Topic ID 2454
Did you all know that Hertford Museum is free to all and has been running since 1903? We have just been promised £45,000 from East Herts Council for our major redevelopment which is great news. We now have to convince the Heritage Lottery Fund to fund our project which we have calculated will be just under £1 million. Improvements will be a lift, a completely new display on the whole of the first floor called 'Our Town', a new 'resource room', digitised photographic collections and a general facelift. I would like to know your thoughts on the museum. Have you visited before? If so, did you like what you saw? Was there anything you didn't like? Would you come back? Was there anything you wanted to see? If you haven't visited before, why? Please feel free to let me know your thoughts - good or bad! I need to prove to the Heritage Lottery that this is a worthwhile venture and that we have consulted our public. Many thanks and I look forward to reading your comments![:)]
Reply ID 34551
Def easier access to the photographs would be good as you have supplied me with copies of some of my family I did not know existed but it would be great to be able to go through them to see what else you have. I saw one I would have liked last year when I did the heritage walk but when I asked later for a copy they did not know which albums had been out so I was not able to get a copy.
Reply ID 34552
Thanks Marilyn. We are hoping to get funding to employ someone to scan all of our photographic collections - about 6,000 in total (it may take some time!!), we going to be working with Ware Museum and they will be doing the same there which will be great for both the museums and a nice little link with the towns. The aim is to have a little website which will highlight some of these photographs. Then the general public will be able to visit either museum and browse through the whole collection digitally and print out what they would like. This will probably take 3-4 years from start to finish. Sorry about not being able to locate your photograph. We try our best to help everyone...what was the photo of?
Reply ID 34553
Hi I have a question, a couple of classes from our yr3 junior's came down recently, and all the parents were asked for a 50p donation for each child..Seeing as it's free Some of the parents wondered why the donation, one of the parents took quite an exception..It didnt bother me seeing as it was such a small sum, and going to a good cause I assume. But seeing as there was probably about 60 children in total over 2 days, I wondered what it went towards? regards
Reply ID 34554
Oh, and I'de like to say my Son enjoyed it very much, So a big thanks from me.
Reply ID 34555
Yes I have visited the museum, and have done on several occasions. It is fascinating, and they have good exhibitions on. Well done all of you who run the museum, you are doing a grand job, and thank you.[:)]
Reply ID 34556
Hello Bengeomum The museum is free admission. We charge schools in Hertford £1 per child for a special tailored session which is run by a member of the museum staff. I think this must have been the Egyptians. The cost covers the tailored session which lasts just over 2 hours. We have to charge for schools, as most museums do. This money gets ploughed back into our education budget so that we can continue to provide the service and also enhance it (this year we are able to provide 'Walk like and Egyptian' sessions for the first time to coincide with our exhibition). As we are a registered charity we are unable to provide such sessions for free. Schools are more than welcome to come to the museum for free just to look around. We charge schools outside Hertford £2 per child (all adults coming along for free). The subsidised rate for Hertford schools is that we get a grant from the Town Council to help us with our running costs generally. Our schools sessions are very popular and I hope that parents weren't too put off by this - if you can mention this to them next time you see them, I would appreciate it. The best bit about the Egyptians session is seeing the kids pull the body parts out of 'Ramses' and then bandaging him up! What a long-winded reply! Sorry about that!
Reply ID 34558
I will certainly pass on your remarks, I thought some of the mums were being a bit churlish even tight, My Son apparantly enjoyed pulling out a set of lungs, rolls eyes, well he would I suppose lol..I assume the extra 50p was probably met by the teachers association, even though I still think a £1 was well worth it..Keep up the good work, I know for a fact the kids were buzzing when they came back. regards
Reply ID 34560
quote:It was Port Hill with a bus coming down, the old style 333 and a small pick up truck on the other side outside the reindeer. I have most of the others but had not seen that one before. My family lived on Port Hill from late 1800 to 1950's various house for various brothers / sister etc and they worked from the yards / shed behind the reindeer til 1950 ish so some of the various vehicles were theirs and I am trying to put together an archive as there were no photos left by any members of the family. you have supplied me with some great ones so far and just hoped this one could have been added but it will surface again one day I am sure.
Originally posted by museum geek
Thanks Marilyn. We are hoping to get funding to employ someone to scan all of our photographic collections - about 6,000 in total (it may take some time!!), we going to be working with Ware Museum and they will be doing the same there which will be great for both the museums and a nice little link with the towns. The aim is to have a little website which will highlight some of these photographs. Then the general public will be able to visit either museum and browse through the whole collection digitally and print out what they would like. This will probably take 3-4 years from start to finish. Keep up the good work.............. Sorry about not being able to locate your photograph. We try our best to help everyone...what was the photo of?
Reply ID 34561
I love coming to the museum with my kids in the holidays. Always a different exhibition for them to look at. They love the interactive parts - quizzes etc. It's lovely that you do so many activities for the children - usually things which I either couldn't or wouldn't want to do at home. It's always more fun with the children doing the arty stuff with other children as well.
