WEYMOUTH MUSEUM Annual Trust Report 2020-2021
CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
Last year I wrote ‘What a year this has been!’ Little did I know it would continue in that vein for 2021. However, despite this,a huge amount has been achieved and I think I can justifiably say that despite all difficulties - not just those caused by COVID, the museum has had a successful 2021.
Problems with the status and ownership of the building continued. At the beginning of 2021 the building went up for sale as the previous owners were bankrupt. The wider community latched onto this, and an attempt was made to declare the building a community asset. This failed. An offer was finally accepted for the building from Blakesley Developments but at the date of writing the final contract has not been signed although we are assured it is imminent. The Museum Adviser and I have met with the developer and made our position clear. However, it remains to be seen what the outcome will be and whether the museum agreement will be honoured. In view of all of this the Trustees took the decision to move the collection out of Brewers Quay into safe storage as we cannot risk it in a building site. This is with the total agreement of Dorset Council although the funding issue is unresolved. Currently Tom DeWit is packing up the museum ready for the move into storage. We hope to keep the museum alive through a pop-up shop in the town centre for next year and we are currently submitting an NHLF bid to fund this.
Our visitor numbers increased dramatically. We had 5039 visitors compared with 1834 in the previous year. Much of this increase was the result of the alterations resulting from the successful Heritage Lottery bid and the advertisement of the Museum through the Weymouth Bid and our Operations
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Manager. The new window displays have significantly increased public awareness and local traders have expressed their
appreciation of the improved frontage to Brewers Quay. Our thanks to the Nothe Fort for their loan of the Monarch paddle steamer model. The window displays were enhanced by the Friends’ contribution of hanging baskets and the new planters in Hope Square. As we reported last year, we advertised for a part time Museum Manager for the summer months to continue our development work. His appointment was a great success. He built good relationships with our volunteers and ensured many of our procedures were totally up to date especially in relation to fire and evacuation procedures.
This year was the 450th anniversary of Weymouth and Melcombe Regis and as a result of a small grant we held Open days where members of the public came to talk about Weymouth in the past and were recorded. This was very successful and the Mayor visited. It was advertised in our big window with the Weymouth 450th logo.
One huge success was the display of part of the Bussell collection at the Shire Hall in Dorchester. Huge thanks go to Abbie King, the Director of the Shire Hall Museum and Laura Gardener, a freelance curator, who put together the most wonderful display of this important part of our collection.
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I would like to thank the Trustees of the Museum for their hard work. Our trustee numbers have been further depleted by the appointment of Jon Murden to the Beaulieu Motor Museum, but we are about to embark on a recruitment campaign. I would also like to continue to thank Vicky De Wit. Without her we would be a much weaker organisation. The museum would not open without the volunteers – thank you to all of you. Finally, my thanks to Richard Breward and Phil Wise for producing the statutory accounts for the Trust this year.
Marcia Headon
Chair of Weymouth Museum Trust January 2022
VISITOR SERVICES
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YEAR ON YEAR VISITOR 2019 2020 2021
NUMBERS AND INCOME
VISITOR NUMBERS – 3096 1834 5039
Children & Adults
INCOME
Shop Sales 1667.
11
Ticket Sales 4192. 3155. 7930
90 00
Donations 598.3 1195. 90
3 00
TOTAL INCOME 6449. 4350. 9239.0
34 00 0
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Due to the restrictions resulting from the pandemic, the museum only opened to the public from 15 May 2021. This means we had a much-truncated season. Regulations around transmission meant that secondhand books had to be quarantined if handled. Consequently, very few were sold. However, the new operations manager expanded the goods on offer in the shop, selling sweets, postcards, pens and prints. This generated a good income. Although the exact figures for the shop are included in with the ticket sales as much was bought on card.
Much of this increase was the result of the alterations resulting from the successful Heritage Lottery bid of 2020. The new cashless payment system was very successful although some people continued to prefer dealing in cash.
