Hello Again

Well, it's been a while since my last post. I've been away from computer world for a while. There's not been a huge amount to report - just a continuation of the works down in the harbour (yes it's still going on!) and me having my bathroom modernised by Hannah's husband Lee (how thrilling you say). After much lobbying we now have a telephone box in the harbour. If you don't have an Orange network phone your mobile won't work so it's a bit of an asset to visitors to say the least. The next thing we need is a cash machine that doesn't charge you to take your own money out - don't get me started.....

The Gateway building (aka toilet block) is nearing completion in the car park but the shop next to the museum has come to a standstill & I've been told may not be open until June. Great! Keep Calm!!

On a more pleasant note - Hi to September & Karl who popped over from Atlanta Georgia for a visit today. The museum was closed but I happened to be dropping something off so let them in for a quick visit. They'd driven all the way from Scotland to see the musuem so it was fortuitous that I was around. Hi to September's coven back in Atlanta! Come & visit soon - during summer preferably. I suggested a trip to Avebury stone circle on their way back to London - a truly special place.

Happy New Year

We at The Museum of Witchcraft would like to wish all our visitors & supporters a very happy New Year. May 2008 be as magical as you wish it to be!

Please note the photo has nothing to do with New Year, I just like it!!

New Bridge

Well, after all the controversy regarding the replacement of the bridge outside the museum, the new bridge was finally lowered in to place yesterday Dec 18th. During the flood we had 14 cars wedged underneath the old bridge. The blockage contributed to quite a bit of the damage done to properties and increased risk to life so it was decided to replace it with a wider variety which will be less likely to be blocked by debris in case of another flood. Hannah took some photos of the momentous event.

Harbour Works photos

As promised here are a few photos of the ongoing works int he Harbour. The largest crane in the world (slight exaggeration) is readying itself for the bridge replacement on Tuesday. The Gateway building (read toilet block) at the entrance to the car park is on track to be finished around mid January I believe. The river itself is being widened & lowered outside the Things store & Valency lawn. All may look a little different next time you come along to Boscastle.

Boscastle Diggings

Having returned from a 3 week stint in Australia, I have found Boscastle to be awash with even more diggers, cranes & builders than before I left. The main road through the village was closed but thankfully (as of yesterday) it has reopended & traffic can make its way through, sometimes wth the help of traffic lights. Huge pipes are being laid along the museum side of the river & I believe the bridge outside the museum will be replaced on Tuesday. A massive crane is insitu readying itself for the task. I have taken some photos & will put them on shortly. The weather has been freezing but sunny, a far cry from last weekend which apparently saw some of the worst winds & storms Boscastle residents had seen for years. Some say there were 30 foot waves breaking in the harbour. Happily I flew in the day after all this happened & have had fab sunshine since my return. As I mentioned, I will pop a few photos of the works on so you can see what a tad of a mess Boscastle looks at the moment. Hopefullly it will all be worthwhile!!

Mavis

Here is a photo of Mavis who sadly died on Nov 28 2007. Mavis loved nothing more than sitting on Graham's lap while he brushed her fur. She was, perhaps, the fussiest eater in the world but was extremely friendly & purred at the drop of a hat. She was much too glamorous to chase birds or mice & to our amusement, the resident robin would often strut its stuff inches from Mavis' disinterested glare. She definitely made the most of all of her nine lives, bouncing back from several operations & illnesses with kittenesque fervour. Bye Mavis - thanks for being a good friend.

Mavis

It is with great sadness that I must announce the passing of Mavis, our black & white cat. You would have seen photos of Mavis adorning these pages from when she cheered us up during the flood to her wearing a very attractve plastic neckpiece after one of her operations or sitting on Graham's lap - her favourite location. Unfortunately I don't have a photo to upload at this time as I am away from my own computer. Mavis will be sorely missed & was the best cat in Boscastle!!

Friends' Weekend

For information regarding the Friends' weekend please email Adrian on thecrowman@thehouseoftheoldways.fsworld.co.uk.

