Welcome to the 24 Hour Museum news in brief page for the week ending May 4 2008.

02.05.2008 – Did you grow up in Cardiff?

Have you got a story to tell about growing up Cardiff? If so the Cardiff Museum Project team would like to hear from you.

The team want your involvement with their next exhibition, which will be look at the lives and experiences of children and young people in the city from the 19th century right up to the present day.

“Childhood exhibitions can tend to be nostalgic, but we want to look at all aspects of growing up in Cardiff, both good and bad," says Exhibition Officer Victoria Rogers. “I’d like to hear from anyone who has objects they’d be willing to share with us to help bring the exhibition to life."

“We’re especially interested in hearing about the 1970s, 80s and 90s,” she adds, “but we’re keen to make sure that the exhibition also reflects what it’s like to grow up in Cardiff today, so we’d like as much input from today’s young people as from those who grew up here in the past.”

Victoria is especially interested in the following themes:
Toys and games
Playing
What children and young people do in their spare time
First jobs
School days (from 1970s to now)
Rebelling
Family life
Growing up in care
Teenage mums and dads

If you have a story to tell, call Victoria on 029 2087 3197, or email museum@cardiff.gov.uk.

02.05.2008 - War Veteran celebrates at Rural Life Centre in Surrey

An 86-year-old second world war veteran is returning to the action on Saturday May 10 in order to celebrate his birthday.

Ernie Stack, a Normandy Veterans Association secretary, was an RAF ground gunner who fought 'his' war in the Far East where he spent over four years looking after the Dakota aircraft that were supplying the famous Chindits over the 'Hump' of the Himalayas. However he won't have to travel so far, or even by air, to celebrate his anniversary this year.

He is going to Village at War, the annual living history weekend at the Rural Life Centre in Tilford, near Farnham. Here he will be the guest of honour during the Royal Navy Colours ceremony to be held as part of the event on the Saturday morning at around 11am.

The Admiral will present Ernie with a celebratory cake specially made for the occasion bearing a Union Jack flag and ribbons plus an edible photograph of a previous event. Hopefully the 'village' will not receive the attention of any unwelcome airborne visitors during Ernie's presentation but, as an 'old soldier', Mr Stack will be prepared for all eventualities.

01.05.2008 - Flag Fen Bronze Age Centre suffers yet more vandalism

Flag Fen Bronze Age Centre has once again been subject to vandalism after the rear door of the visitor centre was smashed into last night, shattering the glass and causing hundreds of pounds worth of damage.

It's the second time Flag Fen has been hit by vandalism in the last year. The archaeological park had instances of ram-raiding damaging buildings, gardens and site furnishings in 2007.

“This is just mindless vandalism," said Sharon Shortland, General Manager. "We are concentrating our efforts on getting ready for our biggest event of the year and have had to divert resources to clearing this up and getting the glass replaced."

Flag Fen will be staging a Roman re-enactment event on May 4 and 5 2008. Back by popular demand, Brtiannia will be entertaining audiences with their battles, weaponry and living history on the Sunday and Monday of May Bank Holiday. They will be joined by Peterborough’s very own Roman warrior, Quintus.

01.05.2008 - Thieves make off with £50,000 in antiques from Hastings Museum

Thieves have struck at Hastings Museum, making off with £50,000 of antique artefacts.

The break-in happened on Wednesday evening (April 31) and resulted in the loss of 33 artefacts - mainly ceramics, glass and silver, some of it dating back to the 17th century.

Security has now been stepped up at the premises and CCTV tapes are being reviewed by police.

30.04.2008 – Artists invited to create new map of Liverpool

Where do the boundaries of Liverpool really lie – geographically, historically and culturally? Artists are being asked to listen to the people of Merseyside as they answer this question, and to use the information to create a new map of the city.

The commission, worth £20,000, is for a work in any medium, that will go on display in the new Museum of Liverpool when it opens in 2010.

The project is supported by National Museums Liverpool, Liverpool Daily Post, Open Culture, Liverpool Culture Company and Phil and Alexis Redmond.

Details of how to submit an expression of interest and requirements can be found on the National Museums website www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk - deadline June 30 2008.

29.04.2008 - National Trust wins 'Good Egg Award' 2008

The National Trust has won a 2008 Good Egg Award from the animal welfare charity Compassion In World Farming.

