Bottisham Museum -end of an era

🙂 A big thank you from me as well to the exhibitors of the stands,the owner of the vintage vehicle that took the guys from Lakenheath around the old airfield in this appalling weather.
The burgers they cooked reminded me of the terrific ones they used to cook at the Mildenhall airdisplays.:)
It was a first from the new venue which seems really good with the facilities available ,thanks everyone that made it.:)

looks excellent – well done

Bottisham Airfield Museum open day

As expected turn out was down because of the appalliing weather, but many thanks to those who did make it. Also a big thank you from the museum to the exhibitors, and to the guys from RAF Lakenheath who turned up in numbers, and who also braved the elements and an airborne gazebo to man the bbq and provide hot food.

Here’s a few pics from the day and just some of the exhibits now on display in our new home.

Good luck Jason and the team (incl Wyvernfan eh?)

Sorry can’t be there, family commitments today. Hope you have a good turn-out and a great re-opening!

Chris

See you all there. And bring an umbrella :D:).

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Just a reminder to everyone that the Bottisham Airfield Museum open day is tomorrow at our new venue in the Royal British Legion, and everyone is welcome to come along and see the selection of displays.

The museum have also decided to drop the admission price so its now also free to enter (of course any donations made to the museum collection box will be gratefully received).
There will be a cash bar open for refreshments.

See you all tomorrow 🙂

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I wasn’t inferring anything by it laying on the grass, simply pointing out it was one and the same prop 😮

😮 AHHH WHOOPS,Sorry 😮

I wasn’t inferring anything by it laying on the grass, simply pointing out it was one and the same prop 😮

Sad to see what I would Call some of your prize exhibits appearing on eBay 🙁

And shown lying on the grass in the top images

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LOCKHEED-P38-LIGHTNING-PROPELLER-GENUINE-ITEM-/310395727843?pt=UK_CPV_Aviation_SM&hash=item484506efe3#ht_500wt_922

I can assure you Mr T that nothing is ‘lying in the grass’ :rolleyes:. It was positioned there for photos only, and is now safely back under cover.
Believe me, i should know!

TonyT,

Don’t worry all our prize exhibits are in the museum ready for Sunday’s re-opening.

We have taken the opportunity to part with a few items not relevant to Bottisham such as the P-38 propellor (P-38’s never served at Bottisham). We will be using the money to improve the attire of some of our mannequins and we also have fairly hefty expenditure coming on the P-51.

Looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible this Sunday 29th April between 11.30am and 4pm.

Cheers

Jason
Bottisham Airfield Museum

Sad to see what I would Call some of your prize exhibits appearing on eBay 🙁

And shown lying on the grass in the top images

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LOCKHEED-P38-LIGHTNING-PROPELLER-GENUINE-ITEM-/310395727843?pt=UK_CPV_Aviation_SM&hash=item484506efe3#ht_500wt_922

I can say this is the first i knew of it going on EBay i dare say someone will comment on it some point.Regarding the photos i originally posted on the thread,it was a case of attempting to make room to manoeuvre and load things to get them moved with a limited amount of transport and hands.
The weather was lovely that time and everything remained dry,the prop was only there for a few minutes.

Sad to see what I would Call some of your prize exhibits appearing on eBay 🙁

And shown lying on the grass in the top images

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LOCKHEED-P38-LIGHTNING-PROPELLER-GENUINE-ITEM-/310395727843?pt=UK_CPV_Aviation_SM&hash=item484506efe3#ht_500wt_922

Congrats!

Well done Jason – and the RBL!

Delighted to announce we have found a temporary home for the museum in the local Royal British Legion.

They have given us a room 2/3 the size of the old museum which will allow us to display all our exhibits except our P-51 and link trainer. This room also contains an original mural from the airfield of the Queen Mary.

This arrangement is for an initial 6 months but will allow us to keep the museum open whilst we search for a long-term home. Furthermore we can have open days that will allow us to raise funds and awareness (dates to follow).

It also means we can start work in earnest on the P-51 and link trainer whilst not having to worry about displaying them.

We will announce opening times soon and dates for open days will follow shortly.

Cheers

J

Section 106 Agreements are fine on paper – but as you imply their successful implementation is another matter! (Based on experience in an area of the country that has one of the worst implementation records in the UK)

Good luck to Bottisham Museum in their search for a new home.

Sorry to hear about the loss of Bottisham Museum. I know its probably too late now but during the enabling planning application, an option may have been to negotiate with the Local Authority (LA) for a Section 106 deal (or condition), whereby the developer has to set aside an amount of money for the benifit of the local community – in this case, the re-location of the museum who is a tenant on the proposed develoment. This is a little-used condition of planning and the effectiveness of it, depends on how good the LA planning people are. It might be too late for Bottisham (I presume planning permission has been obtained) but if there are any other museums out there or local communities in a similar position, connected with heritage or educational issues then the Section 106 route might be the way to go. Anyone interested then Google Section 106.

I am sure the developer could have spared you the small piece of land for the museum buildings and with the right approach they could even have worked it so that the museum was an asset to their development but, as usual, the developer doesn’t appear to be able to see beyond the immediate cost of losing a little bit of the land..

Unfortunately property or land developers dont wish to build houses with an old temporary brick airfield building as part of the ‘view’. Can you really imagine four of five luxury houses being built with a slightly rickety looking museum ( no offence Jason-I’m on your side! ) as part of the development?

We are seeing part of Hunsdon airfield being built on, right where the main briefing rooms were, but there will be no aviation link with the road name. The local council have decided that.

I wish you well Jason, having been there on your pre opening bash it was, and still is a great idea and hope that you find alternative accomodation.

But collectively we must accept that no matter how we feel about these old airfields and the buildings that we wish could be preserved forever…they dont count one little jot when the £ sign is flashing in developers eyes.

Good luck!

We wait with bated breath! (Whatever that actually means!)

Thanks for all your kind words.

I have meeting tommorrow to discuss a temporary home for the museum which will allow us to open.

This is not the end – just the end of the beginning.

Cheers

J

I hate to see these small airfield museums disapear, often they are the only way that the memories of these places is kept alive.
It just shows how fragile these collections still are at a time when heritage seems to be a populor subject.