Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors J Ward and R Kybird, Norfolk Joint Museums Committee, Lindsey Bavin, Manager of True’s Yard Museum and Phillip Eke, Senior Tourism Support Officer at Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk.

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

The minutes of the meeting held on 16 September 2024 were agreed as a correct record subject to the following amendments proposed by Councillor de Whalley and Mr Davison highlighted in bold:

Page 3 - Amend to read: He asked whether a complementary exhibition could be considered to celebrate the reopening of the St George’s Guildhall.

Page 3 - Amend to read: He added that over the years they had had interesting items brought into the Lynn Museum by people such as a bronze aged gold torc.

Page 4 - Amend to read: The British Museum had been very good at lending local material of international importance, but he confirmed the gold torc which Councillor A Kemp referred to had gone to the Norfolk collections which were looked after by the County but agreed with Councillor A Kemp that it would be good for local material to be shown locally.

To consider any matters arising.

There were no matters arising.

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 September to November 2024.  A copy of the report is attached to the minutes.

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

1)     Exhibitions and events at Lynn Museum

1.1   Previous Exhibition: The Moon: Meet our Nearest Neighbour

1.2   Current Exhibition Woof: A Celebration of Dogs

The Chair, Councillor Bubb asked whether the grant of £10,000 had all been spent.  The Curator of the Lynn Museum explained The Moon Exhibition was a hired exhibition and a large amount of the fee went towards the hire costs.

In response to a further question from the Chair, Councillor Bubb, the Curator explained that if there was any unspent funding it would be returned in negotiation with Borough Council colleagues.

The Curator explained that the Head of Service Steve Miller had recently visited the current exhibition Woof: A Celebration of Dogs at the Lynn Museum accompanied by Kate Blakemore, Chief Executive at the Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk and advised that Kate Blakemore was very impressed with the exhibition and would revisit in the near future.

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

1.3   Family events

1.4   Family Trails

1.5   Mini Museum

1.6   Coffee Mornings

1.7   Talks Programme

1.8   Finds Identification and Recording Day on Saturday 30 November

1.9   Heritage Open Day 8 September

The Curator of the Lynn Museum invited the Committee to ask any questions in relation to those areas of the report.

Councillor Kemp thanked Officers for their work on the current exhibition Woof: A Celebration of Dogs.  Councillor Kemp asked whether they found anything valuable at the Finds Identification and Recording Day and whether anything was going to be brought into the Lynn Museum as a result.  The Curator advised that everything was of value and that Norfolk had a good track record of working closely with detectorists.

Councillor de Whalley asked how they engaged with detectorists.  The Assistant Head of Museums explained the Finds Identification and Recordings Service sat within the Environment department at Norfolk County Council and were very effective at raising awareness of the work that they did.

The Chair, Councillor Bubb referred to the Finds Identification and Recording Day and asked where and how the day was publicised.  The Curator of the Lynn Museum confirmed it was publicised through the Lynn Museum channels such as social media, local media release and through colleagues at the Finds Identification and Recordings Service.

In response to a question from County Councillor Chenery of Horsbrugh, the Curator of the Lynn Museum explained the trails at the Lynn Museum were typically done by the front of house team.  There would be a particular theme, and the team comes up with creative ways of using the collections to follow a particular trail.

Councillor Kemp referred to the Mary  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

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County Councillor 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.

County Councillor Bambridge mentioned that one of the Trustees Brian Chase had sadly recently passed away and advised his funeral was on 24^th January 2025.  County Councillor L Bambridge explained that Brian had been a Trustee for 20 years and provided the Committee with some background of the work which Brian did.

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

1)     Temporary exhibitions and events at True’s Yard Fisherfolk Museum

1.1   Exhibition Programme

1.2   True’s Talks

1.3   Pat Midgley Memorial Lecture

5)     Learning and Outreach

Councillor Kemp referred to the Oral History Project and asked how they were publicising it.  County Councillor Bambridge commented that it needed to be regularly advertised in local newspapers as not everyone used social media and confirmed that she would push to keep promoting it.

The Chair, Councillor Bubb suggested offering refreshments to promote more people to attend.  County Councillor Bambridge confirmed she would put forward the suggestion.

RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

In the absence of the Senior Tourism Support Officer, the Chair, Councillor Bubb invited the Committee to email any questions direct to the Senior Tourism Support Officer.

RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

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The visitor figures for the period September to November 2024 were noted.  A copy of the visitor figures is attached to the minutes.

To note the date of the next meeting is 10 March 2025 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 10^th March 2025 at 2.00pm in the Council Chamber, Town Hall, King’s Lynn.