Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Mrs Avril Wright, County Councillor Chenery of Horsbrugh, Mr Steve Miller and Mr John Ward.

The Committee is invited to confirm as a correct record the notes of the previous meeting held on 14 September 2015.

The notes of the meeting held on 14^th September 2015 were agreed as a correct record, subject to the following amendment:

Page 16, paragraph 10, be amended to read:

Councillor Tyler made reference to the issue of leaflets at the train station and following a meeting with the Regional Manager, enquiries would be made to try and get the leaflets back into the foyer.

To consider any matters arising.

There were none.

Please indicate if there are any interests which should be declared.  A declaration of interest should indicate the nature of the interest (if not already declared on the Register of Interests) and the agenda item to which it relates.  If a disclosable pecuniary interest is declared, the Member should withdraw from the room whilst the matter is discussed.

These declarations apply to all Members present, whether the Member is part of the meeting, attending to speak as a local Member on an item or simply observing the meeting from the public seating area.

There were none.

To consider the King’s Lynn Museum Report.

King’s Lynn Museums Report – September 2015 to October 2015

The Head of Operations and Learning and Western Area Operations Manager jointly presented the report which provided Members with information on King’s Lynn Museums for the period September 2015 to October 2015 as set out below:

(i)    Temporaryexhibitionsand eventsat LynnMuseum

The current major exhibition at Lynn Museum explored the life and work of Frederick Savage and was entitled Art of the Mart: Savage’s - the famous fairground makers of Lynn. It told the story of King’s Lynn’s iconic creator of merry-go-rounds – including a close look at the art, craft and design of the fairground. The exhibition included a number of products from the St Nicholas Ironworks that had not been on public display before including watercolour designs, accessories from the costume collections, taxidermy, a finely carved canopy, wooden patterns and a large chalk drawing of a racing cockerel, conserved and framed with support from the Friends of King’s Lynn Museums.  The exhibition included the modern ‘Mart’ horse, and the bell used in the Opening Ceremony in February, on loan from the Town Hall collections. The painted decorative frieze in the display was a gift from Harry Overton, local sign-writer and member of the Showmen’s Guild. The exhibition will run until 2 July 2016.

A programme of illustrated talks continued to be offered at Lynn Museum on Wednesday afternoons. Recent topics included the Archaeology of Tattooing by Ken Hamilton and a talk by Dayna Woolbright on the Art of the Mart exhibition.   Attendances averaged 15-25 and most talks were delivered by NMS staff.

An enhanced programme of informal family learning events continued to be offered at the Lynn Museum for the school holiday periods. ‘Drop-in’ format events this year included: Big Draw and Halloween themed events during the October Half Term. Both events had very positive feedback with 89 people attending the Big Draw and 58 attending the Halloween events.

During the school holidays the Lynn Museum continued to offer a popular programme of themed gallery discovery trails, with a new trail available for each week of the school holidays.  Participants who completed a number of trails over the summer holidays were invited to a celebratory tea party at the Museum on Saturday 19 September. Overall about 4 – 5 families attended the tea party.

The Lynn Museum continued to host monthly Coffee, Cake and Collections “coffee morning” style events for adults, with each session exploring a different aspect of the collections. One of the topics included a Mystery Object quiz. The September morning was held as part of the national charity Macmillan Coffee fundraising events. The event was well attended and featured in the Lynn News. In total they raised £40.00.

The reception case at Lynn Museum had seen a display featuring historic roller skates and currently displayed drawings by the Artist in Residence Rosie Redzia alongside objects from the museum collections she had illustrated.

Museum staff delivered a workshop about the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

The Assistant Manager from True’s Yard Museum presented the report which provided Members with information on True’s Yard Museum as set out below:

(i)     Temporary exhibitions and events at True's Yard Fisherfolk Museum

The next major exhibition at True’s Yard would be Lynn Regis: King’s Lynn and the Royals. This exhibition would be primarily a photographic one using items from their own collection as well as those loaned from other institutions. There would also be objects and a small number of informative panels.

The True’s Talks still provided very popular on Thursday Afternoons with attendances of up to 34 people. Recent topics had included Ralph Vaughan Williams, Bamberg Cathedral and one particularly evocative title Kings Lynn Glorious Past, Blighted Future. The last talk took place on Thursday; however there were plans to continue the talks again next year.

True’s Yard once again took part in the Heritage open Day and welcomed a total of 961 visitors during the day.

(ii)    Other Museum Developments

True’s Yard Silver Jubilee Appeal

Launched on 15^th September the purpose of the Silver Jubilee Appeal was to consolidate what had been achieved over the last 25 years, develop key educational projects for schools and maintain True’s Yard for future generations. Following a recent survey, essential roofing repairs and replacement of windows had been highlighted. The 1904 fishing smack activity dry docked in their yard also required major conservation work. Their IT equipment was very old and needed to be replaced as well. So far they had raised £11,965 for these projects.

(iii)Partnerships

Hanse 2015

True’s Yard played a role in an informal partnership called History & Archaeology Sympoium (HAS) alongside Marriott’s Warehouse Trust, The Town Guides and the King’s Lynn Hanseatic Club. They organised the History and Archaeology Symposium at Marriott’s Warehouse and the Community Breakfast, which took place over the Hanse weekend in May. Other activities included the Children’s book King’s Lynn and the Hanseatic League, written by two members of staff at True’s Yard which would be distributed to all year 5 children in the local schools on Friday 13th November 2015. There were also plans to liaise with the Lynn Museums to create a School book for children.

In response to a question from Councillor Tyler, the Assistant Manager of Trues Yard agreed to find out how far back the Kings Lynn and the Royals exhibition would go. Councillor Humphrey asked whether or not they had been in contact with Sandringham regarding this exhibition. The Assistant Manager agreed to find this out.

Councillor Tyler asked which outlets would be selling the books in King’s Lynn. The Assistant Manager advised that they would be selling for £9.99 in the True’s Yard Museum and possibly the Tourist Information Centre. Copies would also be given to the Kings Lynn, Gaywood and Mobile Libraries.

To agree the schedule of dates below for meetings in 2016:

·         Monday 14 March 2015, 2.15 pm, Committee Suite, King’s Court.

·         Monday 13 June 2015, 2.15 pm, Committee Suite, King’s Court

·         Monday 26 September 2016, 2.15 pm, Committee Suite, King’s Court.

The following schedule of meetings were agreed and noted.

·       Monday 14^th March 2016, 2.15pm, Committee Suite, King’s Court

·       Monday 13^th June 2016, 2.15pm, Committee Suite, King’s Court

·       Monday 26^th September 2016, 2.15pm, Committee Suite, King’s Court

To note the date of the next meeting is 14 March 2016, 2.15 pm, Committee Suite, King’s Court, Chapel Street, King’s Lynn.

The date of the next meeting was Monday 14^th March 2016, 2.15pm, Committee Suite, King’s Court, Chapel Street, King’s Lynn.