At 332,778, visitor attendance in 2017 was considerably higher than the Museum has ever seen before. As I mentioned in my staff briefings last week, such strong levels of attendance can be attributed to many things, not least a hugely popular events programme, an increased awareness and use of the Museum’s UnChained Annual Pass, and our unique ability to give people a truly enjoyable experience.
We will soon be publishing these excellent visitor figures and so, as we open our doors for 2018, I want to thank you once again for all your work in 2017 and wish you all the best for the year ahead for which we’ve set ourselves a challenging but very achievable target visitor attendance of 325,000.
Andrew
Don’t forget that you can access minutes from the weekly Operations meeting here on the intranet.
To view the minutes, please navigate to Documents – Museum Documents – Operations – Meeting Minutes and then select the document you wish you view.
If you have any queries on how to access the minutes, please speak to your line manager.
Thank you to everyone who shovelled and gritted us out of closure on Friday and Saturday last week – a tremendous team effort on Friday meant that 1100 people still got to enjoy a Traditional Christmas Evening!
We did have to close the Museum reluctantly on Sunday 10 December and as such had to cancel a number of Santa Hunts which is a shame but we are working to make sure those people who missed out get priority booking next year.
The decision was also made to close the Museum to staff on Monday 11 December due to treacherous travel conditions. It is due to be open to staff on Tuesday 12 December but before we can open to the public on Wed 13 December, there is a lot of snow to be moved around the Museum. Therefore, we ask that all staff who are able pull together again on Tuesday and come prepared to grit, scrape and shovel snow – warm clothes and sturdy footwear is a must!
The first two of five vintage vehicles have arrived at the Museum today, donated by The Patrick Foundation. The gift of the vehicles – a 1934 Austin 10 Patrick Special Saloon, AOA 282 and a 1939 Alvis Speed 25 Saloon, FOB 506 – forms part of a wider donation the Patrick Foundation will be making towards BCLM: Forging Ahead, details of which will be announced in the coming weeks.
The remaining three vehicles are due to arrive at the Museum on Monday 11 December.
The Alvis and Austin are temporarily being housed in the workshop of Bradburn & Wedge whilst a longer term location is sought for them.
We envisage all five vehicles to be a regular feature of the new 1940s-60s town in the future.
We won’t be announcing news of the donation externally until the new year, so please do keep this news internal only for now.
This update follows the news article posted in October regarding the deaccessioning of the four tram bodies under tarpaulins by the Albion Depot:
In addition, the following of Tram Movements have also taken place:
Wolverhampton Corporation Tramways horse-drawn double-decker, Tram 23, has been moved from Albion Depot to the Tall Vehicle Shed. Tram 23 will form part of the new display within the Tall Vehicle Shed that will be opened in March 2018.
Albion Depot now contains the Wolverhampton Corporation Tramways double-decker Tram 49 and the Tividale single-deckers Tram 5 and Tram 34. Tram 19 has been moved inside the Albion Depot to improve the long-term preservation of this unique tram. Tram 19 was built by Dick Kerr Preston, circa 1901, as a narrow gauge open-top double decker tram and probably operated on the Dudley-Stourbridge route. Only the grounded body now survives, the structure is in fair condition with remnants of the high-quality interior. Externally, fragments of a cream and maroon livery along with the inscription ‘WG Bond, General Manager’ are visible on the side.
Image – Birmingham Central Tramways car being loaded for its journey to Crich
