Museums in Somerset
Minutes of the Winter Group Meeting held on
Monday 20th February 2012 at the Phoenix Centre, Watchet
Present:
Colin Spackman (Chairman) and 26 members.
Apologies were received from 30 members.
1. Bruce Scott welcomed members to Watchet on a beautiful bright winter day. Jim Nicholas gave a
brief introduction to Watchet Market House Museum. Established 1979, this small museum
dedicated to the history of Watchet boasts 40,000 visitors per annum. Bruce Scott gave the history
of Watchet Boat Museum, which started 15 years ago when he borrowed a local flatner boat for
Bristol’s Festival of the Sea. The museum concentrates on local boats and fishing equipment.
2. The Minutes of the Autumn Group Meeting (10th October 2011) were agreed and signed.
3. Chairman’s report: Good news: the Museums Development Officer post is secure for now;
Wincanton Museum will be getting some display space in the town; Dunster Museum will be getting
a makeover. Sad news: Kathryn Tucker is leaving the Helicopter Museum. That creates a vacancy
for a Somerset representative for SWFed. Colin has received a letter from David Dick, Interim
Service Director Heritage and Libraries, in which he says that the views of Museums in Somerset may
be circulated to councillors. Any questions should be referred to Tom Mayberry.
4. The next Group Meeting and AGM will take place on 14th May 2012, venue to be confirmed.
5. Updates from regional representatives:
South West Federation of Museums and Art Galleries (Vicky Dawson)
Nearly 400 people have been on SWFed course funded by Renaissance South West. Useful fact
sheets, etc., are available on the SWFed website and materials to support museums through
accreditiation are about to go on. Go to www.swfed.org.uk and find ‘Resources’.
Bristol City Museum and SWFed are in talks about Museums Development network & bidding for
funding provision for three years, which would include MDO posts. The summer AGM will probably
be held in Somerset, date and venue to be confirmed.
Answering questions, Vicky explained that the SWFed covers the region from Cornwall to
Gloucestershire, Dorset and Wiltshire. There are approximately 300 members, or which about 200
are institutions and 100 individual members. The Fed’s motto is, ‘To be the voice of museums and
the people who work in them in the South West’. It is virtually the only organisation providing
training in the South West. An independent body, founded in 1931, it can negotiate with statutory
bodies.
Arts Council England (Mary Godwin)
The Museums Libraries and Archive Council (MLA) no longer exists. Arts Council England (ACE) now
has responsibility for museums and the regional office is in Exeter. Mary is the museums person at
ACE to act as a link between ‘faceless bureaucrats’ and ‘real museum people’. Renaissance money
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(government money) is now administered by ACE, with big grants for big museums and smaller
amounts for museum development. Mary stressed that the SWFed is the only voice for museums
speaking to ACE and urged people to plug into the Fed and get their voice heard. A former museum
curator and MDO, she took the job to help museums in the South West. There are 544 museums in
the South West. Banding together through county groups (such as MiS) and the SWFed is more
critical than ever. It is important to get across the messages about what museums do and the
number of volunteers involved. A suggestion is to invite people to our museums and let them see
for themselves. Mary provided booklets with updates on the ACE role and is happy to supply more if
necessary.
Mary made it clear that her role is not to support museums individually – that is the job of the
Museums Development Officer (MDO), Natalie Watson. What she can do is pass messages up the
line on our behalf.
ACE funding: (1) The big money is for large museums with over 150,000 visitors and designated
collections. This has already been allocated. In our region, Bristol, Exeter and Plymouth have been
given funding – i.e. 3 of the 16 country-wide are in the South West. There should be some knock-on
effect for small museums.
(2) Museum development funding – deadline of 7th March for applications. £400,000 per annum for
posts/training/projects – this includes MDOs. NB The MDO post is a paid-for service for museums.
It is not cash in hand, but is payment in kind.
(3) Next big block of funding is ‘Strategic Funding’, on stream in the autumn. This is likely to be more
accessible to small museums & groups of museums. It is money for projects that make a difference.
