West Somerset Rural Life Museum

Museums in Somerset Group Meeting at Weston-super-Mare Museum on 21st October 2013

Present: Colin Spackman and 30 members

Apologies: Mike Werkmeister – East Lambrook Manor Gardens, Michael Ferguson – West Somerset Rural Life Museum, Sue Lloyd – Minehead Museum Group Project, Clare Robinson – SHAC, Susie Simmons – Museum of Somerset, Pam Walker – Shoe Museum, Charlotte Berry – Alfred Gillett trust, Michael Penn – Haynes Motor Museum, Nigel Fox – Wincanton & District Museum & History Society, Tom Mayberry – Somerset Heritage Centre, Alan Davis – Frome museum, Annette Pitman – Bruton Archive, Chard Museum

1. Welcome: The group were welcomed by Zoe Clements, Weston Town Council Development Officer. Zoe outlined the plans for the museum redevelopment project. The plans were on a display board for all to see. The plan is on schedule with an architect and designer on board. The idea is to improve visitor flow and improve displays. An exhibition gallery will hold touring exhibitions. The ex storage space upstairs will be opened up with bridges across the courtyard. The Town Council will be submitting a second round application to the Heritage Lottery Fund in May 2014. 2. Minutes of the last group meeting: signed and approved. 3. Chairman’s report: Colin had attended several Somerset Heritage Trust meetings and had responded to Somerset County Council Heritage Trust’s consultation. He had written to the Heritage Lottery Fund in support of SW Fed’s application to the Catalyst Heritage building fund raising capacity programme. He had received Natalie’s resignation as Somerset MDO and had discussed this with her. He had also attended a committee meeting to organise this group’s meeting. 4. Treasurer’s report: Accounts for MIS and Somerset Routes were shown. There is £60 in the bank and £41.45 cash in hand. We must remember that in the future we also need to find £250 per annum hosting fee. 5. Secretary’s report: Nothing to report other than thank you for sending your member reports. 6. Winter Meeting: A venue is needed for the February meeting. Bishop’s Lydeard mill and scout hut had been offered. 7. Museum Development Officer report: Natalie reported on the results of surveys. There were 21 museums within accreditation scheme, 37 museums with MDO support, and 81 instances of MDO support. £18,063 funding was secured with MDO support. Any information on news and events should be sent to [email protected]. There are volunteers that can upload this onto Somerset Routes. Please check your entries for the new season in March 2014. A couple of projects are forthcoming: Rapid Retail project: This is available for accredited museums and runs from December to February 2013. Round 2 is in April 2014.

1 Digital Engagement project: This is available to accredited museums. Digital specialists can help you understand how to make the best use of digital technology in your museum, training, action plans and setting up projects. It starts November 2013 and ends in March 2014. Four accredited museums in Somerset can apply. Small Grant, Big Improvement: Grants of £250 or £1,000 with x 10% match funding to achieve any aims in your forward plan. It is open from January 2014 and the deadline is March 2014. If you did a project this year the deadline to complete is 16th December 2014. 9 Somerset museums were successful in the last round. Annual data returns: Deadline to SWMDP before April 2014. It is essential for accredited museums and recommended for non-accredited museums. You can fill them out on paper or on-line at swfed.org.uk. 95% accredited museums submitted data returns for 2012-2013. 688,825 visits, 1,338 education sessions delivered. £5.3 million generated by museums, 122,848 volunteer hours contributed £877,485 of value generated by volunteers, 7 accredited museums entirely volunteer run. The south west attracted a total of 5,310,593 visits of which 82% were adults and 18% children. The annual turnover is £41,551,864 and 60% charge for entry. Donations totalled £2,179,838. Grant income was £5,750,799. Helen Mansfield explained that in the interim period there would be a job advert for the MDO post on the SW Federation website, GEM (Group for Education in Museums) and the University of Leicester Museum Studies jobs desk. Colin Spackman would be helping with the interviews. A consultant would help run the digitisation project. In the meantime people should use the MDO mailbox as a communication tool.

8. Heritage Lottery Fund South West: Kelly Spry-Phare, gave an informative presentation (see attached).

9. This Is Your MDO Life Natalie Watson! Helen Mansfield presented a PowerPoint showing the highlights of Natalie’s seven year MDO role. Natalie was formally thanked for her hard work and commitment and also presented with flowers and a gift from member organisations. A special cake was shared (thank you to Vicky Dawson and her baking skills).

