Redisplay of Room 6

Regular visitors may have noticed gradual changes happening to the displays in Room 6, formerly the 'Information Room' at the back of Whittlesey Museum.

The museum reference materials have been moved into Room 1 and the shelves and writing desk that went with them have gone, allowing a rearrangement of the display cabinets to make a lot more space in the room.
Wednesday work team volunteers have since been hard at work repainting (ably demonstrated by our youngest volunteer, pictured) and installing new visitor attractions such as a touch-table, family activity boxes and a DVD screen.

When the redisplay is completed later this year Room 6 will form the first half of a timeline of Whittlesey's past, beginning when the clay in the brick pits was being laid down under the Jurassic sea and stretching up to 'Cromwell Country' and the Civil War.
The second half of the timeline, covering the period from the first wholesale fen drainage up to World War Two, will be installed in Room 5 at a later date.

Volunteer Social - 2.30pm Sunday 8th March

Whittlesey Museum is holding a Volunteer Social on Sunday, from 2.30pm at the museum. If you currently volunteer, are interested in volunteering in the future or just want to find out about what is going on at the museum, please come along for tea and biscuits and a short presentation before moving on to a local pub!

New Trading Stories Exhibition

This week sees the installation of the latest and final touring exhibition from the Fens Museum Partnership.

Called 'Trading Stories', the displays are based around a pair of dressers filled with objects representing bygone Fenland crafts and trades. Come and see how many you can recognise!

Entry to the exhibition is included in the usual museum ticket price of £1 for adults and 40p for children.

Straw Bear 2015

A good day was had by all at the 2015 Straw Bear Festival in Whittlesey this weekend.

Whittlesey Museum had a large number of visitors, helped by the free Photographic Society exhibition in the upstairs room of the Old Town Hall - many people who entered the building looking for one attraction ended up visiting both, a success all round!

New images of the Straw Bear and dancers taken on the day, (as well as at the Burning of the Bear on Sunday) will feature in updates to the Straw Bear display within the museum.

Bears, Eagles and a new Exhibition, oh my!

Bored of the Christmas season already? Take some time out from shopping and wrapping to visit the Fens Museum Partnership touring exhibition "Wild Fens" as it visits Whittlesey Museum in December, January and February.

Wild Fens explores the different animals and birds which have lived locally as the fenland ecosystem has changed through time. Put your hands in holes in the replica 'riverbank' to uncover the creatures lurking within or listen to an interactive soundscape of the past (watch out for the wolves!).

Owl Day promises to be a Hoot!

Save the date for Whittlesey Museum Owl Day this half term!

In association with the Fens Museum Partnership, we will be celebrating the unique biodiversity of fenland past and present with a family fun day including a visit from some real live owls.

This will also be a good opportunity to have a look around our newly redisplayed Forge area, if you have not already managed to...

Accreditation Return Submitted

This stack of papers contains some of the policies and plans which Whittlesey Museum has to have in place in order to be awarded the continuing title of an Arts Council Accredited Museum.

Whittlesey Museum was an early subscriber to the original "Registered Museum" scheme for ensuring consistent high standards across the country's museums and has been an Accredited Museum since shortly after that successor system was created - adding up to well over twenty years of official oversight.

Accredited Museum status means that the museum subscribes to a particular set of professional ethics - in particular around the acquisition and disposal of objects - and has a committment to good practice in organisational health, collections care and visitor experience.

The latest renewal of the Museum Accreditation is due for submission in October in time for review during Summer 2015 - museum staff and volunteers have been working hard this month to get everything ready to send off!