Sad to report that the Bottisham Airfield Museum has been given notice to leave its current site by April 2012.
The landlord is trying to sell the site for residential development – we will do everything we can to block its redevelopment.
We have a potential temporary home for the museum lined up and hope to have more news on this soon.
We hope to hold an event or two to raise awareness and more details will follow in the coming weeks.
This is not the end for the museum…just a new chapter.
Cheers
By: Jasonp51d - 5th February 2012 at 21:26
Thanks for your offers of support -keep an eye for more details of forthcoming events.
By: trumper - 5th February 2012 at 20:06
😡 Sorry Jason.Just let us know what help you need,
All the best
By: DragonRapide - 5th February 2012 at 12:47
Sad news, Jason, after all your hard work – but not unforeseen I know. Well done at finding a temporary location – maybe you won’t need it!
Count me in too, if I can do anything to help!
Chris
By: Arabella-Cox - 5th February 2012 at 11:15
Jason
Thats sad news. I will be up to see you in the spring, anyway, as agreed.
Ian
I agree. Sadly, at Tangmere, when the developers moved in and built houses they seemed to want to excise all memory of the airfield. Names like Churchwood, Nelson Road, Windmill Way and Chichester Drive were designed to expunge that memory – and, I know for a fact, that was the reasoning.
However, through a third party, the names Hunters Gate and Gamecock Terrace were put in and lobbied for. The developers had no idea as to the Tangmere or aviation connection of those names and they were accepted, and then approved by the local authority.
It still gives me more than a little quiet satisfaction to this day!!!
The developers were later quoted as saying that “a conscious decision had been taken not to represent the history of the airfield since this was done appropriately elsewhere and residents might not be comfortable with the militaristic representation of where they lived.”
Gotcha! :diablo:
By: ian_ - 5th February 2012 at 11:07
That’s very sad. If the development is going to be residential, can you point out some suitable road names to the council?
By: Wyvernfan - 5th February 2012 at 10:58
Keep me posted J.
By: Rocketeer - 5th February 2012 at 10:49
Sorry to hear that Jason, please let us know if there is anything we can do to help
By: Arabella-Cox - 5th February 2012 at 10:07
Bottisham
Sorry to hear of your museum’s impending closure, Jason. Sounds like you haven’t been given much notice so you don’t have long to get it all packed away.
These things do happen and, with an understanding landlord and some discussion a solution can usually be found. Even if the museum contents go into store in the meantime, at least it is there ready for relocation to another site.
The difficulties really start when people are, perhaps, not only difficult but they are also determined to damage or destroy what you have achieved. Stuff has to be sold or scrapped and the loss to the museum concerned can be much greater than the loss of their facility.
You seem to have a positive attitude and this will help you no-end in finding another site and the re-birth of the museum. Quite often, good comes from such events. A new home can be better in many ways – and it also means that all those corners full of stuff which you never got round to cleaning and catalogueing, the manky bits of wood and old boxes you kept for use “some time” and the items which you had on loan but didn’t really want, can go back to their owners.
It’s a New Start. Good Luck.
Anon.
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February 5, 2012 at 9:53 am