Museum Matters - May 2021 by Friends of the Canal Museum

MUSEUM MATTERS May 2021

Newsletter of The Friends of The Canal Museum, Stoke Bruerne

Chairman's Jottings Lynda Payton

Who would have thought we would still have been in the grip of this awful pandemic nearly halfway through 2021? Thank goodness there is light at the end of the tunnel at last. The builders have handed back the key, the staff are busy settling back in and if everything has gone to plan and we have gained a bit more freedom, (as I write this restrictions are changing daily) it will be all systems go and the Museum will be open for business once again. Those of you who have ventured down to Stoke Bruerne for a distanced walk will have noticed a huge transformation, on the outside at least. And, I can promise you, the inside will not disappoint. I do hope you will all drop by and have a look when it is possible to do so. Emily Thorpe, the new Visitor Services Manager and staff will be there to welcome you. Entry to the Museum is now free and you will be able to see the new look Museum at first hand and enjoy some of the quality refreshments on offer from the new super-dooper kitchen. While you are there do introduce yourselves as members of the 'Friends'. Emily is looking to

In this Issue Chairman's Jottings Sculptor update Curatorial update Images from the 'new' museum

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recruit a team of Visitor Welcome Volunteers, so if you would like to spend some time speaking with our visitors and sharing what there is to see and enjoy at Stoke Bruerne - do let her know. There have been seven enquiries already so you will be in good company.

Rodney Hardwick working on the wall on the top floor of the Museum (Photo: KD)

I'm very proud to say that the volunteer curatorial team, boosted by a new member joining since the last issue of Museum Matters, have worked their socks off helping with the preparation of new updated displays on the Top Floor and they are looking forward to hearing what you think. There is still a lot of ongoing work to do over the summer, but a lot has been achieved with re-theming focussing on telling the story of the canals through the local Grand Union Canal and Stoke Bruerne. Some of the building work and most of the curatorial work has been funded from your generous donations and when the official opening takes place, hopefully in

Cover picture: The back wall of the revamped café with 'digital wallpaper' taken from a more than 100-year-old faded postcard (Photo: KD) © The Friends of The Canal Museum Registered Charity No 1121146

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Chairman's Jottings Lynda Payton

in early July, there will be a formal cheque presentation ceremony. Yes, it will be retrospective, as the funding has already been paid out - and spent! But Covid has put paid to anything happening earlier. Another bit of good news is, Jannette Warrener and her team at Canal & River Trust are almost ready to put in an 'Expression of Interest' in to the Heritage Lottery Fund for Stage 2 of the Development Project which will see another phase of improvement works, this time for the whole site and we hope - the much awaited lift for which planning consent has already been given. We look forward to seeing the details very soon. On a sad note, we have had to say goodbye to Stephanie Furniss who has moved on to pastures new. We will miss her smiling face, all the teas and coffees she made to keep volunteers watered and everything Steph with daughter Eliza she did for us. We wish (Photo: KD) her all the best in her new post in Braunston where I'm sure a lot of us will still get to see her. Meanwhile we are pleased to welcome Jazmine Hiscock on a temporary contract as Catering Supervisor and Phoebe Robinson on a seasonal contract as a Destination Supervisor. On the Friends agenda, as soon as conditions allow, is an updated inventory and condition check of our 40s Village at © The Friends of The Canal Museum Registered Charity No 1121146

War paraphenalia and to decide what we do with it. We will be working with the Trust to establish a new programme of events and to discuss how we can support this, so this will dictate what we keep and what we dispose of. We will keep you in the loop. Meanwhile if any of you are interested in assisting with future events or have any ideas for our redundant equipment, do get in touch with me.

Sculptor Update As you would imagine there's not been a lot of progress with Sculptor due to the restrictions placed because of the Pandemic. However the engine has been run every week for a couple of hours and around the middle of April restrictions started to be lifted which enabled work to start painting the cants and the gunnels. On 30th April we were able to take Sculptor down to the River Tove and back again to pick up the shutts (the false floors for the cargo hold) which had received attention iat the stables last summer. We are now able to plan lots more work with restrictions continuing to ease albeit we are unable to attend any historic boats gatherings mainly due to them being cancelled for this year - perhaps a wise precaution in the circumstances.

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Curatorial Update Kathryn Dodington With the Museum closed there has been a lot work undertaken on the reimagining of all the floors. The theme will be the Grand Junction Canal (which of course became the Grand Union Canal) and the effect it had on the village of Stoke Bruerne.

important not to perpetuate a story or fact that isn't true but believed to be so - I think we all learnt a great deal), getting the spelling right and discussing such things as wether it is Narrowboat or Narrow Boat (the latter, we believe, is correct!). It was pleasing to know that some of the money that has been raised by The Friends will be specifically used to interpretation within the Museum - that's why we raised it with help from all our members over the years. The interpreation panels which some of us have been working on were delivered recently and to say we are delighted with them would be an understatement.

