What's been happening?
MAMMOTH HUNT AT DARTFORD BOROUGH MUSEUM (July – August 2008)
Dartford Borough Museum joined forces with Dartford Library for 14 separate sessions based around the Library’s ‘Dino Dig’ event. In the Museum, children had to hunt for small models of mammoths which had been hidden inside the display cases. At the end of the event, two lucky winners were each given a prize of a dinosaur model kit.
DARTFORD BOROUGH MUSEUM CENTENARY CELEBRATED WITH FLORAL BED IN CENTRAL PARK (Summer 2008)
In June 2008, a floral bed bearing a design based on the Anglo-Saxon Darenth Bowl, Dartford Borough Museum’s most important item, was laid out in Central Park to celebrate the Centenary of the Museum. The design was surrounded by the wording ‘Dartford Borough Museum 1908-2008’. This design and wording was also used on pin badges and stickers which have been given to young visitors throughout the summer and beyond as part of the centenary celebrations.
WALLACE AND GROMIT EVENT AT DARTFORD BOROUGH MUSEUM (16 May 2008)
Dartford Borough Museum took part in the Wallace and Gromit themed national ‘Museum at Night’ event, sponsored by Aardman Animation. The Dartford event was undertaken jointly with Dartford Library where the film ‘The Wrong Trousers’ was shown. In the Museum, young visitors were able to solve a Wallace and Gromit spot-the-difference puzzle, find Wallace and Gromit related words in a wordsearch and take part in a hunt for Wallace and Gromit characters which had been hidden inside the display cases. We were lucky enough to be loaned various Wallace and Gromit models by Airfix (now part of Hornby) for the evening, including two new Shaun the Sheep models which were not even available in the shops at that time.
DARTFORD BOROUGH MUSEUM CELEBRATES CENTENARY WITH UNVEILING OF BLUE PLAQUE ON MUSEUM’S FIRST HOME (19 March 2008)
The founding of a museum in Dartford in 1908 was celebrated by the unveiling of a blue plaque on the Technical College (now Enterprise House) in Essex Road where the Museum was first organised for public viewing. The plaque was unveiled by Olive Barker, the granddaughter of Ernest Youens who was the instigator of the Museum and its first Curator from 1908 until his death in 1938.
DARTFORD BOROUGH MUSEUM REOPENS FOLLOWING THREE MONTH CLOSURE
Dartford Borough Museum reopened on schedule on Saturday 30 April 2005 after having been closed for three months to allow the Museum gallery to be rewired and redecorated. In order to allow the rewiring work to be undertaken, every wall-mounted display case had to be emptied of objects. Many other fixtures and fittings had to be moved to enable subsequent painting to be undertaken.
In addition to the rewiring and redecorating, another improvement was the fitting of transparent plastic film to the windows by specialists. This film contains an ultra-violet filter which removes the harmful rays which could damage delicate museum objects and fade the display materials which we useMP VISITS DARTFORD BOROUGH MUSEUM ( 20 May 2004 )
Dr Howard Stoate, the MP for Dartford , visited Dartford Borough Museum to publicise Museums and Galleries Month which ran throughout May. He was photographed with members of staff and items relating to the current exhibition ‘Transport in Time'.
DARTFORD BOROUGH MUSEUM RECEIVES NATIONAL STANDARDS CERTIFICATE (16 December 2003)
Dartford Borough Museum has been awarded the status of Full Registration by Resource: The Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries.
The Registration Scheme sets standards for the operation of museums throughout the United Kingdom is open to all museums and galleries with a long-term commitment to quality in public service.
The granting of Full Registration shows that Dartford Borough Museum has achieved approved standards in management, collection care and public services. It also highlights that the museum is a suitable home for collections which are part of our common heritage and is worthy to receive support from public sources.
