February. A month which hides between the excitement and liveliness of the New Year and the impending delights of spring. Often grey, rather dull, with only Valentine’s Day to cheer up the lucky few. However, if you are bored with the weather, frustrated with the new diet or already given up that New Year’s resolution, then a visit to one of Wiltshire’s many museums will light up the month for you. Within their varied collections lie many a fascinating item, and with that in mind, I have compiled a ‘February’ list to entice you to discover them.

February does seem to have a historical link with gloom, but how fascinating to travel to Mere Museum in south-west Wiltshire to discover the February 6^th souvenir copy of the Illustrated London News commemorating the state lying-in of Sir Winston Churchill, or the photographs showing the stone memorial built by local labour in 1999 and dedicated to the airmen killed in a Dakota crash at Beech Knoll, Stourton, on 19^th February 1945. On a lighter note, you may like to read the handwritten rules of the fife and drum band belonging to the Mere Temperance Society, February 1874 and while you are at the museum why not take a look at their six volumes of old local photographs and the local history collection.

Dakota crash memorial

Travel northwards to Warminster Dewey Museum and you will discover a wide range of local history material, including the Victor Manley collection of geology, and various Valentine dance tickets, such as the Frome Young Farmers dance (please contact our blog if any romance was found at the Longleat Restaurant, Horningsham, February 1969!). Whilst at the museum you might  be interested in the 78 rpm gramophone record of bell-ringing at St Denys Church, Warminster, 25^th February 1960, or the scrapbook donated by Barbara Norris containing details of local events, drama festivals, Women’s Institute and Girls Training Corps, compiled from 20^th February 1946 to 8^th June 1948. 'Read more' to find out which other Wiltshire museums have items associated with the month of February...

Westwards from Warminster you arrive at Market Lavington and its historic museum which was formerly a school-masters house, built in 1846. Although not open in February (opens May to end of October), the potential visitor can look forward to an interesting time viewing a collection that covers all aspects of village life, including a Victorian kitchen. One might like to look at a utility coat and skirt suit, in blue wool with matching blue hat, worn for a wedding on the 26^th February 1949, or, in anticipation of summer, peruse the extracts from the ‘Gardeners Chronicle’ of 17^th February 1877, referring to the cultivation of fuchsias by James Lye of Market Lavington.

Travelling further west into the county, one arrives at Pewsey Heritage Centre, again open from May to October and well worth the visit to see its displays, including some wonderful steam and agricultural machinery. If you want to look at something smaller, try the box of wooden building blocks given to Edwin Townsend on his eighth birthday, 24^th February 1900 or the programme for the ‘Salute of the Red Army’ at the Royal Albert Hall in London, an event organised by the Ministry of Information on the 21^st February 1943. You may find inspirational recipe ideas in ‘Luncheon and Supper Dishes’ by Helen Burke, February 1931, although a glance at the pathological testing kit for poultry, with its bottle of disinfectant and 101 glass collecting bottles, instruction leaflet and cards, sent on the 27^th February 1939, may put you off cooking for a while….

Pewsey Building Blocks

Wiltshire’s other museums all have wonderful objects, ranging from the strange to the beautiful. From a photograph in Chippenham Museum and Heritage Centre of a blindfold chess match played in Chippenham Town Hall, 12^th February 1903, to a photograph from Trowbridge Museum of the cheapest bungalow (for sale?) in England taken on the 9^th February 1952, situated in Charles Street, Trowbridge. The pale-green taffeta wedding dress belonging to Clarice Culverhouse in February 1936 (also at Trowbridge) and the ancient flint arrow-head at Castle Combe Museum may seem worlds apart, but they all connect to Wiltshire life.

So let your spirits be uplifted from the gloom of February, look forward to the pancakes at the end of the month and go out into the inclement weather – you will be rewarded by what you find.

Jacqueline Ramsay, Documentation Assistant, Museums Advisory Service

The items mentioned in this blog may not be on display. If you would like to see any particular items from a Wiltshire museum collection I would suggest that you contact the museum directly. Each museum can be contacted through their web page listed here:

Museum websites:

Mere Museum http://www.meremuseum.org.uk/

Warminster Dewey Museum http://www.culture24.org.uk/sw000041

Market Lavington Museum http://www.marketlavingtonmuseum.org.uk/

Pewsey Heritage Centre http://www.pewsey-heritage-centre.org.uk/

Chippenham Museum and Heritage Centre http://www.chippenham.gov.uk/tourist-information/local-attractions/chippenham-museum--heritage-centre.aspx

Trowbridge Museum http://www.trowbridgemuseum.co.uk/