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News In Brief - Week Ending September 30 2007
By 24 Hour Museum Staff
24/09/2007
Welcome to the 24 Hour Museum news in brief page for the week ending September 30 2007.
Image: photograph of an old hall with a tower and garden in front
28.09.2007 - Future of Blackburn's Turton Tower secured by three way partnership
An important part of Lancashire’s heritage has been secured after a three way partnership between Blackburn with Darwen Council, Lancashire County Council and North Turton Parish Council was approved.
The three have agreed to work together to run the 15th century Tudor Turton Tower, thereby securing its long term future.
Proposals include the restoration of the building, the renovation of the stable block and the refurbishment of the interior to form a museum, with a full programme of public events and activities.
Built in 1420, Turton Tower is one of only two listed buildings in the borough of Blackburn and a popular tourist attraction. Picture © Lancashire County Council
28.09.2007 - Gift Aid helps National Portrait Gallery acquire Hockney portrait
A large recent self-portrait by David Hockney has been bought by the National Portrait Gallery (NPG) from funds raised last year through its 150th Anniversary Portrait Gala and gift aid donations from tickets sold to visitors of its highly successful David Hockney Portraits exhibition.
It will go on display alongside a selection of other recent acquisitions to coincide with the opening of the Gallery's major autumn exhibition Pop Art Portraits on October 11.
The work in oil on canvas from 2005 is the first painted portrait of the Yorkshire-born Hockney to be acquired by the NPG and shows the artist with his friend and former assistant, the New York-based curator, Charlie Scheips.
Hockney stands in the foreground in front of a canvas wearing a black shirt and red braces and holding paintbrushes while Scheips sits on a table at the back scrutinising work in progress.
Image: black and white photo of soldiers in a trench
27.09.2007 - Marlow’s First World War trenches mapped out
A three-year project to investigate and map out First World War training trenches in woods near Marlow, in the Thames Valley, has been completed.
The trenches in Pullinghill Woods, Buckinghamshire, were used in 1915-16 to train up soldiers before they went off to fight in the real thing. The history group Archaeology in Marlow has now researched and surveyed these earth constructions, which are the most complete set left in the UK, for the Recording of Marlow and District’s Ancient Monuments project.
The system of trenches, two metres deep by two metres wide, was probably dug by the Grenadier Guards and local people – all 1,400 metres. Notice boards detailing the trenches have been erected in the woods.
27.09.2007 - Hull Local Studies Library acquires historical postcards
Hull's Local Studies Library has acquired the third and final volume of a major collection of historically important postcards relating to the city.
The collection, of which the first two volumes have already gone to the Library, belonged to the late Renton Heathcote, a well-known local historian and East Riding councillor. The postcards date from the Edwardian 'golden age' of British postcards, with views of locations such as the French Convent in Park Grove and Anlaby Park represented. Two of the cards show Zeppelin damage from raids in 1915 and 1916.
The volume contains 220 postcards and was purchased with a grant of £1,265.
Image: photo of a neon sign for the art gallery
26.09.2007 - Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum announces candidates for redevelopment project
Cheltenham Borough Council has received 77 designs for its proposed redevelopment of its art gallery and museum, and is displaying them in an online exhibition until October 12 2007.
The improved venue will provide more space and better access to the Art Gallery and Museum's important collections, a new gallery for temporary exhibitions and dedicated space for education, outreach, arts development and life-long learning work.
Following a period of public consultation a shortlist of four designs will be chosen by a judging panel in late October and the final decision will be made in December 2007.
26.09.2007 - British Library to stage lecture season on climate change
The British Library in London is staging POLAR, a series of art and science talks during autumn 2007.
They aim to uncover how scientists, geographers, artists and ordinary people around the world know our planet's climate is changing, how we got to this situation, and what we might do about it.
Part of International Polar Year, the four lectures will concentrate on Everyday Disasters, Climate Change and Human Rights, The New Iconography of Climate Change and The Geopolitics of Cold.
The series of talks will conclude with a two day symposium focusing on the climate change knowledge and the polar regions.
For further information see the POLAR project website.
