Thornbury Museum

The Salmon Supper, held on February 1st. was a great success and raised a wonderful sum to support Museum projects,  as it does every year.  Will Harris told the story of Handel Cossham and the South Gloucestershire Coalfield before we all enjoyed a splendid salmon, salad, duchess potato and special puddings supper.

Thanks to all the sponsors, Thornbury Castle, Tesco, TB Grey at Hackett Farm, La Bruschetta and Jean Cox. And special thanks to all the Friends of the museum and their friends and families for helping with all the organisation, the meal, the raffle and bar and all those lovely puds!

 CONCORDE!

The next successful and enjoyable fund raising event was the talk by Bob Griffin, former Chief Operations Officer at Fairford, about his special experiences while working on the development and testing of our favourite and local Concorde. We were treated to a cockpit view at supersonic speed as well as Bob's own story of Bristol during the war, illustrated by a wonderful collection of historic pictures.       

Friends helped by welcoming guests, serving refreshments and at the technical end, helping Bob to get all his slides into a presentation which could be shown using the museum's new laptop and projector. Thank you Bob, Friends and the URC for making the church available for the event.

There is always something you can help with - join the Friends and have fun!

The Friends summer programme of visits and events is now published in the newsletter;

Tuesday 20th May, the Almonry at Evesham;

Thursday 10th July, Kingswood Heritage Museum and

Tuesday 2nd September, Corinium Museum, Cirencester.

Enquiries to the museum please if you are interested in joining.

The Friends AGM will be held at ST Marys Church Hall on April 1st, at 7.30pm. New members welcome; members please bring a small contribution to the buffet if you can. Don't worry, April Fools day is only active until noon!

  *  ABOUT THE FRIENDS  *

The Friends of the Museum group was formed in 1999 to support Thornbury Museum, to provide a programme of social and educational activities and to raise funds for the purchase of objects and archives for the museum collection.

Through our exciting programme of events and visits to different heritage destinations we aim to share our activities with a wide audience. There are regular newsletters to keep people informed of our activities.

The Friends holds an annual lecture and supper, called the 'Ken Baily Event' in memory of Ken, a local personality. This is our major fundraising activity of the year and features a guest speaker and an excellent Salmon supper.

The Friends support the Museum in its main aim which is to 'Interpret and document the culture and heritage of Thornbury and the Lower Severn Vale for the education and enjoyment of the public.' The museum maintains a permanent exhibition as well as a varied programme of short term specialist displays.

There are a number of special events held throughout the year, including a custodians and Friends party, coffee mornings and other fund-raising events.