24 Hour Museum - official guide to UK museums, galleries, exhibitions and heritage
Gateway to Over 3,000 UK museums, galleries and heritage attractions
Skip to navigation
MGM 2007 - Museums Welcome Weekend Set To Make A Splash
By Graham Spicer
03/05/2007
Image: photo of a large neo classical building
The Fitzwilliam Museum is hosting activities all weekend. Photo © 24 Hour Museum
Museums and Galleries Month 2007 kicked off this week and is really hotting up with some inspiring events at venues across the country throughout May.
One of the highlights of the month is the Welcome Weekend, coinciding with the Bank Holiday from May 4-7, when museums and galleries will offer visitors something different and encourage people to discover something new, unique and unexpected in their neighbourhood.
Museums and Galleries Month is the annual celebration of the nation’s museums, galleries and heritage sites and this year hundreds of venues are taking part with more than 850 events already logged on the 24 Hour Museum’s database of searchable listings.
Image: photo of two thatched huts with horned black cattle in the foreground
Bede's World will show what it was like to be an Anglo-Saxon warrior. Photo Bede's World
Every region has something going on. In the East of England the Fitzwilliam Museum is organising a free weekend for all ages with talks, trails, workshops, competitions and music, with art materials from the Far East to try.
Over in the East Midlands Brewhouse Yard Museum of Nottingham Life will be pulling out the stops on Bank Holiday Monday with a 1940s knees-up. Trilby hat or painted-on stockings optional but music, re-enactors and 40s memorabilia guaranteed.
The West Midlands will also have plenty going on. Wolverhampton Art Gallery launches its Art 4 Kids club on Saturday and on Friday and Saturday anyone can help to create the museum's Welcome Mat by adding a few stitches of their own to it.
Image: photo of a long neo classical frontage of a building
Head of the Science Museum Jon Tucker will be leading tours of the venue. Photo Science Museum
In London, the ever-popular Science Museum is running a series of exclusive free tours on Monday led by none other than the head of the museum himself, Jon Tucker. Jon will talk about some of his personal favourite exhibits like Stephenson’s Rocket and the Babbage engine.
Bede’s World in Jarrow in the North East is stepping back into Anglo-Saxon times from Saturday to Monday with Arms and Armour: What was life like for an Anglo-Saxon warrior? Living history group The Time Bandits will be wielding their swords and shields, explaining how the Anglo-Saxons fought and prepared for battle.
Manchester Art Gallery has loads to do for adults and families on Monday with its Your Welcome! day. There will be tours and activities throughout the day and, when you want to take the strain off your feet, you can sit down and chill out with some relaxing music.
If you live near Livingstone in Scotland and you are a card-carrying carnivore then The Grand Almond Valley Sausage Exposition at Almond Valley Heritage Centre on Sunday is not to be missed. The sizzle of sausages and wafting smells of traditional Scottish puddings and haggis will fill the air at this light-hearted family event.
Image: photo of a woman and girl looking at pottery exhibits in a glass museum display case
The Museum of East Asian Art's founder Brian S McElney will be leading tours. Photo MEAA
Almost as hotly contested as the elections to the Scottish Parliament, local butchers will be battling it out to win the ‘best banger ballot’ and there will be plenty of other activities, music and demonstrations including testing out high-speed black puddings.
In the South East, Maidstone Museum and Bentlif Art Gallery is inviting visitors to explore their identity with its People - Who Are We? event on Saturday. Take a trip to the ancient civilisations Hands On Station and then search the museum to find and draw an artefact that means something to you and your identity.
Across the country in Bath, the Museum of East Asian Art is running a Welcome Tour on Saturday with the museum’s founder Brian S McElney. Brian will be explaining all about the history of the museum and its fascinating collection. Advance booking is recommended.
Image: photo of the interior of an art gallery
Manchester Art Gallery wil be making visitors welcome over the weekend. Photo MAG
Wales is full of history and excellent museums and on Saturday Ruthin Gaol will be hosting a day of Victorian Music with period music expert Richard York. Richard will play Victorian music on different instruments and show how different classes of people enjoyed different types of music.
After the Welcome Weekend there will be lots more to do during Museums and Galleries Month – check the 24 Hour Museum for more suggestions as the month goes on.
Make sure you check with the venues as many of the events are only running are certain times during the day – contact details below.
Fitzwilliam Museum
Trumpington Street, Cambridge, CB2 1RB, Cambridgeshire, England
Open: Tues-Sat 1000-1700
Sun 1200-1700
Closed: Closed Mon (except Bank Holidays when open 12.00-17.00) Closed Good Friday; 24,25,26 & 31 Dec and 1 Jan.
