BAFM MEMBERS NEWS - 5
Museum of Lancashire Re-opens
The Friends the Museum of Lancashire
The newly revamped Museum of Lancashire (MoL) celebrated its opening weekend by welcoming a record number of visitors. Over Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th November, 700 people of all ages came to enjoy the eight new family-friendly galleries at the museum on Stanley Street, Preston. Charlotte Steels, Lancashire County Council’s manager of the MoL, said, “We’re off to a great start and we really couldn’t be happier . . . and we’re thrilled by all of the positive comments we received. Judging by what they tell us, all our hard work has been worthwhile.”
The celebrations began on Friday 25th November with an official ceremony to mark the completion of the £1.7m regeneration project, at which Councillor Geoffrey Roper, Chairman of Lancashire County Council, welcomed more than 150 distinguished guests from across the county. Among them were Lord and Lady Shuttleworth, County Councillors, representatives of the Heritage Lottery Fund, Trustees of the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment Infantry Museum, Tracy and Charlotte Dawson, wife and daughter of the late comedian Les Dawson.
Councillor Roper said, “The Museum of Lancashire is a gateway to the county’s wonderful countryside, its heritage and its many other visitor attractions. It is a place of enjoyment, learning, relaxation and community focus. We hope it will be busy, bustling and lively - and we wish it every success in the future.”
Susan Williams, chair of the North West Committee of the Heritage Lottery Fund, added, “We are proud to be able to support such a brilliant project where the physical improvements and the strong emphasis on learning and fun, will combine to unlock the museum’s rich store of artifacts for a much wider audience of Lancastrians. People of all ages and in all communities will now find something to inform, amuse and enlighten them as they unearth the fascinating stories about the place they are so proud to call home.”
County Councillor Mike Calvert, cabinet member for adult and community services, presented awards to the winners and runners-up of the ‘My Lancashire’ photography competition for pupils from local schools. The winners were Jade Baxter (over 12s) from Corpus Christi Catholic Sports College, Fulwood, and Liam Brandwood (under 11s) from Shakespeare Primary School, Fleetwood. The winning two images form part of a commemorative plaque that was unveiled at the end of reopening ceremony. The runners-up were Lucy Smith (over 12s) a pupil at Unity College, Burnley, and Eliesha Spore (under 11s) from Shakespeare Primary School, Fleetwood.
[Spring 2012]
FRIENDS CONTRIBUTION
FRIENDS OF CARMARTHENSHIRE COUNTY MUSEUM
The Friends are contributing an estimated £1,300 to the restoration and cleaning of an oil on canvas painting by Sam Morse Brown (1903-2001). Brown, although a well known local artist, has only two drawings and one other painting in the museum’s collection. The subject of the painting is Captain Cyril Joynson who is pictured sitting against a view of the Tywi Valley. Captain Joynson was the Lead Bailiff for the South Wales River Board in the 1920s and 30s but other than that very little is known of him. He is thought to have lived in Brechfa, a small village near Carmarthen. The restoration work has already been completed and now awaits a new frame.
[Autumn 2011]
FRIENDS NEWSLETTER
THE FRIENDS OF THE TROWBRIDGE MUSEUM
BAFM has received a copy of ‘The First 20 years’ a Souvenir edition of the Trowbridge Friends Newsletter. It is a delightful publication, full of coloured photographs and a detailed history of the group’s progress from its early beginnings in 1990. The museum, started in a spare room of the Civic Hall, was staffed by volunteers two days a week. The construction of a Shopping Area incorporated a portion of Home Mill, the town’s last cloth mill, and this created enough space for a portion to be allocated as a museum and the rest as they say is history. Friends carried items from storage by hand and then scoured the district for Longford’s Mill teazle rig, a carding machine and a Dobcross loom to build an interesting collection. To achieve sustainability there have been few occasions when the shop was not manned by a member of the Friends, a total of over 30,000 voluntary hours work. Were it not for those early volunteers and the support of the Friends, the museum could not have grown into the thriving place it is today.
LOTTERY GRANT
FRIENDS OF THE CARPET MUSEUM
The Carpet Museum in Kidderminster has been awarded a confirmed Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £1, 904,900, which is 71% of the costs of the whole project to create a new museum in Stour Vale Mill, in the world-famous carpet making town of Kidderminster.
