Blog

Haberdasher's Second Visit

20 boys visited the Museum this week from Haberdasher’s Aske’s Boys School.

They were offered a 30 minute presentation about the changes and development of Borehamwood since 1940. This was followed by interviews with five people brought in by the school and also accompanied by Lynda Marshal, a Museum Volunteer. The five were interviewed about the changes they had seen in their lifetimes. Time was also spent playing with the games inside the Museum.

Museum Team Wins At The Rotary Quiz

Last night’s Rotary Quiz, which raised over £500 for dementia care, was won by the second-string Museum Team B who managed an excellent 91 points.  Due to a last-minute defection the A Team (not pictured!) struggled on a man down to come third – not bad against the other 11 teams, with only 5 players!

The Friends And Haberdasher's

Elstree and Borehamwood Museum were delighted to host Dr John Wigley of Haberdasher’s Aske’s Boys School, at our Museum Friends event, held on the evening of Wednesday 18th October.

Dr Wigley informed us about the school’s illustrious history, which dates from 1690. Starting with the school’s first two centuries in Hoxton, East London, Dr Wigley explained the school’s foundation by the Haberdasher’s Company and Robert Aske’s bequest.

With the aid of historical and contemporary pictures, Dr Wigley followed the school’s history to its site in Cricklewood, North West London to Elstree, to which it moved in 1961.

Everyone who attended thoroughly enjoyed the talk, and at the end, all of us Friends were most grateful to be invited to the school, for a guided tour in the new year.

Many thanks to Maureen Corman for organising an excellent talk.

DAVE ON THE RADIO

Dave Armitage was featured on BBC Three Counties Radio last Monday when he was interviewed by Nick Coffer about the Museum and the Toys Games & Gadgets Exhibition.  Well worth a listen, and still available at   http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05g2g53 at about 1 hour 50 minutes in.

October Reminiscences

The latest Going Down The Village meeting had a twist because there was no PowerPoint Presentation as usual, but Dave made use of the laminated photos used on the History Walks of the past seven years.  30 images were handed around to be scrutinised and he asked people to tell him things that the group didn't know about each image.

So much debate was had because the photos were so varied, and many people could not even guess the location of some of the places shown. After 40 minutes, Dave took back the photos and found one thing in each image that he didn't think people knew about. This was a lively meeting with plenty of interaction. If fact it ran until nearly 12 noon before finishing. We will use this format again sometime in the future!

Summer Holidays Down The Village

On Thursday our Reminiscence Group, Down The Village, held their latest meeting at 96.  There were 18 people in the room, and the theme was Holidays - memorable or nightmarish, an enjoyable or disaster day trip away, even the odd pleasureable weekend break.  A number of people had brought photos of their old holidays, and some from the times they were very young on their trips to Butlins.  We had discussions about the years when people first went abroad, and when they were allowed to go on holiday for the first time on their own with friends. Dave Armitage, Museum Manager, brought his sister and brother-in-law with him, and he showed us some of his holidays - he has been to lots of places!

A Walk Through History

The Museum’s annual History Walk was held yesterday on a bright sunny day.  Starting at Stirling Corner we walked through to Woodcock Hill where we discovered the Beacon, the Napoleonic Signal, and the crater from the VE1 that fell on Borehamwood in 1945.  From there we crossed back across Furzehill past the Three Ways Centre and back down via the old RNLI building.  Dave Armitage, Museum Manager, told us many tales of how Boreham Wood was at the start of the last century, and how much the area had changed from farms to houses. Three miles in three hours and much history was absorbed.

Families Day in Meadow Park

We were pleased to meet so many of you in our new gazebo at Families Day.  Showing our new Exhibition opening in a couple of weeks – Toys, Games & Gadgets – there was plenty to talk about.  And plenty to reminisce as well. Whether it was memories of playing old board games or doing your Rubik’s Cube, or just good old memories of the Village.  Lot’s of mums and dads and their children agreed to come along and play the games and see our new fun Exhibition.  Thanks to Helen for organising everything, and for all the volunteers who helped. And for once the wind didn’t blow and the sun shone!

Flower Festival in All Saints

Here is the Museum arrangement for the Flower Festival Coffee Morning in All Saints Church on Monday. You can see all the arrangements from now until Monday before the free coffee morning at 11 am.  We hope as many people as possible can get to see the display because it’s beautiful. So please pop in if you're out shopping.

Our AGM Takes Place

Friday saw the annual AGM of the Museum where the Trustees and Volunteers get an update on recent activities, exhibitions, finances and future projects.  Needless to say everything is running smoothly, and we even made a small profit to carry forwards to next year.  Dave Armitage, the Museum Manager, gave a comprehensive progress report, and a new Trustee, Betty Chandler, was elected to join re-elected Chairperson Cynthia Barker, Secretary Elaine Butchins, and fellow Trustees Norma Shuker (Vice Chair), Ann Lawrence, Pat Strack, Paul Welsh and Clive Butchins.