Brewhouse Yard - Museum of Nottingham Life
Brewhouse Yard - Museum of Nottingham Life, Castle Boulevard, Nottingham, NG7 1FB, Nottinghamshire, England
T: 0115 915 3600
Open: Daily 10:00am - 16:30pm
Last Entry 16:00pm
Wolverhampton Art Gallery
Wolverhampton Art Gallery, Lichfield Street, Wolverhampton, WV1 1DU, West Midlands, England
Open: Mon-Sat 10.00-17.00
Closed: Sun & Bank Holidays
Science Museum, London
Exhibition Road, London, SW7 2DD, England
Open: Daily 10.00-18.00
Closed: Closed 24-26 December
Bede's World
Church Bank, Jarrow, NE32 3DY, Tyne & Wear, England
Open: April-September
Mon -Sat 1000-1730
Sun 1200-1730
October-March
Mon-Sat 1000-1630
Sun 1200-1630
Closed: 22 December 2008 - 26th December 2008 and from 29th December- 1st January 2009. Closed Good Friday.
Manchester Art Gallery
Mosley Street, Manchester, M2 3JL, England
T: 0161 235 8888
Open: Tuesday - Sunday and Bank Holiday Mondays, 10am - 5pm
Closed: Closed Monday (except Bank Holidays),Good Friday, 24-26 December, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.
Almond Valley Heritage Centre
Almond Valley Heritage Centre, Millfield, Livingston Village, Livingston, EH54 7AR, Lothian, Scotland
Open: Daily 1000-1700
Closed: closed only on the 25th & 26th December, 1 & 2 January
Museum of East Asian Art, Bath
Museum of East Asian Art, 12 Bennett Street, Bath, BA1 2QJ, Somerset, England
Open: All year round:
Tue-Sat: 10.00-17.00
Sun 12.00-17.00
Closed: Closed Mondays (except most Bank Holidays)
Closed over the Christmas and New Year period - please contact Museum for exact dates.
Ruthin Gaol
Clwyd Street, Ruthin, LL15 1HP, Denbighshire, Wales
Open: Open all year. February 17th-Oct 31st daily, Nov-February weekends and school holidays
The Bowes Museum
The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, DL12 8NP, County Durham, England
Open: Open Daily 10.00 - 5.00 (Winter closing at 4.00 1 Nov - 29 Feb)
Closed: Closed only 25 & 26 Dec & 1 Jan
Related Articles
Bowes Museum Famous Mechanical Swan Goes Back On Show In December
Science Museum Reveals Robot That Could Revolutionise Medicine
News In Brief - Museums, Galleries And Heritage News
News In Brief - Week Ending November 14 2008
Picturing The Bible From Raphael To El Greco At The Bowes
Wolverhampton Art Gallery Launches First Heavy Metal Archive
Tomb Treasures Of Ancient Georgia At The Fitzwilliam Museum
E-news registration
E-mail story to a friend
Tell us what you think
Sheffield Metal Master Wins Museum's Inaugural Design Award
DCMS Launches Consultation Into The Future Of World Heritage Sites
Royal Society Announces Plans For 350th Anniversary
Art Website ArtisanCam Wins Children's BAFTA
Former Floorboards Of Founding Father Franklin Facilitate Funny Four
Mark Leckey Wins The 2008 Turner Prize And Scoops £25,000
Library Thief Update: Sentencing Adjourned Until January 16, 2009
Fund Aims To Realise Long-Standing Campaign For Cardiff City Museum
Culture Secretary Slaps Export Ban On George I Chandelier
Shakespeare's Globe Costumes Go On Show In Nottingham
Britglyph Art Campaign Uses Web To Make Mass Geoglyph
Inaugural Awards Ceremony Honours UK Arts Philanthropists
Rare Silver Cup Commemorating Coronation Of Charles II Is Saved For The Nation
London Fire Brigade Museum Escapes Closure - For Now
Another Busy Year For Archaeology On Orkney In 2008
Severndroog Castle To Be Restored Thanks To Lottery Grant
Campaign To Save Captain Scott's Hut Needs Another £65,000
Open Air Lab Project Launches At The Natural History Museum
Search this site
Home Page
News Page
Exhibition Page
What's On
Trails Page
Website of the Week
Letters Page
Welsh Home
Graphical Version
Copyright © 24 Hour Museum
Information published here was believed to be correct at the time it was prepared. Welsh language pages developed with CYMAL: Museums Archives and Libraries Wales, funded by the Welsh Assembly Government.