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NEW EXHIBITION " OUTINGS AND FESTIVALS"
This display has been specially mounted to coincide with the
Thornbury Arts Festival in mid April, but will continue until the summer
to partner the newly restored Thornbury Carnival on July 4th.
Images courtesy of Museum supporters, please do not copy.
The WI at the Mop Fair. Some members may recognise themselves, and know in which year this was taken. This is just a small selection of the dozens of photographs on display, accompanied by our showcases packed full of memorabilia.
The Festivals and Outings exhibition include all sorts, from Royal events, including the visit to Thornbury by Princess Diana and many Royal coronations, to the traditions of Floral Arches, Mop Fairs, Carnivals, Pageants, Parades, Weddings, Seaside Outings, Plays and Productions, and all sorts of celebrations.
Rembember the Dragon? And the carnival floats? Coronation mugs?
The Mikado, very serious!
An exhibition not to be missed!
Our programme of events for 2009 is still in preparation, but we will be participating in heritage events during May and Heritage Open Days in September.There will be the usual programme of guided walks.
We are also preparing to participate in BAC100, the celebration of 100 years of aviation history in 2010. Concorde may return!
As you may have noticed from our other pages, the Accreditation application is taking up most of our volunteer time at the moment, and we are very lucky to have a stalwart team of custodians to keep the museum open.
The Annual Salmon Supper, organised by the Friends of Thornbury Museum was a great success on Friday 30th January 2009 at the Armstrong Hall, Thornbury.
Our guest speaker was Prof Mark Horton, well known from Coast, Time Team and other TV programmes and Professor of Archaeology and Anthropology at Bristol University.
Image © T&DHT
Mark entertained the audience in his usual enthusiastic style with the illustrated talk, "Were there Cannibals in Alveston?" He first described the background and setting to the excavation of a fissure in the limestone ridge at Alveston where the celebrated bones were found. These included both human and animal bones, notably a large number of dog bones, which might have been associated with the sacrifice of these highly regarded creatures, and a human leg bone which seems to have been deliberately split to reveal the marrow. Mark proposed the theory that this find demonstrates local resistance to the first encroachment of the Romans into our area. The investigation was undertaken by Time Team, members of Bristol University and the local Hades caving club.
After an almost grisly but very enjoyable talk we all enjoyed a delicious salmon supper (with the usual vegetarian option) and wonderful puddings made by the Friends. See more pictures on the Friends page.
This is the Friends' main fundraising event of the year, and the proceeds are dedicated to supporting museum projects. Past projects to benefit include the new exhibition case for the Roman coins, a digital copy of the Thornbury Tithe map, (which can be viewed on the pc in the coins room) a small projects fund for new computer parts and software, and renovation of the museum's reception and shop. The Friends will also be supporting the Sculpture project.
Many thanks to all who help towards this event, especially the chef and her team, and our sponsors who included Aldi, Thornbury Castle, Hacket Farm and everyone who donated raffle prizes and puddings.
The Thornbury Roman Coin Hoard
This exhibition featuring 220 coins from the Thornbury Roman Coin Hoard will soon be a year old.
The coins, a few of the 11 thousand, have come home to Thornbury. The exhibition was opened by Mark Horton, TV archaeologist from Bristol University, on Saturday 7th June. Months of planning, text writing, proof reading, painting and decorating by our team of volunteers resulted in an exciting and professional display. Come to discover the story behind the coins, their discovery and their journey back to Thornbury .
A hoard of 11460 nummi, small coins, from the Constantine period was found in a garden in Thornbury in 2004.
Image courtesy BMAG
The bulk of the collection can be seen in Bristol City Museum. We are being allowed to display a small sample of the coins here in Thornbury thanks to funding from the Renaissance in Museums programme.
Meanwhile -
The local history of Thornbury is represented by our continuing exhibition in our third, upstairs, gallery.
"Thornbury Folk"
describes the people of Thornbury in the 19th and 20th centuries, their language and customs, their families, their trades and occupations and their everyday odds and ends of life.
We are indebted to the generosity and skills of many people involved in mounting our exhibitions.
Many displays, such as the recent 'Newport' collection of display boards and photographs and the 'Concorde Story' in 2007 are put together specially for us. Some, for example 'Thornbury Folk' and the 'Hales Court Collection' are based on artefacts from our own collection with additional items loaned to us, and are produced by our own team of volunteers.
We welcome new exhibitions and ideas, especially specialist local displays, so if you or your group have a suggestion please contact us.
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