Grumpy Volunteer's Corner

It's official, we are the champions according to a nationwide survey of eight hundred, yes 800, museums.

The NMMC has been awarded the Daily Telegraph 'Family Friendly Museum Award 2014', in spite of having a grumpy volunteer!

Congratulations to all the dedicated staff. It is a fitting accolade to Jonathan on his retirement after leading the ship for over a decade.

Who am I going to insult now? Life will never be the same again.

Keith Evans
'The Grumpy Volunteer'

Change of Direction

Jonathan is leaving,
so should we shed a tear?
or wait until he offers us
a farewell wine or beer.

His successor is from London,
No Doughty’ll welcome be;
But Staff & Volunteers
will have to wait & see!

He sorted out the Cutty Sark
(for us she’s far too tall!!) -
we’d love square-rigged boats on Waterfront
and a figurehead in Main Hall.

by Mike Pennell, NMMC Poet Laureate (Ret'd)

Grumpy Volunteer's Corner

by Keith Evans

It's about time I had another 'grump'. I have been neglecting you of late.

Summer is here and soon the kids will be rampaging around like a lot of psychopathic gremlins. Not that I don't like kids, as you know, but they just happen to be noisy, spoilt, over active, demanding little urchins. I was one myself once, so they tell me.

There is a very favourable report in the Sunday Telegraph this week from a father about the NMMC. The favourites with his kids were the helicopter, beach buggy and the life rafts. He said they learnt a lot without realising it. On the beach he was told off for not swimming between the safety flags.

There is a lull at the moment although there's a lot of oldies around. One old lady was flying around on her mobility scooter. "Fascinating place" she called out as she skidded to a halt inches from my toes. "My husband has gone shopping." "That's rather novel" I thought. It's usually the ladies who indulge in retail therapy.

Anne Powell

Many Volunteers and staff gathered to say a final farewell to Anne on Thursday 3 April.

George Hogg add a memory of Anne's work for the Museum, amongst other touching eulogies:

For the last eleven years Anne has been the mainstay of the Bartlett Library. Anne, ably supported by Bill on Fridays, has regularly worked two full days every week and between them they have contributed more volunteer hours than any other family.

A considerable achievement by any standards, however, hours are not the full story of Anne's contribution to the museum. The success of our museum depends on the way that individual efforts are blended together into one coherent whole and she showed how it could be done.

I first met Anne when I was interviewing prospective volunteers for the library back in 2001, it seems a very long time ago now. I was immediately struck by her bright personality and keeness to work in the Library. An automatic "Yes please and when can you start".... This was well before the opening of the Museum and a small team worked together in a store in Tregonnigie Industrial Estate cleaning sorting and preparing some of the books destined for the library.

Moving day was on the 4 Nov 2002, Anne was in the thick of moving , unpacking and shelving 5,000 books a day or two before the Museum opened. Anne worked with Keith Haddon to catalogue the books and magazines and when Keith died, took on the whole responsibility for the catalogue and was ideally suited for the task. Methodical and accurate she set very high standards for all of us.

Anne still managed to take a full part in the Volunteer community. At the Annual Party she often headed the list of shifts worked in a year and her table always provided most of the answers for the Quiz. Her efforts did not go unrecognised and Anne was chosen to attend the farewell celebrations for Lady Mary Holborow at Eden. It is very sad that Bill and Anne will not be able to go to the Buckingham Palace Garden Party to which they were invited this summer.

What does this all add up to? Anne considered it a privilege to work in the library it showed in the standards that she set and pride she took in whatever she did. Her example was everything and more than one could have hoped to see in a volunteer in an enterprise such as ours . I am sure when I say that I am proud to have known and worked with her, that I speak for everyone who knew her.

Thank you for sharing her with us, Bill.

JG

NMMC Volunteer Party 2014

by Ellen Winser

It was lovely to see lots of volunteers at the annual party last Friday – a particularly memorable evening from my point of view as it was the last time I would attend this event as Chairman. It is a wonderful opportunity for me on behalf of the trustees and for the staff to say thank you to all our volunteers for the magnificent contribution they make towards the well being of this great museum. As I have frequently said over the years I have been Chairman, without our volunteers our museum would not exist.

But is it also true to say that without money it wouldn’t exist either. However many hours our volunteers put in we still need some staff and they have to be paid, we need to pay for various services like electricity and insurance, and things like publicity, computers, and other bits of essential equipment. What we earn from our visitors isn’t enough to cover all our financial needs and as we are not in receipt of regular funding from either local or national government we have to make up the shortfall by fundraising. In the first ten years of our existence we raised about £2million and last autumn at a big dinner attended by HRH the Princess Royal we launched our new appeal for the next ten years in which we hope to double our earlier efforts and raise £4million.

This is a big challenge, but made considerably easier thanks to a pledge we have received from a couple who wish to remain anonymous who have undertaken to match every pound we raise with another pound from them up to a total of £1million. With gift aid the pledge is worth £1.25million! Our hope is that we will be able to develop an endowment fund with the money to provide a regular income which will help close the gap between our income and our expenditure so that our long term future is secure. The quicker we raise money the quicker we can build the endowment fund and the quicker we can start enjoying the income from it. 