ACE will support Accreditation and is responsible for the Designation Scheme for collections of
national/international importance. ACE is also responsible for: the PRISM fund – items of scientific
interest; Kids in Museums; Museums at Night. N.B. If museums are doing ‘arty’ things, they can
apply to ACE for art funding. There are also Arts Awards (think of ‘Arty Duke of Edinburgh’), which
local schools can organise, using a museum as a resource for children doing Arts Awards. (Mary has
colleagues with other responsibilities but covering the local authority area – museums should
contact these reps if they have an Arts project. Mary can act as a link.)
ACE has a book for museums – the Blue Book (there is a Pink Book for art). Mary knows that printing
from the website can be expensive, and is willing to provide copies to museums. The goals are
familiar: children, young people, raising standards, etc.
6. Somerset Routes Website (Adam Sharpe, Higher Sites)
Adam and a colleague demonstrated the website. 126 heritage sites feature on it. It should go live
mid-end March in time for the new season. There are links to Facebook and Twitter. Clicking on a
site on the tube-map brings up a museum’s own page. A museum’s leaflets and trails can be on the
Routes website, with each individual site having a resources page. The site will link to the museum’s
own website where one exists. There should also be links from the museum’s own website to
Somerset Routes. Museums will be able to update their information through a private login and
password. Updates will go to a Content Management System (CMS), and will be checked by a
member of MiS committee before going live. Any comments about the site will also go to the
committee members acting as moderators. The development site can be seen at
www.somersetroutes.highersites.co.uk . The live site will be www.somersetroutes.co.uk .
If any museums do not have a web presence or need to update their website, Higher Sites can offer
a decent website at a low cost and a monthly fee. Contact Higher Sites through Natalie Watson.
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Natalie assured members that updating the CMS is simple. Event information can be cut and pasted
onto the site. There are automatic feeds to Facebook and Twitter. Training will be available at the
AGM and Spring Group Meeting. Members can bring leaflets, etc, in digital form on a USB stick.
The meeting broke for lunch and an opportunity to visit Watchet Market House Museum – an
absolute jewel of a museum.
7. Museum Development Officer’s report (Natalie Watson)
A PR company, FreshPR, has been engaged to do the publicity for the website. This company was
used for the original Somerset Routes launch. ‘Goody bags’ will be put together for B&Bs, coach
companies. Tourist Information Centres. Posters in various sizes will be available to museums.
These will be ready mid-late March. The links to social networks are a good way of getting
information out. We hope to run a photography competition – encouraging people to take
photographs inside one of the museums on the map – and get permission to use photographs
submitted for publicity. (The VisitSomerset website was funded by Somerset County Council.
Somerset Tourism Association is taking over, but there is more emphasis on giving space to paying
bodies. Museums may need to pay to be included.) There are about 4,000 copies of the Somerset
Routes booklets left. A further reprint is unlikely – 10,000 cost £7,000-£8,000. The website is
funded for four years to 2016. After that we may need to invite adverts, etc., or seek contributions
from museums.
The Somerset Routes Exhibition has gone well and runs to 25th February. The visitor numbers are
not high, but winter is not a busy season in Glastonbury. The Rural Life Museum has organised
activities around the exhibition. A suggestion was made that the exhibition should be photographed
and the images loaded onto the website.
SWFed Representative is needed to replace Kathryn Tucker. There are four meetings per year, and
the rep advises the board of what’s going on in the county. Barbara Gilbert is due to stand down as
MiS secretary in May, and offered to be the rep.
A new MiS Secretary is needed from May, as Barbara Gilbert will have served the maximum term of
three years. There are three standing committee meetings a year, usually in Taunton. Assistance
with the website will be a minor role. The job is very rewarding and it is important that smaller
museums are represented on the committee to keep things grounded in the real world.
Accreditation. Any museums thinking about accreditation, see Natalie. The new standard is now
out. The applications are more streamlined. There is scalability of requirements. The bonuses of
accreditation are that museums can apply for funding, borrow from other museums, accept
disposals from museums. Crewkerne and Bruton are currently half-way through their paperwork.
