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  • October Half-Term Performance

    Last week was another exceptional performance from all corners of the Museum.

    Between Monday 21 and Sunday 29 October, including our four Halloween Nights, we welcomed over 18,600 visitors. That’s 6% higher than we’d budgeted and a significant increase on the same week last year.

    As we move towards our winter opening hours, we are now 2% ahead of our budgeted visitor attendance figure year-to-date and 5% ahead of the same point last year; a great position for us to be in as we progress our development plans.

    This success is down to you and I want to thank everyone who worked so hard over the past 10 days to achieve such impressive results and more importantly, to make sure our visitors had a great experience.

    Andrew

  • Stour Off For Repair

    Stour Off For Repair

    On 29 October, Museum narrowboat, Stour will be towed to Caggy’s Boatyard for repair works to her hull. These works will reduce the level of pumping required for Stour to stay afloat.

    She will return to the Museum on Sunday 5 November, following which there will be an assessment of her long-term restoration strategy.

     

     

     A bit about Stour

    Stour, built in 1937 by Fellows, Morton & Clayton, was one of a large fleet of all wooden boats used by Thomas Clayton (Oldbury) Ltd for liquid cargo carrying, the main hold area being fully decked over.  When new she would have carried more refined fuels such as gas oil for powering machinery and when older she was used for carrying heavier lubricating oil from the fuel distribution plants on the Manchester Ship Canal. Her last job was collecting gas water (a by-product of coke manufacture) and transporting it to Albright & Wilson at Oldbury.  Stour was owned throughout her working life by the Beechey family until 1966.

    Stour came to the Museum in 1991 and the front end of the boat was rebuilt.  In 2003-04, she had a major overhaul including replacement of most of the wooden bottom and re-painting to her original Clayton’s livery.

     

  • BCLM Staff in the Paper

    On Monday 23 October the Express & Star ran a ‘day in the life of’ spread of some of our staff.

    12 team members from across the Museum were interviewed about why they love working at BCLM.

    To read what they said, visit the Express & Star website – https://www.expressandstar.com/entertainment/2017/10/23/labour-of-love-at-black-country-living-museum/#gfUGwwvDx6yCxWIU.01

    Thanks to everyone involved in creating such a great piece.

     

    Image courtesy of Express & Star 

  • BCLM: Forging Ahead – Gas Showroom begins its journey

    BCLM: Forging Ahead – Gas Showroom begins its journey

     The demolition schedule of the first of Forging Ahead’s translocated buildings, the West Bromwich Gas Showroom, is being set on Tuesday, 24 October.

    As such, the following day we’ll be launching our public call-out for memories of the building in the hope that lots of people will come forward with interesting stories surrounding the building from the 40s-60s.

    If you hear of anyone – member of the public or visitor – who would like to share a memory or story of the showroom with us, please put them in touch with our Collections team either via email – [email protected], phone – 0121 557 9643 or in person (via reception).

    Please do not take any personal details yourself.

    Likewise, if you have any personal stories you would like to share, please pop in and see the Collections team in the Rolfe Street offices.

     

     

    A bit about the showroom:

    The Gas Showroom gives us the opportunity to tell a range of stories from the 40s to the 60s – from the bombing of the Black Country in World War Two to Cannon’s innovation in gas cookers – and allows us to recreate 1950s cookery demonstrations.

    Whilst the condition of the building means we can’t take it ‘brick-by-brick’, we are specifically hoping to save the central stone staircase – perhaps the most memorable feature of the showroom – as well as the Gas Service signage, bricks, windows and lintels to allow us to rebuild the frontage exactly as it would have been in the 1950s.

  • Easier Intranet Access

    Easier Intranet Access

    You can now access the Museum intranet via your mobile phone or tablet!

    As long as you’re on the Museum site, you can access the intranet from any mobile device when you log into the staff wi-fi.

    To remind you, here are the wi-fi log in details:

    Network – Staff

    Password – Coal&Steam&WiFi

    Once you’re logged in, just visit intranet.bclm.int to stay up to date with news and opportunities from across the Museum and to get access to policies and documents.

    Don’t forget, you can also access the intranet using the computers located in the following areas:

    • Guide Hut
    • Mine office
    • Staff Room above Emile Doo’s
    • Rolfe Street Kitchen (screen only)

     

    Other Intranet developments coming soon….

    • Improved news streams on the screens in the above areas
    • A new custom form within the Museum’s online helpdesk facility allowing you to submit news items for inclusion on the intranet

     

  • An Evening of Light & Sound – Sat 18 November

    An Evening of Light & Sound – Sat 18 November

    Some of you have already taken part in filming and recording for the installations of our Arts Council funded Arts project – thanks again to those of you who have!  The time is now coming to publicly reveal the launch event, ‘An Evening of Light & Sound’ which is a free entry event taking place on Saturday 18 November.

