Finding your feet at Fairlynch

 

 

"The best of Budleigh Salterton is on display in Fairlynch. Local history and local geology sit together in a charming building. Every time I walk past or go inside, I am reminded of why this town is so special."  That’s what the broadcaster and former Budleigh resident Sue Lawley told us a few years ago.

Yes indeed. May is National Walking Month. Living Streets, the national charity that works to create safe, attractive and enjoyable streets, is encouraging people to walk with their successful annual initiatives of Walk to Work Week and Walk to School Week during the current month.

Living Streets is also urging people to enjoy the thrill of making those wonderful little finds that happen only when you’re on foot. “Walking is a great way to discover hidden gems in your neighbourhood - be it for the view, the ambience, or a particular attraction,” they say.

The charity has launched a campaign to discover such hidden gems, inviting people to join with them in their quest to find new national treasures. The top new discoveries will be crowned one of the seven wonders of National Walking Month.

Entries opened on 1 May. Living Streets will pick the final seven on the strength of how they are described. You can send in photos and even videos, but make sure you tell the campaign organisers why your Hidden Treasure is so special.

Maybe you’ll find your footsteps taking you to Fairlynch this month. It may be ages since you last set foot inside the Museum. Or you may never have visited the charming building before. Now that we have free admission you may feel like joining the growing number of visitors to Budleigh who find that Fairlynch is truly one of the town’s hidden gems.   

And if, like Sue Lawley, you feel it’s a national treasure worth writing about do let the people at Living Streets know about us. For more details click on http://www.livingstreets.org.uk/challenge/seven-wonders-of-walking

 

Image credit: Living Streets with an amendment by Fairlynch Museum

 

 

 

 

 

Museum says farewell to lacemaker

 

Fairlynch is losing one of its volunteers who helped make a popular Friday afternoon attraction at the Museum with the retirement of resident lacemaker Margaret Leese.

 

Exmouth resident Margaret delighted and intrigued hundreds of visitors to the Museum with the demonstration of her intricate and beautiful work.  “Lacemaking was very much a traditional cottage industry in this part of Devon, so I am sorry not to be continuing at Fairlynch,” she said. “It has been a thoroughly enjoyable experience to be part of the Museum’s lace team in such a special way.”

 

Originally from Cornwall, Margaret first started lacemaking over 25 years ago when she saw the skill being demonstrated at Ottery St Mary. “I hadn’t been in the area all that long but I thought that looks quite exciting and challenging as a hobby,” she recalled.

 

Various pieces of Margaret’s work are on show at Fairlynch, including a lace version of the Museum’s doorknocker. She reckons that it must have taken 400 hours to make.

 

Lacemaking continues to thrive as a hobby for many enthusiasts all over the world, and the Museum is keen for demonstrations to be continued.  Fairlynch volunteer Sue Morgan who took over recently the Dolls and Bears department at Fairlynch has offered to give lacemaking demonstrations at half-term and on Friday afternoons during August.

Fascinating Finds Day at Fairlynch

 

Have you ever found a curious coin while out walking?  Or a puzzling piece of pottery?  Or even an  ancient axe-head?

Anyone who has made such a fascinating find is invited to bring the item to Fairlynch Museum on Thursday 23 May 2013 between 11.00 am and 5.00 pm.

Archaeologist Danielle Wootton, who works for the Portable Antiquities Scheme, will be on hand to identify objects that people may have found while out digging in the garden or rambling in the countryside.  Metal detectorists are welcome, says Danielle.

“Finds Days like this are a wonderful opportunity for objects to be identified and recorded by experts. We would like to see anything that has been made or shaped by humans in the past such as flint, bone, pottery and metal objects or coins - but not things like rocks or fossils, dolls or antique furniture.  Even if you haven’t found anything, drop in to find out more about Archaeology and the Portable Antiquities Scheme. Everyone is welcome.”

 

Just add water? Not so simple!

 

Above:  'High Seas' by Budleigh Salterton artist Susanna Lance

 

Fairlynch’s exhibition of paintings inspired by the sea and coastal scenery have been much admired by visitors to the museum.  The display by Budleigh Salterton’s Venture Art Group members was deliberately based on a common theme to complement the Museum’s 2013 show entitled ‘Sea, Salt and Sponges.’

Inevitably the subject was found to have some difficult aspects. Whether painting a river, a lake, a stream or the sea most artists find that water presents one of the most challenging aspects of a landscape for them to master.

 

'Spume and Sails'

 

 

Budleigh artist and gallery owner Susanna Lance would wholeheartedly agree. Seascapes have been her speciality for the last 20 years and she continues to find both frustration and enjoyment in depicting subjects such as waves and ripples or the simple reflections of boats in still waters as in the study shown below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since moving to East Devon in 1988 she has specialised in marine art, turning professional in the early 1990s. “I look for movement and light in my subjects,” she says, happy to acknowledge that her paintings have met with considerable success.

