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Exhibition – From Tin Town to Des Res

The Story of Marlow Bottom
18-Mar-17 to Aug-17

The Story of Marlow Bottom – from Tin Town to Des Res, is now on at the Marlow Museum, Court Garden. The exhibition compiled by valley residents and designed by the Marlow Museum tells the fascinating story over centuries of how the once open countryside and farmland became an important residential area with shops, church, school and businesses, Entry is Free and a booklet covering the story with pictures is available to purchase. Greetings Cards featuring the Valley are also available.

John and Tony open the Exhibition

Marlow Remembers WW1

Marlow Remembers WW1

Mince Pies, Mulled Wine and Santa!

Next Exhibition,October 2016: Women of Marlow

Our next exhibition, Women of Marlow, will feature women connected with Marlow through the ages and right up to the present day.

The photo above is of the late Dr Rachel Brown, a “true Marlovian” and historian, who dedicated her time and passion to the town and the community, and passed away aged 93 in June 2015.

Marlow Ukelele Band entertains at Marlow Museum

You never know what will happen at Marlow Museum! On Wednesday 8th June, during the Love Marlow Festival, the Marlow Ukelele Band played outside the museum for 45 minutes to great applause. The acoustics under the covered walkway made for a great sound.

They have promised to come back during the summer so watch out for publicity.

Carlo and Marlow love Marlow Museum!

Huge thanks to a friend of the Museum, local artist Nicola Metcalfe, who has created these wonderful characters to help us publicise our children’s activities.

Our first event of 2016 is the Young Photographer of the Year Photo Competition, running from Easter and finishing on June 5th, with the award ceremony on the final day of Love Marlow week, Sunday June 12th 2016.

The Entry Form is available on line here.

A new exhibition and a public appeal

General Sir George Wentworth Alexander Higginson

Find out how this little boy grew up to be a General, a Knight of the Bath, a Knight Grand Cross of the Victorian Order, won honours from France and Turkey, founded a Boy’s Home, lived to over a hundred, became known as ‘Father of the Guards’ , knew five British monarchs and had a park in Marlow named after him!

Urgent Appeal

Please contribute to our appeal at

https://mydonate.bt.com/charities/marlowmuseum

The Museum’s air con/heating unit has broken and cannot be repaired. We need to raise £5,000 to replace it at once to preserve our collection. Temperature and humidity control is vital to maintain the artefacts. Our annual income is only about £8,000, so this is a huge thing for us. Please help us if you can.  Thank you.

Marlow Museum at the Carnival

The answers to the Mystery Object Quiz were:

1. Baby’s gas mask or respirator
2. inkwell
3. cabbage press
4. lace bobbin
5. candle snuffer
6. Rolls Razor set
7. eyebath
8. surgical sterilizing forceps or tongs

Congratulations to our winner Sarah Beddall who received a mounted print of Marlow by local artist Nicola Metcalfe.

The BBC visits Marlow Museum

Our lace expert Pamela Nottingham tried to teach Terry Wogan and his fellow presenter Mason McQueen to make lace today. It was for a new BBC TV programme called ‘Terry and Mason’s Great Food Trip’ visiting interesting towns around the country. Our Marlow episode will air on Friday 25th September at 6.30 on BBC2. Our grateful thanks to Pamela for putting us on the map.

Marlow’s River – how the Thames has shaped our town

Our Summer Exhibition has been very well received by visitors.   It tells the story of the river and the town, from the distant past when the course of the Thames first changed to flow past this spot, to modern times when the river regularly puts Marlow into the national news, whether for Olympic rowers, swimming challenges, or flooding.

You’ll be surprised at some of the things that have been found in the river – come and see! Weekends from 1-5pm.

The Changing Face of Marlow – winter opening

If you haven’t yet seen our current exhibition, The Changing Face of Marlow, it continues until the end of December, but our winter opening hours have now started so that’s Sundays only from 2-4pm.

Thanks to MyMarlow.co.uk for these wonderful images.

Come and see more at the Museum.

Young Portrait Photographer of the Year 2014

  

Congratulations, Hayley Hunt of Sir William Borlase’s Grammar School and Marlow, seen here receiving her prizes from Nicola Baker of Marlow Camera Club.  On the right is the 15 year old’s  winning portrait of Dr Rachel Brown, entitled ‘Royal Memories of Marlow’.

