Space Explorers!

Once again, Southend Museums has hosted its fantastic Space Explorers event, which remains as popular as ever with children off for their summer holidays.

During the course of this fun-packed morning, the children engaged in a variety of fascinating activities, including artistic creations making colourful mobiles that they could take home and decorate their room with.

Our visitors also visited the Planetarium to find out all about the stars and planets, although many did exhibit a lot of prior knowledge of space, which was excellent, and also asked lots to great questions about the Universe.

Our would-be astronauts also had the opportunity to try to land a computer simulated lunar module on the surface of the Moon.

Their first attempts did seem to suggest that we didn't have too many potential space pilots, as they often seemed to plough into the Moon at some speed - much to the amusement of our would-be astronauts! However, on the second attempt our pilots seem to be rather getting the hang of it, suggesting that a career in the Space Corp could be on the cards, after all!

One of our favourite events of the morning is decorating a lemonade bottle rocket which was then launched towards the stars - although it has to be admitted that one did end up on the roof instead!

Overall a most interesting and enjoyable morning - one that we will surely repeat next year....

Tudor Day at Southchurch Hall

Sunday 5^th August saw the return of our popular Tudor Day in the beautiful setting of Southchurch Hall and its gardens. The Hall played host to Tudor musicians from strolling players and singers of madrigals to James Bisgood, a truly brilliant musician who performs at Hampton Court Palace and The Globe Theatre. Only the best is good enough for Southend!

Traditional crafts were on show from wood-turning, spinning and weaving, basket making, pottery and bee-keeping. There were story tellers, Mummers, Tudor merchants, a preacher, visiting Elizabethan ladies and even sailors entertaining the visitors with their antics!

The day was probably the hottest day of the year so Rossi's ice cream and refreshments from The Friends of Southend Museums were a welcome addition to the busy Hall and gardens. Joining us on the day were even Essex FM's Black Thunders indeed the media did us proud with a double page spread in The Echo - and if you want a chuckle look at www.echo-news.co.uk under 'videos' then 'Archive'. Yes I'm afraid that’s the museum's own Rob Blake aka 'Sir Robert'!

Visitors came from near and far, even from Russia and America! Some 1800 visitors came that day proving that the Tudor Day is still one of the highlights of a busy museum year. Next years Tudor Day is on Sunday August 3rd - and rumour has it, a certain King Henry will be on the prowl!

Whats for Dinner?

Whats For Dinner was a fascinating insight into a subject close to everyone's heart - food! Some 800 people visited the museum this week, with many saying that they had come especially to see  this eye-catching and tasty activity in Southend Museum's popular Discovery Centre.

The museum's Carol Hellyar - the activity's brainchild, researcher, organiser, assembler and cook! as usual did us proud and regaled visitors with Victorian tea and Roman luncheons.

On the menu were; a display showing a Roman lunch replete with, olives, cheese, figs, dates, some original and reproduction objects.

A Victorian tea time display had scones and home made jam, cakes, stilton and biscuits, pickles, salads and jellies. Recipes were available.

Also on display was a table with 'guess the object' with items which ranged from pumpkins to a medieval trencher, Roman pestle & mortar, Roman herb pot, and a Victorian herb cutter.

It was an enjoyable week with fascinating food displays that excited lots of interest and questions. Looking at food from the past raised questions of where food comes from both in the past and today and how we take the food available today so much for granted. Never mind gladiators, this showed the more palatable side to Roman life! With something for all, from visitors after recipes to grabbing the occasional olive this was a an activity event that really did give food for thought!

Recent Acquisitions

EKCO Continental Hotplate

The firm of EKCO (E.K. Cole Co.) is normally associated with radios and televisions, in which fields they were pioneers, but from their work in these areas they diversified into plastics and other electronic products.

One branch of the firm was EKCO Plastics, which produced all sorts of domestic wares. The kitchen and bathroom ranges were normally made under the trade name of EKCOWARE. However, some, including this hotplate, (which was made in the early 1960s) were produced under the name of EKCO PLASTAWARE. (SOUMS : S2007.204)

If anyone out there has an EKCO Hostess Trolley, or other EKCO products or literature, in good condition, that they no longer require, we would be pleased to know!

One Hundred and One Views of Southend-on-Sea

An illustrated Guide to Southend, Westcliff and Leigh, published under the 'IXL series'. This will be familiar to any postcard collectors, and certainly many, if not all, the images in the book have been reproduced as postcards. The book is wholly photographic, with no text apart from captions.

Well known views include Southend Pier, The Kursaal, local churches, the Cliffs and the Hotel Victoria. Although not dated it is possible to estimate the date of production as 1904-1905 at the latest.

There is photograph of the waterchute by the side of the pier (the site until recently occupied by the Golden Hind replica and, more recently by 'Queen Anne's Revenge'). The Palace Hotel is captioned 'The Hotel Metropole', and the Warwick Revolving Tower is shown in one of the images.

There are some more unusual photographs in the book, which we have not seen reproduced as postcards. These include a view of Prittlewell Priory, from the south west, with the 'ha-ha' in the foreground. A ladder is propped up against the west front!

Another is a view of High Street Hadleigh and one of Alexandra Street, Southend, looking west, with the Empire Theatre on the right. There is also an unusual view of the Cliffs at Southend. Some of these views are reproduced here. (SOUMS : S2007.203)

Congratulations Carol!

Its many congratulations to Museum Assistant Carol Hellyar, who recently completed her Undergraduate Diploma in Archaeology from Leicester University.

Carol had to study various aspects of archaeology, such as the Romans, the Saxons, early and late prehistory as well as post-medieval history.

Her new found knowledge will be put to good use in her work interpreting the museums buildings and collections to visitors, including school groups.