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News In Brief - Week Ending January 13 2008
By 24 Hour Museum Staff
07/01/2008
Welcome to the 24 Hour Museum news in brief page for the week ending January 13 2008.
Image: photo of a man in army uniform
10.01.2008 - Local memories of the Somme brought to life at Dewsbury Museum
To mark the 90th anniversary of the end of World War One, people's memories of the conflict will be brought to life during National Storytelling Week at Dewsbury Museum
On Sunday January 27, a First World War soldier played by professional actor Ben Revell, will recount real-life experiences from the front line and reflect on the massive changes the conflict brought to ordinary people's lives.
He will perform a mix of stories and poetry at regular intervals between 1pm and 4pm. For further information contact Simon Skelling on 01484 223800.
10.10.2008 - Car wrecks Leatherhead Museum
A listed building in Leatherhead has been seriously damaged after a car crashed through its frontage in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Hampton Cottage is a timber framed building dating to the seventeenth century and is currently home to Leatherhead Museum.
Damage to the building included the demolition of the front bay window and a large portion of the front lower elevation. Display cabinets and a scale model of the building were also destroyed, together with pottery and china from the Victorian and Edwardian periods.
The car, a silver Metro, was making a left turn but didn't make the corner and ended up crashing into the front wall of the museum.
10.01.2008 - Historic brickworks chimneys saved from demolition by listing
Four chimneys and two kilns at Stewartby brickworks in Bedfordshire have been listed by English Heritage to save them from demolition.
Bedfordshire County Council first asked English Heritage and the Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport to recognise and protect these iconic structures, which are the last monuments to brick production in Bedfordshire, in February last year.
Brick making at Stewartby was at the heart of rebuilding Britain after the devastation of the Second World War, with many buildings built in London after 1945 made from the famous Fletton bricks produced at Stewartby. Brick production will cease at the brickworks in February 2008.
"Over the next few years massive areas of brownfield sites across the Marston Vale and particularly at the Stewartby brickworks site, will see large scale redevelopment for houses and industry," said Councillor John Scott, Bedfordshire County Council Cabinet Member for Planning and Economic Growth.
"This is good news for Bedfordshire, but it’s very important to protect and remember the past - and this decision to award these landmark structures listed status does just that."
09.01.2008 – Abbot Hall Art Gallery waives entrance for under-25s
From its re-opening on January 18, Abbot Hall Art Gallery in Kendal will be free to students under 25 years old.
The aim is to increase young visitor numbers – and not just those who are studying art.
“Galleries, obviously, are a valuable resource for those studying art, but we are aware that it will be not only artists, designers and architects who will define our future cultural landscape, but those who commission them,” said the gallery in a statement.
“Entrepreneurs, politicians, businessmen and women and celebrities will be the collectors of the future, it is they who will commission buildings and decide on what is spent on theatres, concert halls and art galleries. Our aim, therefore, is to widen our appeal to all young people and develop new ways to engage them, free admission is our first initiative.”
Both permanent displays and temporary exhibitions will be free of charge for all under-18s and young people in full-time education up to the age of 25. The initiative is funded by the Lakeland Arts Trust.
09.01.2008 - Portsmouth's museums get the seal of approval
All six museums run by Portsmouth City Council have been awarded full accreditation by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) - the national organisation that guides the work of museums.
The museums that have achieved the required standard are:
City Museum and Records Office
Charles Dickens Birthplace Museum
Eastney Industrial Museum
Southsea Castle
Cumberland House Museum
D-Day Museum and Overlord Embroidery
Various aspects of a museum's service are assessed for accreditation including governance, public services and facilities, and care of the collections, with smaller museum services being assessed in line with their size. Only accredited museums are eligible to apply for funding from organisations such as the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Councillor Terry Hall, Executive member for Culture and Leisure said: "This is a real achievement for the city as we believe Portsmouth has the highest number of museums in the south east outside of London."
"With this accreditation, it means that we can apply for additional funding to promote and protect Portsmouth's rich culture and heritage."
Image: aerial photo of a Victorian workhouse
09.01.2008 - New hope for endangered Welsh workhouse
News that local campaigners have been offered a loan to refinance the derelict Llanfyllin Union Workhouse in Powys, Wales, has been welcomed by the Victorian Society, the national charity campaigning for the Victorian and Edwardian historic environment.
