We’re coming up to the end of Museums and Galleries Month 2007, and only one Bank Holiday stands between us and it. But does that mean it’s over? No way!
Instead of our usual seven events for seven days, or top ten events, we’re pulling out all the stops and getting the big guns out. Here then, are more than 30 events that we think you’ll enjoy. They offer everything you need to get you through the Bank Holiday weekend and as all of them come from our listings database, there are plenty more where they came from.
With so many events and with the weather set to improve, we thought it would be best if we gave you the option of being indoors or outdoors – indoor events are at the top, outdoor events follow.
Do you fancy some horrible history? Archaeologist Peter Hammond has been rummaging around in Victorian rubbish. Find out why at Nottingham Castle Museum and Art Gallery on May 27 at 1pm.
Alternatively, on May 27 you can find out what life was really like for the people who worked in the kitchens of the 19th century fantasy 'castle' Penrhyn. (Hint; not very nice).
If that isn’t horrible enough, then the Old Operating Theatre Museum in London is hosting ‘The Dread Of Polished Steel: The Patient’ on May 26 at 2pm.
This grizzly but highly educational afternoon’s entertainment offers the chance to find out about “the most tortuous pain” experienced by patients including Frances Burney (Madame D’Arblay), Samuel Pepys and Lord Nelson in the times before anaesthetic. Of course, history does get more horrible than that – but not much.
Like comics? The New Art Gallery Walsall has two days of Comics Fiction workshops on May 26 and 27 and a comic collectors' fair.
Into Egyptology? The new and eagerly awaited Egyptology Gallery at Bristol's City Museum & Art Gallery opens its doors for the first time on May 26.
If you’re after something more cerebral and - dare we say - arty, then look no further than late opening at Tate Modern from 7.30pm on May 27. Andy Warhol's first film Sleep will be screened throughout the night accompanied by a recreation of the musical performance that inspired it.
John Cage's historic staging of the Erik Satie epic representative work for piano, Vexations (1893) will also feature with performances by Gavin Bryars, Michael Nyman and Joshua Rifkin.
If dancing is more your thing, then stick with The Guildhall on May 28 from 2:30pm for The Castle Park Assembly - Playford Dance Workshop and
take part in dances selected from the 16th to 19th centuries. Costume is welcomed, but by no means obligatory.
If you want to make the most of the one-off opportunities in this Museums and Galleries Month, then there’s a chance to look behind the scenes at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery and see objects usually kept out of sight in the stores - from a 1950s electric dustcart to a 1960s bubble car; a computer the size of a small room to the first speaking clock.
For some hands-on history head over to The Bridewell in Norwich on May 28 at 2pm for Little Ronnie Parson’s Evacuee Adventure and discover what life was like for an evacuee in World War Two.
Budding scientists have some real treats instore this bank Holiday with Green's Mill & Science Centre in Nottingham asking and answering the question 'what makes us unique?', and the opening of the groundbreaking exhibition ‘1001 Inventions’, uncovering the hidden history of Muslim contributions to science and invention, at Thinktank in Birmingham. Both events take place on May 26.
Medieval musical marvel Richard York will be at Bede's World on May 29 and 30. Picture courtesy www.richard-york.co.uk
Just give me some old time music...
If you’re really into your music and you like it traditional, forget about Throbbing Gristle at Tate Modern and look no further than Bede's World on May 27 and 28, where musical marvel Richard York will be appearing with his stunning collection of replica medieval musical instruments. You can even have a go yourself.
Alternatively there’s a folk weekend at Crich Tramway Village in Derbyshire on May 27 and 28 and a ‘Garden of Delights: music from 16th C. Spain and 17th C. England’ performed by Anne Graf and Mike Ashley at The Guildhall in Leicester on May 28.
Re-enactments
As you’d expect, this weekend boasts some of the biggest re-enactments of the month with costumed enthusiasts hamming it up for your delectation and pleasure in heritage sites right across the country.