Rodney Hardwick filling holes left by old wall fixings (Photo: LS)

There have been countless hours spent on on-line meetings with Steve Bagley (Canal & River Trust Collections Manager), Lynda Payton, Lorna York, Rodney Hardwick, Trevor Morley and Kathryn Dodington. At times we had some heated debate to ensure that we didn't use images of children who are still alive and images we didn't have permission to use. Important too that we didn't distort historical accuracy (it is so © The Friends of The Canal Museum Registered Charity No 1121146

GWR87 (aka Telford) waiting for the lock viewed through the new glass in the doors of the first floor (Photo: LS)

Everything is starting to come togther which is, to use a much over-used word, exciting. We are not going to get it all finished in time for 17th May but certainly in time for an official reopening which we expect will be in the latter part of June. I seem to remember my father always telling me to hurry slowly! www.friendsofcanalmuseum.org.uk Page 4

Emily Thorpe A big hello to all! For those of you that I have not yet had the chance to meet me; my name is Emily Thorpe, and I have been lucky enough to take on the role of Visitor Services Manager for The Canal Museum. I am originally from the Northamptonshire area but headed off to study History and the Medieval World at the University of Winchester. I have always had a passion for history and so knew that I wanted to make a career out of it one day. While

Emily with Jazmine Hiscock in the new café area (Photo: KD)

studying at University I got a part time job at a busy Hampshire tourist attraction, Winchester Science Centre and Planetarium, this quickly became more than a part time job for me as I managed to work my way up learning and developing new skills. Once I had graduated University, I became full time with the Science Centre as their Events and Customer Manager. It was a massively varied role in which I looked after catering, retail, admissions and corporate/family events. It presented the most unique challenges and is certainly a role that I will never forget but when the pandemic hit I had a lot of time to think about what I wanted © The Friends of The Canal Museum Registered Charity No 1121146

both professionally and personally. I made the decision to move back closer to family and pursue a new career under the heritage umbrella and that is how I ended up here. My experience in the world of destinations and attractions meant I was the perfect fit to come on board at such an exciting time for the museum. I know that there are a lot of changes happening but do rest assured that the museum is in safe hands! In the short time that I have been in post (since March) I have been privileged enough to see the results of this large project come to life and it has been amazing to watch it all come together. The final flourishes on the retail and café spaces are happening next week with the remaining furniture being installed. The graphics for the walls will start to pop up around the site also from next week so we really are heading into another busy chapter. I have been blown away by all the hard work that has gone into the interpretation and have had the chance to look at the panels which look great. We are on track to open for visitors to dine in and explore the first floor of the museum from the week commencing the 17th which will be nice to see the place a buzz with people for the first time for me. Once the site is back open and running the changes won’t stop there as I will be working on building an events programme that encourage visitors to venture out to see us even of the rainiest of days. There are a lot of exciting plans to come as we keep this momentum and enthusiasm going and I cannot wait to be a part of it.

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The 'new' café

Three gentleman enjoying coffee inside on the first day this was allowed. This shows the lovely view from the new opening side windows (Photo: KD)

The new shop and seating area with the beautifully polished wooden floor (Photo: KD) © The Friends of The Canal Museum Registered Charity No 1121146

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The 'new' café

Volunteer Lock Keepers Alex, Jane, Terry, Steve, Peter and Adrian testing out the new café on a cold morning (Photo: LS)

The café windows in the open position during construction (Photo: KD) © The Friends of The Canal Museum Registered Charity No 1121146

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FoCM Council Chairman - Lynda Payton (chairman@friendsofcanalmuseum.org.uk) Vice-Chairman - Lorna York Treasurer - Laura Sturrock (treasurer@friendsofcanalmuseum.org.uk) Membership Secretary Chris Durham (membership@friendsofcanalmuseum.org.uk) Publicity, Grant Funding & Awards - Lynda Payton Website - Trevor Allum Minutes Secretary - Vacant Newsletter - Kathryn Dodington (editor@friendsofcanalmuseum.org.uk) Governance - Laura Sturrock Other - Museum Manager (ex-officio seat)

Photographic Credits KD Kathryn Dodington FoCM LS Louise Stockwin CRT

Stop Press The Trustees of The Friends of The Canal Museum very recently, and unanimously, approved an additional £5,000 donation to help with interpretation in the Museum.

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Membership Just a reminder that membership fees were due in April and are as indicated in the panel on the left. To help Chris with running our membership database please do check that you are up-to-date with your membership. You should by now have received a current membership card in the post from Chris. Access to the museum is free for everybody so please do consider purchasing tea, coffee or cakes (or something from the shop) to help the museum when you visit.