News

TUDOR FESTIVAL 2008
Date: 18/07/2008

More than 500 pupils from across Kent learned all about life in Tudor times at the latest of the popular festival events at Dover Museum.

Pupils from schools across the county visited the Museum for the Tudor Festival on 2, 3 and 4 July. Visitors got dressed up in period costumes and enjoyed a range of activities including drama workshops, making a card version of the popular Tudor game Merrels, and trying Tudor block printing. Pupils learned about everyday life in Tudor times, and had a chance to explore Dover Museum.

For more information about festival events, please contact Kim Norton at Dover Museum on (01304) 201066.

NOTES TO EDITORS

2008 TUDOR FESTIVAL AT DOVER MUSEUM

WEDNESDAY 2ND JULY

Charing Primary School
School Road
Charing

Ramsgate Holy Trinity Primary School
Dumpton Park Drive
Broadstairs

St Richards RCP School
Castle Avenue
Dover

THURSDAY 3rd JULY

Brookfield Jnr School
Swallow Road
Larkfield, Maidstone

Mereworth Primary School
The Street
Mereworth, Maidstone

Symbol Academy
Woodland Farm
Paddlesworth Road, Snodland

FRIDAY 4TH JULY

Castle Community College
Mill Road
Deal

East Peckham Primary School
130 Pound Lane
East Peckham, Tonbridge

MAKE YOUR MARK AT DOVER MUSEUM
Date: 16/07/2008

Visitors are invited to make their mark at Dover Museum on Monday 28 July - with a Family Day to make your own bookmarks, and the opportunity to tell your own story about your treasured memories of childhood to 'Museum TV'.

The Family Day runs from 10am to 4.30pm and visitors will be able to choose from a variety of designs or create a design for their own bookmark. Normal admission rates to the Museum apply but entry is free to Dover District residents.

Dover Museum is also inviting visitors young and old to bring along a toy, game or hobby and tell a story about it to 'Museum TV' in a special studio. The results will be shown on the Museum TV internal channel during the toy exhibition from 22 September.

Mark Frost, Assistant Museum Curator said: "As well as inviting families to come along to enjoy the latest of the popular activity days, we are inviting visitors to bring along a toy and tell us all about it. Toys often have very special associations, whether it's the thrill of opening it at Christmas or a treasured memory of childhood, and we are inviting people to come along and share these memories with us."

For more information, please call Dover Museum on (01304) 201066.

ROMAN FESTIVAL 2008
Date: 02/07/2008

Dover Museum helped turn back the march of time when more than 1,000 pupils from across Kent and Surrey came along to learn what the Romans did for us, with the return of the popular Roman Festival.

Adults and children from 18 different schools came to Dover Museum for the festival, which ran from 17 to 20 June. Visitors had the chance to get dressed up in robes, togas and costumes, and to have their faces made up and hair styled Roman or Celtic fashion. The festival also included drama workshops and the opportunity to learn about mosaic making and life in the Roman army. There were also talks and artifact handling sessions and the chance to explore Dover Museum.

For more information about festivals or future events, please call Dover Museum on (01304) 201066.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

DOVER MUSEUM -
ROMAN FESTIVAL 2008

TUESDAY 17TH JUNE
Chilton Primary School
Chilton Lane, Ramsgate

Ramsgate Holy Trinity
Dumpton Park Drive, Broadstairs

St John's CEP School
Bayham Road, Sevenoaks

WEDNESDAY 18TH JUNE
Essendene Lodge
Essendene Road, Caterham, Surrey

Hollingbourne Primary School
Hollingbourne, Maidstone

St Faiths at Ash School
5 The Street, Ash

St Richards RCP School
Castle Avenue, Dover

The Granville School
2 Bradbourne Road, Sevenoaks

The Old School
Capel Street, Capel Le Ferne

THURSDAY 19TH JUNE
Highview School
Mount Farm Road, Folkestone

Holy Trinity Lamorbey
Burnt Oak Lane, Sidcup

St Mary's CEP School
Warren Road, Folkestone

The Convent Prep School
46 Old Road East, Gravesend

Warden House Primary School
Birdwood Avenue, Deal

FRIDAY 20TH JUNE
Minster Primary School
Molieneux Road, Minster

Orchard Primary School
Oxford Road, Sidcup

St Thomas RCP School
Old Ruttington Lane, Canterbury

Sturry Primary School
Park View, Sturry

REMEMBERING CHILDHOOD PAST - AT DOVER MUSEUM
Date: 12/06/2008

Treasured memories of childhood are being gathered for a special new exhibition at Dover Museum. From traditional dolls and tin-plate trains, to superhero comics and action figures, items from childhood over the last 100 years are being gathered for a major display for all the family opening this autumn - and your help is sought.

Dover Museum is looking for toys, games and pastimes to complement its collection.
It has a good collection but is looking for more items to be loaned or donated. The exhibition aims to cover the joys of childhood with wide-ranging displays of items from the last 100 years. More general pastimes such as model-making and embroidery will also feature, as well as children's clothes, from christening gowns to school uniform.

There will also be toys and games for visitors to play with, in the form of hands-on exhibits and working models, computer interactives and even a film show of episodes of children's TV from the last 50 years. There will also be an opportunity for people to appear in a Museum in-house documentary, talking about the toys, games and pastimes they remember.

Mark Frost from Dover Museum said: "There is something magical about seeing toys from your childhood and thinking 'I had one of those'. We are hoping people will search their attics and cupboards and find the toys they loved from their childhood, and bring them to the Museum to share and put on display. We look forward to hearing from anyone who wants to get involved and to putting on this exhibition for all the family."

