Lunchtime Talk in May: New Works

Lunchtime talks are taking place once a month, with Katie Ackrill, Collections and Exhibition Officer for the 3 museums giving the talks. Last month, Katie introduced us to some paintings we hadn't seen and talked in depth about them. 

The first paintings Katie talked about were two by Dee Ferris, both presented by the Contemporary Arts Society this year. The one above is called 'Places We Go' is a wonderfully immersive piece with  wonderful ideas about the picture beside it.

This painting, also by Dee Ferris is Called 'Sleepy Hollow' and looks at a disregarded, hidden corner of vegetation. It needs to be seen in person to be appreciated fully.

Above a photo taken during the talk

Here's Katie talking about the newly acquired Harold Dearden painting which I htink is called 'Blackberry Pickers'.

Above here's the painting closer up, Katie drew us into the painting to examine colours used and techniques Dearden used to make this a satisfying painting. The purple frame was apparently an addition made by previous owners who lived in the States.

Finally not a new acquisition, Leonard Appelbee's 'Struck (The Dead Tree) painted in 1947.

The next lunchtime talk is this Friday 23 June at 12 noon. Tickets can be obtained here. It's entitled Painted Landscapes.

Old Photos in the Swindon Advertiser

 Here's the link to the Swindon Advertiser article, entitled 'Ten Throwback Photos of Swindon Museum' by Tina Robbins. I'll include some of the photos below, to see more and the article, please click on the link:

Above the famous croc, really a gharial, killed almost 100 years ago and given pleasure to many since then.

These are particularly lovely, featuring children enjoying the museum exhibits.

Lydiard House Revealed

 For our April talk, we were very fortunate to have Michael Gray, heritage architect, talking about the history of Lydiard House and what we know about the building from records and what is present today. It was fascinating and for me quite revelatory, hence the title. We are very fortunate to have such an interesting building on our doorstep and open to the public.

Lydiard House was remodelled between 1738-43, and this photo was taken in 1825, it's interesting to think even in the eighteenth century remodelling was taking place.

The drawing above from that time shows that there was a long wing to the left of the house

And here in this watercolour, the same wing can be seen

In this slide we can see portraits of members of the St John family who had lived in the house since the fourteenth century; they are all wearing Coronation gear to show how important they were.

Influenced by marrying Anne Furness in 1750, Lord Viscount St. John wanted to create a Palladian mansion such as Frome Park, seen above. The buildings follow a pattern, there's a Roman/Greek portico on the front, kitchen, everyday rustica on the lower ground floor, a piano nobile on the first floor where you see big windows, and above those smaller windows. 

Above there is a house plan, with dark shaded areas dating back to pre seventeenth century

The house was admired by Inigo Jones who died in 1652, and was responsible for adding a classical fabric to the stonework. Around this time 4 towers were added to the house giving it a more important look.

The lake was intended to add the illusion of grandeur, a bit like creating a stage set

Over the front door, the arch details are worth looking at, there are decorated roundels: oxen skulls decorated with flowers, as you enter the house it's like entering the temple of Zeus, a god so it's very special!

Inside the house, nothing is at right angles, there's a rectangular shaped entrance hall intended to impress with classical mouldings and sconces, characteristics from classical antiquity. The plasterwork is special to Lydiard and you would be invited to dine in the dining room if you were an honoured guest.

Above you can see a green man in the plasterwork. Having dines, depending on the level of intimacy, you might be invited into the drawing room where there's a fireplace by Inigo Jones and hand painted Chinese wallpaper among other marvels

This is the state bedroom, also on the first floor, having the bedroom here created the impression that if royalty visited, there would be somewhere to stay, and in fact Elizabeth I did stay here for a month apparently. There's Apollo in a sunburst in mouldings on the ceiling, a classical fertility moulding indicating fertility and resurrection. Special friends would be taken into the closet where there's a sixteenth century stained glass window. Ann Furness and her husband died in 1840, their son inherited the estate and drank and gambled all the money away.

Thank you to Michael for this fascinating talk, we will be organising a guided tour given by Michael Gray followed by tea and cake in July/August. For the recorded version of the talk, please click here and scroll down until you find the Lydiard House recording.

The Antarctic Heritage Trust

 For our March talk, Camilla Johns talked about the work of the Antarctic Heritage Trust, and specifically about conditions in Antarctica, and its importance. Their aim is to 'preserve historic buildings in Antarctica to help current generations discover, understand, value and protect this precious wilderness'. There's lots more information, videos etc on their website about Port Lockroy, Base A. I'll add some photos taken during the talk and also some information gleaned during the talk.

Antarctica was discovered 200 years ago; 90% of the world's ice is found there, if the ice melted, there would be a 58metre rise in sea level. It's the windiest place on earth, with 200mph winds, and the biggest mountain ranges. The impact of climate change is seen here very clearly, with rises of 3 degrees in average temperatures over the last 50 years.

The wildlife is fantastic with 9000 species found. Penguins are at home in this environment.

Exploration of Antarctica began in the 1700s Captain Cook circumnavigated the world and saw penguins, seals and whales and the emphasis was on exploitation of the natural resources, and by 1830 fur seals were wiped out because so many had been caught. 

Things improved in the early twentieth century when Amundsen, Shackleton and Captain Scott were examples of the heroic era and collected scientific data. Camilla recommended we read Shackleton's amazing story  'Endurance'.