“Some people often ask me if I’m a sailor because of the way that I’ve depicted the movement of water, but that’s because they are sailors themselves who spend a lot of time looking at the sea. I’m not a sailor - I just paint by instinct.” 

Born in Kuching, the capital of Sarawak, in Malaysia, Susanna started her career as a supervisor in the jungles of Borneo assisting indigenous tribes to set up cooperatives. She spent several years travelling and working in various countries including India, Singapore and Norway before settling in this area where she runs Budleigh Salterton’s ISCA Gallery.  

 

'Yellow and Red Macs'

 

Susanna’s paintings have been shown at the Royal West of England Autumn Exhibition and she has also been awarded the Knight Frank Award at the Society of Women Artists (SWA) Open Exhibition. In summer 2012 her work was among paintings selected by the clothing designer Fat Face to celebrate talented artists in the South West of England by showcasing their masterpieces in all stores in the UK and Ireland.  

Click on http://iscagallery.co.uk/ for more information.

 

 

Queen Victoria would not be amused!

How ironic that local primary school children may not be able to study Victorian and Edwardian history. For that’s in a town where the local museum is putting on three exhibitions this year relating to those important periods in Britain’s development. And where the town itself is full of landmarks dating from those times, including Fairlynch Museum itself.

This latest development in our schools, according to the Association of Independent Museums (AIM), would be as a result of yet another education initiative.  The Association is strongly opposed to the government's proposals to remove Victorian and early 20th century history from Key Stage 2 History, believing that it will have a damaging effect on children’s learning and appreciation of history.

Under the proposed curriculum changes 18th, 19th, and 20th century history would no longer be covered in primary schools; instead this would form part of Key Stage 3 taught at secondary school level.

AIM feels that the changes will prevent children from enjoying museum visits and being inspired by the history of these centuries at this important time in their education. Earlier periods are represented in far fewer museum collections and at historic sites.

The Association has pointed out that the history of Britain from the 18th to the 20th centuries was transformational and included widespread social, scientific and technological change which shaped present day society. Young people relate more easily to the period, and it is well represented in most museum collections, providing a powerful and popular teaching resource that can be easily accessed by schools as a day visit.

Museum organisations have joined with AIM in writing to Education secretary, Michael Gove, urging him to adjust the proposals for the History National Curriculum to ensure that “we do not exclude young people from inspirational learning experiences by clinging to too rigid a curriculum proposal”. 

Referring to the proposals’ “unforeseen but very undesirable consequence” of a “significant negative impact upon the learning experience of many young people”, the letter explains in practical terms what this means.  The letter is signed by Matthew Tanner, chairman of AIM; Diane Lees, chairman of the National Museum Directors Conference; David Anderson, president of the Museums Association and Brigadier Colin Sibun, director of the Army Museums Ogilby Trust - together representing the majority of museums in the UK. 

 

For more information about AIM click on http://www.aim-museums.co.uk/

Above: Portrait of Queen Victoria by the photographer Alexander Bassano

A case of interest for old things

My previous post at http://budleighbrewsterunited.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/latest-boys-toy-arrives-at-exeter.html  about the Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital’s robot and the benefits that its arrival might bring for prostate cancer sufferers attracted as much attention from readers as anything that I’d written about Fairlynch Museum.

I suppose that there is a connection. In both situations old things feature prominently - in museums as well as in cases of prostate cancer.

So here we go with a follow-up which is very much to do with the latter.

Local residents concerned about prostate cancer will value the chance of hearing first-hand about latest news on the disease from the RDandE’s urology consultant John McGrath at a meeting on Thursday 9 May. The event has been organised by the Exmouth & Budleigh Salterton branch of North & East Devon Prostate Support Association and will take place at 10.00 am at the Manor Hotel on The Beacon, Exmouth.

To test or not to test? To talk about it or keep it quiet? How high can PSA go? Active Surveillance or Action Needed? And how successful will that action be?

There are lots of unanswered questions about cancer and perhaps as many relating to that annoying little gland the prostate as any other.

Discovering that two of my uncles had died from prostate cancer in their mid-70s helped to convince me that I’d opted for the sensible solution by deciding on surgery when my PSA started to rise. But are one’s genes the main factor involved in developing the disease? What about diet and exercise? And how likely are the side-effects from treatment going to be? And what is PSA anyway?

Come and find out the answers from an expert. New members of the Prostate Support Association are welcome. For more details contact the Branch Secretary David Warner on 01395 445614.   

Pictured above: Robotic surgery on a patient in progress

 

 

Amelia's Adventures in the Museum: 1. The Costume Room

 

 

 



Find out what happened when Amelia explored the contents of the dressing-up basket in Fairlynch Museum's Costume Room and took a ride on Phoenix at http://www.devonmuseums.net/includes/documents/Amelia%20%20Adventures%20%20Costume%20Room.pdf