In the photograph Rachel is remembering a special day in 1926 when as a small child she saw Princess Mary, daughter of George V and Queen Mary, present Court Garden House and its walled estate, now known as Higginson Park, to the town.

The house and estate were purchased for use by the town after a fundraising campaign led by famous local resident General Sir George Higginson (1826-1927), a veteran of the Crimean War. He was a close friend of the Royal Family and persuaded Princess Mary to come to Marlow for the ceremony held on his 100th birthday.

Hayley also sent us a well known press photograph of this occasion to show that her photo is taken in the same spot:

Photo Competition: Deadline extended to Saturday 31st May

Please note we have also simplified the requirements for entry:

A portrait of someone in their favourite place in Marlow   AND/OR

A 2 minute video of someone talking about their Memories of Marlow

Young Photographer of the Year Competition

Only a few weeks left to enter our big photo competition ‘Memories of Marlow’!  DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES IS MIDNIGHT ON 18 MAY 2014

Don’t forget there’s a total prize fund of £350 to be awarded!

Photograph your friend, Mum or Dad, Grandma or Grandad, or even someone from the museum – just get in touch and ask- in their favourite spot in Marlow. Give your picture a caption to explain where it is and why it brings back memories for that person.

Entries will be judged in 6 categories:

• Photos: Under 7 years; 7-11 years; 12-15 years; 16-19 years.
• Videos: Under 13 years; 14 to 19 years.

Entries can be either 

• A photo portrait of someone who lives or works in Marlow, taken in a place that has particular memories for them   OR
• A short video of someone who has lived or worked in Marlow for a long time, talking about how it used to be and what has changed

For full details of how to enter look at the full set of rules of entry and don’t forget our resources for teachers and parents to help with ideas and inspiration.

 

Museum welcomes its 10,000th visitor!

Mrs Rachel Hall from Chalfont St Giles, seen outside the Museum with her husband Steve and children Milly, Charlotte and Max on Sunday 6th April 2014, was our 10,000th visitor to the Museum since it opened in May 2009. She was given a certificate to mark the event, two books on sale in the Museum (‘Monsters of Marlow’ by Tony Reeve, about Mary Shelley  and ‘Tales of a Riverbank’ a self guided river walk from Marlow to Bourne End) and one year’s membership of the Museum.

World expert on lace is a regular at Marlow Museum

The lady on the left in this photo is international lace expert Pamela Nottingham MBE.  She was born and bred in Marlow but now lives north of the M25. Yet she is still so fond of  her home town that she regularly makes a journey of up to two hours to come and be  a steward at the Museum here.

She will be at the Museum on April 20th, May 18th, June 1st and June 22nd. Come and find out more and even try your hand at lace making.

If you have some old lace you would like to know more about, why not bring it along for identification?

Pamela has written more than ten books on all kinds of lace making, which used to be one of the main occupations in Marlow.

A local history website (http://www.friethhistory.org) says:

“Around 1600 lace-making was the chief industry of Marlow and the villages around. A few years later a change of fashion, using no lace, ended the lace trade and brought great poverty to Marlow and district. It was at this time, 1626, that Sir William Borlase founded the school that bears his name. It was for 24 boys to learn to read and write and cast accounts and 24 girls to knit, spin and make bone lace. At Marlow the lace trade again flourished, and continued to do so in the villages around, gradually dying out as machine made lace became popular.“

Have you visited our ‘Famous People of Marlow’ exhibition yet?

If you’ve been down to Marlow Museum lately, open 1-5 pm at weekends, you’ll know who painted this lovely Marlow scene. The artist is Frank Percy Wild who lived at Gossmore, Marlow for more than 50 years, from 1895-1950. He is buried in All Saints churchyard. His paintings were often exhibited at the Royal Academy and we think he should be better known. Should he be given a commemorative plaque?

For more information come and see our exhibition.

Memorable Marlovians Quiz

1. Who is this, where did he go to school and how did he die?

2. Which two writers lived at this pretty cottage in West Street? and when?

3. Who is this internationally famous writer, what did he write and where in Marlow did he live?

4. Who painted this famous view? Where is it? Where did he live?

How many did you get? You can find out the answers to all these questions and many more, if you come along to our latest exhibition about Memorable Marlovians at Marlow Museum, from the beginning of January to the end of June 2014. Weekends only – see Opening Hours at right.

