Happy Yule

All at The Museum of Witchcraft would like to wish our visitors and supporters a Happy Yule and a wonderful New Year. The museum will be staying open till the beginning of the new year then will be closed until Easter 2007. Hope to see you then!

Huge Seas

Last Thursday as I was spending 6 hrs going nowhere on the M5, Boscastle was undergoing yet another battering from nature. The winds were horrendous and the seas were huge. One of the local boats was flipped over & a small dinghy was flung up to the bridge. The waves were coming over the digging works opposite the museum and Graham managed to get a photo. The 30 foot hole was totally full of water & the machinery surrounding it was submerged. The next morning we inspected the area and found the slipway next to the Youth Hostel was gouged out and a tyre & wheel from a car (swept out in the 2004 flood) had been washed in. See photos. The workmen had to replace some of the blue steel walls with more wind friendly wire walls as they were in danger of blowing over. Most exciting!!

Friends' Weekend Update

We had a fab time last weekend at our annual Friends' meeting. There were two speakers; Ralph Harvey spoke on The Realm of Fairy and signed his new 'fresh off the press' book called 'Witchcraft, Magic, Myth and Mystery and ...Not Forgetting Fairies'. He regaled us with many stories regarding the history & folklore connected with fairies. Joss spoke on Corn Dollies, a subject she is obviously very passionate about, and instilled a desire in me to learn this fascinating art. We're hoping she can be persuaded to do a workshop for us next year. The first Annual General Meeting was held at the end of the day. It was announced that 'Friends' will be seeking charitable status and will be more formalised from now on. We feel this is a necessary part of the future direction of the museum as a whole. The evening was spent at The Wellington being serenaded by Carole (from the museum), her partner Martin (a fantastic musician) & their friends. A great deal of beverage action was undertaken by all. Sunday morning we undertook our usual walk along the Valency Valley. Much has changed since last year with all the flood defense works going on. As Friends develops there will be some changes from next year so we'll keep you posted.

Lovely view

Just thought I'd share with you the lovely view we now have from the booth in the museum. As we look out our window we can now see a beautiful blue metal wall sunkissed by a gorgeous bright orange digger. Simply stunning!

Friend's Weekend

It's the annual Friends' meeting this weekend. Graham will be presenting an update on what's been happening this year & what's planned for the future. Joss Radmore will be speaking on Corn Dollies, & Ralph Harvey on 'The Realm of Fairie'. Levannah Morgan will also give an overview of the new Friends' Charity. Carole (from the museum) & her partner Martin will be playing some festive tunes at the Wellington Hotel on Saturday Night, so come along if you're around. Watch this space for reports on how it went over the next few days.

I go away for one week......

Good grief! I go off to New York for a week & I come back to mice, gigantic holes in the ground, yellow dots & a cat who seems to have forgotten how to go outside for a wee (and worse). The museum is looking even more like a building site with a 30 foot hole right outside the front door. Today they have put up a big blue metal building, to have cups of tea in I presume, in front of the door so we've put more signs up to let people know where we are. We've also had an influx of mice, probably disturbed by all the goings on, & Graham has humanely caught 9 to date. Here is a photo of Hannah letting one of the mice go in the woods. You'll notice a photo of some yellow jacketed chaps placing dots on the exterior of the museum. This is so surveyors can take an accurate measurement & check if their works are causing the building to wobble/crack/fall down. I've also included a photo of my good friends Roger Pratt, Billy, & Kathy (not pictured) from New York who I had dinner with last week. Roger is becoming very helpful by going through the internet photos of our artefacts & helping to identify some of the ones we're having trouble with. His photographic memory is coming in handy. He's the hair-free one, by the way. Oh yes, if anyone knows how to re-house train a cat, let me know!!