10. Reports from member organisations:

Alfred Gillett Trust: The Alfred Gillett Trust has finally got a waterproof archive building following various construction problems! The collection moves are therefore back in business again. The digitisation project is starting in earnest, with two temporary members of staff cataloguing and preparing the large advertising collection for digitisation work off-site. Natalie Watson will commence her post as Project Archivist on 1st November and will be co-ordinating the digitisation project as well as getting involved with routine duties of the Trust. The new Adlib version of the catalogue will be available to staff later in the year for the first time and will enable the Trust to start to overhaul the existing finding aids for the collections. The Trust took part in the Heritage Open Weekend, and hosted tours of The Grange and archive which were fully booked with a waiting list. We have also had our first primary school visits and will be holding our first Reminiscence Tea Party for former residents of The Grange who lived here and worked at Clarks in the 1940s and 1950s.”

2 Axbridge & District Museum: Currently in the middle of accreditation and will be visited as part of this. They have extended opening until the end of October. A number of groups have visited the museum including 86 ranchers from Wyoming. One of their ancestors was a former mayor! For World War One they are looking at a roll of honour for Axbridge rural district.

Bishops Lydeard Mill: It is round about now that I begin to miss the mill opening....closing at the end of September seems almost a relief...no more scones to bake, no more cakes to bake, no rota's to sort, no toilets to clean but now I am missing the chats and the people wandering around our grounds trying to peep into the house...or garage...or anywhere else that looks private!! We have some amazing news …..over the last 10 years we have raised £100,000.00 for charity! We nearly didn't make it but a lady visitor came one Friday with her daughter and thought it was so good she came back again the next Tuesday with her husband and said she would like to give us a donation...when it came it was for £500 and with another £100 donation we topped our target!! We have added more displays this year and spent more time on the garden but there are still another 30 exhibits to be added so we hope to keep attracting people back to see what else is new. We have an excellent video man who has produced 2 excellent DVD's for us which we find most people are happy to stop and listen to. I guess May will soon come round so I will enjoy the interim time and help get the new things sorted ready for next season. Bishop’s Palace, Wells: This summer has seen a number of changes at the Bishop’s Palace with the retirement of Bishop Peter in June and a new Bishop of Bath & Wells will be in post next spring. In August the Palace welcomed Rosie Martin as Chief Executive. Visitor figures are much improved with a 35% increase in numbers on last year. The much better weather, appointment of paid ‘ambassadors’ on the gates, active promotion through ‘Group-on’ and a hugely successful flower festival in June have contributed to this rise. The Gardens continue to attract many visitors and this summer has seen the opening of a new Garden of Reflection. The next major project at the Palace is to conserve the Great Hall and an appeal has just been launched to replace all the box hedges on account of ‘box blight’. The Church Treasures exhibition has run for two years and closes finally at the end of November. A new exhibition of church artefacts from the Diocese of Bath & Wells will open next April with the title ‘Created in Somerset’.

Bridgwater Heritage Group: The Group encourages Sharing Heritage, and is pleased to report several initiatives.

Working with student and unemployed volunteers over the summer, the collection of Bridgwater Borough Rate Books 1925 - ca. 1970 has been cleared from the Town Hall strong room, treated with Backus Book cloth Cleaner, re-assembled, catalogued,

3 and transferred on loan to the Somerset Heritage Centre. The Rate Books will be of use to those tracing family history.

A collection of Mayoral Speeches 1959 - 1973, recorded on vinyl, was found in the strong room also. The majority had never been unwrapped. These have been transferred to mp3 in cooperation with the Engine Room, and are presented at www.bridgwaterarchives.org.uk/mayors_speeches/ They are a fantastic resource. The 1963 speech talks of the traffic and employment at Hinkley Point: 50 years later, much the same confronts Bridgwater.

In the autumn of 2012, we identified some important memorials in the churchyard of St John the Baptist, Bridgwater, during our appraisal of the Conservation Area for Sedgemoor District Council.

