Welcome to the 24 Hour Museum news in brief page for the week ending May 19 2008.

Unique painting goes to Penzance thanks to a £42,000 Art Fund grant

The Art Fund, the UK’s leading independent art charity, has announced the acquisition of the painting ‘Höns bland höstackar’ (Chickens among haystacks) (c.1888) by Helene Schjerfbeck for Penlee House Gallery and Museum.

The painting was bought at auction at Christies in June 2007 for £72,000, with a £42,000 grant from The Art Fund.

Helene Schjerfbeck (1862-1946), one of the most eminent figures of Finnish 19th century art, was one of the very early foreign artist visitors to St Ives. She travelled to Cornwall twice in the late 1880s, at the invitation of the locally-based painter Adrian Stokes RA.

“Penlee House’s collection aims to represent the astonishingly rich art history of West Cornwall," said Alison Bevan, Director of Penlee House.

"This acquisition not only filled a gap in our own fine art collection, but also in public holdings nationally, and is an extremely significant addition to our holdings. We are extremely grateful to The Art Fund for its generosity and continuous support.”

The painting will be on display from May 24 to September 21 at Tate St Ives as part of the ‘Dawn of a Colony: St Ives 1811-1888’ exhibition after which it will return to Penlee House’s permanent collection.

15.05.2008 - Work at Lotherton Hall sidetracked by railway find

Staff fitting out a room at Lotherton Hall in Yorkshire for a forthcoming China in Yorkshire exhibition have uncovered a very early example of recycling – in the form of old railway lines holding up the roof.

Work was temporarily halted on the ceiling while historians from the former stately home checked out the system of sleepers used in lieu of roof beams.

It was discovered they were part of the original private railway belonging to the Gascoigne family who lived at Lotherton Hall. The track transported coal and later passengers between Garforth and Aberford before its closure in the 1920s.

“It’s absolutely fascinating to discover this early example of recycling in action - and to find that the Gascoignes were the green pioneers of their day,” commented Leeds Cllr John Procter, executive member for Leisure.

It is understood that the Gascoignes were keen on recycling and curators believe they re-used the rail line as their early contribution to preserving the environment.

For further information on the China in Yorkshire regional arts and cultural festival got to www.chinainyorkshire.org.uk.

15.05.2008 - Great Auk egg goes on show in Liverpool

A rare egg of the extinct Great Auk - thought to be the finest in existence - has gone on display for the first time at World Museum Liverpool.

The large, finely-marked specimen has been in the museum’s collections for about 150 years and there is no record of it being put on display before.

The slaughter of the flightless Great Auk for its oil, feathers and eggs helped inspire the fledgling conservation movement in Victorian times. The Great Auk stands with the Dodo and Passenger Pigeon as a symbol of human exploitation of wildlife.

Clem Fisher, the museum’s curator of vertebrate zoology, says: “This egg was collected long ago when nature conservation was virtually unknown. It reminds us that whole species can disappear in this way. This particular egg has probably the most interesting and beautiful markings of all the 75 eggs which are known to exist in the world.”

14.05.2008 - World War II monument rescued by repair grant

The heavy anti-aircraft gun site at Sinah Common, Hayling Island, has been made safe following a grant of £318,000 from the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund, partly distributed by English Heritage on behalf of DEFRA.

The Gun Site, which formed part of the air defences of Portsmouth during World War II and the early days of the Cold War, received the repair grant to fund a major programme of stabilisation to stop the Gun Emplacement 3 from sliding into an old sand and gravel quarry lake.

Built in 1939, the gun site is a Scheduled Ancient Monumnet and was initially armed with 4.5" naval guns taken off ships but later was equipped with four 5.7" guns. It formed part of the extensive defences against German air attack on Portsmouth during World War II and continued in use into the early days of the Cold War before being decommissioned.

13.05.2008 – Free entry and 1940s country fair at Cambridge's Farmland Museum for MGM 2008

The Farmland Museum near Cambridge is holding two special events to mark Museums and Galleries Month 2008.

The first is a special free entry day on Saturday May 17 (12-5pm) when seven episodes of the Aardman animation Shaun the Sheep will be shown.

And on the weekend of May 25 and 26, visitors will be able to experience a 1940s style country fair with traditional Maypole dances, a 1940s swing band, country games of the past and of course, traditional beer, available from the Iceni Brewery.

13.05.2008 – Community Archaeology wins Marsh Award

High quality community archaeology projects were celebrated at the inaugural Marsh Archaeology Award. The prize is awarded by the Council for British Archaeology in association with the Marsh Christian Trust, to support voluntary sector archaeology.

Four entries were shortlisted, and the judges could not choose between them, so with the sponsors' support awarded each £500 towards their work.

The winning projects were: The North of Scotland Archaeological Society – Glen Feshie The Badsey Society – the Enclosure Map Project The Mellor Archaeological Trust – Mellor Hilltop Royton Local History Society – Royton Lives Through the Ages

There are an estimated 200 community archaeology projects underway in the UK, which are usually run by volunteers. The Community Archaeology Forum at www.britarch.ac.uk/caf has more details of the projects entered for the Award.

12.05.2008 - Public asked to contribute to future care of Neolithic sites

Members of the public are being asked for their views on two key documents that will shape the future of Orkney’s World Heritage Site.

The Heart of Neolithic Orkney Management Plan 2008-13 Consultation Draft and its accompanying Environmental Report were published May 8 2008 and the two plans will affect the running of an area which contains some of the islands’ – and the world’s – most precious ancient monuments.

Electronic copies of the consultation plan are available for download from:
www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/currentconsultations and an analysis of responses to the consultation will be published to show how they are taken into account for the final version of the plan.

“The World Heritage Site is important to the life, culture and economy of Orkney and we would love as many people as possible to look through the draft plan and let us know what they think," said Historic Scotland's World Heritage Site Co-ordinator, Sabina Strachan.

The consultation period, which began on May 8, will last for six weeks and the final plan will be published later in the summer.

12.05.2008 - Tank Museum's new control tower erected

A new 25 metre (82 ft) control tower at Bovington Tank Museum is now gracing the Purbeck skyline.

The tower will be used to control live events at the Museum and is part of a major £16 million redevelopment project sponsored by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

A new 5,000-square metre display hall is taking shape and in front of the tower and the new tank arena is almost complete, and will be used for the first time during live displays in the half term school holidays from May 24 to June 1.

12.05.2008 - Twilight tours introduced at Maeshowe chambered cairn

Historic Scotland is introducing special twilight tours at one of the finest Neolithic sites in Europe.

From June to August 31 tours will be available every day at 18.00, 19.00 and 20.00 taking in the beauty, tranquillity and mystery at Maeshowe Chambered Cairn in the heart of Neolothic Orkney.

"On these tours visitors can admire the remarkable skills taken to create such a sophisticated monument with simple tools and see the incredible collection of runic inscriptions and engravings, all by twilight," said Alan Jones, Monument Manager at Maeshowe. "It promises to be a very atmospheric experience.”

All tours must be pre-paid and booked in advance by calling 01856 761 606 or in person at Tormiston Mill, Maeshowe’s visitor centre. Tours are adults £5.20, children £2.60 and concessions £4.20.

Visitors are advised that they should arrive 15 minutes before their tour. Each tour lasts around 20 minutes.