Pre alert for new CD

It's time to announce the upcoming launch of the new CD which is being produced by The Museum of Witchcraft and Wildgoose Records. I have mentioned it in a previous post but now I can officially reveal the CD cover and list of tracks - shown here. May 1st is the official launch date - if you would like to be one of the first to buy a copy you can pre-order one by emailing The Museum of Witchcraft. When it hits the shelves they will let you know and you can either send a cheque or buy one by visiting The Occult Art Company. Graham has a great love of traditional folk music and, with his connection to the museum, it seems obvious that he should combine his two interests and produce this collection of fascinating witchcraft related folk songs.

Donation

We're expanding our collection of witch-related advertising signs and paraphernalia so we were extremely excited to receive this fantastic sign from local Cornish sculptor Rory. We also picked up a fab original Pears soap ad from the 1920s featuring fortune tellers. It was in a charity shop in Lyme Regis. We are looking to replace another Pears soap ad which was lost in the flood. It features a witch flying on a broomstick. If anyone knows where we could get a copy please let us know.

New Prices

Unlike most other museums the Museum of Witchcraft is privately owned and does not receive any grants whatsoever. Regular visitors will know that the entrance fee has always remained as low as possible but this year we need to slightly increase the entrance fee to cover increased costs. Adults entrance fee will now be £3.00 and children and elders £2.00. We feel these prices are still very reasonable. Here is a photo of Mike updating the door sign. You may also note a new 'DONATE' button on the front page of the website. We are also introducing new retail products to give this area a boost. The Occult Art Company has produced some fabulous posters which include the Witch from the Richel images and the ever-popular Wheel of the Year painted by Vivienne Shanley. They were launched at last weekend's Devon and Cornwall Pagan Federation Conference in Kilkhampton. The conference was a great success with record numbers of attendees. The museum opened on the Sunday especially for the conference goers and it was a fabulous day with friendly interested people coming to show their support. Our official opening day for this year is Saturday March 31st.

The Times

A question was recently sent in to The Times: ' Was anyone ever persecuted for witchcraft, and posthumously pardoned?' Our resident historian Joyce Froome answered the question which was printed in The Times on March 2nd. The only pre 20th century case apparently occurred after the Salem witchtrials. Joyce answers the question in slightly more detail. Fame at last for Joyce!!

Fame Again

How amusing! Being a (sadly) massive Trivial Pursuit fan I've just downloaded it to my computer and found that a question about the museum was on there. Something like 'Which Cornish village's famous Museum of Witchcraft was devastated by floods in 2004?' Lucky for me I was on a piece of pie and got the answer right. We were also sent an email last week telling us that the museum was mentioned on the new TV show 'Hotel Babylon.' Lots of good publicity there we hope. An article in The Guardian will be featuring the museum and some famous witches shortly. Our friend Cassandra Latham was interviewed for the article along with others well known in the field. Not sure when that one's coming out yet. Will let you know if we hear anything. If anyone sees the museum on any TV show or in the papers please let us know as we don't always have our fingers on the media pulse.

Boscastle weather cam

Just wanted to let you know that there is now a Boscastle Weather Cam. Due to complaints from a previous reader about the Dunn St webcam, it was removed by the operator and replaced by this weather cam. If you're coming to visit Boscastle you can now check out the weather situation as it happens. Hopefully Mark won't get any complaints from paranoid seagulls.

CD RELEASE ALERT

For all those with an interest in folk music (and witchcraft) I'd like to give preliminary notice of a new CD which is being compiled by Graham & Joyce (the museum's medieval specialist). Over the last year they have been researching and collecting traditional British folk songs that have a witchcraft theme. Graham has a long association with traditional English folk so he has an extremely good knowledge to draw on. The CD is being released in conjunction with Wildgoose Studios who are well known in the folk music industry. This will be the third of the museum's CDs. The last two chanting CDs were very popular and this one, though very different, is looking like being a great success, (going by the interest we've had aleady). The planned release date is May 1st so watch this space. It will be on sale in the museum and online. There is even a rumour that there will be a secret track performed by a special duo. Interesting!!

Oh, before I go,thanks to HR Mitchell for the positive feedback about the blog. It's nice to know we have your support.

Harbour Update

Thought I'd update you with what's been happening in the harbour as far as digging and building works go. The diggers have reached the bottom of the two pits outside the museum and the opposite side of the river. Around 7 metres (21 feet) down. The plan is to drill a horizontal connection underneath the river between to two pits. Unfortunately, the diggers hit a bit of a snag the other day when the drill bit came up against a large obstacle (probably an extremely hard piece of Cornish spar or quartz) and it has called a temporary halt to the proceedings. At least the constant pecking noise has stopped for a while. It has been driving Graham to distraction - lucky the workmen are so friendly and pleasant otherwise it could be extremely distressing. I'll put some recent pics of the works up soon.