The memorials were:

1. To the memory of the 88 victims of Cholera who died in 1849 "From Plaque Pestilence and Sudden Death Good Lord Deliver Us";

2. A chest tomb to the memory of William Baker, FGS, 1757 - 1853 Natural Historian, Geologist, philanthropist;

3. An obelisk to the memory of John Bowen, 1785 - 1854 Engineer, merchant, journalist, philanthropist.

All were neglected, so the Group raised the money for their restoration and cleaning. A new memorial was erected adjacent to that for the Cholera victims, as the wording had become much eroded.

On Friday 20th September 2013 at 3 30pm, a ceremony of re-dedication took place, organised by the Group. The Deputy Lord Lieutenant and the Mayor of Bridgwater were in attendance, together with approximately 40 invited guests, including a descent of John Bowen. Three Orations were given: by a local Ward Councillor, by the Emeritus Professor of Geology in the University of London for the Geological Society, and by the Chief Executive, Somerset Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. A prayer was read by the Vicar of St John's; the Blessing given by the Archdeacon of Taunton.

The media showed interest. A radio broadcast was given on Radio Somerset's Breakfast Show. Further details, including the Orations, at www.bridgwaterheritage.org.uk/ceremonystjohn/index.htm http://www.bridgwaterheritage.org.uk https://twitter.com/BridgwaterH

4 Chard Museum: We are happy to report that we have been awarded a small grant from ACE to buy an A3 scanner/copier which we are using to digitise our collection. Although financial support from our 'Friends' is below budget, admissions and donations are well up on 2012 and budget such that we anticipate ending the year well in the black. We are anxious to recruit more trustees and welcome enquiries. We close on 2nd November and will reopen 7th April.

Coker Rope & Sail Trust: At last we are making real progress with conserving the main building. All the uprights along the north side of the building have been renewed and the three bays at the west end of the building are almost fully restored. Also Neil Evans, a fifth generation twine maker, has started renovating the machinery funded through the £20,000 grant we have received from the arts council. He has indentified some unique features including the ‘oilers’ that keep the bearings lubricated. Dunster Museum: There is a 4 phase project over 4 years. 2 phases are covered through £30,000 raised through grants. 1 phase left. Visitor figures have quadrupled to 18,000 over a 6 months period. The museum is open all year round. 1.1 million will go through Dunster altogether. Altogether there is good news. The museum has a good steering committee. There is a recruitment focus on volunteers for specific jobs. New flooring will be going in. There is a need for storage space for new acquisitions. They are involved with Time Team who have been digging. Fleet Air Arm: So far this year our visitor numbers are on target, at around 71000, roughly the same as last year. Our major new Battle of the Atlantic exhibition opened on 11th July and has been well received. As part of that exhibition, our Grumman Martlet aircraft has been put on display. This has been the subject of painstaking paint archaeology and conservation over a number of years, and it looks wonderful. It’s great to have such a key player there to help illustrate the aircraft flown from carriers by the Fleet Air Arm during the Battle of the Atlantic. The project to restore our Fairey Barracuda is progressing well. It has its own website. www.barracudaproject.co.uk . It’s fun to read on the website the diary of the restoration team, as you can almost hear them scratching their heads. FAAM has submitted a Stage 1 bid for HLF funding for a new entrance. Those familiar with our museum will know that the entrance is quite daunting – up a huge flight of metal stairs and over a bridge. We hope to get some funding to help us with an extension at the front, including an atrium large enough to take our 1917 seaplane lighter with a Sopwith Camel on board. This is the oldest surviving aircraft carrier in the world, so for us it’s a very important object in its own right, but the main aim is to welcome visitors indoors and to give them a chance to think about whether they’d like to pay the admission fee and see the whole museum. On Thursday 24th October, we are opening our reserve store, Cobham Hall. Although the aero hall is quite full already, we still seem to be able to squeeze in an extra aircraft now and again. Our popular Autumn Model Show is on Saturday 26th October, and then during half- term we’re running activities based on Spies and Secret Operations. From early November we close on Mondays and Tuesdays throughout the winter. We’re still open Wednesday through to Sunday, but we take advantage of the two closed days for tasks such as moves, alterations, and deep cleaning that are so difficult with a museum full of visitors.