The process requires a ‘museum mentor’ (formally curatorial adviser). There are three in the
county, Natalie and two others at the Somerset Heritage Centre.
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8. Reports from museums
Alfred Gillett Trust (C&J Clark Ltd, Street)
The renovation works to the Grange, Street, to turn it into a new public and staff space for the Alfred
Gillett Trust (C&J Clark) will be completed by the end of January, with work on the new passive
archive/museum store due to finish by the end of February. Having been empty for at least 10 years
and previously used as a residential Clarks training hostel, there were various challenges to the
Grange renovation project, particularly due to the presence of two colonies of bats on the site and
to enabling a historic building to be used for multiple heritage purposes. But it is now looking very
smart, especially with its new floodlighting, clearly visible from the Clarks Village. There will be a
formal opening of some kind at the Clarks AGM in May 2012.
Staff are busy behind the scenes preparing for the collection moves during spring/summer although
it is not yet known how long the new build will take to dry out sufficiently. The Archivist is also
working with Clarks staff to submit a business case for the digitisation of the heritage collections
which should be submitted to Clarks shortly for approval and which would result in the
implementation of CALM or Adlib and improved and digital access to the collections by Clarks staff
and other researchers. A proposal to appoint a full time curator for the Shoe Museum (run by Clarks)
was unfortunately rejected, so the museum will continue to be unofficially supported by Trust staff.
Axbridge and District Museum Trust (King John’s Hunting Lodge)
For our museum this will be a make or break year. If we cannot raise sufficient revenue during the
coming season we may well have to close at the end of the year. Our visitor numbers last year were
one of the worst we have ever had, mainly due to the fact that we had to introduce an entrance fee.
Whilst the money raised was considerably more than we had received from donations in the past, it
was not sufficient to make up the loss of our grant from Sedgemoor District Council. Key to our
survival will be how many paying customers we can entice through our doors and that will be
dependent on the publicity we can generate. We are producing a new free promotional leaflet,
which will not only have its costs covered by local business advertising, but will also make us a
reasonable profit. In addition we are looking forward to the new online Somerset Routes website,
which we hope will attract more visitors who would otherwise drive straight past us on the bypass to
Cheddar.
To start the new season we are preparing a tribute to Philip Rahtz, an archaeologist who conducted
major digs in Somerset, including Cheddar Saxon Palaces, Glastonbury Tor, the Cannington
Cemeteries, Cadbury, Congresbury and lots of others. Later he became the first Professor of
Archaeology at York University. He was also president of the Axbridge Archaeological and Local
History Society for many decades, so we have a special reason to remember the great work he did.
A re-assessment of our Workhouse display is also underway and we aim to broaden this to look at
Welfare through the Ages, including Settlement Orders under the Elizabethan Poor Law. That
includes a number of life histories of poor people, but also includes something we hear about
nowadays, but was always a major problem – fraud. Mind you some of this is from those who had to
pay out, as well as those who wished to receive.
Whilst our volunteer custodians are, hopefully, still growing, we do have a concern about the health
of the organiser of this essential part of our administration. It’s always hard to find people who can
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do essential work such as this and does make one feel vulnerable to misfortune, but we do hope he
will be able to continue the good work and get better as soon as possible.
We are encouraged by the fact that our community has been making it clear they value the work we
have done and hope that we will be able to find a lasting solution to our current difficulties by the
end of the season.
Bishop’s Palace, Wells
After a very busy winter, which included a lot of different building and archaeological works, the
Bishop’s Palace reopened on Saturday 11th February, just in time for half-term. As part of the
development project, we now have:



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a brand new restaurant (called ‘The Bishop’s Table’ see below)
shop
a new toilet facilities, with disabled access and baby-change facilities.
a new Swan feeding platforms.
developments in the garden including new borders on the South Lawn, new paths and a new
knot garden is being built in the East Lawn.
 a new Membership scheme.
 a new brand and website
If you would like to find out more please visit: http://www.bishopspalace.org.uk/
Just before Christmas the Church Treasures team (responsible for planning the ‘Treasure’ exhibition
that opens on the 25th May) visited the new Museum of Somerset in Taunton to get some ideas and
inspiration from the new galleries. It was an enjoyable visit, where the team felt they learnt a lot,
particularly about successful exhibition lighting, layout and text writing. The team were also very
interested to see how the branding was carried through onto all graphic panels and interpretation.
