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News In Brief - Week Ending October 28 2007
By 24 Hour Museum Staff
22/10/2007
Welcome to the 24 Hour Museum news in brief page for the week ending October 28 2007.
Image: black and white photo of a stone staircase
26.10.2007 - Nottingham Galleries of Justice - most haunted building?
The Galleries of Justice has been nominated as the scariest building in the UK by television’s Most Haunted investigation team. During filming, doors were heard slamming around the gaol, stones being thrown at them, and mediums sensed a number of malevolent forces.
The Galleries are offering visitors the chance to have a similar eerie experience during a ghost tour on November 28 2007. Call Laura Butler on 0115 952 0555 to book a place. And you can vote for the Galleries as the most haunted building in the UK, on the Living TV website (before October 30).
“In recent years we have had difficulty in recruiting staff to work in the museum due to its growing reputation as the most haunted site in England,” said Tim Desmond, Chief Executive at the Galleries.
“As convicted murderers were hanged on the front steps of the building and many men, women and children were locked up in the dungeons carved out of the rock, it is no real surprise that the atmosphere is so bad at the Galleries of Justice”.
26.10.2007 - £750,000 lottery funding to replace Rhy-ader Folk Museum
A mid-Wales community has finally got the go-ahead from the Heritage Lottery Fund to create a £750,000 museum to celebrate the area’s history and replace the old Rhy-ader Folk Museum.
CARAD – Community Arts Rhyadar and District’s fundraising campaign attracted controversy two years ago when an appeal for funds to Birmingham City Council was rejected.
But residents and businessmen in the city backed the appeal, forcing the council into a £20,000 change of heart. Today’s seal of approval brings with it a £483,5000 from the HLF, £104,000 from donations, £90,000 from the Welsh Assembly Government, £2,500 from CYMAL and £10,000 from Spirit Ysbryd
Peter Cox, chairman of the trustees, said: “I pay tribute to everyone whose patience and perseverance has finally paid off.”
26.10.2007 - Towns and cities to be regenerated with Heritage Lottery funding
The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has announced earmarked funding of almost £13m for the regeneration of 13 towns and cities from all corners of the UK.
These include Glasgow’s Govan Cross, one of Scotland’s most deprived areas and the setting of the BBC’s ‘Rab C Nesbitt’ sitcom, the seaside town of Morecambe and the Port Street area in Evesham which recently suffered from serious flooding.
This money is part of HLF’s hugely successful Townscape Heritage Initiative (THI) which funds the regeneration of conservation areas of a town or city which have particularly suffered from social and economic problems. This latest round of decisions brings the total awarded through the scheme to over £170m, helping transform more than 175 towns and cities across the UK.
Other places to benefit are: Blyth (Northumberland); Walled City (Derry, Northern Ireland); Ayr, Campbeltown, Kelso, Paisley and Stromness in Scotland; Aberdare, Dolgellau and Flint in Wales.
Image: Front Room website screenshot
25.10.2007 - West Indian Front Room Comes To Iniva And The Web
In 2006, the Geffrye Museum held an exhibition on the peculiarities of the West Indian Front Room. If you missed it, or if you loved it and would like to see it again, you can until October 31 2007 at Iniva, Rivington Place.
You can also find out what kind of things go on a West Indian mantelpiece at the new accompanying website, www.iniva.net/frontroom. If you’ve know a front room that deserves to be on show, send a photo in to the website, or post your comments on the curator’s blog.
25.10.2007 - Ten Year Strategy To Improve Welsh Museums
Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales, is to make St Fagans: National History Museum the centrepiece of Wales’s cultural tourism offer.
Speaking at the launch of its Annual Report, National Museum Wales Director General Michael Houlihan said: “St Fagans: National History Museum will be developed to become the place that tells the story of the peoples and nation of Wales… Without them there can be no sense of identity.”
Oriel 1, St Fagans’ new gallery, explores themes of belonging, with curators and communities across Wales collaborating information. The Culture Minister Rhodri Glyn Thomas AM praised the national museums, saying he “looks forward to exciting developments over the next ten years.”
25.10.2007 - Silbury Hill repack to begin
Work is about to begin repacking Silbury Hill with chalk to stabilise the ancient monument. At 40 metres (130 feet) high, Silbury is thought to be the largest prehistoric man-made mound in the world.
After a gaping hole appeared in its top in 2000, a plan was formulated to safeguard the site for future generations. The collapse, due to a vertical shaft dug in the 18th century, occurred after heavy rains.
In May 2007, work began with the re-opening of a tunnel into the centre of the hill in 1968. The inadequate packing has been removed and archaeologists have been able to investigate the very core of Silbury. Backfilling with crushed chalk will now begin.
While new finds have included Neolithic flint flakes and pieces of antler, most of the objects encountered date from the 1960s backfill – tobacco tins, soups packets and drinks bottles – revealing the social history of the hill as a magnet for historical investigation.
Medieval postholes on the hilltop and iron arrowheads indicate it was used as a fortification in Saxon or Norman times (11th century). Experts have also suggested the hill originally had a domed top, flattened by its medieval users. Its final phase of construction has also been redated to 2000 BC, later than previously thought.
Work on the £1m project is due to be completed by Christmas 2007, after delays in the summer because of heavy rains. Read weekly updates on the English Heritage website.
25.10.2007 - Scotland's town centres to benefit from Lottery investment
The Heritage Lottery Fund announced today that it has set aside £6.3m to fund the conservation of six town centres across Scotland through Townscape Heritage Initiatives (THIs).
Scottish Minister for Culture Linda Fabiana said: “This regeneration is good news for people who live, work and visit these historic towns and I look forward to seeing the social and economic benefits that will follow.”
