Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Borough Councillors P Bland, T Bubb, Mr B Davison, Phillip Eke, Tourism Support Officer and Lindsey Bavin, Manager of True’s Yard Museum.

County Councillor L Bambridge explained to the Committee that Lindsey Bavin had accepted a part time role of Museum Enterprise Manager at the Cambridge Museum of Technology which meant Lindsey would be working part time for True’s Yard going forward. County Councillor L Bambridge confirmed she would be happy to represent True’s Yard in her absence as she was a Trustee, for this meeting and any future meetings.

The Committee is invited to confirm as a correct record the notes of the previous meeting.

The minutes of the meeting held on 18 March 2024 were agreed as a correct record.

To consider any matters arising.

Councillor M de Whalley provided the Committee with an update on the Beuy’s Acorns Project and explained that officers were still working on the proposal and Councillor M de Whalley added he had reminded officers that Norfolk Museum Service had expressed an interest and confirmed they would be notified in due course as the Project proposals progress.

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 no declarations of interest.

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The Curator of the Lynn Museum introduced the report on the King’s Lynn Museum activities in the period from March to May 2024. A copy of the report is attached to the minutes.

The Committee’s attention was drawn to the following areas of the report:

·         Exhibitions and events at Lynn Museum

o   Current Exhibition: The Moon: Meet our Nearest Neighbour

o   Forthcoming Exhibition: Woof! A Celebration of Dogs

o   Family events

o   Family Trails

o   Mini Museum

o   Coffee Mornings

o   Talks Programme

The Chair asked the Committee if they had any questions or comments in relation to those areas of the report.

The Chair, Councillor A Kemp raised a question in relation to the current exhibition, The Moon: Meet our Nearest Neighbour and asked whether any schools had visited the exhibition. In response, the Curator of the Lynn Museum confirmed the exhibition had been very popular with families and children. He added they had received interest from schools. The Committee was informed that they had record breaking attendance for some of the family events which they had relating to The Moon themes.

The Chair, Councillor A Kemp raised a further question in relation to the forthcoming exhibition, Woof! A Celebration of Dogs and asked whether they planned to have any pictures by the 18^th century artist George Stubbs as he was very good at depicting animals. In response, the Curator of the Lynn Museum explained they did not have George Stubbs in the object list but did have work by Sir Edwin Landseer who was the Victorian artist noted for historic paintings of dogs.

In response to a further question raised by the Chair, Councillor A Kemp, the Curator of the Lynn Museum confirmed they did not have the artist Anthony van Dyck on the list but referred to the report and explained they had work by David Hockney which they were borrowing from the Tate Gallery.

County Councillor L Bambridge referred to the current exhibition, The Moon: Meet our Nearest Neighbour and mentioned that she had received good feedback on this exhibition. She also referred to the forthcoming exhibition, Woof! A Celebration of Dogs and was very impressed with the loan of artwork by David Hockney.

Councillor R Kybird asked whether dogs were welcome at the forthcoming exhibition, Woof! A Celebration of Dogs. The Curator of the Lynn Museum confirmed assistance dogs for visually impaired people would be welcome but explained they did not have a programme in place to encourage other dogs into the Lynn Museum. The Assistant Head of Museums added and explained the reason for this was because they did not want to encourage pests and want to minimise the risk to the collections within the Lynn Museum.

County Councillor L Bambridge referred to the coffee mornings and asked why the one on the 26^th April 2024 only had 10 participants. The Curator of the Lynn Museum explained the coffee mornings did  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

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County Councillor L Bambridge presented the report of the Museum Curator at True’s Yard in her absence. A copy of the report is attached to the minutes.

The Committee’s attention was firstly drawn to the following area of the report:

·         Visitor Numbers

The Committee were informed that True’s Yard had done very well with an increase in visitor figures and County Councillor L Bambridge highlighted that the report also indicated that the largest demographic of visitors continued to be of an older audience.

The Committee’s attention was drawn further to the following areas of the report:

·         Temporary exhibitions and events at True’s Yard Fisherfolk Museum

o   Exhibition Programme

o   True’s Talks

o   Pat Midgley Memorial Lecture

·         Partnerships

o   The Festival of Archaeology

·         Learning and Outreach

o   Half term Activities

The Chair, Councillor A Kemp asked whether the school trips were included within the True’s Yard visitor figures. County Councillor L Bambridge confirmed they did but highlighted there were very few school trips at the moment.

The Chair raised a further question in relation to The Festival of Archaeology and asked whether there was anymore information around that item. County Councillor L Bambridge wasn’t able to provide anymore information but confirmed she would get more information on this in the future.

Councillor M de Whalley referred to the Pat Midgley Memorial Lecture and asked whether they could give an idea of what Dr Jago Cooper would be speaking about at the Lecture. County Councillor L Bambridge was unable to provide this information but confirmed she would find out more from Lindsey Bavin and if received a response would email the further information to Councillor M de Whalley.

The Chair, Councillor A Kemp asked how easy it was for people to research their ancestry and on which days it was open and whether there was a charge. County Councillor L Bambridge confirmed it was free of charge and took place on Saturday mornings. She explained if anyone was interested, they should ring up to make sure there was going to be someone there.

The Chair then referred to the history project in relation to the Northenders and asked whether there was an update on this. County Councillor L Bambridge confirmed this was ongoing.

RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

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In the absence of the Senior Tourism Support Officer, the Chair, Councillor A Kemp asked the Committee to put forward any questions to Phillip Eke, Senior Tourism Support Officer if they had any in relation to the report.

Councillor A Kemp commented that Phillip Eke, Senior Tourism Support Officer had been doing some work around the West Lynn Pavilion which she explained was a tiny museum which had pictures up within it of West Lynn.

RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

To consider any other business.

Councillor M de Whalley thanked the Assistant Head of Museums and the Curator of the Lynn Museum for the tour of The Moon: Meet our Nearest Neighbour Exhibition which they had prior to their meeting that afternoon.

Councillor M de Whalley asked whether a tour could be arranged to visit the Aickman’s Yard to see the stored exhibits. The Assistant Head of Museums confirmed they could facilitate this.

The Chair, Councillor A Kemp asked whether contact could be made with the Manager of True’s Yard Museum to see if a visit could be undertaken by the Committee.

To note the date of the next meeting is 16 September 2024 at 2.00pm in the Council Chamber, Town Hall, King’s Lynn.

The next meeting of the King’s Lynn and West Norfolk Area Museums Committee would be held on 16^th September 2024 at 2.00pm in the Council Chamber, Town Hall, King’s Lynn.