Plans for the ‘Treasure’ exhibition are progressing very well, Felicity Baber (Curator) is currently
agreeing the transport and insurance arrangements, and sending out the loan agreements to each
lender. The specifications for the new showcases have been agreed and are now in production, and
the upgraded security measures will be in place very soon. The exhibition and staff team are now
finalising plans for the installation, training the new Visitor Services volunteer who will steward the
exhibition, and the private view.
National Trust (Felicity Baber’s other role)
The National Trust is creating a new database of all its collections. This is an eleven-twelve year
project. Visit www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk .
Chard Museum
2011 was an exceptionally busy year for the Conservation Group because of an unusual gift of a
whole large box of documents of which some will eventually be transferred on loan to the Heritage
Centre. Progress of long term separation of the photographic archive is almost complete. Indexing
is about to take place and then it is planned to continue scanning according to established
standards. A model of the Hawker Crawler Tractor has been made and donated by a ‘Friend’. He
has just fitted the motor and it is hoped to have the model moving as an added attraction to the
museum. This winter we are not conserving a large Dening machine as in recent years. Instead the
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Display Group is busy with some floor painting, cabinet repairs and changes of display that are so
essential for success. As a first event of the season we have an orchestral evening in February. The
museum opens for Easter which is early this year.
Coker Rope & Sail Trust, Dawes Twine Works - West Coker
Getting an accurate picture of Coker Sailcloth sales as well as flax, hemp & twine sales in the past is
difficult. We have been fantastically fortunate in the discovery of a sales ledger for these items. It
must have been in the loft of the last house on the left going out of Lopen to the North for over a
100 years. Found 13 years ago it had been in a hall chest being rediscovered every few years. The
family realising it must have value to someone never threw it away & now it has loving owners. It
dates fron1868 to 1874 with 194 pages of entries. Gold dust. If anybody else has sailcloth or records
we would love to see them.
Crewkerne and District Museum
In spite of cuts in council grant funding Crewkerne & District Museum seems to be going from
strength to strength!
Recent repairs to the staircase wall have been funded mainly by grant and the remainder by our
Friends. A notice in the window asking for volunteers brought in 7 responses ranging from people
prepared to clean/repair/decorate to others involved in research. We await a newspaper article
reporting on upcoming exhibition requirements and how interesting the work is at the museum there is something for everyone!
Volunteers are involved in Town Council projects for the Diamond Jubilee and other grant funded
projects. Keeping a high profile is important and in a town like Crewkerne it seems to work.
Fleet Air Arm Museum
February’s Model Day was well attended, and the Pirate-themed half-term also brought many
families into the museum. This should give 2011-12 strong visitor numbers overall. A new display
commemorating 20 years of the ‘Channel Dash’ and the Fleet Air Arm’s attempt to stop the
movement of German battleships has gone in. In June a Falklands 30th anniversary exhibition will
open. A Harrier aircraft has just gone on display, nicknamed ‘Dirty Harry’ by museum staff, as it still
bears its Afghan dust.
Ilchester Museum
The museum was established over twenty years ago and we have been looking at making changes to
update and rejuvenate it. These changes include new lighting and eventually redecoration, the
brown paintwork is now very dull and uninspiring. We have also decided to convert one of our cases
to a changing exhibition, this year we have chosen the subject of the Ilchester Almshouse complete
with the original bell! As part of the Diamond jubilee celebrations there will also be a fascinating look
at the “Queens of Ilchester”, why not pay us a visit to find out more.