THIs fund the regeneration of historic parts of towns suffering from economic degeneration and communities in Govan, Campbeltown, Paisley, Ayr, Kelso and Stromness are set to benefit from the new grants.
The Heritage Lottery Fund has invested over £25m in projects that have directly contributed to the regeneration of town centres in Scotland.
Image: a photo of a child on a play ramp in a museum
24.10.2007 - A first for museums as Eureka! appoints a 'Director of Play'
Eureka! The Museum for Children based in Halifax, West Yorkshire has appointed a Director of Play, a position that is believed to be unique in UK museums.
Rebecca Johnson has taken up the position which will look at developing Eureka!’s already outstanding play and learning provision for the under-fives and primary school age children.
"It’s wonderful to see Eureka! putting play at the heart of their provision in this way and may even be unique," said Pat Broadhead, Professor of Playful Learning at Leeds Metropolitan University. "Play influences social, emotional and intellectual development and is also central to children's development of language skills. Let's hope others take their lead from this.”
As Director of Play & Early Years, Rebecca will oversee the development of play-based activities at the museum, including two galleries designed specially for the under-fives, and the Eureka! Nursery.
She made the headlines earlier this year when she became one of the first early years practitioners in the country to be awarded a new government-backed qualification, known as Early Years Professional Status (EYPS). She was among the first wave of 300 graduates to be awarded EYPS in February after completing the training course for practitioners.
24.10.2007 - Blue Plaque for Ira Aldridge, The 'African Roscius'
Shakespearian actor and pioneering figure in the world of theatre, Ira Aldridge (1807-1867) has been commemorated with an English Heritage blue plaque at 5 Hamlet Road, Upper Norwood, SE19, London.
This was Aldridge’s final home which he named ‘Luranah Villa’ after his mother. As one of the outstanding interpreters of Shakespeare of his age, Aldridge was dubbed ‘The African Roscius’, after the great Roman actor.
He was the first black actor known to have played the role of Othello in London and was also widely recognised for taking on parts that hitherto had been the domain of white actors, including Shylock, Richard III and King Lear.
Image: photo of a large palace building
23.10.2007 - Kew Palace wins building conservation award
Kew Palace is ending its summer season on a high note as it celebrates winning the prestigious RICS (Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors) Building Conservation Award.
The award recognises the extensive restoration work that took place at the palace, King George III’s country retreat, during a ten-year, £6.6million project carried out by Historic Royal Palaces.
Simon Pott, Chairman of Judges, called the restoration an “outstanding example” that had been carried out with great care and attention to detail.
23.10.2007 – British Library puts 19th century newspapers online
The British Library in partnership with JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee) and Gale/Cengage Learning, has launched its 19th century British Library Newspapers website.
Vital newspaper reports on events from 1800-1900 are now available free to students, teachers and researchers in a fully searchable online database. Users will be able to read original reports of the Battle of Trafalgar and the Abolition of Slavery Act, or news on the opening of the Suez Canal and the first England-Australia Test Match.
The newspapers have been chosen to represent a cross-section of national and regional titles, with one million pages digitised. Present-day leading nationals are nt represented, as it is anticipated they will create their own digital archives (The London Times has already done so).
Only HE and FE institutions can sign up for this unique resource at present – find out how on the British Library website.
Image: a photo of the standing stones of Stonehenge
22.10.2007 - English Heritage welcomes DCMS spending review budget
English Heritage has welcomed the announcement by Culture Secretary James Purnell of a cash increase to its budget by pointing out that although it is still below inflation, the settlement represents a reversal of 10 years of 'flat cash allocation'.
English Heritage will see its grant rise from £123.7 million at present to £130.7 million at the end of the three-year spending review period.
"This is good news and ends a decade of cash cuts," said Lord Bruce-Lockhart, Chairman of English Heritage. “This increase in resources, combined with our commitment to make further savings, will allow us to move forward on a number of key heritage initiatives."
Lord Bruce-Lockhart added that forthcoming Heritage Protection Legislation means that the system for managing England’s heritage is about to be transformed and the changes will be need to be properly resourced.
"The Secretary of State’s announcement will present considerable financial challenges but because we strongly believe these legislative changes will bring huge benefits, we will make implementation our priority,” he added.
The announcement means that English Heritage’s funding will be £124.7 million in 08/09, £126.7 million in 09/10, and £130.7 million in 10/11. This represents a rise in baseline grant of £7 million by 2010 /11 and a cumulative increase in funds of £11 million in total over the three-year period.
22.10.2007 - Manchester artist scoops top award at Arts Council NW Awards
Manchester artist Jon Winstanley has been awarded the coveted ‘Outstanding Achievement in the Arts’ accolade at the Arts Council England, North West ‘art07’ awards ceremony.
The ceremony took place on October 17 and was the culmination of the fourth annual spotlight on the arts in the region organised by the Arts Council England, North West. The event saw a number of the region’s best artists and organisations recognised for their work in four set categories: Rising Star; Unsung Hero; Totally Inspired; and Putting the North West on the Map.
Other winners included Liverpool Biennial Festival, which won the ‘Putting the North West on the Map’ category. Yvonne Wilson from Clayton-Le-Moors, Lancashire was the winner of the ‘Unsung Hero’ award for her volunteer work with the Friends of Mercer Park scheme.
Mid Pennine Arts in Burnley won the 'Totally Inspired' award for its Panopticons Project - a four year programme to create distinctive environmental improvements as part of the regeneration of the East Lancashire Regional Park.
Jon Winstanley also received the top award in the Rising Star category for his work to launch sketch city www.myspace.com/sketchcity, to offer artists the opportunity to gain exposure and network in a unique environment, which clinched him the category and overall award.
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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.