Just to give you a flavour of the kind of Special Exhibitions we present, here is a glimpse of last year's. Click on the link to the left to see the three 2006 exhibitions.

SPECIAL EXHIBITION 2007:

"I Remember That..!"

Our 2007 Special Exhibition was absolutely huge! “I Remember That!” occupied both of the new downstairs galleries and continued upstairs! Thanks to a fantastic response from local people to our appeal for items, we had a fascinating picture of just how much life has changed in the last 60 or so years. All the family, young and old, could see thousands of everyday items, many of which they may have forgotten all about, and fondly say...
“I remember that..!”

As you’d expect, the technological revolution was well represented with a sequence of early personal computers, games machines, calculators etc, but the exhibits also revealed more subtle differences in our lives – such as the change from a culture of “make and mend” to today’s “buy and throw”. There is less incentive to make your own clothes when they are so cheaply and readily available off the peg! Materials have changed too – the earlier products were made of wood and metal and, with a little effort, could and were repaired. With the coming of Bakelite and the later more flexible plastics, replacement was easier and cheaper than repair. Fortunately the result of this “make and mend” culture is that many humble everyday objects have been kept – and, even better, they are often in their original packaging.

In our kitchen area you were able to see a range of cooking utensils, from marmalade makers and mincers to aluminium jelly moulds. Household items included ornaments, teapots, crockery, candlesticks and Christmas decorations, plus, to clear up the mess afterwards, sweepers and vacuum cleaners. In the office you could trace the change from dip-pens, ink-wells, blotters, erasers and manual typewriters to the electronic typewriter and computer printer. Leisure activities were reflected in a range of books, card games, knitting, sewing, radios and TVs. Outdoors we reflected fishing, camping, and football – as well as a life-size tableau of The Picnic. There was a remarkable range of cameras, from the humble Kodak Box Brownie to sophisticated SLRs, as well as home movie equipment.

The medicine cabinet of yesteryear provided a chilling array of potions and pills but our beauty products included an evocative collection of hair-dryers, powder-puffs, hair-rollers and even razors. Toys and games ranged from a doll’s house lovingly constructed from a packing-crate to a top-of-the-range Marks and Spencer’s walking doll. There was Barbie, Meccano, bricks, puzzles, dollies in card and plastic, Lego and early hand-held electronic games. Lastly, there were those special occasions – Coronation mementoes, petrol coupons, ration books and lots more.

(Photos by Stuart Dewey)