Reply ID 34562
Dear Jackieg Thanks for your feedback. We are actually proposing to have the activity room where the loos are at present which hopefully would make things easier as it will be close to the toilets (they will be new build as well) and there will be parking spaces for buggies. It also means more display space on the first floor!
Reply ID 34563
It's been a while since I've been. Is there still a hidden, peaceful garden at the back?
Reply ID 34564
It's a great place to visit. I recommend it to anyone new to the area, visitors, or Hertford lifers like myself. I pop in every couple of months or so and always enjoy having a wander around.
Reply ID 34568
quote:Yes there is! Its really tranquil (unless there is a school group in!). Great in the summer - ideal if you work in Hertford and want somewhere quiet to eat your sandwiches. We also serve cream teas in the garden every Saturday from May to September (I can definitely recommend that!).
Originally posted by Ray_by_the_Beane
It's been a while since I've been. Is there still a hidden, peaceful garden at the back?
Reply ID 34575
The digital 'photo idea is fantastic and the lift to make it accessable to more people. Web site, good promotion for the Town and that's what we need. I walk past many times each day and should make more of an effort to come in. On the occasions I have, I have found the staff friendly and helpful and there are some really interesting exibits. Good luck with the grant.
Reply ID 34580
We haven't visited yet but it is on our list...
Reply ID 34581
Dear Willow We are open Tuesday to Saturday from 10am to 5pm and its free. There are two new exhibitions opening this Feb until May - one is about the local Hertfordshire Regiment and the other is about the parish of Little Munden. There is also a really nice exhibition about the Egyptians which will hopefully appeal to all ages. We also have an activity room for littluns which is usually open during museum opening hours where they can play with toys, do jigsaws and colour in etc.
Reply ID 34582
I enjoy popping in every six months or so and my daughter also seems to get a lot out of it. As for improvements I agree with previous posters re lift and note that you mention a general facelift in your opening post which I think would make an improved welcoming first impression. Keep up the good work
Reply ID 34591
I have visited the museum every three or four months since before moving to Hertford eighteen months ago. The museum is one of the many reasons I like Hertford and chose to live here. I'd like to see a series of artists impressions of how Hertford looked through the major periods in its existence - For example; Saxon, Early Medieval, Late Medieval, Tudor, English Civil War, 18th Century, Victorian, Second World War. Maybe starting from a modern photograph with each painting (or drawing, computerised graphic, etc) 'taken' from the same viewpoint.
Reply ID 34592
Thanks for your input lemonjelly We are definetly considering some kind of a timeline to show how Hertford has changed over the years to include photographs, artists impressions and objects (like our archaeological collections). We are also thinking of 'then and now' pictures to go on the stairs too. I met with our designer the other day and we also chatted about getting a model done of what the castle would have looked like originally which will be great! Initial schemes for the new display will hopefully be put up somewhere in the museum after March so you will be able to see what we are planning. Its all terribly exciting for us, I just hope the Heritage Lottery feel the same. We are submitting our application in March and then have a long wait (September) for the decision.
Reply ID 34598
I think a then and now is a great idea, especially with the current interest in local history/ family history etc, maybe some of my family will be there as we go back to mid 1700's in Hertford (so far!) There are some places in the town that are barely recognisable and some that have not changes for 100's of year so a where is/ was this would be good to! Keep up the good work, my niece came down with school last year and with me on the walk and loves it! Got any vacancies for 10 year olds?
Reply ID 34601
Thanks Marilyn! Erm....vacancies for 10 year olds....if she would like to help out at one of our summer drop-in activities for a day I am sure we can arrange something with the rest of our volunteers. Do let me know... By the way, we are all CRB checked.
Reply ID 34602
quote:I will mention it next time I see her thanks........
Originally posted by museum geek
Thanks Marilyn! Erm....vacancies for 10 year olds....if she would like to help out at one of our summer drop-in activities for a day I am sure we can arrange something with the rest of our volunteers. Do let me know... By the way, we are all CRB checked.
Reply ID 34661
hiya, i haven't been for a good few years. Whats your current exhibition?
Reply ID 34702
Dear lilacsugar We've got loads going on at the moment - opening this Feb are two new exhibitions: one about the Hertfordshire Regiment and the other is an exhibition put together by Years 5 &6 of Little Munden Primary in Dane End all about the parish of Little Munden. There's also a really good exhibition about the Egyptians, including our mummified bits - a mummified bird, various hands and feet and a thigh!! We have also got a really varied programme of events on over the year. All free!!
Reply ID 34795
i went in around a month ago best bit for me was looking at the old pic's on the walls of all the shops etc in and around hertford town that are haunted. also the samurai armour was a nice piece.well worth a visit and the garden is lovely[;)]
Reply ID 35486
Love the place. So do my children. No longer live in Hertford but we visit the museum a few times a year in the hols. I remember my visits as a child in the 60's and it then seemed a much darker place in more ways than one! Was there ever a two headed pickled chick? This is one of my earliest memories (or maybe one of my earliest nightmares I don't know!)