Lottery success, new appointments and more

The Museum is getting ready to throw open its doors for the summer season on the weekend of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee, 4th and 5th June, when it welcomes visitors to view its medieval barn, oast house and magnificent collection of farming tools and machinery from past times. The museum has an idyllic setting in the Kent Downs AONB and is a great place to visit for young and old - and everyone in between.

The year looks set to be an exceptionally exciting and busy one for the Museum.

The National Lottery Heritage Fund has just confirmed a grant of £75,000 for a project to increase the Museum’s public engagement, to improve its spaces for interpretation and to build up its volunteer base.  The grant will cover the costs of a part-time Collections and Engagement Manager for one year, the employment of architects to develop proposals for the range of lean-to sheds adjoining the barn, specialist advice on the museum collection of agricultural implements and their conservation, and the recruitment and training of volunteers to work on the digitalisation of the Museum’s collection. 

Prior to the news of the lottery success, two former volunteers agreed to take on additional responsibilities.  Frances Penberthy is taking over the administrator’s baton from Tracey Block and Tom Kennett the curator’s role from Brian Wimsett.  The Museum’s trustees look forward to working with Frances and Tom in successfully delivering the lottery project in the coming months, whilst equally thanking Tracey and Brian for serving the museum so well.  Brian has been a central player in the Museum’s life since the late 1990s and the Trustees owe him a huge debt of gratitude for everything he has done over the last 25 years. They very much hope he will continue to share his deep knowledge of the collection in the years to come. 

The chair of the museum’s trustees, John Nightingale said

“We are hugely grateful to the National Lottery and its players and we look forward to an exciting year ahead.  It has already got off to a great start thanks to the response to our call for a working party of volunteers to help get things ready for the 2022 season.  They did a wonderful job and, equally important, enjoyed the experience.  Engaging with volunteers will be a continuing theme of the lottery-funded activities, so I am sure the enthusiasm we have already seen from volunteers augurs well for the success of the project."