5 Frome Museum: The ‘Last Orders’ exhibition of Frome pubs that have closed in the last 100 years attracted over 3 times the number of visitors. Thanks to volunteers who gave each pub landlord a poster. There will also be a book on it. A coin identification day was held. Nothing rare was brought in but it was an interesting day which helped to raise our profile. We now have reliable internet access and are working towards new facilities. A First World War exhibition opens next year. The number of research visitors is increasing. Glastonbury Abbey: This summer (July to September) the Abbey has seen a healthy 26% rise in visitor figures on last year. The main focus this year has been on the current conservation project on the Abbot’s Kitchen and Lady Chapel. Both buildings are currently under scaffolding, although the archaeological recording and conservation of the kitchen is nearly finished. Substantial funding for the project is being provided by Viridor Environmental Credits Company and we are still actively fund-raising through the ‘Rescue Our Ruins’ Appeal. The main exhibition this year has been on the Abbot’s Kitchen and linked events have included ‘conservation tours’ of the building for visitors. Milverton Archive: The Archive opened to the public on 21st July, & favourable comments have been received. Monthly news items for the Archive are being placed in the Parish Magazine. A local history group is being set up under the umbrella of the Archive, & this has produced 7 volunteers.

Minehead Museum Project: We have been successful in obtaining a £1000 grant from the Arts Council towards our winter project of replacing the display cases and cabinets and with the prospect of Minehead finally getting its own museum at last are able to help them get started with our old units. Hopefully this will begin in November. A 3 year extension to our lease has been agreed with our landlord, taking us up to 2021, giving us a degree of security we felt was necessary, before we agreed to spend a considerable sum on bespoke units. Helena has been very helpful with this project for which I take this opportunity to thank her. Finally it would be remiss of me not to thank Natalie so very much for all the assistance she has given me since I became involved with the museum in my home town .You will be greatly missed. Museum of Somerset, Taunton: The Museum of Somerset has just celebrated its 2nd Birthday on the 29th September, with 140,000 visitors enjoying the museum in that time. To celebrate we held a Siege! Event with re-enactors etc. We are looking forward to Halloween as it was such a success last year, as well as literary talks, and the arrival of Father Christmas…

National Trust: Tyntesfield welcomed back a Bellini painting of the Madonna and child (in lieu of inheritance tax). Some modern art has been on display such as a metal pineapple and will come down soon. At Montacute next year’s exhibition will link National Portrait Gallery paintings on display to National Trust objects.

Roger Vercoe, Museum Consultant: Roger introduced himself as a Somerset/Wiltshire area consultant. He had previously volunteered worked/volunteered at North Somerset Museum (now Weston Museum) and at the Holbourne Art Gallery in Bath. His areas of expertise include collections management and exhibitions from social history to art.

6 SHAC: We have recently welcomed our new Heritage Intern, Robyn Raxworthy who is with us for a year and she has proved to be a great help. We are applying for a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund for our WWI project and hope to hear from them soon. We are in the process of applying for accreditation and are very nearly there with our application.

Shoe Museum, Street: A lot has happened at the Shoe Museum since the last report in May. A new leaflet has been produced and 5,000 copies have gone out across the county and further. A new print run is just being arranged. The Museum has also now got a Facebook page, is tweeting and has a website under construction. Publicity has increased with adverts in various publications and websites. The good news from this is that visitor figures are up by nearly 10% on last year. Other publicity included a visit from a journalist and photographer from The China Daily, and we are preparing for a visit from the comedian Mark Steel, who will be recording his radio show Mark Steel’s in Town in Glastonbury. A Family Fun Day was a great success with about 100 people attending (this is good for us!). St James School in Taunton visited over two days and Key Stage 1 pupils had tours of the museum and then made and decorated cardboard shoes. We have also continued with guided tours for Clarks staff and are also accommodating outside groups as well. The museum has been redecorated and is now a lovely bright white. This has had a good effect on the environment – increasing the relative humidity which was quite low, and also enabling us to turn off all the main lights apart from the cabinets. Volunteer recruitment is next on the list so we can organise more events and learning sessions. We are also planning to work with local schools and colleges for our 40th anniversary next year on the theme of red shoes. http://the-shoe-museum.org/ https://twitter.com/theshoemuseum https://www.facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn#!/pages/The-Shoe-Museum/603001193051026? fref=ts

Somerset Cricket Museum: Somerset Cricket Museum has had a very good summer with visitor numbers up. Exact numbers are difficult to determine because Somerset played the Australians this year. We suspended our £1 admission charge and asked for donations instead and estimate that we had more than 800 visitors over the four days of the match. The Museum will close for the winter at the end of October when work will continue to improve our displays. The special exhibition for 2014 will mark the centenary of the start of the First World War, concentrating on Somerset County Cricketers who were involved – not just those who died. We also have to fit in an exhibition celebrating the birth in 1914 of one of Somerset’s most loved cricketers, Harold Gimblett.