The exhibition opens on 22 September and will run for a year. For more information, please contact Mark Frost at Dover Museum on (01304) 201066.

DOVER MUSEUM 'INSIDE OUT' PROJECT
Date: 09/06/2008

An exciting new project to engage with young people and encourage their creative input into local museums has led to a new multi-media display at Dover Museum - which will be running from 11 June to 17 August.

The Inside Out Project aims to create new audiences for museums within the Kent and Medway area by encouraging young people aged 15-18 to discover their own priorities and interests. Their input will be used to help create new displays and activities, to appeal more directly to young people and encourage them to visit more museums.

At Dover Museum, a group of seven young people from Astor College of the Arts and Dover Grammar School for Boys met on a Wednesday afternoon after school. They were asked to look over the Museum's existing displays, and develop ideas on how to adapt them to be more 'youth friendly'. Using a video camera, the group also asked local residents of all ages for their views on the Museum.

The group has put together a special corridor exhibition at Dover Museum. The exhibition reflects their preference for 'high tech' presentations, and includes multi-media interaction with a touch screen and videos. This is combined with more traditional methods of museum information such as information boards, with new designs.

For more information, please contact Kim Norton at Dover Museum on (01304) 201066 or email museumeducation@dover.gov.uk

DOVER IN 50S AND 60S - EXHIBITION AT DOVER MUSEUM
Date: 01/05/2008

People and places of Dover's past, from images of everyday community life, to pictures of war damage and new building in the town, can be seen in a special new stairwell exhibition at Dover Museum. The exhibition features some of the reserve collection of photographs of the town in the Fifties and Sixties and runs until 20 August.

The 1950s and 1960s were important times for Dover. German bombs and shells had destroyed or damaged two thirds of the old town by 1945. The Council began to clear damaged buildings, and new housing estates and 'pre-fab' buildings were built on the outskirts of town. New projects were begun in the Fifties, including the Gateway Flats on the seafront, with new public gardens, and the Dover Stage Hotel. The Sixties saw work begin on buildings such at Burlington House and Centurion House.

Cllr Mrs Sue Nicholas, DDC Cabinet Member for Community, said: "This new exhibition is a fascinating insight into the history of Dover, its people and its places."

VICTORIAN FESTIVAL 2007
Date: 21/11/2007

Chamber maids, chimney sweeps, Victorian ladies and gentlemen and Queen Victoria herself were among the colourful characters at Dover Town Hall when more than 350 children from all over Kent came along for the return of the popular Victorian Festival.

The festival was organised by Dover Museum and took place on Monday and Tuesday 5 and 6 November. Pupils from all over Kent took part in the event, including pupils from Deal, Dover, Folkestone, Isle of Sheppey, Tunbridge Wells, West Malling, and Westgate-on-Sea.

Children and adults came dressed in Victorian costume, and activities included learning about stained glass window design, drawing artefacts and making Victorian decoupage boxes. Pupils also took part in a practical drama workshop on life as a Victorian child. Students from South Kent College were on hand to help with Victorian hairstyles and make-up, and the days were rounded off with sing-a-longs of songs from the time.

Cllr Mrs Sue Nicholas, DDC Cabinet Member for Community, said: "It is always a pleasure to attend these events. The festival days were great fun and the range of colourful costumes and activities really brought the past to life in an exciting and informative way. It is great fun and an enjoyable way to learn about history."

NOTES TO EDITORS:

DOVER MUSEUM
VICTORIAN FESTIVAL 2007
AT DOVER TOWN HALL

MONDAY 5TH NOVEMBER

HARBOUR SCHOOL, DOVER
CHARTFIELD, WESTGATE ON SEA
CHERITON PRIMARY, FOLKESTONE
LYMINGE, FOLKESTONE
ROSE HILL, TUNBRIDGE WELLS
ST RICHARDS, DOVER

TUESDAY 6TH NOVEMBER

ELLIOT PARK, MINSTER, ISLE OF SHEPPEY
KINGSDOWN & RINGWOULD, DEAL
KING'S HILL, WEST MALLING
RIVER PRIMARY, DOVER

COALFIELD HERITAGE PROJECT BOOK LAUNCH
Date: 29/08/2007

A major initiative to preserve and record the heritage of the Kent Coalfield is welcoming the beginning of a new chapter in its important work - with the launch a new book packed with information about the local area.

Dover District Council (DDC) launched the Coalfield Heritage Initiative Kent (CHIK) in 2001 to record and celebrate our mining heritage. The project was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Single Regeneration Budget, DDC and other funding bodies, and has been led by Dover Museum and the White Cliffs Countryside Project (WCCP). The CHIK project has worked closely with local communities to produce a digital archive, which can be viewed at the 'virtual museum' at www.kentcoal.co.uk . A second phase of this work was the Miners Way, led by WCCP, which has created a coalfield country trail focusing on old coalfield sites and the surrounding countryside.

This important work has led CHIK and WCCP to produce The Companion To The Miner's Trail, written by Paul Haddaway. The book is being launched with CHIK community groups at the Betteshanger Social Club on Tuesday 11 September from 2pm-5pm. The CHIK exhibition on the history of mining in Kent will be on display and there will be a chance for visitors to bring their own photographs for inclusion on the CHIK website, which will remain a live archive.

For more information, please contact the CHIK project at Dover Museum on (01304) 201066 or log onto the website at www.kentcoal.co.uk. The Companion To The Miner's Trail book is available from the Dover Museum shop.

New press releases will be posted regularly. For further information or pictures, please contact Mark Frost at Dover Museum on 01304 201066.