The museum is located at the lower end of the High Street (which is rather 'out of the way') but near to the High Street station. It used to be the offices of Benskins' Brewery and, prior to that, was the home of the brewery owner. That end of the town has the River Colne running through it which is why, at the end of the 19th and first half of the 20th centuries, Watford became something of a brewery town.
All our artifacts and precious things used to be displayed in cases in the library but at some point the council bought the house and in 1981 it was opened for its current purpose. When we moved back to Watford in 1982 it was exciting to learn that we now had a museum! And when the girls were at school we would often nip down to wander about although the displays never altered. The girls' favourite section was the Victorian corner ~ a little crib, various bits of clothing and household implements and crockery and this . . .
which is an oven as near to the one my grandparents had in their home when I was growing up as makes no difference.
There are many different sections as Watford has a rich and varied history: breweries and pubs, printing, the canal, railways, WWI and WWII, prehistory, the football club, schools, artworks from Cassiobury House (now demolished) and the Earls of Essex who lived there and the growth of the town itself from a small market town to the largest town in Hertfordshire.
It has to be said that the place is seriously in need of a considerable amount of money being thrown at it! We were fortunate in being awarded a Lottery grant for improvements but, for reasons too long to detail, we are not going to be able to access it after all. Any way today I was there for a Friends of Watford Museum committee meeting. The problem of money remains . . . a problem of money! And we were discussing other matters anyway.
The museum puts on some great events for all comers: arty workshops, exhibitions and performance events. There have been a couple of good exhibitions on WWI to which I took Dpip ~ he has an interest in history ~ and an amazing evening called 'Impropera' (which means 'improvised opera') where a quartet entertained us with . . . well improvised opera . . . totally impromptu and totally hilarious.
And my dear friend, Frances, had her book launch there in 2016 . . . . but the tale of that will have to wait for another day.
Back soon
Po xx
1 comment:
I love those types of museums! And what museum isn't in need of a nice cash infusion? Thank you for sharing.
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