7 The Museum continues to answer requests for information from family history researchers & cricketing enthusiasts, helped by an almost complete run of scorebooks from 1910 onwards backed up by the cricketing ‘bible’, Wisden’s Cricketers’ Almanack.

The recruitment of several local volunteers has enabled the Trust’s Museum at Washford to open on more days this summer than in 2012, which combined with good weather has resulted in an increase of 50% in admissions. Somerset & Dorset Railway Trust: A special event was held on Saturday 5th October 2013, during the West Somerset Railway’s Autumn Steam Gala, to celebrate two significant achievements. After over 25 years of painstaking work, the completion of the exterior restoration of a unique wooden-bodied Victorian railway carriage, which spent over 50 years as a cricket pavilion, was marked at a gathering of people involved in the acquisition and restoration of the vehicle. Also commemorated was the return to steam after a 20 month overhaul of 0-4-0 Peckett industrial steam locomotive “Kilmersdon”, which spent all its 43 year working life at Kilmersdon Colliery Radstock. Both loco and coach were exhibited resplendent in the fully lined out Prussian blue livery of the Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway. The Trust has commenced planning events in 2016 to mark the 50th anniversary of the closure of the Somerset & Dorset Railway and the formation of the Somerset & Dorset Railway Circle, which developed into the present S&D Railway Trust. The central feature will be a mobile museum visiting locations throughout the Somerset and Dorset area over the course of 2016, engaging with communities to deliver a programme of events and activities. Interactive displays will explore the impact of the railway on local communities from its development, through its working life, and also highlight issues on the future use of the track bed for public access, sustainable transport, railway restoration and local heritage. The Trust has contacted local councils, heritage groups and societies in the area seeking support for the project, both in cash and kind, and will be submitting applications for grant aid. Somerset Heritage Service: The Museum Development Officer post is being advertised. The outcome of the Rural Life Museum HLF bid is expected. If successful, the museum will close at the end of March 2014. We are waiting to hear if SCC councillors will approve the removal of heritage to go into a new charitable trust. The Museum of Somerset has an art exhibition entitled ‘Somerset Revealed’. Somerset Military Museum: They have a library at Mount Street. A project has been completed to sort out medals and these can now be seen at the Somerset Heritage Centre. Somerset remembers is focussing on the temporary exhibition going into the Museum of Somerset next August for 6 months. Various anniversaries are coming up too. Two paintings are being conserved including one of Hitler. Reaccreditation is on the horizon. Washford Radio Museum: Still surviving! Watchet Boat Museum: The small group of volunteers have kept the museum open for two hours every afternoon from Easter to the end of September plus occasional mornings too. Fortunately we have recruited a couple of new enthusiastic members. We are pleased to report that we had several schools and group visits this year as well as a couple of outreach visits to the local first school. We continue to receive gifts of books and relevant items to exhibit. Despite being open for exactly the same number of sessions as in 2012 our visitor numbers are down by 20% this year, with the obvious reduction in donations received. The low

8 income precludes us from applying to form a CIO and thus overcome the requirement for personal guarantors for the proposed full repairing lease. The ongoing saga of the lease continues. The district council is very busy arranging the links with Taunton Deane Council. Our lease understandably comes low in the priorities resulting in the recently scheduled meeting being cancelled. Without a lease we are unable to apply for funds needed to undertake essential building repairs. Watchet Military Boats: This consists of restored torpedo boats. No building as such but located in the marina. A WW2 Motor Torpedo boat has been acquired and moved from Tilbury to Bridgwater for restoration. A grant is received from Sedgemoor District Council and other sources.