26.09.2006 – Alan Davey appointed as new Director for Arts Council England
Sir Christopher Frayling, Chair of Arts Council England, has announced the appointment of Alan Davey as the new Chief Executive of Arts Council England.
Alan will take up the post in early 2008, succeeding Peter Hewitt, who has been Chief for ten years.
Alan is currently Director of Culture at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. He is known for his passionate interest in the arts and extensive knowledge of public policy in the area.
“I couldn’t be more excited about my new role,” he said. “The arts in England have never been healthier, more challenging, innovative or popular. I want the Arts Council to be at the forefront of building on that success – working with artists to reach even greater heights, leading the arts with passion and excellence, and forging new partnerships that secure the position of the arts in national life.”
Image: a photograph of the flying scotsman name plate part obscured by steam
25.09.2007 - Flying Scotsman will be taking passengers for a ride again by 2009
The National Railway Museum in York has announced that it is working alongside the Railway Touring Company and Steam Dreams for the mainline operation of Flying Scotsman.
From 2009, a programme of excursions on Flying Scotsman will be on offer throughout Britain.
In the North, these will include the Scarborough Spa Express and a York to Carlisle trip while in the South there will be the Cathedrals Express, which will take in Salisbury, Bath and the Cotswolds.
Exact dates and times have yet to be finalised for the tours of the Scotsman, which is currently undergoing extensive renovations in the workshops of the National Railway Museum.
25.09.2007 - New medieval tapestries to be unveiled at Stirling Castle
The third in the spectacular Hunt of the Unicorn series of tapestries being recreated for Stirling Castle is to be unveiled to the public at a special reception on September 27 2007.
Hand woven by weavers from the West Dean Tapestry Studio within the grounds of the castle, the work of art measures 3.45 x 3.30 m (12ft by 14ft) and will hang in the Chapel Royal.
The original Hunt of the Unicorn tapestries dating from 1495-1505 have been on display since 1937 in New York at the Cloisters Museum, which houses the medieval collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The series is widely accepted as some of the finest medieval tapestries in the world.
Tapestry was an integral part of medieval and renaissance interior decoration in the large state rooms and great halls of Scottish Royal residences. It provided decoration and a lavish display of wealth and also kept out the cold and damp.
Image: a photograph of a church with a large spire
24.09.2007 - Priory Heritage Centre project launches this week in Lincoln
A multi-million pound project to create a national heritage education centre that promises to transform the southern end of Lincoln’s High Street is being officially launched on Thursday September 27.
The centre, which will be housed in the restored and converted St Catherine’s Church opposite South Common, is being partly funded by a grant of £1.3 million from The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) who have also awarded the project a development grant of £32,125.
“St Catherine’s is a fascinating building featuring a style unheard of for a Wesleyan chapel – it really is an impressive site," said Emma Sale, HLF Regional Manager for the East Midlands. "This funding will mean that not only can this heritage be explored by people who use the church but also that it will be transformed from a building at risk into a living heart of this community.”
Once completed the Priory Heritage Education Centre will be an educational resource for scholars and school pupils alike as well as a major historical and religious visitor attraction.
24.09.2007 - Stolen 'Excalibur' goes back on display in Peterborough Museum
A prehistoric sword and its decorated scabbard stolen from Peterborough Museum 13 years ago have gone back on public display.
Originally found at Orton Longueville during gravel extraction in the 1980s, the 2000 year old sword and scabbard were recognised when they were offered for sale at an auction in Germany.
Following a year of international correspondence and negotiation, they were returned to Peterborough last month and are now once again one of the star attractions at the city's museum.
"I am really thrilled to finally see them back on display in their rightful place," said Gillian Barclay, heritage services manager for Peterborough City Council. "Peterborough Museum has a fantastic array of artefacts, which chart the city's rich history and this was, and is once again, one of our most impressive finds."
24.09.2007 - Scorpion gives birth in Royal Marines Museum jungle display
A female emperor scorpion, which lives in the jungle display at the Royal Marines Museum, Southsea, has given birth to six tiny offspring.
Live scorpions form part of the museum’s educational programme showing visitors what kind of creatures Royal Marines come across in jungle training in places such as Belize.
If the babies survive the museum plans to donate them to Marwell Zoo.
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