from Trevor Davies
Becoming a Charitable Incorporated Organisation
First, I must thank you all for your support during the transition of the Emsworth Maritime & Historical Trust from an Unincorporated Charity to a Charitable Incorporated Organisation.
So far, we agreed the new constitution at the AGM on 9th March 2023; this was subsequently approved by the Charity Commission. At the EGM on 14th December, you approved the transfer of the Trust’s assets from the Unincorporated Charity to the Charitable Incorporated Organisation.
You also approved the increase in subscriptions to £15 for a single member and £28 for a couple. I am really grateful that over 80 members voted in favour of these motions both by post and in person – a very high turnout for a procedural general meeting.
The last step is to guide the membership though the changes to the payment process – both the increased amount agreed at the AGM and the new bank account number. Please ask me if you are confused – chairman@emsworthmuseum.org.uk <mailto:chairman@emsworthmuseum.org.uk>
Paying your subscriptions
You will be aware that your subscriptions are now due – indeed, many of you have already paid them.
In addition to the bank account and subscription changes mentioned above, we are also introducing a new way to pay your subscription. You may recall that we have been using membermojo for the last few years to assist the Membership Secretary, Shelagh Standen.
One of the features on membermojo allows members to make payments directly. It is very simple – no different to making an online purchase. It also considerably simplifies the administrative workload of Shelagh and James Melrose, our Treasurer. I do hope you will consider using this option to pay your subscription.
ges in the Museum. We plan to be ready for opening on 29th March (Good Friday).
Winter work
This has been the year of redecoration. Local decorators J P Roberts and Keith spent a total of four weeks in the Museum in November and early December, following the week they spent in the Museum in January 2023.
They have painted the western end of the main room in the same colour scheme as the eastern end that they did earlier in 2023. So that the decorators could do a proper job, and not just paint round the cabinets, we brought in specialist movers (recommended by our cabinet supplier) to move the cabinets into the middle of the room before painting started and back again after it finished (fig. 1).
JP and Keith have also painted the entrance lobby, stairs and reception area. In conjunction with local interior decorator Kate McKenzie, we chose a dark green for three reasons
- It is a colour in keeping with the period of the Museum building which was built in 1900. Combined with a slightly creamy paint on the ceiling and woodwork, it enhances the late Victorian features.
- The darker tones will also highlight the pictures we display on the stairs. Hopefully, visitors will be encouraged to spend more time studying them. It is now easy to understand why, as part of its refurbishment, the National Portrait Gallery has chosen darker wall colours against which to display its collection.
- We found that originally the woodwork had been painted dark green a very similar colour (fig. 2).
Figures 3 and 4 show the Maurice Broomfield display on the stairs before and after redecoration. The photographs show how the darker wall colour enhances the impact of Maurice’s pictures.
During the course of this work, we discovered that the original Victorian tiles still remained in the ground floor entrance lobby. They had been covered by plastic tiles and matting for many years. The discovery confirms that in 1900, Warblington Urban District Council built their new offices to a high specification with many contemporary features.
Sadly, the risk of our visitors slipping on wet days during the summer means that we will have to relay the matting, but we will be displaying a picture of the tiles (fig. 5) to remind ourselves what lies beneath.
In addition, Phil Magrath and Ben Timmis will be working on enhancing the displays. In the archive room, there will be a new display board drawn by Robert Ferry describing the steps in making a Palaeolithic Hand Axe next to the Palaeolithic Hand Axe donated to the Museum by Bill Dridge.
Towards the end of 2023, we received planning permission to replace the Museum’s rather aged external signs. We plan to have the new signs, designed by local graphic designer Ellie Cross, in place just before the Museum opens for the new season.
Volunteering
Although I have already emailed you asking for volunteers to become stewards, it is still not too late to put your name forward. Without stewards, we cannot open the Museum. There will be training sessions during March, so you should be able to find a date that suits you. We ask all stewards and other volunteers to attend a training session before we open, so that we can remind you of the crucial details and make you aware of the changes in the Museum. We plan to be ready for opening on 29th March (Good Friday).