They will delving into prehistory on May 26 at Derby Museum & Art Gallery, which includes workshops working with the flintknapper John Lord, creating Beaker Pottery and handling objects from the Bronze Age.
The event also launches the project 'Linking Landscapes' which looks at how looking at objects from the past and landscapes in the present can show how we are all connected.
At West Stow Anglo-Saxon Village there’s a Bank Holiday weekender that offers a rather different take on the re-enactment format as they ask 'Who Wore the Anglo-Saxon Trousers?' and explore the world of Anglo-Saxon women.
Meanwhile, from May 28 to 30, Norwich Museum & Art Gallery are giving visitors a rare chance to join the Anglo-Saxon residents of the castle’s keep and to learn all about its chequered history.
At Caldicot Castle from May 26 to 28 you can gain an insight into Medieval life, music and combat while at the Norfolk History Fair at Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse you can see everything from knights in armour to Romans in their encampment. You can even browse bookstalls and have a go at metal detecting.
Romans will be showing off their weapons at Lunt Roman Fort on May 27 and 28. Courtesy Isis PR
Finally, fast-forward to the 1600s for the last of our featured re-enactments and join King Charles II as he attempts to reclaim his crown from Oliver Cromwell’s forces in an atmospheric re-enactment at Dean Heritage Centre on May 28.
...Trains and Automobiles
As well as re-enactments, Bank Holidays are a traditional time for all things transport related. Planes, trains and automobiles – particularly trains and automobiles - are dusted off, rubbed down and shown off and this weekend is no exception.
There are classic cars galore on May 27 and 28 at the MG Weekend at Abingdon Museum as they launch a new permanent display dedicated to the MG which was made in the town from 1929 to 1979. The event concludes with a rally on May 27.
There’s plenty for steam enthusiasts to get fired up about too. At Didcot Railway Centre you can see and travel on Great Western Railway steam trains. Visit the signalbox and each afternoon watch the demonstration of the Travelling Post Office exhanging mailbags at speed - from May 26 - 28.
Meanwhile at Milestones in Hampshire, there is their annual indoor and outdoor show, with steam engines and vintage vehicles from across the country and a chance to see them in steam and in action on the meadow.
Go take a walk...
If you prefer your own two feet over steam powered contraptions, there are history walks in London and Manchester to entice you out of the pub and on to the streets for tours of the historical sites we walk through every day.
Join Bill Williams and Merton Paul as they lead a guided walk around the old Jewish Quarter of North Manchester. The trail starts from Manchester Jewish Museum May 27 at 4pm.
Alternatively, join the Museum in Docklands on May 27 at 2pm for A Walk on the Surrey Side taking in the location of the oldest enclosed dock in London (Howland) and learn about the whaling ships that docked there as well as the Canadian timber trades, Royal Dockyards and Pilgrim Fathers.
Avid gardeners will relish the opportunity to put the trowel down for a day and go to see some of the most beautiful gardens in the world, guided by the people who care for them. At Beamish, The North of England Open Air Museum on May 27, visitors will be treated to guided talks and walks around the beautiful Georgian gardens at Pockerley Manor. Take a stroll with experts and explore the formal parterre and vegetable gardens and the orchard.
At Painshill Park in Surrey from May 26 to 28 there is the opportunity to be introduced to one of the finest 18th century landscape parks in Europe by the Head Gardeners from 12 noon to 3pm.
Last but not least, if you prefer to spend your free time doing something quirky, daft or just downright odd, the you’ll be in heaven at the Burwell Museum of Fen Edge Village Life Grunty Fen Rhubarb Festival on May 28.
Experience rhubarb semaphore and rhubarb lacemaking, and enter the competition. There will be classes for the biggest, smallest, pinkest, limpest and stiffest rhubarb, plus a special award for conversational rhubarb. So force yourself to have some fun with rhubarb and come the end of May we'll tell you where to stick it. Go on, force yourself.
There are always exciting hands-on events on the 24 Hour Museum site - a chance to get really involved with history and not just hear about it but touch it, feel it, and sometimes even smell it. See our What's on page to search by date or place.