Museum Closes For Winter

It's time to hang our broomsticks up, put our pointy hats in storage & get ready for a rather fab holiday. As of today, November 4th, the museum is closed for the winter. We will reopen at Easter 2008. I will put occasional updates on the blog during this time. Have a cool Yule everyone.

Website Down

Unfortunately our website is down this weekend so apologies to all who have been trying to access it. We hope to have it up & running on Monday 5th. I thought we were over all those technical blips with Mercury being direct again but no such luck.

WEBCAM goes weird - again!

Unfortunately we are experiencing WEBCAM problems again!
The webcam host site has let us down and we have had to move it to
http://museum.000webhost.info/
So if you have it saved as a favourite or like to visit the site, please change the address.
The image is still only Black and White but we hope to have our replacement camera very soon and give you full colour so that you can appreciate the oranges and yellows of the diggers! Mercury is now direct so we are expecting normality to occur soon.

It's Pumpkin Time!

The Museum wishes everyone a Happy Halloween!! Graham has done a stirling carving job on the museum pumpkin, kindly donated by our local pumpkin supplier Sheree.

Pleasant Sunset Pic

As promised - Graham kayaking into the sunset at Boscastle Harbour. Not a bad shot if I do say so myself. He's making all the fishermen jealous by catching quite a number of seabass on his daily outings.

Diggers

There's a fair amount of action taking place down in the harbour these days. Here are a couple of pics of the diggers in action by the museum.The hole is getting deeper & wider by the minute! We'll be closing Nov 4th so we'll get a bit of respite from the works. Very loud & smelly!! Graham is really getting in to his kayaking as a bit of a stress reliever - pleasant sunset pic follows.

Webcam links now all working

We're still in the good old days of black & white but the camera is now working from all links on the website. You can keep an eye on all the massive roadworks going on in the harbour. Unfortunately we don't have smellavision for you to get a whiff of the diesel fumes but take it from me - they're quite overpowering at times. We've just had another kind donation of books for the library from Mike Howard so that should keep Joyce busy cataloguing in the booth while she's enjoying aforementioned fumes. Hopefully she won't pass out.

Webcam up & running

The Webcam is now up & running after some tedious work - mercury is retrtograde after all. Please click here for the time being until we can amend the other link on the side bar. It is currently in black & white (thought we'd hearken back to another era) but we're working on the colour version. I'm off to my reiki class so have to write this in a hurry.

Museum Cards available online

The popular seasonal cards, originally painted for the museum by Vivienne Shanley, are now available online at The Occult Art Company website. Here's a pic of the most popular Samhain witch card. The CD 'Songs of Witchcraft & Magic' continues going from strength to strength with several plays on both Radio 2's Folk programme & Radio 3's late Junction. Yesterday we had a fab visit from one of the Wildgoose labels other exciting recording artists, Jim Causley. He's a young Devon folk singer & definitely worth a listen. We sold a lot of his CDs in The Boscastle Trading Co. By the way, Graham is working on the webcam & seems to have found a solution. Should be back on track shortly.

Web Cam down

We are currently experiencing problems with our webcam. We have had our cam-meister in to look it over & we hope to have it sorted shortly. Apparently it is a problem with AOL. There's a lot happening outside the museum with the diggers moving back in to continue the flood defense & sewerage works. The road on our side of the river is being dug up to lay pipes. They've started up by the old National Trust shop & will work their way down. Nice to have weekends off now that the Boscastle Trading Co is shut. I can finally tidy my house! We had a drinks evening last Monday to thank the artists who supported the project. The National Trust workers are now in the shop ready to convert it to a tea room.

Facebook

Recently, I've followed the pack & joined up with Facebook. I've started a 'Museum of Witchcraft' fanclub for people to send photos & add comments. If any of you are Facebook addicts & are interested in joining up please do. Check it out on Museum of Witchcraft Fans .

Plugs across the Atlantic

Songs of Witchcraft & Magic keeps turning up on the radio! Following several plays on BBC Radio 2 and 3, and most of the local folk stations in Britain, it is now getting airplay in the USA. The latest was on KUAR FM89 in Little Rock Arkansas ! Then we heard about another play on CKCU-FM 93.1 Ottawa, Canada !! If you hear us on any other faraway radio stations please let us know.