December Update

Well it's been a bit rainy the last few days but that hasn't stopped some hardened museum lovers from coming to visit. Obviously numbers aren't at August levels (hardly) but it's worth opening for those tourists who don't take holidays in the high season. There's been a massive amount of work outside the museum, with 30 feet holes being dug and cables being moved. I've attached a few photos for your viewing pleasure. Here is a lovely view of a hole for a pumping station and the view across to the museum with diggers in sight. Very attractive!!

With all the work, the builders have uncovered some interesting bits of history. An old culvert has been discovered running from outside the museum down as far as the slipway. Graham thinks this may harken back to the old pilchard press days and may have been a way of removing bits of fish back to the sea by slooshing them down to the slipway. Here's a picture of it. It's a little larger than a foot square. Rather interesting I think.

Graham has also been busy inside the museum working out how much we spend on electricity in a bid to reduce consumption & do our bit for carbon emissions. It seems we spend £3,600 per year on electricity, £1000 of which is taken up by dehumidifiers since the flood! So if anyone knows of any low electrickery dehumidifiers please let us know!!

Correction to Winter Opening Times

OOPS! I made a teeny mistake with the winter opening times. The museum will actually be closing at 5PM not 6PM as I mentioned in the previous blog. It has since been corrected. Sorry if this has caused any inconvenience. I have also been told that Graham did the actual carving of the happy smiling Halloween pumpkin and Carole had the lovely job of hollowing it out. I'm screwing up severely here. Anyway on a lighter note, thanks for the well wishes for Mavis. I must say she's taken to this recuperation lark quite well & has been glamorously tucking herself up in my bed under the duvet. She'll be expecting her pate in bed next. (Note to self: Must remember to iron pillow cases before next photo session)

Glass Knitting Needles

The museum is now selling replicas of the glass knitting needles on display in the Spells & Charms Section. Theyb prived very popular at the Halloween Festival in London a couple of weeks ago and have been selling well at the museum. I'll put some photos on soon.

Happy Samhain

Happy Samhain to everyone and apologies re the break in blogging. The re have been a few problems with blogger.com but they seem to have been fixed now. Mercury is retrograde after all! We have a rather fabulous pumpkin outside the museum which was expertly carved by Carole our resident crafty person. It looks so good we're loathe to remove it. Here it is in full beauty.

Winter Opening

The Museum will be staying open until Christmas this year. Normally we would close soon after Halloween but as there have been more people around than usual at the end of the season we have decided to stay open. Normal opening hours will apply: 1030AM till 5PM Monday to Saturday and 1130AM to 5PM on Sundays. If we must close occasionally (to have a day or two off) we will advise via this blog. Hope to see you over the winter!

Mavis recovers

A bit of an update for those who know my cat, Mavis. She was rushed to pussy hospital a week ago for an operation to remove a weird lump on her side. The lump was actually a large haematoma & it appears she may have had a bit of a scrap with a large black cat who keeps popping through the catflap uninvited. After a scary couple of days when we thought she may have passed over to kitty afterworld she has now made a wonderful recovery & is bouncing around like a kitten. Here's a piccy of Mavis (sporting operation bald patch) being adored by uncle Graham.

Congratulations to Harbour Lights

Last weekend Harbour Lights (across from the museum) reopened as a teashop. Who can forget those awful images of that lovely old building being swept away by those terrible flood waters? We would like to congratulate Trixie Webber, owner of the shop, on the reopening of her business. Those who enjoyed the items for sale in the previous shop should not be disappointed as the retail business continues to run across the river. All at the museum wish them well & it will be great to be able to nip across for the odd cup of tea.

The Hint is in the Name

Thank you to everyone who has left comments recently. We would like to emphasise that the Museum of Witchcraft is a MUSEUM where artefacts and educational information relating to the folk/witchcraft traditions and practices of the people of this country and abroad, both in the past and as they are practiced today, are on display. It is not a religious institution and does not pretend to be. There are more approriate sites for some of the comments regarding religious topics than this one. We do not believe in censorship so please moderate your comments accordingly, otherwise we will be forced to take action.

