Mags Galore

We've had a mass of old magazines donated recently so the duplicate ones have been put up for sale in the museum. We originally just asked for a donation but yesterday Graham noticed someone taking about 20 mags & putting only 20 pence in the Friend's box so we are now charging 50 p each. I think they are worth more than 1 p each!! There are some interesting ones there: old Pagan Dawns; Man, Myth, & Magic; Quest; & the Australian Pagan Times. We have a great collection of most esoteric magazines in the library so it's great to be able to share some of the duplicates with people who may have their own collections. Here I am to the right with the box of mags.

DOORS OPEN FOR 2006

We start the season a little early this year due to the early commencement of school holidays. Last week was spent frantically cleaning & reorganising the museum ready for the big day.

Joyce (left) and Carole have been mainly helping Graham in the museum itself, and we have had our friends Rosalie & Henny working their way through the four and a half thousand books in the library.

Despite everyone's best efforts the books get mixed up on the shelves and need to be cross-referenced with our computer data base to ensure all information is correct. They are about half way through and probably going crosseyed.

Only half an hour till the doors open today. See you there!

Gearing up for the season

Time is passing really quickly lately and we'll be reopening again for this year's season really soon. It looks like the opening date will be April 1st but keep checking as I'll announce it officially when it is definite.

We had fun cleaning & polishing the museum for the open day last Sunday for the attendees of the Devon & Cornwall Pagan Federation Conference which was held on March 11th. Carole had a lovely surprise when she found someone had stuffed a bag full of dog poo underneath the automaton. Some people are really fabulous aren't they? Apart from that, the day went very well & the museum was extremely busy with both PF members and regular members of the public taking advantage of this one off treat.

Things have been a bit glam around here as photographers from W magazine (a US fashion mag) have been over photographing for a new issue. Some of the artefacts have been used in the shoots as well as local Cornish landmarks like Tintagel Castle. The photos are extremely good and we look forward to seeing them in print.

What's New...?

Well not a lot really. Work has been continuing upstairs and "Protection" is just about finished. Martin the carpenter is doing some finishing touches in the booth area and we're having trouble with the paint on the walls flaking off. If anyone has any suggestions for a paint that will stay on please let us know. We've tried the distemper style paints & they're not surviving very well.

A bit of excitement the other day when the museum was checked out as a possible set for a fashion shoot for a major American fashion magazine. I don't want to jinx it by saying any more but fingers crossed.

The Devon & Cornwall Pagan Federation Confrence is on in Bude this weekend so we'll be going along to that. You may see us on one of the stalls there. We'll also be doing the International Conference in Lunteren Holland on 20th May so for any Dutch readers, we hope to see you there.

Palace Visit

Here is a not-very-good photo of Graham outside Buckingham Palace last Wednesday evening 15th February. A reception given by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth was held for UK Rescue Service men and women and Graham was lucky enough to be invited for his actions during the Boscastle flood. He had a really good time viewing the exquisite artwork and sampling the New Zealand wines on offer. Good to see the Palace still supporting the colonies! (I can say that because I'm Australian.) Graham actually met the Queen at the end of the evening but contrary to village gossip he has NOT been knighted. He's already a King after all.

Unfortunately I had to dash out of a waiting cab & quickly take this shot so it is not quite as dapper as the photo we have of Gerald Gardner entering the Palace Gates with his walking cane in hand.

We spent the next day at the British Museum checking out the fabulous Aztec turquoise mosaics. The masks are incredible as is the two headed snake. Have you ever checked them out? Highly recommended. They're in the Americas section.

So now we're back and work is continuing. We had a belated "Yule Do" at Trebarwith Mill pub (belated due to Hannah being slightly preoccupied with giving birth just before the original Xmas party date). It was an extremely pleasant evening with yummy food & put us all in the mood for a fabulous year ahead. A dry one we hope.

What's happening inside.....?

There's masses of building action outside but a lot of activity inside as well. "Protection" is coming along nicely and should be finished this week. The lovely chimney doll already has a new space in her own glass cabinet. There is much more space for aretfacts to be displayed. Graham has been working on the trench art section. These artefacts are from WWI and are mainly made from bullets and bits of schrapnel, and were carried as protection. They are previously unseen and were part of Cecil Williamson's collection. Here's a selection for your viewing pleasure.

Building site

This is what things are looking like outside the museum at the moment. Cranes, sheds, and dust are pretty much the norm most days. luckily the weather has been gorgeous down here which keeps the mud down. Lots of visitors to the village as well. We're having to queue for sandwiches in the Bakery already! Despite the "closed" sign on the museum door we have found people wandering aimlessly around inside. Quite incredible!

The museum will be opening around Easter. Watch this space as we will announce the exact opening date here.

Boscastle Gig Launch

Today Boscastle Harbour saw the launch of the Boscastle & Crackington Rowing Gig. The new gig, costing around £25,000, will soon be winning the international championships. The event was very well attended with the gig being blessed by the Rev Christine Musser before it took to the waves. The waves were rather too big so it came back in 5 minutes after launch! More photos later.

You probably won't notice ....

There's always a lot of work going on behind the scenes which nobody notices - recarpeting, painting, new lighting. As well as redoing the protection display, James, a young decorator, has been in repainting the walls. The flood has made them very damp and paint doesn't seem to want to stick for very long, so James has been removing the hideous flaky bits ready for some new special paints that hopefully will cling to the walls instead of falling to the floor. It's a messy job & masks must be worn to protect against the dust.