Watchet Market House Museum: Our visitor numbers appear to be slightly down on last season which is a little disappointing considering the better weather and not so many conflicting events after last year. However we still hope to achieve approx. 33000 which will not be too bad. It has been noticeable that we have not had so many group visits this time. We presented a small exhibition about the origins of the medieval harbour which has been well received and acquired a couple of new paintings of the Harbour by Alfred Heaton Cooper, a noted Victorian landscape painter and illustrator of the Somerset County Guide published by A & C Black in 1927.Next season we will be presenting a display about Watchet during WW1 which is stimulating some local interest and are hopeful of hosting the County’s portable WW1 exhibition for a few weeks but this has yet to be confirmed. Our Young Museum project is going well with Knights Templar’s School, and several local speakers have attended to give short presentations which we feel the children will find interesting. Membership badges, designed by them, have been distributed. Details of our winter talks programme can be found on our web site: www.watchetmuseum.co.uk Wellington Museum: Visitor numbers are down 10% on last year. This year we have had two school visits. Donations per visitor have held up at about 20p. A discovery of a ‘new’ medieval ‘manor’ house was made on the edge of Wellington. Very few artefacts were found here and there is no explicit record of the building in any historical documents. Another Wellington Museum event can be seen at www.wessexwater.co.uk, click on library, then click on ‘Digging up history at Wellington’. We are thinking of organising a local history day consisting of talks, walks and a tour of our museum. Curatorially we have disposed of some items that do not fit our collections policy. Weston-super-Mare Helicopter Museum: The Helicopter Museum has hosted several well attended events over the summer and autumn period, which included a WWII themed hangar dance and a sci-fi extravaganza with celebrity guests. We have received great feedback from the public in regard to these events, with plans for similar occasions next year being pursued by the management team at the Museum to celebrate our 25th Anniversary.

It is with great pleasure that I announce that the Helicopter Museum has passed the reaccreditation process with the Arts Council England. We have found that this time around

9 the process has been far more thorough and demanding which only makes a successful pass more satisfying. It would be interesting to know what feedback other organisations in the local area received.

The Museum collection continues to expand. Of particular interest, two aircraft have been added to the collection in recent times. Both the Wombat autogyro and the Campbell Cricket gyroplane have been donated and make excellent additions as they are rather unique, and similarly, because they can be displayed to a high standard owing to their small size. Both aircraft also diversify the existing collection somewhat, given that they are not large production built machines.

Westonzoyland Engine Trust: Visitors this year have been about the same as 2012 with slightly less on ordinary days and an increase on ‘Steam on the Levels’ weekends. Walls have been built for the extension to the cafe/toilets and roof trusses were delivered this week. It is hoped to erect the roof before winter. Several pieces on audio equipment were purchased, funded by the Arts Council with Alan recording and editing material to go with them. ‘Steam on the Levels’ weekend will take place again next May with entry forms for exhibits being sent out soon.

West Somerset Rural Life Museum, Allerford, Minehead: We are a small local museum sited in a thatched building, previously the village school. We were set up thirty years ago to serve Minehead and West Somerset and our collections cover artefacts, archives and photographic records of local interest. The Museum continues to flourish and to attract visitors and parties of schoolchildren for their Victorian School Day, although visitor numbers have eased off a little in parallel with the national economic recession and its effect on the tourist industry in West Somerset. We monitor visitor comments and we are delighted that we continue to receive most encouraging remarks about the content and quality of our displays and the general ambience of the museum. New artefacts, almost all of them unsolicited donations, continue to cross the threshold, and these help to make return visits worthwhile for our visitors. Apart from fresh objects generally related to the rural past of the area, we also continue to build up our superb collection of photographic material covering the West Somerset region. Our trustee and volunteer base (we do not employ staff) is rather small, but very hard- working, and a trickle of newcomers tends to offset the inevitable loss of those who leave through sickness or advancing years. To maintain our links with the local area we have elected Sir Robin Dunn, an Allerford resident, to become our first President. Local cut-backs in service provision meant the closure, by the National Trust, of the Allerford public toilets, upon which our visitors relied, but vigorous reaction on the part of the museum has meant that the facility has been reinstated, albeit in a modified form. The battle emphasizes how important it is for local museums not just to stick up for themselves, but also to co-operate with relevant bodies, including the local parish council, when dealing with corporate landlords such as, in our case, the National Trust.