REPORT FROM THE OPERATIONS MANAGER - Dan Weiss
This summer has been highly successful for Weymouth Museum. We have had more visitors than in previous summers and this has obviously helped our finances. Much of this was due to the Staycation factor and we have welcomed people from all over Britain. We have introduced more items to our shop with prints and small cards and this has proved very lucrative.
We also had a very successful Open Day when over 700 people came to events in Hope Square organised by the museum around the theme of the seaside which we had developed in one of our windows. Children loved seeing Punch and Judy and
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having a ride on the donkeys or throwing sponges at faces in holes.
We also had three days when residents came to bring their memories of Weymouth. It was wonderful to hear Len Guiver aged 97 telling of his youth in Weymouth. These events were part of the event to celebrate the 450[th] anniversary of the joining of Weymouth and Melcombe Regis. As well as this we were very grateful to Weymouth Town Council for funding free entry for local residents for two months. This was very popular, attracting over 500 people.
We have also begun the task of transferring our collection records onto Modes. This will take us some considerable time, but we are being guided by the Modes organisation. In due course all of our volunteers will have training in using Modes.
The Museum closed on 30 October for the 2021 season, but we thank all of our volunteers and those who have visited.
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LOCAL HISTORY CENTRE - The enquiries answered
Enquir Month Subject
y no
1 January 17 Bincleaves Road – history etc
2 27 Bincleaves Road – private school run by the
Francombe sisters 1930s
3 Weymouth Breweries
4 Old Rectory House/Vicarage/Penketh House,
Longfield Road
5 Shipwrecks off Portland 1860s
6 Location of wreck site of the Abergavenny
7 Weymouth watermen/ferrymen 1920s
8 Pulteney Buildings – alterations to some of the
buildings
9 “Gay Victorians” dancing club 1940s
10 Paul family and Newfoundland fisheries 19 [th] cent
11 Location of Burdons Buildings, Seymour Street
and Melrose Villas
12 Februar Various queries about Sir Henry Edwards MP
y
13 Nothe Tavern/Royal Canteen
14 Weymouth Sailing Club – club premises Hope
Quay/Nothe Parade
15 Bincleaves tram lift
16 Weymouth Pavilion post 1960 images of bar area
etc
17 “Georgian Bathing Machine” in Chalker family
garden, Newtons Cove
18 Burial place of at Bincombe of executed Hussars
1801
19 Air raid sirens in Weymouth – crematorium
particularly
20 Rocket apparatus engraving
21 March Additional queries about Sir Henry Edwards MP
22 “Scotch Wool Stores” 74 St Thomas Street, 1950s
23 Two views of Weymouth Bay 1791 – identity of
artist (William Delamotte)
24 Riviera Hotel, Bowleaze – any images or plans?
25 Plans etc re Nothe Fort
26 Harry Newman of Quiet Place, East Street 20 [th]
cent
27 April John Pruddah of the Royal Library, Charlotte Row,
1860s
28 28 Greenhill (formerly Gordon Place) history of.
29 Pen and ink sketch by AC Rowe (1890s?) –
location? Alice Clay Rowe, daughter of JG Rowe,
draper of Weymouth
30 Additional queries on Sir Henry Edwards MP Page | 6
31 Identifying artist of watercolour view of view of
Weymouth sands 1866 – possibly ‘Simpson’
32 Request for photographs of ‘Prinz Phillip’ (Sealink)
and ‘Herald of Free Enterprise’ (Townsend
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Richard Samways and Maureen Attwool have continued to provide answers to many questions asked by a variety of residents. We thank them for their diligence, research and knowledge.