Graham is carpeting the area around "Protection" and he's been doing a nice job with the lighting. A horse skull has taken up residence in one of the cabinets for the time being. We've put a new cabinet downstairs which was donated by a Police Museum. It will house Good Luck charms including some trench art from the 1st World War. Here's a lovely photo of me pretending to hold up the cabinet. Exciting isn't it!

It's all happening

Work has started well & truly on the area opposite the museum. The National Trust has erected some buildings for their workers to base themselves from while they totally redo the Youth Hostel. Work is ongoing on the rebuild of the Harbour Lights building which was completely destroyed by the flood.

The view to the left is looking out from the museum towards the harbour. Not particularly attractive and it will be like this till around August.

Work It Chaps

The work in "Protection" is coming along a treat with the cabinet from the Tank Museum being split in two, the top half being used as is, & the bottom half being sliced up to extend the cabinets around the corner. Confused? Check the pic for clarification. Martin is doing a fab job despite parts of his body being removed at an alarming rate - don't worry it's only teeth & moles.

Work is also going full steam ahead in other parts of Boscastle. The Youth Hostel restoration is about to start which means that around four big blue workmen's cabinets are going to be placed outside the museum by the river. See left. They will probably be there till August so if you come to see us don't be put off. We're still opening at Easter as usual.

The new website selling prints of artworks from the Richel Collection is now online and up and running. More details on that later. Have a look and see what you think. You can find it at www.theoccultartcompany.co.uk.

Will be back soon with more updates on the action at the museum.

"Protection" Display Revamp

The museum's carpenter, Martin, has been busy over the past few days. (Here he is to the left.) He & Graham have been dismantling the "Protection" display at the top of the stairs in readiness for a whole new look. The area is being opened up and extended around the corner. We were hoping to get more of the cabinets from the Natural History Museum but unfortunately they have none left. We have kindly been offered a cabinet from the Tank Museum which should do the trick.

Anyone with an interest in the story of Graham's Landrover should get a copy of the latest Landrover Owner's International magazine. There is a great story in there with some photos of the crushed "Sally" and the renewed "Mary Ellen".

Until next time........

Lucinda and Hannah at work

Just thought I'd put in a photo of Hannah, the museum's office manager, with her new baby Lucinda, hard at work at the front desk. Very cute don't you think?

It's great Hannah is able to bring Lucinda in so she can be spoiled by Pseudo Uncle Graham and the rest of the gang.

Closed for Winter Refurbishment

Greetings and Happy New Year to you all. The museum is now closed until Easter and we are getting on with refurbishing the upstairs "Protection" section. Joyce and Carole are busy here stripping out the display which will be totally removed and replaced with new (recycled) cabinets. It's great to get rid of those old drapes and we're looking forward to getting the new look display up and running.

I will continue to add info to this site while we are closed so keep checking back for updates.

Happy Yule Fest

Greetings and Happy Yule to you all. We've had a great year at the museum thanks to all your support. Although the year got off to a slow start, the summer season more than made up for that. We've experimented with winter opening which was great in November, not so great in early December, but has picked up again over this Xmas - New Year holiday period. We will be closing after New Year so that Graham can start on some renovations upstairs in the "Protection" area.

I promised a piccy of Lee & Hannah's new addition to their family so here is little Lucinda looking very gorgeous at our Solstice gathering. She's obviously getting heavily involved in the festivities here!

By the way (for those who were interested in Jo O'Claireidgh's talk on Egypt at the Friends' gathering), he mentioned a fabulous weaving centre in Egypt where children make amazing tapestries called the Wissa Wassef Centre. I noticed in Resurgence magazine that there is an exhibition on in London from Jan to March next year. Info is on their website www.wissa-wassef-arts.com. I'm definitely going to check it out.

Announcement

Hi there and merry Yule to you all

we are very excited to announce a new member of the museum team.Hannah, our office mananger, and her husband Lee had a baby girl yesterday morning. Baby Lucy was a couple of weeks early and weighed in at 5lb 1oz, She is very healthy and brother Ewan is very proud of his new sister. Photos when available.

"Friends" having fun at the Wellie

Friends Weekend

Picture left: Jo & Julian, speakers at the meeting

On the first weekend of December every year the Friends of the Museum hold a meeting in Boscastle and we've just finished yet another successful gathering. It's a social occasion for people to meet old friends and catch up with the latest information about the museum.

We had two speakers this year. Jo O'Clereigh, a man with a great deal of both historical and magical knowledge, spoke on his work as an artist on archaelogical digs in Egypt. The photos and stories of his work and the people he met from the 1960s up until this year were a fascinating insight into this aspect of Egypt, its ancient gods & goddesses, and the wonderful people he met along the way.

Julian Vayne, a well known speaker on Chaos Magic and related topics, spoke on the use of drugs in magic, their ritual use, and their use in the society we live in today. He's always a lively speaker and his talk prompted much discussion.

It was a much warmer venue this year as it was held upstairs in the restaurant of the Wellington Hotel. Normally we're freezing to death in a village hall or a Youth Hostel but we thought we'd go a bit more upmarket this year. Thanks to Susie & the staff at the Wellie for looking after everyone so well.

There was also a special "Friends" prelaunch of The Occult Art Company which received great feedback from everyone there. More on that as we get closer to the actual launch. A website is under construction so if you want a sneak preview you can check it out on theoccultartcompany.co.uk and watch the progress.

Sunday morning featured a round walk up through the woods to Joan Wytte's burial marker, Minster Church, then back through thupper village. A great way to blow the previous nights alcohol fuelled cobwebs away.

We hope to see even more people attending next year.

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.