What Else

As I've been talking about all the work that's been going on I should tell you what's been happening.Well all the fibre board ceiling panels have now been double plaster boarded, plastered and painted to comply with fire regulations. This has meant a lot of work and expense but we must keep up to date with health and safety regulations. We have a new window display, featuring the statue of the hare which was found in Cornwall a few years ago and donated to the museum. It's looking really fab in the window as visitors can now see both sides of this interesting sculpture, and it is accompanied by several examples from our witchball collection.

We've put some new wainscoting downstairs - made up from recycled timber - thanks to Dave for 'recovering' it in true Cornish style. We always try to use recycled materials where ever possible. Graham is currently working on a 'new' retail cabinet for the entrance. Stay tuned for more updates on some news regarding the retail part of the museum as well.

Drama in Poppet World

There's so much work going on at the museum at the moment it's no wonder a few accidents happen. As Graham was re panelling the walls in the upstairs gallery his drill slipped and went crashing onto one of the poppet cabinets. The glass shattered and I'm sure the ladies were not very impressed. We had planned to replace the glass with a toughened variety anyway so it just speeded up the process. It makes a rather dramatic photo don't you think?

Letterman

Anyone who watches The Dave Letterman Show in the US should look out for a friend of ours who is appearing on the show around Feb 28. Roger Pratt is well known in witchcraft circles in New York & the North East & has helped us out with information regarding artifacts we've had trouble researching. He has a wonderful photographic memory & a wide knowledge of magic and witchcraft which comes in handy for us occasionally. The big question is: will Roger be sporting the moustache & goatee or will he be nude of chin?? Only time will tell.

Notice of an Exravanganza of Words and Music

For all those interested in Cornwall, folklore, the museum, history, and music, let it be known that on March 30 and 31 2007 The Wellington Hotel in Boscastle will host a fabulous weekend that will satisfy all your interests and more. Steve Patterson has put together an extremely interesting programme. On Friday evening March 30, the Cornish band 3 Daft Monkeys will be playing in the bar. This band has recently been on tour with The Levellers and plays a wild mixture of Celtic, Balkan, Gypsy, Cornish World Music. I've seen them before and they are fabulously entertaining as well as extremely accomplished musicians. The Saturday programme of talks runs from 11am till 5 pm upstairs in the Wellington and will consist of the following:

Steve Patterson - Tales of the Museum which includes a history of the museum and a biography of Cecil Williamson
Alan Kent - Parallels in the folklore of Cornwall, Brittany and Galicia. Having just returned from Galicia I'll find this particularly relevant.
Paul Newman - Tales of Tregurthan, stories about the bohemian artist set in 1930's Cornwall including such people as Aleister Crowley and D.H.Lawrence. Paul has recently written a book about this subject.
Paul Bonnington - Ancient Sites in Relation to the Landscape Paul is the National Trust archaeologist and warden for West Penwith with a special interest in ancient sites.

Saturday evening's entertainment will include more music, puppetry, and storytelling.

Tickets for the day are £15.00 on the door and you can reserve a place by calling Steve Patterson on 07941 078975

We'd love to see you there

Pinky & Perky

For those of you who remember the museum's two headed pig, affectionately known as Pinky & Perky, you will now be able to see her/it/them on view at the National Maritime Museum in Falmouth. P & P is on loan for an exhibition of curiosities which will be held this year (dates to be confirmed). During the flood the Maritime Museum was particularly helpful to us especially in storing our collection of over 4,000 library books while we rebuilt the museum, so we wear happy to loan our piggy to them for this interesting exhibit.

New Year Update

Well, the month of January has flown by & all has been action stations at the museum. The new fireproof ceilings are all finished (thanks John & Martin) and the painting is almost complete. Here is a picture of Ron at his decorating best. He should be finished in a day or two. The drilling of the ever deeper hole continues outside. The National Trust ,who bought Cornish Goodies next door, have not done a thing to it all winter but plan to start work on it at the beginning of April. How thoughtful of them!!!!!!!!! Work on the car park opposite The Cobweb has been fast tracked so we're hoping it will be finished before Easter.

Essential work

Here are a couple of pics of John (aka The Boscastle Busker) and (Big) Martin fitting double layers of plaster board to the museum ceilings to comply with fire regulations. (Lovely chest hair lads.)Whist carrying out the annual fire risk assessment, Graham noticed that there may be a potential future breach of regulations. Maintaining an old building to meet modern regulations will always be difficult and expensive but safety must come first so we've enlisted the services of these two local builders to bring the ceilings up to standard. The extra plaster board should give the added benefit of improved sound and heat insulation as well.

Closed

The museum is now closed as of Friday Jan 5 till Easter. We'll let you know the exact date as soon as it's confirmed. I'll continue to put news on as it happens so keep checking the blog for any developments. See you soon.

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!