Calling Mike Fishwick

Mike Fishwick we are trying to respond to your email about the witch mirror but the emails are bouncing back. Please send us your postal address and we will send you a dvd that will interest you!

Graham

YHA open

Just wanted to let you kow that the Youth Hostel in Boscastle has reopened. The official opening is in October some time but people are staying there at the moment so if you fancy some inexpensive accommodation here you should check it out.

By the way, thanks to everyone for their supportive comments re my last blog. Perhaps it would be a good idea to make some of the comments a tad less personal though. (It may get us into trouble.)

Born Again Harrassment

Some Born Again Christian dancers and preachers decided to set up outside the museum yesterday afternoon.
It never ceases to amaze me how arrogant and provocative these people can be.
They had no permission to perform, they did not have the courtesy to ask if we objected and they were noisy - electric pre-recorded music, etc.
When told that they were spoiling the peace and quiet of Boscastle they simply didn't understand or even listen.
Not a good example of Christianity! According to the leaflets they continue to litter the harbour with, even yoga is satanic! What planet are these people from?

WEBCAM ALERT!!

Well many have asked for it & now it's a reality! Graham has set up a very basic webcam trained on the front of the museum. No, it is not to spy on who comes through the door (although that could be interesting hmmmmm). The main reason is to keep a log of the works that will be going on in front of the museum over the coming months. Further flood defense works will be carried out on the river & the bridge will be moved. A sewage pumping station will also be placed underground outside the museum so there will be a lot of action to keep up with.

As I said, the webcam at this stage is fairly basic just while Graham gets used to the running of it. He will upgrade when he feels he can cope with the advanced technology. Thanks to Max, our local village computer whizzkid, for helping with the webcam setup. The webcam can be reached by clicking here & I will also put it on the blog links section if I can remember how to do that. Let us know what you think. It'll be fairly drab before the action starts but should get a bit more interesting as time passes.

Award for Graham

Graham was most surprised and extremely pleased this week when Rhiannon & Martin Williams from the Pagan Association arrived at the museum with an award for Graham. This was the first ever award given by the Association for Outstanding Contribution to the Pagan Community.

Rhiannon said 'Graham has done such a brilliant job portraying a non-sensationalist view of witchcraft and paganism to the general public that we thought he deserved this award. The museum provides a much-needed centre for serious research about the subject and gives a positive view of paganism.' Martin also said that Graham should get the award because 'he's such a nice chap.'

The lovely carved red granite award is now sitting proudly in the shrine and the wine will be saved for a special occasion (like dinner). Thanks very much from Graham to the Pagan Association for this honour. Information about the Pagan Association can be found at www.paganassociation.co.uk .

Will in sewage

I found it at last. Here is a picture of Will helping us out just after the flood. He is covered in sewage & worked like a trouper along with the rest of his family. Please support him if you can. (See previous post.)

Hurrah

Thanks to everyone for your kind messages re the broken witches. Graham has managed to mend them with some superglue & a lot of patience. Hurrah. They look (almost) as good as new.

Will's challenge

One of the first people to help clean out the mud in the museum was Will Sharp & his family. (When I can find a photo of him in his lovely overalls I'll put it on the blog). Now Will is undertaking a challenge of his own. He's planning to climb the seven tallest summits on the world before his 20th birthday making him the youngest person to achieve this. He's doing it to raise money for his charity the NSPCC. If you'd like to help someone who helped us, or just keep an eye on his progress, check out his website by clicking here: WILL ( and I'll keep searching for that photo)

Broken Witch

Some artefacts that managed to survive the 2004 flood have been unable to withstand the actions of a visitor to the museum who has damaged and partially destroyed two of our witches. The two witches in question live in the area where we collect for the Cornwall Air Ambulance. The hanging witch had been half wrenched from her chain and her arms and legs broken off. The other is a large pottery statue and the rim of her hat has been snapped off. Graham is trying to repair the more severely damaged of the artefacts but we are unable to locate the missing brim of the hat. Such a shame that people can be so vile. Luckily 99.9% of visitors are wonderful.

