On Saturday 17 July Lowewood Museum re-opened to the public with an exhibition ‘Tankards, Tales and Taverns’ , which tells the history of the Borough’s pubs, inns and breweries.
More than 120 people attended the opening event, including the Mayor of Broxbourne, local Councillors and representatives of the Love Hoddesdon Business Improvement District with their mascot Master Henry Hoddas.
Lowewood museum is now under the management of the Lowewood Museum Trust CIO, which was registered with the Charity Commission in January 2021. It took responsibility for the museum on April 1 2021 under a service level agreement with Broxbourne Borough Council.
The Trust has nine board members with a range of skills and expertise. It has also recruited a team of approximately 50 volunteers who will provide a variety of roles, including front of house and collections management. If you would like to get involved please contact the Trust on museum@lowewoodmuseum.com.
David Dent, Chair of the Museum Trust, said
As a fledgling trust, it’s been a steep but enjoyable learning curve for us all, and there is still much to do. We have lots planned over the coming years to appeal to our residents across the Borough.
We are incredibly grateful for the support we have received, and now it’s coming to fruition. We are looking forward to seeing you at the museum again.
The Mayor of Broxbourne, Councillor David Taylor said:
I would like to thank the Museum’s trustees and volunteers for their hard work and dedication in getting the Museum open to the public once again.
I fully support the Trust’s ambitious plans for the future particularly its intention to engage with the Borough’s diverse community, with young people, schools and those with long term health conditions.
The new exhibition draws from the museum’s extensive photographic collection, some of which feature pubs, alehouses and inns dating as far back as 1900, as well as a selection of pub and brewery related items from the museum stores, not normally on show at the museum. In addition, there are a few pieces on loan from McMullen’s, and paintings by the Broxbourne Arts Forum (BArts) whose members undertook to ‘paint a pub’ during the lockdown
Visitors who have not had the chance to see the nationally significant Tudor wall paintings at The Star pub on Hoddesdon’s High Street, can find out more about these discoveries found during renovation work in 2014 after being hidden away for hundreds of years.
The exhibition will run until 6 November.
The Trust is also planning a range of events and exhibitions including a Festival of Archaeology on Friday 30 July, 10am-4pm. This free event is suitable for all ages and is delivered in partnership with the East Herts Archaeology Society and Monica, a ‘Thames Mudlarker’.
Further exhibitions include a project to mark the 180th anniversary of the founding of the John Warner School and an exhibition recording the history of the voluntary and community sector in Broxbourne. Family history days are also being arranged for the autumn. The Trust has applied to the National Lottery Heritage Fund for funding to work with local communities to celebrate their heritage drawing upon personal memories, local stories and the museum’s collection.
The Museum will initially open on Fridays and Saturdays from 10am to 4.30pm with the tea room serving refreshments and the shop selling a range of products relating to the collection including a recent publication by the Friends of Lowewood entitled ‘Tankards, Tales and Taverns: A Gazeteer of Broxbourne Borough’s pubs and inns.’
For details of other initiatives at Lowewood Museum, please visit www.lowewoodmuseum.com or on Twitter @Lowewood or Facebook @lowewoodmuseum.