    The project will see projections of light and sound across the Museum including a SlipGrid wall in Admissions, massive projections on the Limekilns, immersive work under the Rolling mill, touch instigated light and sound at Lenches, plus a number of other exciting pieces including possibly the smallest cinema in the world! All of the installations will be made up of sights and sounds filmed and recorded here at the museum, either by the artist himself, groups who have taken part in workshops, or the images you and the public are currently loading to Instagram.

    Everyone is welcome at the event so long as they pre-book their free tickets. Booking will go live publicly on Monday 23 October but tickets will be available to book for staff and volunteers at www.bclm.com/lightandsound from this Friday 20 October.

    We would also  love staff & volunteers to take part in the full ‘dress rehearsal’ on the evening of Friday 17 November where we invite you to take photos and film for use by the artist, Andy Mckeown during the launch the following night. More info about the dress rehearsal to follow.

     

    Image above – a sneak peak of the scale of imaging being used. This is a photograph from our archive, projected on the Limekilns during a test run last week…I hope it gives a flavour of the show to come

  • Round Pound Countdown…

    The legal tender status of the round £1 coin will be withdrawn from 23.59 on Sunday 15 October 2017.  From this date, we will no longer be accepting these coins anywhere in the Museum.

    If a visitor tries to pay for anything with a round £1 coin after this date, please tell them politely that it is no longer legal tender. They will still be able to bank their round coins…..or, until the end of the year, they can drop them into one of our collection boxes and help support our work as an educational charity!

  • We need your photos

    We are nearing the delivery of the Art Council funded Arts Commissioning project and our contracted artist, Andy McKeown from Wild Strawberry, wants staff and visitors to be fully involved in the content of the displays.  The project will be previewed on Thu 19 October at the Festival of Light and then launched to the public at an event on Sat 18 November.

    Andy works with digitally projected light shows and also sound. He wants your ‘snaps’ to be part of the massive artworks that will be projected onto the Limekilns, a SlipGrid wall in reception and under the Rolling Mill. All you need to do is take a photo of your favourite place in the museum and add it to Instagram with the hashtag #BCLMStaffView.

    Visitors will also be encouraged to enter their photos by using the tag #BCLMMyView.

    In addition there will be a full ‘dress rehearsal’ on the evening of Friday 17 November and staff will be invited to attend and take photographs which will be added to the final delivery the following night.

    Tessa Lovell

    Head of Visitor Engagement

  • Rationalisation of the Tram Collection

    In considering the future requirements of the Museum to operate trams and the proposed extension of the tramway, the Museum Board, in line with the Museum’s Collections Development Policy, has approved the deaccessioning of the four tram bodies under tarpaulins by the Albion Depot:

    1. Cable Tram (1975/014/001) – Birmingham Central Tramways cable car, built by Falcon works, Loughborough, 1888. Thought to be the only surviving example of its type, the grounded tram body is in very poor condition. The National Tramway Museum, Crich, has agreed to accept the transfer of this important tram to their collection.

    The following trams will be offered to other museums, in line with the Museums Association Code of Ethics:

    1. Tram 75 (1975/016/002) – Dudley Stourbridge & District, single-deck car, built in Tividale, 1919. Similar to 5 & 34.
    1. Tram 102 (1984/466/002) – Dudley Stourbridge & District, single-deck car, built in Tividale, 1920. Similar to 5 & 34. 
    1. Tram 361 (1998/036/001) – Built by J Stephenson Co, New York, single-deck Tram No,361 was delivered to the Lisbon Tramway Network (Rede de eléctricos de Lisboa, Portugal) in Heavily rebuilt in 1947-49 and again in 1959-61, it survived in service in Lisbon, Portugal until the mid-1990s.

    All the vehicles are in poor condition and do not offer any useful spares, either for repurposing on our operational fleet or for research purposes. In addition, the Cable Tram and 361 fall outside of the Collections Development Policy (Section 4.3), which requires collections to have a reputable and clear Black Country provenance.

  • Director’s Bimonthly Report – September 2018

    You will now be able to find the Director’s Bi-monthly report for September 2018 here: Director’s Bi-monthly Report 28-09-17. This and previous reports are kept in the Intranet documents tab at the top of the page. This report briefs the board on notable progress under the Museum’s six strategic aims including:

    • Develop our distinctiveness and brand
    • Safeguard, enrich and use our collections
    • Transform the visitor journey
    • Increase visitor attendance
    • Achieve national and international impact
    • Grow and diversify our income