society on their detailed proposals for restoring this historic building and developing its use for the benefit of the local community.”
EXTENSION OPENS
FRIENDS OF CHELMSFORD MUSEUM
Age-old proposals to extend the museum at Chelmsford, County Town of Essex finally came to fruition at the end of January 2010 when a new £5 million wing was opened to the public. An early casualty of the winter was the Museum’s Manager Nick Wickenden, who attended the opening on 22nd January by locally-born former Poet Laureate Andrew Motion, with connections to the Essex Yeomanry, in plaster after breaking a leg and ankle on the ice.
The official opening was performed on 25th February by HRH The Duke of Gloucester, KG, GCVO, Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Anglian Regiment formed by the amalgamation of, amongst others, The Essex Regiment whose story is depicted in a brand new gallery. For the first time too there is a display of Essex Yeomanry material. Alongside this gallery on the first floor is a dual-purpose education room with interactive equipment underwritten by the Friends of the Museum.
On the ground floor, a new entrance to the Museum, linked to the Grade II listed Italianate Victorian Mansion built for a local brewer which has housed the museum since 1930, gives on to a display of material related among others to electrical motor pioneer Colonel R. E. B. Crompton and to Guglielmo Marconi who established the first radio factory in the world in the town in 1899.
The Friends, with some success, mounted a new display to attract members over the first two weekends after opening when the museum was visited by several thousand people.
SMALL MUSEUM GETS ACCREDITATION
FRIENDS OF THORNBURY MUSEUM
Yes, small museums can do it! Thornbury Museum in the South Gloucestershire market town of Thornbury is in a small house - once used as a butcher’s shop. There are two display rooms downstairs, with a back room (once the kitchen and bathroom) which is now used for storage and for making tea for the volunteers. Upstairs there is another display room and an office. Thornbury Museum has been operating now for twenty years and it is run entirely by volunteers. The local council subsidises the rent of the property, but we have to rely on donations and grants and, most importantly, the generosity of volunteers and the committed band of Friends who support the Museum.
This year we decided that we should try and get accredited. This involved a great deal of work by a number of dedicated volunteers who were determined to succeed - and we did it! We want to urge other small museums to try and achieve this accolade. If you are a similar small museum and want to get accreditation - or, indeed, have achieved that lofty height - we would be really interested to hear from you.
|