Welcome to the 24 Hour Museum news in brief page for the week ending March 30 2008.

28.03.2008 - National Gallery seeks more information on Cranach painting once owned by Hitler

The National Gallery has put out a public appeal to find out more information about one of the paintings in its current Cranach exhibition after it emerged it was once in the private collection of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.

Cupid Complaining to Venus by Lucas Cranach the Elder has been identified as once hanging in Hitler's Private Gallery by art historian Dr Birgit Schwartz, who has been carrying out research on Hitler’s art collecting.

The National Gallery bought Cupid Complaining to Venus in 1963 from the New York dealers E & A Silbermann and it now wishes to establish how and when the painting came to be in Hitler’s collection.

The concern is that the painting may have been one of thousands forcibly seized from Jewish families by the Nazis before and during World War Two.

28.03.2008 - Rare map of West Riding donated to Goole Waterways Museum

A 400 year old map of the old West Riding of Yorkshire has been donated to the Yorkshire Waterways Museum in Goole.

Local man George Smith gave the map, which was made by Robert Morden, to the museum because he has family connections in the local boat building business and is a regualr visitor to the museum.

He told the Goole Courier: "The museum itself represents the history and social side of Goole as it was in the West Riding days so it is fitting to go on display there."

27.03.2008 - Arrival of 'heritage lambs' at Flag Fen heritage site

Flag Fen archaeology park near Peterborough has welcomed two new arrivals after one of their rare heritage Soay sheep gave birth to beautiful twins on March 27.

The sheep, which are from one of the rarest breeds in the UK, are an integral part of Flag Fen. Ranging over 20 acres, the important heritage site allows people to explore and investigate how Celtic fen folk lived 3500 years ago.

Flag Fen has two more heavily pregnant Soay sheep who are ready to drop at any moment.

27.03.2008 - Big Pit Celebrates its 25th Anniversary

Since opening its doors in April 1983, Big Pit has welcomed nearly three million visitors, has told the story of the coal industry in Wales, and has borne witness to the struggles and demise of the once great industry.

To mark its 25th anniversary Big Pit, the National Coal Mining Museum of Wales, is hosting a weekend of celebrations for the local community on April 5 and 6 between 11am and 4pm.

Activities include community displays, talks and tours, book launches and signings, the final of the ‘Create Big Pit’s Anniversary Cheese’ competition in partnership with Blaenafon Cheddar company and food writer and broadcaster Angela Gray.

Their will be a live outside broadcast with Valleys Radio; ‘Coming Home’, an exhibition of photographs from yesteryear by local photographer Walter Waygood; performances by chorus members from the Welsh National Opera as well as a free shuttle bus running over the weekend between Big Pit, the Pontypool and Blaenavon Railway, the Blaenavon Ironworks and the newly-opened World Heritage Site Visitor Centre.

26.03.2008 - Shetland Museum conference to mark return of St Ninian’s Isle treasure

Shetland Museum and Archives is holding a conference to launch three months of activities and celebrations marking the return of the famous St Ninian’s Isle Treasure.

The two day conference, St Ninian’s Isle Treasure – 50 years on, will start on the evening of July 4, exactly 50 years from the day of its discovery in 1958.

Found by a Shetland schoolboy during an excavation on St Ninian’s Isle by Aberdeen University, the treasure consists of nearly thirty items and is one of the most important silver hoards found in the UK. Experts think it was probably buried around AD 800, at a time when its Shetland owners feared raids by Vikings.

Since its discovery it has been housed in the National Museums Scotland, returning only once in 1967 for a short display. Now, as part of a partnership agreement between Shetland Amenity Trust and National Museums Scotland, the treasure will be displayed in the Museum and Archives from July 4 to October 5.

26.03.2008 - Castle Hill ancient monument improvement works to begin

The first phase of a programme of improvement works on Castle Hill in Almondbury, Huddersfield are to begin in April.

A Scheduled Ancient Monument and site of an Iron Age hill fort, the site is to have existing footpaths improved together with wheelchair access.

26.03.2008 - Last thread of Scotland’s weaving history to be saved

Knockando Woolmill in the Spey Valley in Scotland has been sent a lifeline from the Heritage Lottery Fund as it awarded a Stage One Pass* for a grant of £1.3million and development funding of £120,000.

The mill and its buildings, which featured in the BBC Two series ‘Restoration’ conceal the last complete remains of the history of Scotland’s textile industry, where cloth has been manufactured continuously on site since 1784.

The site, which is currently inaccessible to the public, consists of the woolmill, which will continue as a working mill; the woolmill house, which will provide staff and trainee facilities; the cottage which will be used for interpretation; the old shop which will be used for display; and the byre which will be converted into a visitor centre with exhibition space, cafe and an education room.

Features such as the water wheel and its lade will be reinstated and the tenter frames conserved. A new training workshop will be built to restore the machinery and provide training in traditional skills. The project seeks to secure a viable future for Knockando as a historic visitor attraction and a centre for commercial wool production.

25.03.2008 - NUM gifts union banner to Scottish Mining Museum

A replica banner has just arrived at the Scottish Mining Museum, having been gifted to the museum by the National Union of Mineworkers.

The banner is an exact replica of a National Union of Mineworkers Scottish Area banner which was carried in Gala Day celebrations and in demonstrations including those over the 1984/5 strike period.

The original banner became part of the national coal mining collections at the Mining Museum in 2007 but is now too delicate to be used at public events.

"Banners were an important symbol of pride and unity for thousands of miners and we plan to use this replica to give people the chance to appreciate and enjoy this important aspect of Scotland’s mining heritage,”commented Fergus Waters, Director of the Scottish Mining Museum.

25.03.2008 - Animal skulls from Tower of London are African Barbary lions

Two lion skulls unearthed during an excavation at the Tower of London in 1937 are now thought to be African Barbary lions.

Recent DNA tests have revealed similarities to the now extinct African Barbary lion and experts believe the animals date to the 13th and 14th century. They were carbon-dated to AD 1280-1385 and AD 1420-1480.

The lions were members of the Royal Menagerie, or zoo, established at the Tower of London in the 12th and 13th centuries. It served as a home for exotic animals and its first three residents were leopards sent to Henry III by the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in 1235.

It was closed on behalf of the Duke of Wellington in 1835.

25.03.2008 - Museum of Kent Life launches adopt an animal scheme

The Museum of Kent Life is offering all its visitors the opportunity to adopt one of its many farmyard animals.

The museum says the ‘Adopt An Animal’ scheme makes a perfect gift with a one-off donation of £20 being all that is needed to help keep a farmyard animal fed, watered, cleaned and housed throughout the year.

There are a variety of animals to choose from including the saddleback love-pigs Romeo and Juliet, rescued pigmy goats Bunter and Caprice, and the award-winning red-Sussex cattle Willow and Rose. A full description of all the animals available for adoption is on the website www.museum-kentlife.co.uk in the section titled About Us.

25.03.2008 - Culloden Visitor Centre to be opened with week of celebrations

A week of events to commemorate the battle of Culloden and celebrate the official opening of the Culloden Visitor Centre have been unveiled by the National Trust for Scotland.

The centre, which has been open to the public since December 2007, will be officially opened on Wednesday April 16, the anniversary of the battle.

Events to mark the battle and the opening begin on Sunday 13 April as the memorial cairn is floodlit at dusk for the first time, when a lone piper will play laments from 7pm.

A series of tours and talks will also take place throughout the commorative week. See www.nts.org.uk for more details.