There are between 1-4000 people working in Antarctica at the moment, and in the winter, they are stuck there for 4/5 months because of the ice. There has been lots of wrangling over land in Antarctic, the big whaling stations and factory ships being an example of how not to do things. The land at Port Lockroy is British Crown Land.

This poster was produced during 1943 when there were concerns about German U boats. Since then there has been a treaty signed by 56 countries to ensure Antarctica is a collaborative, special place.

Above are photos of the 6 bases which are protected sites and monuments

A map of Antarctica showing the position of Port Lockroy

Above a photo of inside some of the buildings showing workshops, and some chains

This old photograph shows the sort of supplies people used to take to the base, tins and tins.

There's a Post Office which amazingly still issues stamps, and has 7000 postcards sent from there to over 100 countries. 

I'd like to thank Camilla Johns once again for her talk which opened up window onto this amazing resource and very special place. To watch the recording of the talk, please click here.

Updates on the Conversion of the Civic Offices and Gharial

Keeping people informed about the reopening of Swindon Museum and Art Gallery on the first floor of the Civic Offices can be repetitive and progress seems slow, I need a photo of the Civic Offices, but can't find it, so will use a favourite photo of mine, taken when the Friends visited Rabley Gallery last summer and were warmly greeted by Meryl Ainslie, director of the gallery. 

Last week, on 23 March, the following responses were given in a document entitled 'Standing Order 15 Questions and Responses' the first response is about progress on the Civic Offices and if you scroll further, you can find an update on the gharial:

https://ww5.swindon.gov.uk/moderngov/documents/b26595/Standing%20Order%2015%20Questions%20and%20Responses%2023rd-Mar-2023%2019.00%20Council.pdf?T=9

The next link takes you to an advertisement for contractors to submit expressions of interest in converting the first floor of the Civic Offices, work to be finished by mid September.

Building Refurbishment Works to Swindon Museum and Art Gallery – 1st Floor Building Refurbishment Wo... (due-north.com)

Marking 3 years since Swindon Museum and Art Gallery Closed

 Last Friday a group of us gathered outside Apsley House to mark 3 years since Swindon Museum and Art Gallery at Apsley House closed, as it turned out, for good.

At the time, in March 2020, Covid restrictions were being enforced which meant there were lockdowns imposed on the public. By the time everything was opening up, Swindon Boarked appealed against this, but the building has remained closed, been emptied of the art and museum artefacts, and now been sold to developer, Arthur Dallimer. Meanwhile there have been plans to reopen the museum and art gallery on the first floor of the Civic Offices, but the necessary work has not started yet.

We marked the occasion last Friday with balloons, cake and lots of chatting; we were lucky to have Will Glennon form BBC Points West on hand, here's his recording: 

 https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001kc43/points-west-evening-news-18032023

 and Aled Thomas from the Swindon Advertiser: https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/23394896.art-lovers-celebrate-three-years-since-museum-closed/

and beforehand the event, Advertiser reporter, Daniel Wood, reminded people of previous gatherings:

https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/23384851.campaign-group-mark-three-years-since-closure-swindon-museum/

Thank you so much to all those who came on the day, our Friends and supporters, it's not good enough that a town the size of Swindon has no museum and art gallery. Below I've added some of the photos taken on the day:

This was the beautiful cake made by one of the Friends' committee members

Prior to the event, \Jeremy Holt carrying the helium filled balloons

and above the croc on crutches after a foot operation, very pleased she could be there, also celebrating Red Nose Day

This is a good photo of the group holding posters 

Another view of people chatting

Above and below, me talking to the group, thanking them for coming and saying we were still waiting for a museum and art gallery

Our latest poster just says 'Free Our Croc'

The much loved gharial which resided on the top floor of Apsley House is known by anyone who visited the museum over the years; we have used it as a mascot since we knew the museum and art gallery were closing. The candles remind us of the 3 years since we last saw it in the museum. 

Meanwhile, Swindon fails yet again to receive funding to bolster it low cultural engagement:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/over-70-cultural-venues-museums-and-libraries-supported-with-60-million-boost

Did anyone apply for the funding streams?

Third Anniversary of Closure of Swindon Museum and Art Gallery

 It is now three years since Apsley House closed because of Covid restrictions, but failed to reopen when restrictions were lifted. A decision had been made by Swindon Borough Council to close the building for good, put the art and museum collections into storage until the art pavilion in the Cultural Quarter had been built. The plans for the museum collections were vague. We were not happy with this arrangement because many of us would never have seen Swindon Museum and Art Gallery reopened in our lifetime. An interim solution was suggested at Lydiard House, where it was proposed three breakfast rooms could house small exhibitions. This was followed by the idea of converting the first floor of the Civic Offices into a museum and art gallery; this seemed like an excellent idea, although previous calculations in 2019 had put a figure of over a million pounds to carry out the conversion. In 2019 it was decided Apsley House would be the best option for SM&AG, with a proposed £400k to be spent on improvements to the building. This money has not been spent, and remains available for the conversion of the first floor of the Civic Offices into a museum and art gallery. Dates for work to begin on the building slide, the latest estimate is the end of the year for the work to be complete, and the building open to the public.

We are marking the third anniversary of the closure of Swindon Museum and Art Gallery outside Apsley House at 1pm this Friday 17 March with cake. Please come along if you can, we will be there until 2pm.