Hartlebury Museum

Hartlebury Museum, located appropriately enough in Hartlebury, Worcestershire, was the location of one of our recent little family trips.  This is somewhere I (Ben) went to a few times as a child, and it was a destination for school trips.  With a day to fill on a recent visit, I was curious what the place would be like these days.

Admission fee was very reasonable, and though the place was very quiet it was a slightly manky day well out of the normal tourist season, and the staff were all very friendly despite the quiet.  Entry through a good quality gift shop, and the first area visited was this, the display of Gyspy Caravans.

I've always had a liking for these traditional caravans, and this is the largest collection in the country (a rarity because tradition apparently in the old days was that on the death of the owner, the van would be ceremonially burned, so not all that many survive).  Stored undercover, they form an interesting collection.

Detail of the highly ornate panelling and decorative touches. 

Also in the building were various other wagons, carts, velocipedes and bikes.

Outside, and a proper old phone box.  I know it seems weird liking and wanting to photograph these, but we've both notices there's less of them around nowadays than when we were kids, even the more modern steel and glass ones.

One of my personal favourite subjects to seek out, 'proper' workshops...

The majority of the collection is displayed in a large old manor house, which has some nicely modern touches like the combined atrium/lift in glass, which seems to complement the brick building very well indeed.

Photographed because not only did I study in Stourbridge for three years, but ironically one of the other choices for the day was going to be the glass museum near Stourbridge- or would have been had the cash-strapped council not closed it and laid-off the staff.

Interesting water feature inside...

...and a nice old camera, with a touch of 1920's CCTV with the way it was posed in the room.

Photographed just for the amusing sight of a waiter paddling out to the floating Afternoon Tea.

A minor detail I know, but I loved how the headphones were displayed on such an ornate coat-hook... I love looking out for inventive and quirky stuff like this in museums.

A beautiful, working carousel miniature which had The Childs fixated.

Down in the recreated schoolroom, something else I've always admired, the designs of old, worn school desks.  Something about the history contained in that weathered, chipped wood and polished brass on the inkwells...

We need a staircase like this at home, somewhere to display our 3D work... very nice and eye-catching in brick.

The upstairs rooms on farming, and nursing in wartime, were extremely interesting, the fact there aren't any photos is testament to how interesting -particularly the interactive, dressing-up stuff was for The Childs- was.

The attic is something I remembered very strongly from childhood...

...mainly because of this highly enviable collection of old Hornby tinplate trains in one of the cabinets.  Again, in a future, massive house (well we can dream) a load of these gorgeous old trains whizzing round a track in the loft would be desirable...

An odd one to end on perhaps, but something else I have an interest in are ornate old boxes.  I'd love something like this for model-making or art supplies, somehow it would be more refined and 'special' than a plastic toolbox.

We left via the gift shop, with a few choice purchases.  What can I say about the museum?  We all enjoyed the day out, The Childs had fun, there was a good mix of 'proper' displays and interactive bits and pieces.  But I think the main thing is the fact that somewhere like this is open at all- we had so much trouble trying to find a relatively-small museum we could go to, as it seems most in the area have been closed down as part of the drive to save money by councils.

Dudley Muesum, visited last year, has now gone, the Glass Museum near Kingswinford has gone, the few that remain tend to be quite expensive... I love the fact that Hartlebury is still going.  The staff were friendly, the museum interesting, and there's obviously a lot going on behind the scenes to keep the place changing (new paths being laid in the grounds, for example, on our visit).  In these difficult financial times it is heartening that a place like this is still there, and good luck to them with the future.