Raising money for something like the museum can be difficult. Compared with the charities aimed at supporting those with various unpleasant diseases, those aimed at funding research to eliminate those diseases, those aimed at alleviating suffering of any kind our appeal is more limited. That isn’t to say we don’t have a case but it isn’t of universal relevance. I believe this place matters because it celebrates aspects of our marine heritage which is fundamental to our island story, it matters to Falmouth, to Cornwall and the nation. Our boats allow our visitors the chance to dream, of messing about on the river, of sailing away over the horizon to goodness knows where, and our museum matters because some 250 people are directly involved with it and those people matter. You will each have your reasons to love the place. So can you help? All donations, however small, make a difference, particularly now that they will be worth more than double thanks to the pledge. Alternatively consider leaving a legacy – you don’t have to re-write your will – a codicil will do the trick. Linda Frost or Naomi Belert can give you the details.

Although I give up as Chairman at the end of the month I won’t be swallowing my anchor completely. ‘Trustee’ will remain on the pontoon and I will continue to serve on our fund raising committee, so I will be in and out of the museum but perhaps not quite as often as in the past. I will miss being directly involved but I feel I can now hand over to my successor with a clear conscience – our finances are in better shape than they have ever been. I wish the museum and all involved with it all the very best for the future.

Grumpy Volunteer's Corner

by Keith Evans

The smuggling exhibition is proving popular with many visitors having seen it on the internet. I'm thinking of opening my 200 year old creek-side cottage; a creek which was notorious for smuggling in years gone by. During renovations some years ago I came across what appeared to be a sealed cellar. Unable to open it without major demolition, I kept it as a feature. However, if I come in one morning looking the worst for wear you'll know I've broken into it and found some brandy casks.

The vintage boat 'White Owl' featured in 'Cornwall Life' magazine looks resplendent following her restoration by the museum team. In the photo she is being rowed away by the intrepid seafarers. Oh, on closer inspection it's Andy doing all the work with the bowman, who shall be nameless, resting on his oars.

... Part 2

I know, I know, this is getting repetitive: more lines on a chart. But here is the next big storm - the Valentine's Day storm - that passed through on Friday14 February. Thankfully it did not bring the spring tides but it did manage to swamp Newlyn, put back the repairs to the Dawlish railway line and uproot trees.

One of the more charming customer complaints was that the webcam on the tower was covered in grime and they could not see the harbour. Somehow we did not feel inspired to go up during the storm to clean the lens. I cannot think why not.

The Porthleven storm

You may have noticed it has been raining recently. The weather-buffs will have been fascinated by such things as mm of rain, hours of sunlight - sun: a big yellow thing that appears from time to time -, wind strength - it is not often that we actually have a forecast of 'Storm' on land - and the pressure. Thankfully, John Draper has a barograph and here is the print out for the week of 2 - 9 February. The big dip when the Porthleven storm passed through is obvious.

After some sterling work by the local community, the inner harbour was cleared of boats and debris.

Grumpy Volunteer's Corner

by Keith Evans

I'm back, having been out of circulation for most of the summer, so it's about time I had another 'grump'.

The museum hasn't changed much during my absence. The kids are still rampaging around, the oldies are still asking for the toilet, the recent storms have formed a few more leaks and the washing up still needs to be done in 1912.

I missed most of the summer including the crabbing, ah! I believe that over 300 crabs were hauled up, although it was rumoured to be the same crab with a fetish for plastic buckets. The penguin sat on his iceberg on Waterfront all summer. What happened to our bikini-clad damsel? The summer wasn't that bad!

Pudsey's visit on 'Children in Need' evening was a great success although no-one noticed my 5 seconds of fame when I appeared in the background. Jonathan also appeared on TV recently on the 'Antiques Road Trip' but there were no offers for him, so you're stuck with us both.

May I wish you the best of grumbles for the coming year.

There now, I feel better for that.

2014

Just when we thought our Museum Poet's muse had finally dried up, he has sent in the following new year offering:

So Twenty-Fourteen’s here at last,
I hope it brings good cheer –
To Staff & Volunteers alike,
I wish a great New Year.

I thought “What makes a Grumpy”?
I guess they must be old,
And do their bit regardless –
Whatever they’ve been told!!

It’s tourists that make problems,
They keep on asking questions! -
And some just won’t believe you;
When you offer bright suggestions.

If their background’s Nautical
It can pose some awkward queries –
“Have you secured your futtocks yet”?
“Oh yes, they’re spliced in series!!”

Nine years on, and senile,
I miss the cut and thrust –
But Grumpies have a “sell-by” date
So retirement was a must.

We are still contemplating the idea that Grumpies have a 'sell-by' date. we thought they just got grumpier and went on until they dropped (or joined the Friday afternoon team).

Happy New Year to our reader.