Cat's Eye

As I write we have a wonderful group of Morris Dancers giving an impromptu performance outside the museum. They are Cat's Eye Morris from the Tamar Valley and they have been an injection of excitement on this slightly overcast & gloomy afternoon.
Here they are reaching for the sky in one of their dances, and some of the crowd enjoying the performance.

Richel Prints in Glastonbury

Some of our wonderful prints from the Dutch Richel Collection are now available at "Witchcraft" in Glastonbury. Owners Trevor & Liz visited the museum last week and were so impressed with the prints they asked if they could sell them in their store. They have both the large prints and the smaller size so if you're visiting Glastonbury pop in & say hello & let us know what you think. The prints are copyright the Museum of Witchcraft and are available in the Museum or online from www.theoccultartcompany.co.uk . Here's an example of one of the prints. The original dates from 1837 & she's unusual as her broomstick is also a stang.

Witchcraft Podcast

I recently entered the next stage of the 21st century and did a podcast for Karagan of the "Witchcrafting Podcast". I'm attaching the link for those who would like to have a listen. I hope it works: PODCAST
Thanks to Karagan in Portugal for the interview. We love the music by the way.

Flood Anniversary

Well we seem to have survived the second anniversary of the flood without too much trouble. We recently had a comment from a reader which I insert here:
"I wish you all well, but I do wish Boscastle as a whole would move on from the floods - it's all we visitors ever hear about! There are still large poster signs up about it down the harbour. It really is time to move on ...Good luck for the season."
I can just say that we would like to get over it too but we are still only halfway through the reconstruction & still have another year of flood defense works and rebuilding. The majority of tourists who visit Boscastle ask questions and are still very interested in what happened on the 16th August 2004 and are keen to know what the next steps in the rebuild are.
When a 30 foot wall of water sweeps through one's tiny village carrying over 80 cars with it and destroying homes and businesses, it takes more than just a few days to recover. Sorry if we're boring you but thanks for the kind wishes.

Return of the Snowshill chest

Some of you may remember the beautiful wooden chest that sat in the last corridor of the museum before the flood. The chest came from the 'secret room' in Snowshill Manor in Gloucestershire which was once owned by Mr Charles Wade. The chest was badly damaged in the flood and has spent the months since being restored. Unfortunately the box itself was beyond repair but luckily the front panel, which was the most interesting part, has been saved. It is now on display in the upstairs gallery along with a few other items from the Manor. Note the amazing carved faces.

New Sign

Numbers of visitors have been down recently & we believe it to be due to the building works being carried out around the museum & the harbor in general. Other shops in the village are apparently doing well. So Graham has commissioned a sign to face outward towards the river, hopefully catching the eye of passing visitors. It seems to be helping somewhat, along with our lovely flower boxes, which are making our corner of the harbor look a little more festive. Our window display smells rather fab too. The sprigs of rosemary we put there are warming up & giving off a lovely aroma. It might help people remember the museum as well!

Chinese carving expert knowledge required

Calling all experts in Chinese carvings! Since the flood we've been working our way through the storeroom, identifying & cataloguing artifacts that have long lay in wait of some attention. We have rediscovered a Chinese carving of an idol that was donated to the museum several years ago. The owners thought it was bad luck (thanks very much) so they passed it on to us. We like to think that it helped to protect us during the flood. Is that just wishful thinking? So here's where you come in. If any of you can identify the carving could you please let us know. Is it a Chinese deity? Is it Chinese? Is it Japanese? Any information would be graciously received.

The Times likes MOW

In today's The Knowledge magazine in The Times, The Museum of Witchcraft has been put at number two of the top museums in the country. High praise indeed. Thank you Tim Teeman (he made the selection). Number one was the Black British Style exhibit at the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.