King’s Taunton Archive
King's will be formally opening its new 'Archive Centre' at its open day for alumni in June. Most of
the collections (archive, objects, textiles, artworks, photographs, audio-visual) were transferred to
the newly converted environmentally controlled store in the Autumn. Black bags of stuff (technical
term) have appeared out of attics and cellars ever since. I am working hard with our volunteers to
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keep some sense of order whilst developing the displays which will be a feature of the adjacent
research/meeting room. It looks like being a hectic but exciting few months.
Minehead Museum Group
The Minehead Museum Group is a sub-committee of the Minehead Conservation Society. Our
group has worked on the project throughout 2011 and the sub-committee was formally instituted at
the AGM on 3rd November, 2011. Our Secretary is Sue Lloyd who may be contacted at
suelloyd00@aol.com .
The setting up of a museum in Minehead has long been one of the aims of the Conservation Society
and it is hoped to base the museum in the old hospital (originally the town hall) in The Avenue,
Minehead. The current situation is that The Minehead Development Trust is to apply to the Heritage
Lottery Fund in the hope of obtaining at least part of the premises for community use. The Museum
Project forms an important part of their application.
Meanwhile, our group is gathering details of what material is available initially to set up a museum.
Natalie Watson, Community Heritage and Museum Development Officer has visited us and given
much helpful advice; our member Jenny Lennon-Wood has attended a course on funding. We hold
regular monthly meetings and are contacting various local members of the Society regarding
possible displays. Once up and running, we hope to co-operate with other museums in the area to
our mutual benefit. The area we intend to cover is Minehead and its immediate environs reaching
from Bratton to Ellicombe, thus avoiding Allerford, Porlock or Dunster which have their own
museums.
If the old hospital site should not become available for any reason, it is our full intention to press
ahead with the project and found a long needed museum in Minehead.
Montacute TV and Radio Toy Museum
Some time ago an autobiography came to the museum via the creator of ‘Larry the Lamb’. This has
now been published as a ‘Ripper’ memoir and is generating good publicity for the museum. The
Halloween event in the autumn was popular. The museum will be opening at the beginning of April
and will have a new leaflet for the new season.
Somerset & Dorset Railway Trust
Unfortunately the West Somerset Railway Board of Directors has decided not to renew S&D Trust’s
lease on the Washford Station site when it expires in 2020. The continuing success of the West
Somerset Railway has led to it looking for more space. Meantime the Trust will maintain its present
operations at Washford, including the museum, retail shop, carriage and wagon restoration. The
Trust remains positive about the future.
Somerset Cricket Museum
The builders have completed their work and handed the Museum back to the Trustees. The promise
of the architects that we hoped for has been realised and the medieval barn has been transformed.
The mix of ancient stone walls, modern glass and stainless steel has real wow-factor. The cathedrallike proportions of the interior are enhanced by the new entrance, with tall glass doors and cricket
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ball design to prevent people walking into them. If this was not enough we are thrilled that the
refurbishment has so far come in on time and budget.
The display cases are currently being built and will be installed in stages, allowing us to install the
displays bit by bit; images are being selected for the graphic panels and the text is being written
ready for us to proof read and approve. We noticed during the mock-ups of the displays that a large
photograph of Ian Botham had been put in back-to-front and showed him bowling left-handed;
luckily we caught that error in time.
At the same time work has continued on the selection of Lockyer photographs and the text to
accompany them. It is hoped that the book will be ready for the grand re-opening.
The museum is considering holding an open day so that people can see the interior before the
display cases are fitted. If this goes ahead we will let you all know. We intend that the museum will
open in time for the new season with a grand re-opening later in the year.
Somerset Military Museum
Following the re-opening of the Somerset Military Museum (SMM) things have become more hectic.
Visitor numbers to the Museum of Somerset are high and a significant proportion of people are
going to the SMM gallery. Many have commented on how ‘personal’ SMM is and this is enabling
those that otherwise might not persevere with a Military Museum to visit, enjoy and learn.
