Snow in Boscastle Harbour

Well it's a snow covered Boscastle I'm writing from today. Roger the local potter said it's around 10 years since he's seen it like this. Very pretty but very cold and the roads are horrendous. Graham & the Coastguard team have been called out to the massive pile up of cars on Bodmin Moor to help with communications as hundreds of people have been stranded in their cars. Not the sort of weather one expects down this way.

On a different note, a new alarm system has been installed in the museum as an extra security measure. A fair amount of disruption with carpets being pulled up and and workmen around the place but it looks very discreet and we believe worth it in the end.

I'm now off to warm my fingers by the fire as my computer room is freezing. More news soon.

Latest News

Hi there & apologies for the delayed update. Our experimental opening hours are doing pretty well. Most days are fairly busy & this great weather we've been having is ensuring a lot more people are out & about. We've had a few interesting artefact donations including a corn dolly in the shape of a witch, tarot cards & some yet more books & archives for the library.

The web news may not be updated as frequently as normal and "Herb of the Week" will be put on hold over the winter break but will be back when the museum opens. I am working on an interesting project which will be announced on the site shortly.

As for the village, most of the shops are closed except for Cornish Goodies & the Clovelly Clothing Company. The pubs are open as usual for food & bevvies. The building work has started on the last couple of buildings to be rebuilt i.e. Things & the one opposite the museum. The Harbour restaurant has been bought by the National Trust & will be turned into the new Visitors' Centre next year. Hopefully this should resolve the lack of Public Toilets in the harbour area.

Stuffed cat causes a stir for Rosie

We were recently sent this photo by a visitor to the museum whose dog Rosie had become rather excited by the stuffed cat in then window. They look like they're having rather a standoff - I bet I know who won!

Some very cute Halloween kids and some very disturbing adults

Museum not quite closed for Winter

greetings all

just as I reported that the museum was closing for winter, I am now reporting that the museum is experimenting with not quite closing for winter!

The season has been unusually busy in the last few weeks so Graham has decided to open on reduced hours up until Xmas as a bit of an experiment.

The reduced hours are:
Tues, Thurs, Sat & Sun from 11 30AM to 4 30PM
these are subject to change dependent on staff availabity and holidays but if you are in the area at any of these times please pop in.

For our Australian readers, the latest, and sadly the last, Witchcraft magazine has the interview with Graham about the museum in it. I think it's the Sept/Oct issue. Unfortunately we've been informed the magazine will no longer be produced so we wish good luck to all who worked on the magazine in their future endeavours.

I've finally managed to get some photos of the halloween party at the Wellington Hotel downloaded so I've attached them for your perusal. The children looked great in their spooky costumes, sadly the parents just looked a bit scary.

Museum closes for winter

Well the season is over and most of the businesses in Boscastle are closing up for the winter. It's turned out to be a great season with the flood definitely being a drawcard for a lot of people. Most are amazed how quickly things are moving along in the village.

Work has started on rebuilding "Things" the gift shop & the building opposite the museum will be rebuilt over winter. The Spinning Wheel has now shut for winter after a very busy season.

Graham will be doing some ongoing refurbishments to the museum while it is closed as he does each winter but is hoping to get away for a well deserved break soon.

Today we finished photographing Doreen Valiente's first batch of scrapboooks. What a mammoth task! I think we'll have to add more memory to the computer for the next batch. Very interesting stuff there. A great social commentary on the way the media portrayed the occult from the early 60s through to the 80s.

The Wellington Hotel had a great Halloween party last Friday and I'll be adding some photos later on. The kids looked great in their little spooky costumes, as did some of the grown ups.

I'll be continuing the blog during winter when interesting things happen so keep checking the website.

Happy Samhain