Wallingford Museum - latest news



						LATEST NEWS Latest News on Winding Up Framing the Future 14 December 2011 For a statement from the Board of Directors on the current position regarding the winding-up of the cancelled "Framing the Future" project, click here. Museum Closed for Winter but Bookshop Open 1 December 2011 The Museum is closed now for its Winter break. We'll be working on some exciting new exhibits during the closed period, re-opening for our 2012 season on Thursday 1 March. However, the Museum Bookshop will be open every Friday and Saturday morning from 10.30am to 1.00pm. In 2012 the Museum will be open from 1 March to 30 November as follows: Tuesdays - Fridays 2.00pm - 5.00pm Saturdays 10.30am - 5.00pm Sundays (June - August only) & Bank Holidays 2.00pm - 5.00pm Group and educational visits are welcome out-of-hours by prior arrangement. Morning visits for schools are preferred to allow freedom to use the whole Museum. Click here for contact details. New Self Guided Walks around Historic Wallingford 1 September 2011 Wallingford Museum's Judy Dewey has written two self-guided walks around Historic Wallingford. They have both been published by The Wallingford Partnership in the form of (1) a brief leaflet with a map which you can download for free as a PDF and (2) as a series of audio files that you can also download for free to your personal MP3 player or equivalent audio device. The full script of the audio tour is also available to download. Follow this link to a webpage with details of all versions: http://www.wallingfordtown.com/pwpcontrol.php?pwpID=6996audio Saxon & Viking Family Day was a Great Success! 31 August 2011 Over 120 adults, most accompanied by children, flocked to the event held in the Museum's backyard on 30 July. Attractions they enjoyed included: • talking to a Saxon warrior (Martin Way) with his helmet, shield, weapons and many other things that he uses everyday. • looking at our real Saxon pottery (and lots of medieval pots too!) in this year’s special exhibition, then trying their hands at making Saxon style clay pottery for themselves. • taking the rare chance to handle pieces of real Saxon pots, that were made and used by people in Wallingford, and to learn more about them from our pottery expert. • creating their very own Saxon-style jewellery - bead necklaces and brooches. • listening to the thrilling tale, loved by the Saxons, of the great warrior Beowulf and his fight with the monster Grendel, told by our vivid storyteller, Gill Whitten. • working on our wonderful Bayeux Tapestry re-creation – cutting out and painting their own figures or horses and seeing them displayed on the ‘tapestry’ in our reception room Many of the visitors came in costume - and were grateful for the many gazebos sheltering them, not from the rain but the hot sunshine! New Museum Group Rate We have now introduced the option of a new Group Rate for parties of 10 or more. It is a single-visit ticket for £3.50 per head. TWHAS/Museum Publication On behalf of Wallingford Museum and TWHAS, Pie Powder Press has published a new book by TWHAS member Christina Eke called Wallingford's Forgotten Neighbour - Clapcot in All Hallows. The 160-page A4 format book is available for £12 at Wallingford Bookshop, the Town Information Office or Wallingford Museum's bookshop (see above). (Please make sure that your supplier also gives you a copy of the separate Addendum which is free of charge). Few people now know that a vast area of agricultural land between the north of Wallingford running down along the Thames to Shillingford was once a hamlet attached to the liberty and honour of Wallingford Castle, and constituted the greater part of the former parish of All Saints or All Hallows. Since the boundary change of 1934 the name of Clapcot has vanished from the maps, often to the bafflement of family historians trying to locate their ancestors. Chris's new book is not a narrative history, but rather a collection of quotations and references which have any connection to Clapcot and the parish of All Hallows. The search starts at the Domesday Book (which contains information first gathered during 1086) until, in some instances, the present day. Readers will find much to inform and intrigue them amongst the collection. Christina Eke has also published 'The Story of Angier's Almshouses, Wallingford' (2007, reprinted 2010), and 'Street Wise' - Wallingford Street and Place Names and why they are so called (2010). TWHAS/Museum CD The first CD to be published by TWHAS/Wallingford Museum is on sale in the Museum bookshop. It is a collection of transcripts of the Wallingford Probate Documents 1480-1660, transcribed by the late Jan Ridley & her husband Ken, members of the TWHAS Documents and Research Groups. The original documents are kept either at the National Archive at Kew or the Berkshire Record Office in Reading. The inventories that accompanied the Wills of a range of townsmen and women of the period offer a fascinating glimpse into the social worlds of the times. The CD is fully indexed, including reference to all the Wallingford names which appear in the documents - witnesses as well as executors and, of course, testators. The transcripts are presented in five different file formats: .doc; .docx; .rtf; .pdf; .wps so you should have no difficulty in opening them on your PC. The CD costs £12 from Wallingford Museum bookshop or by post direct from the Museum - contact us by e-mail to admin@wallingfordmuseum.org.uk Book Available: "Origins of the Borough of Wallingford" Also available from the Museum bookshop is the British Archaeological Report called "Origins of the Borough of Wallingford - Archaeological & Historical Perspectives" edited by KSB Keats-Rohan & DR Roffe. It is largely based on papers presented at the 2008 conference, Origins of Wallingford - A Reassessment, but with additional material, and covers a wide range of topics, including a comprehensive Wallingford bibliography. The recommended retail price is £28 but the Museum shop is selling them at a special discount price of £24. Joint Publicity Venture Wallingford Museum works with four other local attractions to create a publicity partnership - Days Out around Wallingford & the Wittenhams. The other organisations are: Pendon Museum, Project Timescape, Dorchester Abbey Museum and the Cholsey & Wallingford Railway. Each organisation helps promote the others so tourists - both local and from afar - are encouraged to "make a day of it" by visiting two or three of the attractions on the same day. Each attraction has a link to the special "Days Out" website which includes a map - click here - and we have produced a joint leaflet. TWHAS Information This website also hosts pages about our sister organisation, The Wallingford Historical and Archaeological Society. The meetings programme for 2012 can be found here. Now available for local historians and those researching their family history is the TWHAS Documents Group WALLINGFORD NAMES INDEX. For details click here.