Museum celebrates tenth birthday with £95,000 facelift

It all started with one man's collection of papers and objects exhibited annually in a small room for a few interested local people.

But as word got around and the collection grew, the Amersham museum was already starting to develop into the impressive historical centre it is today.

From such humble beginnings the fledgling collection, started by Bridg Stock-Choat, was moved to a temporary museum in the British Legion Hall in Whielden Street.

This set-up lasted throughout the 1980s during which time enthusiasts took over the museum's current building in the High Street.

From 1984 to 1990, project leaders and volunteers, led by the late Eric Corns, worked hard to get the museum off the ground.

Amersham Museum officially opened its doors in 1991. The latest project involves a £95,000 extension to raise its profile and attract more visitors.

Monica Mullins, curator at the museum, said the museum has become a great success.

She said: "Eric asked me to do it. I was an architect and I had stopped doing that, and it's a very nice job.

"When it is open it takes about 3,000 people a year. The year before last we did anyway. It has been harder over the last year. People didn't have enough money to spend and there are other things to do at weekends."

She recalls how hard it was to get people to notice the museum when it was tucked away in an alley.

But now the High Street museum is in the process of a facelift to incorporate the shop next door. The two buildings are being knocked into one making the museum easier to see from the road.

Mrs Mullins explained: "There was the shop in front before and people just didn't know it was there. We will now have a small front window. Most of the new space will be used to move some of the office in from home."

The building work will give the museum a chance to keep all its records together, and give visitors easier access to them.

There will also be new facilities for the disabled which will improve accessibility. At the moment wheelchair users have to negotiate two difficult steps and a narrow archway.

The museum has received a loan from the Heritage Lottery Fund worth £70,000 and from the Friends of Amersham Museum who generously donate money to the project.

Mrs Mullins said: "We are so grateful to the friends for all their help. We have had generous donations but we haven't got the complete amount. We could do with a bit more.

"We'll just have to do some fundraising a bit harder than before.

"We are doing guided walks around Amersham. We had 23 people on Easter Sunday, but we just have two or three sometimes or none at all.

"We haven't started any fundraising activities yet. We had some concerts and events. We don't know how much we will get from the Friends yet. It's an ongoing thing."

She added: "It is a volunteer museum. I have to research things and it can be very difficult to get enough time to do it. There is so much of writing letters and filling in forms, and providing information about all sorts of things.

"People also contact us about family history."

They needed some extra space in the buildings for exhibits as the old building has small rooms and lacks space.

She said: "We can't stand things in the middle. We needed more room.

"The shop next door was not very beautiful. It was only 100 years old. It was a difficult problem to match the buildings along the street. We have had to build things in the style of the age.

"There are modern needs to be put inside and make it blend it to the features that relate to the High Street. For example the size of the windows are the same, so it will be in proportion."

Inside the museum there are a number of exhibits relating to Amersham including Second World War barrage balloons and sea rescue equipment.

There is also a display telling the story of Weller's Brewery between 1762 and 1929. The brewery was sited next to St Mary's Church, Church Street, and was once the largest employer in the town. It has since been partially demolished and rebuilt as offices.

Costume figures and examples of lacemaking, a past speciality of the town, are exhibited as well.

"We build up the museum depending on people giving us things but we have bought things from time to time," said Mrs Mullins.

"It is difficult as you have to have things relating to Amersham and you also have to explain the history. It is not always easy.

"New exhibits will be there. I am always altering some small thing, even if it is just the display.

The museum puts on guided walks around Amersham from Easter to the end of October every Sunday taking about an hour. They start at the museum at 2.30pm. Adults are £1 and children are free.

If you would like to support the museum contact Ian Arthurton of the Friends of Amersham Museum on 01494 433260 for more information. The museum will be reopened from August until the end of October. For more information call 01494 725754