Spruce up

Due to the mammoth building works outside the museum (they're rebuilding the Youth Hostel, christian shop & harbour Restaurant) visitor numbers have been down as the whole place looks like a building site. If you didn't know the museum's there you'd miss it. So rather than be dejected & depressed we've decided to spruce up the front area directly outside the museum to make it more appealing & attractive. Graham has made some plant boxes, beautifully routed with a pentacle of course, and we've planted some vibrant flowers. The nasturtiums are having a field day & really enjoying the sunny location, as well as the geraniums which have added to the instant colour. We've also built up a rock planter & placed a gunnerah in there as it's very damp. All plants seem to be doing really well & the whole area is starting to look much more appealing.

On the weekend I thought it was time something was done to the window display. We've taken the flood information boards out. Don't worry they've been moved inside for people who are interested to see the pictures. I found a recipe* for cleaning copper on the internet & polished up one of Cecil Williamson's copper dishes and it is now shining away beautifully and full of fresh rosemary & bay leaves in the window. All the dried herbs have been removed & replaced with fresh ones. An altar using ritual items from the museum has been set up in place of the flood boards.

We think it's looking much better so hopefully more people will notice us & come to visit.

New Owl

Well, we'll keep trying. The lovely black cat statue which we had placed in the niche of the witch post outside the front door was recently wrenched from its home and smashed. So, on my recent visit to Crete, I bought a lovely bronze statue of an owl which Graham has firmly affixed in the space. Let's hope this one stays in place. I think it looks rather nice, don't you?

Sticks R Us

Sometimes the magical things that happen around the museum surprise even us. Graham has recently been researching stangs for a new display. The dictionary tells us that in non witchy circles, a stang is simply a stick.
I have always said that Graham has the ability to simply think about something and it will appear and sure enough Steve Patterson soon appeared with two lovely stangs for the new display. This was the first of an extraordinary sequence of stick donations.
The next stick to appear was Cecil Williamson’s old stick ‘Sticky’ which was bequeathed to us after the passing of Brownie. Cecil took his magic stick with him everywhere and Brownie inherited it after Cecil's death. Sticky is now on display near the shrine and above the obituaries of both Brownie and Cecil.
Shortly after that a chap walked into the museum with a present for Graham – you guessed it, yet another stick. This time a beautifully hand carved flying witch headed stick. Graham had told the man how much he admired his hand crafted stick last year when he visited the museum. He went away, made Graham a ‘witch stick’ and delivered it a couple of weeks ago. What a lovely thing to do.

Last week yet another donation arrived. By now we should have known it would be another stick but we never guessed that it would be such a special one. This was one of the rare glass sticks that were made C1800 in Nailsea. They were often placed near a bed as it was said that they attracted the evil spirits that caused illness. It was of course vital that they were cleaned every day to remove the ‘evil.’ Oh, and then Carole fell down the steps, injuring her foot & was on sticks for a week. But she's ok now.
What could all these sticks mean? Maybe the spirits are demonstrating how much support we have?

I have put photos of the witch headed stick, the glass stick & one of Steve Patterson's stangs.

Gerald's Typewriter

When Brownie Pate sadly died recently, she bequeathed some of her favorite magical items to the museum. One of these treasured artefacts is Gerald Gardner's typewriter. We are pretty sure it is is genuine. It's an Imperial 65 which dates to between 1952 & 1955 (approximately) & it has an Isle of Man plate on the back. We are having a further verification done by our "Gerald expert" Philip Hesselton. Joyce has been remembering her long lost secretarial skills & has typed a letter to Philip so he can compare the typeface with some of his old Gerald correspondence. Here is Joyce at her task.

Calling Accountants!

