Museum under threat – please support us 25/9/2011

Open Day 2011

I had a really nice day out yesterday at Bottisham Museum home of the 361st FG of the USAAF.

It was a nice little museum and very friendly. One of the displays was a ****pit of a P51 Mustang, constructed by Gary Dean from Boscombe a frined here at Martlesham. whilst being shown all the relevant bits the organiser Jason Webb introduced gary to Joe Kennedy thhe engineer of Ferocious Frankie a P51 out of Duxford belonging to the OFMC

here are a few photos

Buildings at Bottisham

Joe Kennedy right with Gary Dean and his magnificent Mustang ****pit

Gary P ( Nightfighter) in his Luftwaffe Uniform

one of the military vehicles and owner

An old Austin ( i think a 7)

A Citreon with the Free French badge on the back window

Jason Webb with Joe Kennedy in front of the P51 replica being built on site

Some instruments and panels from Gary’s ****pit. Well done mate its lovely.

Nice looking Jeep

Butchers trade bike. I dont know if he supplied the sauages and burgers for the stall but they were the best I have ever had

Well done Jason and crew. I hope to see you all again next year. Good Luck.

— Edited by tarkey on Monday 26th of September 2011 10:25:09 AM

Well here i am back on the night shift at the Hall, sporting two very sore feet and a painful lower back. But today was a fantastic day, greated by Jason and the team who you can see really care about their cause, and i got to talk to some very interesting vistors, this was a great event that must continue and grow stronger…Thanks to you Jason and the Bottisham team for making me and my family so welcome.

Sorry couldn’t make it but judging by those who went it looks really good,hope everything works out well for you.:)

Must have been walking around at the same time as Wyvernfan and Trumper!

Next time chaps!

Well done Jason and team – great day. Hopefully successful for you too!

Do you know ,i walked around with the wife and daughter,well ok they sat eating a burger most the time LOL wondering if anyone was there from this forum.We probably walked past no end and never knew.
I thought about asking Jason to see if an announcement could be made for forumites to huddle under a tree or something and forgot to do so.:rolleyes:
For the record i did do a bit of videoing there so if one day i work out how to edit it i may stick it on you tube.:)

Great to meet everyone (putting faces to names) & thanks for all your kind words of support.

The day went well with around 200 visitors (yes HT’s Citroen in the background.

We advertised it on Radio Cambs, Cambridge Evening news, all the local magazines, gumtree, 1940’s websites, re-enactors forums, facebook, MVT websites & a large number of posters.

We have had larger attendances in the past but I understand there were other clashing events – any suggestions for other mediums of advertising much appreciated.

Looking into online petition – hope to have something live in the next week or so.

Any constructive criticism would be much appreciated as we hope to improve our offering.

Cheers from a knackered

Jason

I was there from 1130 with my father for an hour or so; had a really good time! The two P51 projects are impressive, the museum display itself is looking good, the additional displays of weapons and uniforms were well worth seeing.

Must have been walking around at the same time as Wyvernfan and Trumper!

Next time chaps!

Well done Jason and team – great day. Hopefully successful for you too!

🙂 Very nice to meet Jason and the team .I also parted with money and am now a member ,and to think we’ve lived 20 mins up the road for 20 years and didn’t know it existed..
Apart from this forum was the open day advertised anywhere else? maybe radio Cambs or Star radio or the local papers.
I wonder if you could put a virtual petition up for people to sign.
Nice to meet you. 🙂

Jason

I think I can spot Howard Tuck’s black Citroen, the “Resistance-mobile”…!!

How was the day?

Spent a very enjoyable couple of hours there today, and even my non-aviation minded 13 yr old son enjoyed it, so thanks to Jason and the team for making it possible (and good to meet you too Jason). Also took the time to sign up for membership.
I believe the museum only opened last year, and in this day and age of dwindling aviation museums and displays this place really does need our help and support to survive and continue to grow.

I’m no photographer but here’s a small selection of what was on display.

Hoping to be there after 11am… AND i might even be able to drag my son off the PS3 to come with me :D.

LOL,yes same problem here 🙂

Hoping to be there after 11am… AND i might even be able to drag my son off the PS3 to come with me :D.

🙂 I am hoping to go,IT’S TODAY for anyone not having seen this.
Who is going ?

My father and I are planning to be there from 1130ish – weather forecast looks promising – hope lots of people turn up!

Hopefully I’ll get to meet some other Forumites there – is there a protocol??? Do we all wear Sally B badges or something???!!!!

I live just down the road in Fulbourn and although I’m well aware that there was an airfield at Bottisham (having WWII airfields in your village seems almost to go hand in hand with living in that bit of Cambridge: Oakington, Waterbeach, Bottisham, Duxford….. etc.) I didn’t know that there was a museum on the site.

Sadly I shall be in Inverness on the 25th (Shocking timing I know!) but wondered if there’s another way I can show my support – is there a petition I could sign, or perhaps write a letter to the Councillor in question?

Good luck with it and do keep us posted with info.

🙂

We will certainly try to work with the developers but early signs not promising.

Signs will be around the village later today.

In terms of making people aware of the museum any suggestions welcome – we have very little budget for marketing I’m afraid.

Cheers

J

Bottisham Airfield Museum is having an open day on Sunday 25th September 2011.

The museum’s existance is currently in doubt as our unique site is likely to be sold for residential development.

As we seek support for an alternate home we need a strong attendance on the 25th September to help prove the viability of the museum for the future. All forumites will recieve a very warm welcome.

Attractions will include two P-51 cockpit projects, military vehicles and re-enactors.

Many locals don’t even realise there was an airfield at Bottisham and we see the museum as playing an important role in educating future generations. During the war Bottisham was home to a number of RAF squadrons before the friendly invasion of the 361st FG, USAAF.

During its short lifetime the museum has built up some significant exhibits including a P-51 cockpit project, a USAAF link trainer, crash relics, aircraft parts, uniforms and hundreds of original photos.

The museum is 10 minutes from Cambridge and more details can be found at:-
http://www.361fg.com/museum.htm

Your support would be very much appreciated.

Cheers

Jason

Looks interesting, will visit on Sunday.
Never heard of the museum before, maybe you should address that?

Now if the museum buildings were listed…………….!

Unfortunately that is no longer guaranteed protection unless they are Grade I.

The best bet, as another member has suggested, might be to work with the developers to try to retain some of what you have on a long lease at a peppercon rent. Trying to work against them is very unlikely to succeed, especially under the new flexible planning regime.

I know it’s not easy to put up signs and so on, but I cycle past your site every weekday and still haven’t spotted exactly where it is. Until I saw this thread I’d no idea there’s a museum there.

Rad,

Could be a good idea – hadn’t occured to me.

Will make some enquiries.

Cheers

Jason

Jason,

It’s probably a long shot, but have you thought of getting some support from radio or TV personalities? Not just on a local scale, but nationally?.

It may be worth a line to those who have a love for aviation or fast cars, i.e. James May, Chris Evans, David Jason or Martin Shaw.

Overall I hope for a positive outcome & your museum thrives on its current site- with all the effort you’re all putting into it deserves to!!!!!!

Regards Rad.