Meanwhile enquiries on family research are much more in evidence. Work on cataloguing and
mounting our reserve collection of medals at the Somerset Heritage Centre has begun. This will be a
long project.
Washford Radio Museum
Unfortunately, little progress has been made this winter with museum improvements due to lack of
time and money!
In 2011, I was approached to provide props for a graduation film being made by the National Film
and Television School at Beaconsfield called “All Men’s Dead”. This was based on the true story of a
500lb delayed-action bomb which penetrated the side of Broadcasting House, London on the night
of 15th October 1940. After entering the building, it skidded down a corridor, coming to rest in the
Music Library. Some members of staff decided to try to move it nearer the outside wall to minimise
damage should it go off. Unfortunately, it exploded in the process, killing seven people.
I was able to supply many items of wartime equipment which may be seen in this link:
http://stevengranger.blogspot.com/2012/01/all-mens-dead-set-and-stills.html .
From BBC staff records, I was also able to discover the names of those who lost their lives. In return
for my help, it was promised that they would make a short film about the museum for publicity; this
has yet to happen!
The forthcoming Diamond Jubilee and next year’s Coronation anniversary is an excuse to put on
display the information that was issued to BBC radio engineers and presenters covering the
Coronation in 1953. Engineers were drafted in from all over the country to meet the demand for
what was, at the time, the biggest outside broadcast event ever undertaken by the BBC. Most of the
papers I have take the form of a package issued to Bernard Francis, at the time an engineer at the
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Droitwich transmitter but later to work at Washford, and consists of many plans, maps and tables
showing all the home and overseas presenters’ positions and the complicated mass of lines (cable
circuits) leading back to Broadcasting House and Bush House. Also included are timetables both for
rehearsals and the event itself.
From another source, I also have a script used by presenters on the day.
This year is the 90th anniversary of the formation of the BBC as well as it being 80 years since the
opening of Broadcasting House. I hope to be able to arrange small exhibitions to mark both of these
events.
Watchet Boat Museum
There have been two visits by local schools since we closed in October. Both visits were for creative
writing 11year olds. The tutor, James Crowden, has made use of the museum for the last three years
and has always found the display very stimulating for the pupils’ imaginations.
I have mentioned to previous meetings our apprehension about the loss of discretionary relief of
council business rates. Our income is very small and the zero rates demand has been crucial to the
museum’s financial wellbeing. I contacted the rating office and requested re-evaluation, which
resulted in a change from a ‘store & premises’ to being a museum. This has halved our liability.
We cannot register with the Charity Commission because our income is less than £5000 pa. I have
written to WS Council pointing out the definition of a charity in the local Government Finance act, it
appears not to require any form of registration. I am awaiting a response and interpretation of the
act.
Two insurance brokers, who claim to specialise in arranging cover for museums and similar
organisations, have approached me. I am finding it difficult to compare these quotations with the
current cover. There is little difference in premiums. The brokers are: Hettle Andrews, Birmingham;
& Alan Thomas of Poole who work with the Museum Association. Present cover by “This Insurance”
from Thistle Insurance Services: Higos Broker.
Watchet Market House Museum
After a reasonable season last year, 37,400 visitors, we are looking to maintain at least that level
again this year. We will continue to offer more varied books, cds & dvd’s for sale, an area which
showed a marked increase last year and which made up for the lower donations received.
This year the museum will be celebrating 150 yrs. of the railway coming to Watchet, with a small
display of railway photographs from as far back as 1862. This display will run for a week in
conjunction with the celebratory steam gala. In June, if the railway display works well, we will
theme a Coronation display of photographs from Watchet for that period. Throughout the new
season we have a display about Wansborough Paper Mill and the paper industry, there having been
a paper industry in Watchet for over 300 years.
We are also in the process of forming a Junior Museum Society in conjunction with Knights Templar
School. You may remember that they took part in our Take One exhibition last year. Esther Hoyle has
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kindly agreed to visit the school to give a talk about our heritage and museums so we are hoping
that this will prove successful in stimulating their interest.