The 1838 workhouse, named by the society as one of the nation’s Top Ten Endangered Buildings in 2007, looked set to rot or fall prey to unsympathetic development if the Llanfyllin Dolydd Building Preservation Trust couldn’t raise sufficient funds to keep it. The landmark building featured on the BBC2 series Restoration in 2004 but was unsuccessful.
By joining forces with the Workhouse Festival organisers, the Llanfyllin Dolydd Building Preservation Trust has secured a loan from the Ecology Building Society.
Dr Ian Dungavell, Director of the Victorian Society, said: “This is wonderful news. We congratulate everyone who has worked so hard to secure funding and urge all those who can help take the project further to contact the campaigners. We look forward to seeing this remarkable building brought back to the centre of its community and hope it will be used and enjoyed for many years to come.”
For more information about the campaign, visit www.llanfyllinworkhouse.org
Image: photo of a Japanese style garden and building
08.01.2008 – Tatton Park launches photographic competition
Tatton Park in Cheshire has launched a photographic competition to find out which parts of the gardens strike a chord with visitors.
‘What’s Your View?’ is part of the celebrations for Cheshire Year of the Gardens ’08, and asks visitors to choose a favourite area of the gardens to photograph. Twelve of the best photographs entered into the competition will be chosen by a panel of Tatton staff to appear in a calendar for 2009. They will also be exhibited throughout 2009 at the garden entrance.
Sam Youd, Head of Gardens at Tatton commented: “Every hour of every day brings different dimensions of light and colour to our gardens. At the moment I love seeing the amazing winter structure and form of the gardens beginning to be revealed. The skeletal frames of the trees against the bright blue sky would be my perfect winter Tatton view.”
Contact Tatton Park for more information. Closing date for entries is October 1 2008.
08.01.2008 – Hull’s Ferens Gallery now accepting Open Exhibition entries
Entries are now being accepted for one of the highlights of the art calendar in Hull, the Ferens Gallery’s Open Exhibition.
“The Open Exhibition is always extremely popular,” said Christine Brady, Assistant Keeper of Art (Exhibitions) at the gallery. “The Ferens Art Gallery looks forward to receiving entries from not only well-established and popular artists but new and emerging talent, with the aim of creating an enjoyable and stimulating exhibition which reflects the vitality of the local and regional art scene.”
“It also provides the chance for visitors to buy an original work of art at reasonable prices.” Three prizes are up for grabs, ranging from £150 to £400. Contact the Ferens Art Gallery for more information, or email museums@hullcc.gov.uk. Entries will be accepted until January 26 2008, with a submission fee of £3 per entry.
08.01.2008 – Cogges Manor Farm Museum saved for a year
Oxfordshire County Council have agreed to continue funding Cogges Manor Farm Museum at the same level for another year, it has been announced, saving the working museum from mooted closure.
Locals in Witney rallied round after council proposals to close the farm museum, whose visitors numbers have dropped in recent years.
Funding cuts will, however, be introduced over three years, according to a plan to be brought before the council next week. Other sources of support will be sought by the Cogges Museum Trust.
08.01.2008 – York Art Gallery acquires Bridget Riley painting
York Art Gallery has acquired a painting by eminent British Op Artist, Bridget Riley.
‘Cloudy Blue Green With Pink And Emerald Thrusts’ was presented to the gallery by the Contemporary Arts Society, which looks after the Tom Bendhem collection. The painting had come to the gallery in a touring exhibition of the Bendhem collection in 2006.
The painting is going on show in the gallery’s Modern Approaches gallery.
Image: artists impression of an industrial waterfront building
07.01.2008 - New Museum of Bristol development underway
The development of the new Museum of Bristol is getting underway this week. The £25m museum, which will be housed in the city’s former Industrial Museum, has been in the planning stage for two years.
The old Industrial Museum transit sheds at Princes Wharf will house the new museum and will be fully renovated with much of the external facade preserved.
A stunning glass rooftop gallery, sympathetic to the architecture of the building, with views across the city centre and a roof terrace, will also be added to the new museum, due to open in 2010.
07.01.2008 – Textile heritage orchard to be planted in Bury
Fruit trees that once played a part in Bury’s cotton industry are being replanted on a plot of land in the town.
The 'heritage orchard', at Athlone and Avondale Avenue allotments, will be home to the type of fruit trees that were essential for producing dyes used in the local textile industry.
The land has been used as allotments since before the Second World War. Fruits grown will include different varieties of pears and plums.
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