The Report from the Friends of Weymouth Museum
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Annual Accounts 2020- 2021 Dorlons £.fA) Sale5 £&c A(&Y1$sK cMrges £7.930.29 OrweTVXth £l.OCQ. Oor5etC¢xAYil Grar £21.rw7. 8ar baLirKe £32.823.92 £27.768.29 C•sh £120.95 £31.33 Totyi £32.944.87 £27.793.62 £5.0> Tetknr & 8roaoDThY Ge bdryirw5tration £?ii. £332.63 £17.2ts1.68 £1.2(K>.LX) £82. £325.X) PartTitrE Mu5eumAssthS MLseurrG Assodaoon SkJnage IT Equ1wrrt LO9& £0. £1.Sfdl É4.142.64 £YL3.>5 £35. £2(. £643.20 £o.Lx) Bank Mcdes userAssock)lon Fire an¢ Securty In5urarKe ICO Subscrfrth Website Ectrhcal Wo tTWtEtia £X055.63
THE MUSEUM’S LINKS WITH OTHER ORGANISATIONS
The Trust works with many other organisations. Often people come asking for information and the recent plaques which have appeared on the streets of Weymouth are as a result of information from the Museum. Likewise Dawn Rondeau from Weymouth BID was interested in bolstering the town’s appeal for the Weymouth in Bloom event. We came to the agreement to provide historic images of Weymouth for shops in St.Mary and St.Alban street which include the museum’s logo and a QR code which directed interested parties straight to us. We welcome such help we can give and are pleased to be associated with – Dorset County Council Weymouth Town Council Arts Council England National Heritage Lottery Fund The Shire Hall Dorchester
GRANTS AND DONATIONS
The Trust is grateful for grants and donations from Dorset Council Friends of Weymouth Museum Weymouth Town Council
TRUSTEES 2020 -2021
Richard Breward Laura Gardner David Harris Marcia Headon – Chair Abbie King Paul Webb
Other officers
Cllr Kate Wheller- representative from Dorset Council Cllr Brian Heatley- representative from Dorset Council
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Vicky De Wit – County Museums Adviser Geoff Pritchard - Minute Secretary
SHOWCASING OUR WORK
The highlight of this year has been the Bussell Exhibition. in the Shire Hall in Dorchester. Ernest Bussell, a Weymouth ironmonger, was well known in the town as a collection of fine art, china, porcelain and silver. After his death in 1967, Bussell’s wife donated his paintings and prints to the Museum. We agreed to loan Shire Hall selected Georgian artworks from the Bussell Collection so they could be displayed. Many of these wonderful paintings and documents have not seen the light of day for over forty years and we were anxious that they should be available to the wider public. Currently at the Museum we do not have the correct temperature control or light conditions to display them. The opening was a huge success and Roger Smith, one of the great nephews of Mr Bussell was present with his wife. Over 3000 people visited and remarks in the visitors’ book were highly appreciative, commenting not only on the beautiful paintings but the comprehensive notes and the manner in which they were displayed.
Since the Exhibition closed Mr Smith has offered the museum more of the Bussell family collection. These include paintings of his father Charles’ boats, a ledger from one of them detailing all its income and outgoings and the ports visited, and contracts for purchases of shares of the boats.
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They will be a valuable addition to the Bussell collection and we look forward to displaying them in our new museum space in the future. .
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THE GEORGIAN ERA | 12
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£1711.ff2 ..29 £1.(Xll F21.(W.Q) £12Q95 £111.ffl £f32.e6 £1*. £1?80 £132 fQ( £0. £1) £414184 £4(55.63 21 2022
Independent examiner's report on the accounts
Section A Independent Examiner’s Report
Report to the Charity Name trustees/ members Weymouth Museum Trust of 30[th] November 2021 Charity 1143692 On accounts for the no (if year ended any) Set out on pages 1 (remember to include the page numbers of additional sheets)
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended 30/11/2021 .
Responsibilities and As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the basis of report preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”).
I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act. Independent I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material examiner's matters have come to my attention in connection with the statement examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect: accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or the accounts do not accord with the accounting records I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
- Please delete the words in the brackets if they do not apply.
Signed: P J Wise Date: 21[st] January 2022 Name: Philip John Wise Relevant professional
1
IER
October 2018
qualification(s) or body (if any):
Address: Hanover House 94 The Esplanade Weymouth, Dorset DT4 7AT
Section B Disclosure
Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight matters of concern (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts: directions and guidance for examiners).
2
IER
October 2018
Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose .
3
IER
October 2018