Finally I would be grateful if anyone has any information or samples of ‘Watchet Blue’ the colour
which was used in the middle ages for cloth dyeing. Many people ask about it but as yet I have
nothing to show for my research except that it was produced from woad and was a grey’y blue,
similar to the blue lias rocks on the foreshore.
Wellington Museum
Previously there was virtually no wall space to display photographs and documents. Now six feet of
wall has been use to put up seven swing-wing boards, each 3’ x 2’, thus giving the equivalent of 30’ x
3’ (90 square feet) of Velcro-surface wall display. Finding the wall space did mean moving an upright
cabinet to a new location, which meant moving a smaller cabinet, which meant….etc. However, the
new boards have allowed the display of copies of photographs and documents that have been
hidden in store for some considerable time.
We reopen on the Monday before Easter as usual, but even though we are closed, we have still had
over a dozen visitors, who come in because the lights are on while we move the cabinets and
generally rearrange the displays. We seem to have enough stewards for the coming season. (Long
may it continue!) At the AGM in March, the Secretary will be standing down as he comes to the end
of his constitutional stint. The role will then be divided into an official Secretary and an unofficial
Assistant Secretary. No such difficulty comes with the post of Treasurer – we had a volunteer. All in
all, we are looking forward to the new season.
9. Insurance for Museums
The insurance theme will be continued at a future meeting.
Points raised were:
 Any need to insure objects?
 Brokers differing on whether public liability includes volunteers, or whether a museum
needs employer’s liability for volunteers.
 Business interruption insurance worth having?
 Charities Aid Foundation good for insurance.
 BAFM (British Association of Friends of Museums) arranges insurance via NFU.
The meeting closed at 15.10 and members moved on to visit the excellent Watchet Boat Museum.
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Apologies for absence were received from:
Alfred Gillett Trust
Bruton Museum
CHAC, South Somerset
Chard Museum
Crewkerne Museum
Cricket Museum
Frome Museum
Helicopter Museum
Ilchester Museum
Milverton Village Archive
Montacute House NT
National Trust
Somerset & Dorset Railway Trust
Somerset Heritage and Library Service
Somerset Rural Life Museum, Glastonbury
Weston super Mare Museum
Westonzoyland Engine Trust
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Richard de Payer
Jan Horrell
Helena Jaeschke
Charlotte Berry
Douglas Learmond
Clare Robinson
Joseph Lewis
Barbara & Barry Dillon
Dee & Peter Manley
David Ricketts
Roger Carter
Janet Harris
Sylvia & Simon Andrew
Sir Peter Wallis
Alan Davis
Kathryn Tucker
Ros Marsh
Nigel Wood
Sonja Power
Barbara Wood
Robin Pearson
Tom Mayberry
Helen Mansfield
Steve Minnitt
Estelle Gilbert
Malcolm Nicholson
John Trenchard
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Members present:
Museum/organisation
Name
Arts Council England
Axbridge Museum
Bishops Lydeard Mill
Mary Godwin
John Page
Yvonne Back
Charlie Back
Felicity Baber
Marilyn McPhee
Angus McPhee
Ross Aitken
Pam Smith
Barbara Gilbert
David Hill
Gerry Masters
Caroline Giddens
Marcia Hicken
Alan Hicken
Vicky Dawson
Paul Wilson
Doria Shepherd
Louise Perrin
Natalie Watson (Museums Development Officer)
Mike Motum
Neil Wilson
Bruce Scott
Jim Nicholas
Keith Sullivan
Toby Bryant
Colin Spackman
Bishop’s Palace, Wells
Coker Rope & Sail Trust
Fleet Air Arm Museum
Ilchester Museum
Minehead Museum (proposed)
Montacute TV and Radio Toy Museum
Museums in Somerset Committee
Somerset Brick and Tile Museum
Somerset Cricket Museum
Somerset Heritage and Libraries Service
Somerset Military Museum
Washford Radio Museum
Watchet Boat Museum
Watchet Market House Museum
Wellington Museum
Museums in Somerset Winter Group Meeting 2012
Minutes
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