Do you like talking to people?

Bucks lace making in Marlow on Heritage Day

Our popular steward and world lace expert Pamela Nottingham made one of her frequent visits to the Museum yesterday, Heritage Day, to show visitors how to make lace.

Lace making was one of the main occupations for women in Marlow in previous centuries. Buckinghamshire lace makers developed their own style, known as Bucks Point lace.  It is usually made on a lace pillow, with the threads held on individual, beautifully turned and carved bobbins, that young men would make as gifts for their sweethearts.

You can see examples in Marlow Museum.

 

Marlow wildlife

Walkies! If you live in Marlow, why not trot down to Court Garden this weekend to see Marlow Museum’s Natural History display?  

Stay! It’s your museum. Ask us about becoming a volunteer.

Red squirrel sighted in Marlow!

Did you know that red squirrels were once a common sight around Marlow – within living memory?

And did you realize they are so much smaller than their pushy grey cousins?

Come and compare the two at the museum – open every afternoon 1-5pm over the Bank Holiday weekend.

Holy Trinity School Marlow is 100 years old this year

Come to the Trinity Heritage Open Day on September 15th 2013, organised by The Marlow Society

Once again the Marlow Society has coordinated an exciting programme offering visitors a rare opportunity to explore buildings not normally open to the public, as part of English Heritage’s annual Open Days Weekend. Come and visit three historic properties closely grouped in the Wethered Road area. Entry everywhere is free of charge and the event runs from 10AM to 4PM.

Come and tour the school, see how it has changed through the years via a display of photographs and peruse the old admission registers and log books. Lots of free parking on site, refreshments on sale and a fun quiz for the kids. If you are a former pupil or have connections to the school, get your handprint painted on a tile and join the “Helping Hands” wall which has been running for years and records generations of pupils.

Opposite the school is Old Trinity Church, opening to the public for the first time for many years. A Gothic Revival church designed by the famous architect Gilbert Scott and opened in 1852. It was de-consecrated in 1976 and converted into office premises, beautifully done with minimal impact on original features. All the stained glass, mosaics and stonework remain in excellent condition and can be easily viewed. A photographic exhibition of the church and its history will be on display.

Also in the church will be an exhibition by Marlow Archaeological Society, showing a substantial excavation in Rookery Park earlier this year, funded by the Heritage Lottery, which confirmed that parts of an early farmhouse still exist. These include the cellar, one wall of which was constructed in chalk blocks suggesting an even earlier building. Information and photographs of the excavation will be displayed, and MAS will provide guided tours to a small trench open on the actual site in Rookery Park.

A short distance along Wethered Road is Marlow Town Cemetery and its pretty Edwardian chapel owned and managed by Marlow Town Council. The Marlow Remembers World War One Committee is planning events starting next year to commemorate major events of the Great War and to honour the fallen. The committee will be holding an exhibition to launch their most interesting  programme.

With thanks to The Marlow Society

Hannah is Marlow’s Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year!

Congratulations to 10 year old Hannah Sloper of Holy Trinity School, who was the overall winner in our Wildlife Photo Competition with her wonderful photograph called ‘Mayfly Sunset’.

Come down on Saturday or Sunday afternoons between 1pm and 5pm to see all the winning photographs and a large number of ‘also commended’ ones on display in Marlow Museum’s current exhibition The Natural History of Marlow.

Summer Exhibition from Saturday 6th July to the end of October

Our summer exhibition features the beautiful wildlife photography of local resident Barrie Lee, as well as real examples of our local birds, butterflies and mammals on loan from Bucks County Museum.

Brewing in Marlow

This exhibition CLOSED on Sunday 30 June with a special afternoon of events.

 

Did you hear me on Marlow FM ?

Our Young People’s Wildlife Photography Competition closed on June 22nd 2013. Watch the website for news of the next competition.

Children’s & Young People’s Photo Competition

Marlow’s Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Deadline for entries was 22nd June 2013

Vintage Film Show 31st May 2013

A joint venture by Marlow FM and Marlow Museum.

 

Brewing in Marlow

Marlow has had a long association with brewing, and we celebrated this in our  exhibition running from 2nd March to the end of June: