Fact-finding trip to the Biggar & Upper Clyde Museum
Although the town and the area the Biggar museum represents is not as populous as Crieff and Strathearn, it could be seen that there are useful and interesting parallels. Our party met with Michael Hunter and Suzanne Rigg at 1100 hrs and we had a discussion followed by a guided tour of the whole site, including the stores and plant room. After seeing over the whole building we had further discussions but we needed to let the museum staff get on with their work and have some lunch'. Michael and Suzanne were really helpful and accommodating and we think there is much to be learned from their experience. They have very kindly offered to be available for further consultation in the future, they gave us copies of useful working documents and spreadsheets and wished us luck with our project.
If you find yourself in the area there are several museums to visit, as well as New Lanark nearby and we recommend a visit to the Biggar museum.
Simon will write a more detailed report shortly but, meantime, here is a link to the museum website: http://www.biggarmuseumtrust.co.uk
Crieff Community Volunteer Festival
We recorded the details of a few more supporters and also registered with Arleen Sinclair for the Community Choices Planning Meeting which will be held at the end of this month or early next month, preliminary to setting the criteria for applications from the community for the new funds awarded to Crieff. £40k will be available to be distributed to worthy causes and the apportionment will be determined by popular vote. So please do consider supporting the museum project when it comes to voting time. Funds will be distributed in March next year. See also here: CCS alert.
I am sorry I only remembered to take a photo at the end, after Louise had left and so she does not appear in the pictures on the display board, as she should.
On a different subject, Sketchfab sent me a link to a new scan which is impressive and I thought I would share it with you. We see this kind of technology as being very valuable for making museum artefacts visible to all, even when they are in situ elsewhere or if there is not enough display space available. We could find that as much as 80% of the things we want to show in the museum cannot be displayed, for one reason or another, and scans like this may help us to show much more than we otherwise would. We will have an opportunity to integrate on line displays of artefacts which can be viewed anywhere there is access to the internet, as well as on site at the museum, perhaps in the same context as items which are on display or in relation to active display themes. If you click on the link below and let the scan load, you will then be able to move it around, zoom in and click on the numbered annotation points.
https://sketchfab.com/models/695d8167179749019025776d24de1572
Destination High Street
I attended this event on behalf of the Crieff & Strathearn Museum trustees. Though not specifically relevant to the business of making a museum, the conference objectives were to shine a light on the main issues affecting the evident decline in many of our high streets and town centres. The intention being to stimulating debate and inspire those who attended to help formulate a plan for the future policy making in both The Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland and the Scottish Civic Trust. Although our plan is to create a new museum for Crieff and Strathearn, in the process we hope to contribute to the revival of our town centres and, in particular the repurposing of empty and worthy buildings which are not only under-utilised but "at risk" if we cannot find a sustainable use for them.
Relevant links are:
https://www.ahss.org.uk/who-we-are/
https://www.scottishcivictrust.org.uk
https://stirlingretail.com
https://www.ads.org.uk