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.

William

Graham is really getting into the kayaking. He's going out at every opportunity, not often on this frequently changeable Atlantic coastline. There is a rather friendly seal, William, who hangs out in the harbour eating fish thrown in by the fishing tourists. Here is a lovely pic of him taken by Graham when he was out on his kayak.

Wheel of the Year posters

The increasingly popular Wheel of the Year posters are currently out of stock on The Occult Art Company website but fear not as we are doing a new print run in a slightly larger A1 size. The Witch & Serpent posters will also be made larger. We do have a small number of these in stock until we make the changeover to the larger format. Thanks to John Hooper for supplying the image of the Wheel of the Year (painted by Vivienne Shanley). All other images are from the Richel Collection.

Boscastle Trading Co

It has been confirmed this week that The Boscastle Trading Co (the shop we've had this year next to the museum) will be closing at the end of Sept as The Environment Agency & South West Water will be digging up the roads outside to add to flood defences & put in sewerage pipes. We had intended to be open until end Oct but will be closing early. Next year the National Trust will be putting a tea room into the space. Hopefully the local artists who have been selling their work in the shop will find new outlets. This August has remained extremely quiet compared to other years. Thankfully the weather has improved & people can finally enjoy the fab outdoors around here. Graham is making the most of it as well & really loving his new toy - the kayak. A great destressser after a hectic day in the museum. He hasn't managed to catch any fish yet though!

Shop has Six Weeks Left - we think

It looks like we may be winding up the shop next to the museum at the end of September - a month earlier than initially thought. The road on our side of the river is due to be dug up from the beginning of October as part of the ongoing works in the harbour. The area outside the museum should also be affected but we hope to remain open as usual. The shop itself has been a rather pleasant success - we've had a bit more space to retail museum items and local artists have been reaping the benefits of an outlet for their work. It's nice to be able to keep the income in the village rather than it all going outside to a national pot somewhere else in the country. There is little opportunity in Cornwall for locals to make money. In the words of that folksong: 'Cornish men are fishermen & Cornish men are miners too, but when the fish & tin are gone, what are the Cornish lads to do.' We'll keep you posted on the closing date but if you're in the area do pop in & say hi.

Petrified Teddy

No not terrified - just stiff & crispy. I think I mentioned this in a previous blog & now here is the photo. A recent donation!(Museum number 1875)

New Richel Collection Drawing

The museum has recently purchased a new addition to the Richel Collection. The drawing was done by Bob Richel himself and is, dare I say, a cacophony of symbolism ranging from phallic to impish (museum number 1885). Detailed information can be found on the website by doing an advanced search of the museum number. If you'd like a copy of this image please contact the museum or The Occult Art Company as it is protected by copyright.

Some New Acquisitions

I thought I'd put a few pics on of some of the new items we've acquired recently. We have a rapidly expanding section on the use of 'witch' imagery in advertising & here we have a particularly glam witch advertising the merits of Ipswich Hosiery in 1925 (museum number 1881). Thornes Toffees did a fab Mother Goose tin which I find particularly attractive (museum number 1880). A rather different, but equally fascinating, acquisition is a pentacle made from matchsticks by Bill Thompson. Bill is a prisoner serving a life sentence who has been a Pagan for many years. He made this pentacle from matchsticks and glue and has used it in his cell for several years (museum number 1882). Thanks for making this donation Bill.

As a general point, if you know the museum number of any artefact you can make an advanced search on the website to find out more information.

Accommodation available

If you fancy popping down to Boscastle in the next few weeks but don't think there'll be any vacant B & Bs then think again! Jack, who works in the museum booth two days a week, has a B & B overlooking the harbour & has had a few cancellations (no doubt due to the horrendous flooding up north). Many museum regulars have stayed there time & again. It's a superb location & Jack & Fay are very friendly. For enquiries check out the Pencarmol website or phone 01840250435.

Harbour Scene

I know this isn't very witchy but I thought it was such a nice photo I'd pop it on the blog. Graham had an evening of de-stressing the other night when he borrowed a canoe & went for a paddle around the harbour. He looked particularly fetching in his new shorty wet suit!! I think he's discovered a new hobby.

He's hoping to catch a close up glimpse of William the seal who frequents the harbour this time of year.

Ritual to Combat Global Warming

We've been alerted to a ritual to combat Global Warming that is to take place on August 25th. I thought I'd let people know so you can participate if you are interested. It's being organised by the group 'Silver Owls' and full information can be found on their website, www.silverowls.co.uk.

Witches' Almanac Reviews 'Songs of Witchcraft & Magic'

For those who take The Witches' Almanac, look out in the next edition for a review of the museum's CD. It is a US publication but can be found in some bookstores in the UK.