The Shaftesbury & District Historical Society concluded their winter season of lectures on 05 April with three impeccably researched presentations by S&DHS members. Ken Baxter (centre) revealed how the Housing Act of 1935 led to a national Overcrowding Survey, one of the greatest ever undertaken. In Shaftesbury 40% of the houses examined were deemed inadequate. The […]
Visitors to Gold Hill Museum from Monday 27 June are promised a free visual and cultural spectacle as Tibetan monks from Tashi Lhunpo Monastery create a Sand Mandala in the Anna McDowell Garden Room. Using millions of grains of coloured sand, the monks draw intricate designs representing a fabulous palace into which they invite the Buddha […]
Cup and ball, yo-yo, kaleidoscope, slate and chalk: all these toys are now available for visitors to handle from an Activities Basket in Room 4 of Gold Hill Museum. They are really intended for younger visitors, but some adults may wish to rekindle memories of their youth. The caps and bonnets from a dressing-up basket in Room 2 will definitely […]
Following last year’s successful Photographic Exhibition held over a holiday weekend, Shaftesbury Camera Club are returning to the Anna McDowell Garden Room at Gold Hill Museum for a week long show. The Exhibition of top quality prints will run from Saturday 30 April until Friday 06 May, 10.30a.m to 4.30p.m. Entry is free to both […]
Ann Symons and Claire Ryley are holding a further Reminiscence Afternoon at Shaftesbury Library, on Tuesday 29 March between 2.30 and 3.30p.m. The focus of interest on this occasion will be family stories of the experiences of Prisoners of War and internees, during both World Wars. There will be tea and cakes and the opportunity […]
A new exhibition for 2016 created by Librarian and Archivist Ray Simpson tells the story of two local workhouses. In 1834 Parliament was keen to cut the welfare bill and the Poor Law Amendment Act abolished the practice of giving outdoor relief to the able-bodied poor. Recipients of welfare now had to enter the workhouse, […]
“Shaftesbury” was one of the Southern Railway Company’s “West Country” class of steam locomotives. She hauled trains across the South and West from 1946 to 1963, and was scrapped at the British Railways works in Eastleigh in 1964. One of her two name-plates was presented to Shaftesbury Borough Council in 1964 by former BR Works Manager Mr […]
Gold Hill Museum re-opens on Saturday 19 March with many new items on display. The main temporary exhibition features a selection of breathtakingly beautiful Ladies’ Fans from the 19th and early 20th centuries. The history of their use is explained, together with their secret language. It could be that Sheena Commons (left) and Margaret Baxter are signalling “Follow […]
Biffo the Gargoyle has taken up residence in the Museum Garden. At least the Head Gardener thinks that he “bears” [groan] some resemblance to the one-time cover star of the children’s comic, the “Beano”. Biffo was carved and donated by Gordon Blackwell from Blandford. Gordon has been a great contributor to our Heritage Lottery Funded […]
Over 30 Dorset Mayors and their consorts visited Gold Hill Museum on the afternoon of Sunday 21 February. They were the guests of Shaftesbury Mayor and Mayoress Richard and Karen Tippins during their Civic Day, and had previously visited Swan’s Yard, the Arts Centre, Trinity Grounds, and the Heritage Snowdrop Collection at the Abbey Museum. […]