The award is in recognition that the 500,000 plus eggs used in baking and cooking within National Trust restaurants and tearooms across England, Wales and Northern Ireland are all free range and acredited by the RSPCA's Freedom Food animal welfare scheme.

In the East of England, the National Trust uses over 75,000 Freedom Food free range eggs a year. Top egg consumers in the region are properties in Cambridgeshire which use the most eggs at 32,580 annually. Norfolk properties, using 20,880 eggs come second, followed by Suffolk properties which use 17,040 eggs a year.

Photo shows Joanna Lumley, Ambassador for Compassion in World Farming, baking a cake using free range eggs with National Trust Head Chef Keith Goodwin at Wimpole Hall, Cambridgeshire. © CIWF.

29.04.2008 - New director appointed for MOSI

The Museum of Science & Industry (MOSI) has announced the appointment of a new director. Steve Davies MBE has been selected for his impressive leadership skills, to help drive forward the Museum’s redevelopment plans, known as ‘Revolution MOSI’.

Steve, who is from Darwen, Lancashire has a military background and is currently the Chief of Staff Headquarters 2nd Division, based in Edinburgh, where his responsibilities extend to around 250 central staff and some 20,000 troops.

Steve has strong links with the North West and has a special interest in railway and industrial heritage. During his spare time as a soldier stationed in Sierra Leone he established the Sierra Leone National Railway Museum.

He is expected to join the Museum in August. Tony Hill will continue to be Acting Director of MOSI in the intervening period.

29.04.2008 - Top Welsh Megalithic monument open again for visitors

A top Anglesey destination for megalith fans is open again to visitors.

The Neolithic burial chamber Barclodiad y Gawres in Anglesey has been closed for a number of months to remove graffiti, but the outstanding monument which overlooks the Irish Sea can now be visited again by appointment every Saturday, Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday between 12 and 4pm until 30 September.

As the chamber is reached through a locked gate, visitors wishing to see the monument should call into the nearby Wayside Stores in Llanfaelog, one mile north of the chamber, where they will then be accompanied to the chamber by a member of staff. Wayside Stores are contracted by Cadw to manage the chamber.

28.04.2008 - Replica of 'heritage garage' to be rebuilt at Black Country Living Museum

A replica of the Conway Garage, a famous old garage that once resided on the Sedgley Road in Wolverhampton, is being built at the Black Country Living Museum.

The proprietor of the garage, Alex Broome, was an ex-employee of the famous Sunbeam motor works and worked as a racing mechanic until the factory closed in 1936. He then started his own garage in Sedgley Road which he ran until he was well into his eighties.

The Museum’s replica garage, which is being built with help from the Marston Heritage Trust, will be part of a 1930s High Street and will tell the story of Mr Broome, who was employed in the experimental shop at Sunbeam, working on Grand Prix and Land Speed Record cars.

A 1934 Sunbeam 'Twenty', which originally belonged to Mr Broome, is to go on show outside the garage, which is expected to be open for visitors to see later this year as the first stage of a £10 million expansion of the tourist attraction.

28.04.2008 - Peak Distrcit Mines Historical Society re-open 'lost' 19th century mine

Thanks to eight years of careful excavation, the once impressive remains of the High Rake Mine, near Great Hucklow in Derbyshire have been opened to the public.

Members of the Peak District Mines Historical Society have been working to reveal the remains, most of which were demolished in the late 1920s to make way for council houses. Most significant is the discovery of the bottom 25 feet of the Cornish pumping engine house, which had been set below ground level.

Although the mine was worked for centuries, an ambitious plan during the 1840s to sink a deep shaft to exploit iron ore depoists ended in failure and the High Rake Mining Company went out of business in 1852.

The PDHMS has now installed some discreet interpretation including three information panels and railed off the deep drops. For more information and directions to the site see the PDHMS website.

28.04.2008 - Rare Stone Age settlement recorded in Lanarkshire

The remains of an ancient 5000 - 6000-year-old settlement have been discovered in a ploughed field at Carwood Farm near Biggar in Lanarkshire, Scotland.

The discovery was made by Biggar Archaeology Group, who are based at Biggar Museum, during an annual field walking day. The event uncovered carbonised hazel nut shells and bits of pottery.

A subsequent dig has revealed more pottery, fragments of stone axes and several pits cut into the ground. The discoveries mean the site, which has now been covered over, dates from the early Stone Age - a rare discovery in Britain.