The Friends of the Museum of Witchcraft are considering applying for charitable status and may require the services of an accountant to act as one of the trustees.
We are currently asking for people with appropriate accounting qualifications and skills to put their names forward for the voluntary unpaid position. If you are interested in putting your name forward for consideration please email your details to museumwitchcraft@aol.com or write to the museum at Museum of Witchcraft, The Harbour, Boscastle, PL35 0HD.

Aussie Connections

Last weekend we were visited by Darren & Tammy, two South Africans now living in Australia. I think it's safe to say they were impressed by the library. They are involved with the recently launched Australian pagan magazine "The Crossroads" which is mainly available in Canberra bookstores or by mailorder. I believe Lilitu's Books & Music Store in Canberra is a good place to look if you'd like to check out a copy. We're hoping to receive some copies for our archives. They took a few photos so you may see our lovely faces in one of their magazines in the future. Here we are checking out the first issue of Marian Green's Quest magazine which has been running for 30 years.

Thanks to Jenny Layton in Sydney for sending us a copy of the article about the museum which appeared in the last issue of the Australian "Witchcraft" magazine. Much appreciated!

Farewell Peter Hill

Our friend, Peter Hill, passed over to the Summerlands on 22nd May 2006. Peter was an experienced witch and freemason and a great friend and supporter of the Museum. He lived in Boscastle for many years but the hilly landscape proved too difficult for his ailing hip so he moved to the less hilly Sussex coast. PeterÂ’s family have kindly donated many of his working tools to the museum for which we are very grateful.

We have fond memories of you Peter.

Graham and the Museum gang.

A Table At Last

Library visitors will be pleased to hear that we have finally purchased a table for the library. We have been wanting to get one for some time but were waiting for the right one to come along. This one has an old world feel, but is not too big that it overpowers the room. We think it's just right. What do you think?

Graham has also put in some new lighting. He'll have to expand the shelving shortly as many more books are being donated. We are up to about 4,300 books already.

Mary Ellen gets a face lift

Graham's beloved Landrover is looking extremely attractive at the moment. Mike, the local National Trust Warden is a fantastic signwriter & he's done a lovely job on Mary Ellen. Note the cute broomstick over her rear bumper. She's getting a lot of attention today. The weather has been gorgeous so she's been parked, topless, outside the museum. She has one of the newspaper stories attached to the windscreen for all to read about how she came to replace Graham's old Landrover Sally which was destroyed by the flood.

Odinist Fellowship

Congratulations go to the Odinist Fellowship. We were recently notified of the "ground-breaking judicial decision, giving legal recognition to the Odinist religion in English law...For the first time ever, a judicial declaration has stipulated that a pagan religion, namely Odinism, is to be accorded recognition, as a religion, for legal purposes. The legal precedent...will help to protect the rights, not only of Odinists, but of all pagans, in the workplace. The Odinist Fellowship is proud of having achieved this breakthrough for the wider pagan community." (adapted from information received from Robin Jackson, Information Officer for the Odinist Fellowship)

Brownie

It is with sadness that we announce that on the 4th of May 2006 Brownie Pate passed to the Summerlands at the age of 84.
Brownie was a witch and psychic, as well as a good friend to Cecil Williamson and this museum. She suffered terrible persecution from the press in the 1970s when they discovered that she was both a witch and a children’s ballet teacher. The tabloid press at the time thought that witches should be kept away from children.
This museum is indebted to Brownie for the books and magical artefacts that she bequeathed to us. We are now busy cataloguing & covering all the books and this bequest may force us to bring forward our plans to add more storage space to the library.
Enjoy the Summerlands Brownie!

Pagan Federation International

Anyone who is planning to attend the PF International meeting in Lunteren in Holland on 20th May will be very excited (?) to hear that I will be attending the meeting and doing a talk on the history and happenings of the Museum of Witchcraft. Unfortunately it appears that there is no powerpoint facility so I may have to do a bit of a soft shoe to spice up the presentation.