The Carpet Museum Trust will now be able to restore the interior of the Grade II listed 19th century building, Stour Vale Mill into an exciting, interactive museum, which is to include a Carpet Archives Centre, a Library and Meeting Rooms. This project will offer educational opportunities for schools, people of all ages in the local community in the local community and will provide a facility for those who are carrying out research into the carpet making industry. The Trust hopes it will also encourage the growth of tourism in the area.
The museum’s collection of machinery, artefacts, photographs and documents will spread over two floors in the old carpet-making mill. The centrepiece of the displays will be a working power-loom, celebrating the partnership of the Trust and the modern-day commercial carpet weaving business, Grosvenor Wilton Ltd. W. M. Morrison Supermarkets plc have invested over £500,000 in refurbishing the exterior of the mill and it is hoped that the whole project will be completed in about two years.
The Friends of the Carpet Museum Trust were overjoyed to hear the news and a party of Friends and volunteers were delighted to be able to visit the mill and discuss the plans for the new museum. Now they look forward to its being up and running.
APPEAL LAUNCHED
THE FRIENDS OF THE ROYAL NAVY SUBMARINE MUSEUM
The Friends of the Royal Navy Submarine Museum launched an appeal to raise matched funding for an anticipated grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund in order to conserve and preserve the WWII vintage submarine, HMS Alliance. HRH Prince William graciously agreed to be the Royal Patron of this appeal. Launched in 1945, Alliance was one of the fourteen ‘A’ class submarines built for service in the Far East. In commission for 18 years, Alliance had a long and distinguished career that took her all over the world.
LIBRARY FOUNDED IN 1788
THE FRIENDS OF THE LINEN HALL LIBRARY
“No institution in Northern Ireland has done more to promote enlightenment and to represent the promise of a better future for all citizens.” Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney.
The Linen Hall Library is Belfast’s oldest library and the only remaining library in Ireland that raises some of its income from membership. Founded in 1788 the Library houses a comprehensive general selection of books along with a number of collections of international renown, including the Northern Ireland Political Collection, which charts the history of the ‘Troubles’. It also houses the Vertical Gallery exhibition space, coffee shop with sweeping views of Donegall Square, a gift shop with unique, high-quality gifts, and a schedule of events including author readings, performances, language classes, discussions and lectures.
This year the Library will play host to a number of stunning exhibitions including Treasures of the Linen Hall this summer (2010) which features never-before-seen items from our archives including maps, political cartoons, theatrical memorabilia and more.
The Library is open free to the public, however membership is encouraged and brings lots of benefits such as the ability to borrow up to eight titles at a time, discounts on all goods sold in the Library as well as ticketed events, access to restricted information, internet access, and advance copies of our events guides and newsletters.
There is an active Friends’ Group which provides both a social focus for members and also acts as a vehicle for raising money to help the library with special projects. Any member of the Library can become a ‘Friend’. Day trips are organised regularly to places throughout Ireland e.g. libraries, houses associated with literary figures and historic gardens.
We have hosted readings in the library by novelists, poets and celebrities. The Friends’ Group was launched by P. D. James and readers have included John Julius Norwich, Grey Gowrie, Maeve Binchy and Rosamund Pilcher. We have play readings and performances – for examples from the works of local writers such as Rutherford Mayne and Amanda McKittrick Ross.
We have run a number of extremely successful study trips, mainly based in the Irish College (Centre Culturel Irlandais) in the Latin Quarter of Paris. We have also organised trips to Rome, to Oxford, to Clonmacnois/Birr and to Donegal (Flight of the Earls).
If you haven’t been to the Linen Hall Library, stop by and take a look at what this Belfast gem has to offer.
ARTIST COMMISSIONED
THE FRIENDS OF BUSHEY MUSEUM
The Friends of Bushey Museum commissioned an artist, Vicki White, to paint a portrait of Bryen and Julie Wood, but, sadly, Bryen, their Director, died last year. The portrait is on the front cover of the Friends’ newsletter and tribute is paid to him inside.
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