Letters: Ideas which could save the museum
I was appalled to read of the proposal to close Stamford museum and relocate its collections to Lincoln.
I offer these comments as a South Lincs 'exile', with the insights of someone who lived in the area for 10 years, with children attending local schools, and who also had the privilege of working in a museum in a neighbouring town.
I return frequently as a visitor and retain a passionate interest in the area, its history, culture and…museums! My opinions are also informed by a recent MA in Cultural Heritage (UCL).
May I beg to suggest the following?
Although Stamford town may itself be a comparatively affluent centre, Lincolnshire, as a whole is not.
It is also a huge county, ill-served by public transport. In addition, and very significantly, recently the whole area has come under social pressures from outside itself, linked to its rural industries' need for migrant labour.
In Lincolnshire, formal cultural resources are far more thinly scattered than in many other parts of the UK, and much more poorly resourced. Experiences which are commonplace elsewhere, such as visiting museums, galleries or taking part in outreach activities are much more difficult to access, where they occur at all.
Yet this is an area steeped in heritage, in terms of buildings and landscape!
Local social history collections are central to this 'cultural capital'.
They are all the more special because the collections have usually been accumulated not by purchase on the whim of a curator (who may or may not have not have any local links) but by gift from members of the community themselves, ordinary people and small businesses.
Such donations are precious, and I believe, belong in the community to which they bear witness.
To re-locate Stamford's collections to Lincoln would be a cultural crime.
But the issues are not unique to Stamford museum. Even in better resourced parts of the UK, many museums struggle to display more than a fraction of their collections. Like an iceberg, usually less than a third is visible at any one time.
Professional museum organ-isations have had a lot to say about this recently, suggesting a range of options from radical 'disposal' tactics to completely re-thinking the idea of the museum.
The museum as a musty repository of 'stuff' has mostly passed away, but permanent exhibitions and displays quickly acquire a 'dated' look.
They are extremely expensive to replace, and at one time only show a small part of the collection; also they are subject to the vagaries of 'interpretation'.
Whoever designs the displays has a big say in how their 'meaning' is represented.
But there are some brilliant solutions around the country to these problems which increasingly afflict all museums, chief of which is lack of funds and space.
Here are just a few I have encountered:
Museum in a school? The Langley Academy in Slough is the first state school to build itself and its curriculum around a museum.
Could establishments such as Queen Eleanor's or New College Stamford be involved in similar projects?
Why take young people to the museum, when it could be a part of their everyday surroundings? Community groups might also find it easier to access resources 'out and about'.
Creating 'mini museums' in community settings?
Libraries can house museum cases which can be totally secure, yet accessible. These usually have a top display, and also drawers which can be filled with associated items.
Examples are already used in High Wycombe Library. Leicestershire museum service has another 'take' on this idea, with its 'Moving Objects' collections where mobile but secure displays have been developed with different groups, and can be borrowed and used by community organisations such as Care Homes.
Open Stores?
Why not re-locate most of the collection to a store where it can be both displayed and enjoyed? There may be limitations on opening hours, but the idea is that almost anything can be seen.
Objects are displayed in purpose-designed, safe but accessible cases. An example is the National Railway museum at York.
Change is something we cannot often avoid.
Ideally funds will be found to keep the museum in its present location.
But could the present circumstances enable the communities around Stamford to make a leap of faith and transform the museum for the 21st century, even if things really cannot stay as they are?
All options will require some funding, and some professional expertise, however, voluntary help, properly organised, could also make the greatest contribution.
And Stamford is full of community spirit and skills, as evidenced by the reports in this paper, week by week.
Mary O'Toole
Cromwell Gardens,
Marlow, Bucks
What a wonderful idea to move Stamford Museum to the town hall. (Mercury last week).
Since the town hall ceased being used by the courts service, it has been underused and it would be the perfect building for a museum. It would give the museum what it has lacked to date – the room to display larger exhibits.
And the town regalia could then become the star attraction of the museum and all of Stamford's historic attractions would be housed under one roof.
If a move to the town hall were to come about, Lincolnshire County Council's decision could prove to be a blessing in disguise.
A museum housed in the town hall would be easier for tourists to find and it would be run at a more local level by people who have more love for, and a better knowledge of, Stamford and its history.
It could be managed by the town council or a management group in association with the council. There could even be interactive items for schoolchildren showing how adult and juvenile courts used to work in bygone days.
Yes, yes, yes! Move the museum to the town hall.
What a great use for the old building and what a great building to house a museum.
Mike Laughton
Harrington Crescent,
Exton
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Friday 25 May 2012
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