10 West Somerset Railway: The West Somerset Railway enjoyed a busy summer and start to autumn with 165,000 passengers having travelled until the end of September over the 20 miles of line between Bishops Lydeard and Minehead since the start of the year. October then got off to a flying start with some 4800 passengers travelling over the four days of the Autumn Steam Gala (October 3rd to 6th). This took as its theme “Cambrian Railways”, recreating the atmosphere of the lines in Mid Wales in the 1950’s and 60’s, and after spending time marketing the event in the appropriate part of the world the WSR was pleased to welcome many visitors from the Principality including a large number of Welsh speakers. A section of the events listing on the website had been translated into Cymraeg.

The WSR’s main season ends of November 3rd and there is then a brief gap until the usual round of pre-Christmas trains begin on November 30th. Post Christmas trains run daily between December 27th and January 1st with the Winter Steam Festival being held on December 28th and 29th. One thing that the Railway is keen to do is to develop a younger visitor profile and its programme for 2014 will include a number of special days aimed at families with younger children.

Wincanton & District Museum and History Society: I am pleased to advise that our museum re-opened in early April and we have had around 800 visitors before closing at the end of September. We open again next Easter Our History Society continues through the winter months with monthly lectures and we have over 80 members.

11. Presentation from Voluntary Action, North Somerset by Rebecca Mere See separate sheet

12. Report from South West Federation of Museums & Art Galleries: Barbara Gilbert gave this update: (www.swfed.org.uk) It seems a very long time since July, when the Fed held its annual conference and AGM at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum in Exeter. The theme was curatorship and this drew around 100 people to the conference. Trade stands of the Fed’s corporate members and the Heritage Lottery Fund added extra interest for everyone attending. There was a range of excellent speakers on aspects of curatorship, with Adrian Tinniswood getting the conference off to an inspirational start. If you missed this year’s conference, please make every effort to attend next year’s. You don’t need to belong to the Fed to attend, but obviously I strongly recommend that everyone working (paid or unpaid) in museums in the south west should join as an individual member. The current membership fee is £15, which these days is less than quarter of a tank of petrol. Membership ensures that you know quickly about the wonderful range of courses delivered by the Fed on behalf of the South West Museums Development Partnership. There are still some places available on courses in the current programme – visit our website www.swfed.org.uk . Even if a course is full, it’s advisable to get your name on a waiting list. A place may become free, and high interest means that we are more likely to repeat the course or run a similar one. Courses with vacant places are:

11 Disaster! Planning for Emergency Part 2, using the plan - 29th November, Tank Museum; Disaster! Planning for Emergency Part 1, writing the plan – 2nd December, Lanydrock; …………. And talking of Disaster Planning, with cuts in the Devon and Somerset Fire Service, NOW is the time to check your own Emergency Plan and possibly revise it. See our website for an article about preparing for the worst. And it’s been raining all weekend. Check the flood sections of your plans. Pronto. Courses continued…….. Getting to Grips with Retail – making a success of small & medium museum shops- 13th January 2014, Dorchester; Working with Community Archives – 3rd February 2014, Exeter; Connecting Museums with Natural Spaces – 12th March 2014, Stroud.

With luck, by our Winter Group Meeting, I’ll be telling you about the 2014-2015 programme. I think the fact that many of the courses book up really quickly – sometimes within a couple of days – shows that the Fed is delivering what people want. Sign up for our E-bulletin to keep up to date.

I’m also going to plug a talk at Teignmouth on 9th November, celebrating a Devon man in the first airship to attempt a transatlantic crossing in 1909. The talk uses his own words from his log book, and his own photographs – delivered by his grandson. Details on the website – or see me.

The SWFed’s Autumn Forum is due to be held in Taunton, with a provisional date of Monday 2nd December. The theme is, ‘Safeguarding the Past: Working with Oral History, Reminiscence and Memory’. Be sure to book your place as soon as the date is confirmed. Keep checking the website! MONEY!!!! – the great giveaway. The Fed is plugging easy fundraising, for the Fed itself or for your own museum or gallery. You can raise money when you shop online. Over 2400 well know retailers donate a percentage (average 5%) of your spend to your chosen good cause. If you want to register your museum, use the SWFed’s referral code, and we’ll get a small donation AT NO COST TO YOU OR YOUR CAUSE! Please take one of the forms away and make sure that any online Christmas shopping you do benefits your heritage friends.

Improving membership benefits Obviously, I have no idea why people don’t join the Fed, but we are constantly trying to improve the benefits of belonging. The Fed should know soon whether it has been successful in its bid for Catalyst Funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund to future-proof the Fed and the role it plays in supporting museums across our region. Whether or not we get that grant, we’re all keen that as many institutional members (i.e. museums) as possible

12 raise their own profile by offering free entry to Fed members. If your museum is already free entry full-stop, then please think about little come-ons to attract Fed members. They rarely hunt alone, and there’s usually at least one full-price member of the party. What about a little discount in your museum shop, or a free cuppa if you have a tea-room? Think about what you can offer the Fed, and I bet it will pay you dividends. Next month it’s Somerset’s turn to feature a Federation member museum in the museum promotion slot on the home page of our website. This is a nice bit of free publicity and it could be yours…………….

And last – a plea for a financial wizard. Wizardry takes its toll on mortals, and the Fed was very sorry when our long-serving and brilliant Treasurer, Clive Fisher, had to retire on grounds of ill-health. To avoid future burn- out of financial wizards, the Fed Board has now split the role into book-keeper and Treasurer. We have the book-keeper. Now we need a competent Treasurer. Any offers? Any suggestions? If so, please have a word with me or Vicky Dawson – and we’ll buy you a cup of coffee!

13. Report from South West Museums Development Partnership: Vicky Dawson gave this report: SWMDP bids for ACE money to provide training, MDO support and communications. Funding for the Museum Development Officer post is continuing until March 2015. The Arts Council will have another round of museum development funding and strategic support fund. There is lots of useful information in the development report, available digitally on the SWFED website or in paper form for contributors. There are a number of upcoming projects for accredited museums. Vicky Dawson is also the freelance consultant for the digitisation project.

14. Report from Somerset Learning Forum: Helen Mansfield gave this report: There will be a new group focussing on learning support, information and training to meet the needs of the changing world around us – different audiences, curriculum changes etc. It will be based on need. There will be draft terms of reference which is a consultation document explaining the purpose of the group. Please fill in the form or send to the Somerset MDO mailbox.

15. Goodbye to Natalie: Colin Spackman shared his thoughts – “I have been on the MIS committee since before Natalie took up the post of Somerset MDO and have therefore seen at first hand her effect on what we do and how we do it. It is easily said but it is true that it has been a pleasure working with her over the last 6-7 years. The relationship between the MDO and MIS is definitely a symbiotic one. Many of us will remember with affection the major events such as the Glastonbury and Fleet Air Arm road shows and the creation of the Somerset Routes website. But just as important are all those visits, appearances, e-mails, etc that we have been the recipients of over the years. We wish her well in her job and obviously hope that her experience and knowledge will not be lost to us. Thank you”.

List of Attendees

Martin Harborne Dunster Museum

13 Peter Cattermole Bridgwater Heritage Group John Clews The Helicopter Museum Mike Beale Somerset & Dorset Railway Museum Jim Nicholas Watchet Market House Museum Sue Upstone Watchet Market House Museum John Eastaugh Watchet Boat Museum Kelly Spry-Phare Heritage Lottery Fund Roger Vercoe Freelance Curator Barbara Gilbert Fleet Air Arm Museum Diana Ingram Frome Museum, Library & Archives Jennie O’Kane Frome Museum, Library & Archives Brian Marshall Frome Museum, Library & Archives Mary Gryspeerdt Glastonbury Abbey & Bishop’s Palace, Wells Yvonne Back Bishops Lydeard Mill Michael Motum Somerset Military Museum John Page Axbridge & District Museum Trust/King John’s Hunting Lodge Rowan Goldsmith National Trust Rhian Childs PI041 Association/Military Boats.org Ross Aitken Coker Rope & Sail Trust Angus McPhee Coker Rope & Sail Trust Marilyn McPhee Coker Rope & Sail Trust John Trenchard Westonzoyland Engine Trust Vicky Dawson SW Federation of Museums & Art Galleries Louise Perrin Somerset Cricket Museum Jane Hill Somerset Heritage Service Helen Mansfield Somerset Heritage Service Natalie Watson Somerset Heritage Service Zoe Clements Weston-super-Mare Town Council Colin Spackman Wellington Museum