Press Releases

VICTORIAN FESTIVAL 2007
Date: 21/11/2007

Chamber maids, chimney sweeps, Victorian ladies and gentlemen and Queen Victoria herself were among the colourful characters at Dover Town Hall when more than 350 children from all over Kent came along for the return of the popular Victorian Festival.

The festival was organised by Dover Museum and took place on Monday and Tuesday 5 and 6 November. Pupils from all over Kent took part in the event, including pupils from Deal, Dover, Folkestone, Isle of Sheppey, Tunbridge Wells, West Malling, and Westgate-on-Sea.

Children and adults came dressed in Victorian costume, and activities included learning about stained glass window design, drawing artefacts and making Victorian decoupage boxes. Pupils also took part in a practical drama workshop on life as a Victorian child. Students from South Kent College were on hand to help with Victorian hairstyles and make-up, and the days were rounded off with sing-a-longs of songs from the time.

Cllr Mrs Sue Nicholas, DDC Cabinet Member for Community, said: "It is always a pleasure to attend these events. The festival days were great fun and the range of colourful costumes and activities really brought the past to life in an exciting and informative way. It is great fun and an enjoyable way to learn about history."

NOTES TO EDITORS:

DOVER MUSEUM
VICTORIAN FESTIVAL 2007
AT DOVER TOWN HALL

MONDAY 5TH NOVEMBER

HARBOUR SCHOOL, DOVER
CHARTFIELD, WESTGATE ON SEA
CHERITON PRIMARY, FOLKESTONE
LYMINGE, FOLKESTONE
ROSE HILL, TUNBRIDGE WELLS
ST RICHARDS, DOVER

TUESDAY 6TH NOVEMBER

ELLIOT PARK, MINSTER, ISLE OF SHEPPEY
KINGSDOWN & RINGWOULD, DEAL
KING'S HILL, WEST MALLING
RIVER PRIMARY, DOVER

COALFIELD HERITAGE PROJECT BOOK LAUNCH
Date: 29/08/2007

A major initiative to preserve and record the heritage of the Kent Coalfield is welcoming the beginning of a new chapter in its important work - with the launch a new book packed with information about the local area.

Dover District Council (DDC) launched the Coalfield Heritage Initiative Kent (CHIK) in 2001 to record and celebrate our mining heritage. The project was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Single Regeneration Budget, DDC and other funding bodies, and has been led by Dover Museum and the White Cliffs Countryside Project (WCCP). The CHIK project has worked closely with local communities to produce a digital archive, which can be viewed at the 'virtual museum' at www.kentcoal.co.uk . A second phase of this work was the Miners Way, led by WCCP, which has created a coalfield country trail focusing on old coalfield sites and the surrounding countryside.

This important work has led CHIK and WCCP to produce The Companion To The Miner's Trail, written by Paul Haddaway. The book is being launched with CHIK community groups at the Betteshanger Social Club on Tuesday 11 September from 2pm-5pm. The CHIK exhibition on the history of mining in Kent will be on display and there will be a chance for visitors to bring their own photographs for inclusion on the CHIK website, which will remain a live archive.

For more information, please contact the CHIK project at Dover Museum on (01304) 201066 or log onto the website at www.kentcoal.co.uk. The Companion To The Miner's Trail book is available from the Dover Museum shop.

CROSS CHANNEL ART TRAIL LINKS TO DOVER MUSEUM
Date: 27/07/2007

A cross channel art collaboration, as part of a contemporary art trail linking France, Belgium and England, has included a work now installed and on show at Dover Museum. The art trail, Shadows In Paradise, is themed as memorials to the 1st and 2nd World Wars. It links artworks across three countries, including works installed at Dover Museum, Dover Castle and the Spitfire and Hurricane Memorial Museum in Ramsgate.

The initiative, organised by French authorities, is part of the work of the Fonds Regional d'Art Contemporain (FRAC), Nord - Pas de Calais. The FRAC, Nord - Pas de Calais aims to build up a collection dedicated to international contemporary art, and to show this collection as widely as possible by developing an international network, working on traveling exhibitions and lending works to other institutions.

The work loaned to Dover Museum is "Armenie" by artist Michel Aubry, and will be on display until Remembrance Day on 11 November 2007. Over the last fifteen years, Michel Aubry has created for himself an unusual place in the world of contemporary art by developing a body of work in which his conceptual approach cultivates tradition and modernity, music and visual arts, sound and sculpture.

For more information on Dover Museum, please log onto www.dovermuseum.co.uk or for more information on FRAC Nord - Pas de Calais, please see www.fracnpdc.fr

TUDOR FESTIVAL 2007
Date: 16/07/2007

From the life of Shakespeare to the wives of Henry VIII, pupils from schools across Kent learnt all about life in Tudor times at the latest festival event at Dover Museum.

Pupils from schools across the county visited the Museum for the Tudor Festival 2007, which was held on 4 and 5 July. Visitors got dressed up in period costumes and enjoyed a range of activities including drama workshops, learning about musical instruments, making and playing games from the time, and trying Tudor block printing.

For more information about the Tudor Festival or future festival events, please contact Kim Norton at Dover Museum on (01304) 201066.


NOTES TO EDITORS

2007 TUDOR FESTIVAL FOR SCHOOLS
AT DOVER MUSEUM

WEDNESDAY 4th JULY

Ramsgate Holy Trinity Primary School
Dumpton Park Drive
Broadstairs
Kent
CT10 1RR

St Richards RCP School
Castle Avenue
Dover
Kent
CT16 1EZ

THURSDAY 5th JULY

Brookfield Jnr School
Swallow Road
Larkfield
Maidstone
Kent
ME20 6PY

Lady Joanna Thornhill Endowed Primary School
Bridge Street
Wye
Ashford
Kent
TN25 5EA

New press releases will be posted regularly. For further information or pictures, please contact Mark Frost at Dover Museum on 01304 201066.