Trophies and Tessellations at Gold Hill Museum

The first of four free August craft sessions at Gold Hill Museum was a resounding success, reports organiser and volunteer Claire Ryley. We had our first summer session (on Friday 07 August)  which went very well and was great fun. Adults and children all enjoyed themselves making mosaics and games and writing Roman scrolls. Our next free session is on Friday August 14th from 10.30 to 12 noon. It is about Saxons and Vikings and we will be writing runes and riddles, making Saxon beads and herbal potions and designing art posters.

For further details of these open-age events, where adults and accompanied children are welcome, please consult the poster at the end of this blog.

Also popular with visitors is our latest free temporary exhibition on the early days of Shaftesbury Football Club. Among the memorabilia on display are a couple of trophies, including the Shaftesbury Challenge Shield, presented in 1905 by vinegar tycoon Mark Hanbury Beaufoy of Coombe House. He must have been one of the donors of cups canvassed by ‘Bumper’ Smith, a former player, referee, and tireless advocate for local amateur football. While MHB would be in his early fifties at the time, and more interested in country sports such as pheasant-shooting, in his youth he had been a talented amateur footballer. He had played on the wing for the winning team in the 1879 FA Cup Final. Scoreline: Old Etonians 1 Clapham Rovers 0

Please click on the images to enlarge them, to read the small print. The shield was photographed through glass.