The Occult Art Company will also be there with a selection of prints from the Richel Collection. The collection originated in Holland so it is only right for them to be shown over there. Hope to see some of you there.

What's W?

Just had a query from Wade asking about W magazine. It's an American Fashion Magazine & the one featuring some museum artifacts is the latest issue with Meryl Streep & Lindsay Lohan on the cover. Unfortunately the magazine doesn't credit the museum in the story. Hope that answers your question, Wade.

New Book by Paul Broadhurst

For all those fans of Paul Broadhurst's books (Sun & the Serpent which he co-wrote with Hamish Miller, The Dance of the Dragon, and others), he has just published another book called The Green Man and the Dragon. Graham and Joyce from the museum were among those who proof read the book and they say it's fascinating. I'm yet to read my copy but I'm loving the cover. It was launched on St George's Day and can be found in most good book stores. I have seen it on Amazon as well but there does appear to be a bit of a wait with them for some reason. It can also be bought from Paul's store The Otherworld in Boscastle if anyone's visiting.

New Retail Items Proving Popular

There have been a few new additions to the retail cabinet since reopening and they are proving to be very popular. The standout items are the dowsing rods made by well know author & dowsing specialist Hamish Miller. Graham has placed a coin under the mat and has great fun getting customers to locate it with the rods. There are handmade leather Books of Shadows from Sue Bucklow and protection charms from Levannah Morgan. Steve Patterson has made some beautiful dark scrying mirrors. Two are carved as Green Men and the others are of a more simple design. The Occult Art Company is now offering framed Richel prints in the museum.

Nice Surprise

We had a rather pleasant surprise in the past few days. Regular readers may remember the statue of the obsidian owl that was stolen from the post outside the museum several months ago. Someone has placed a little black cat statue in the space now & it looks rather fetching. We have no idea who put it there but it's very attractive. So thanks very much to the phantom pussy placer.

As promised some more Morris pics

Here are a few more piccies of the Hunter's Moon side dancing outside the museum and around Boscastle.

Oh drat, the computer is not letting me upload any more pics at the moment. I'll try some more later.

This is Ray showing some festive Easter cheer with a few chicks in his beard. Chortle.

Happy Oestre with Morris

The sun came out as the Hunter's Moon Morris side started their dance outside the museum this morning. What a wonderful way of celebrating this ancient festival - music and dancing! This was their fourth year of dancing in Boscastle and this year they were raising money for the Boscastle Busker's charity "The Mount Edgecumbe Hospice". It is great to hear that three generations dance in the side, the tradition is living on. Graham celebrated with the side by downing a giant pint of beer followed by a tiny one. I'll add more pictures later. The web browser has just gone weird & won't upload more pics.

W!

For all you American readers, get a copy of the most recent W magazine as some of the artefacts from the museum are in it. There is also a shot of us in the dark of night. Haven't seen it myself yet but am eagerly awaiting a copy. Fashionable at last!

Stick it to me...

We've had some wonderful friends from Holland visiting us over the past week. Rosalie & Freya have been painstakingly going through all the four & a half thousand books in the library, checking their dewey numbers, shelf placement, and generally getting them in proper order. They had a break from indoor action on Wednesday when Graham got us all out harvesting sticks for the walkers who visit the museum. Here we are gathering the aforementioned sticks.

Surprise Visit

A bit of excitement in Boscastle today! Word had been going around that a senior government figure would be visiting the village to check on the rebuilding process and show support for the villagers and workmen. John Prescott arrived around 315 pm, stopped off in the Wellington Hotel for a bit, then strolled around the harbour meeting & greeting. He was very pleasant to everyone & agreed to a photo in front of the museum with Graham & I. Voila!

Fums Up

Graham has recently acquired this little Fums Up charm for the new "Charms and Talismans" display. They were given to soldiers in WWI as good luck charms. The arms are articulated & the head is made of wood so that one could "touch wood" for good luck. Cute, isn't he!