Wishing Volunteers and Visitors a very Happy Christmas!

Added: 17 November 2024

It has been a very busy year for the Museum, with some changes to our permanent collection, and a very successful D-Day Exhibition. We also had three smaller exhibitions in our Tea Room that proved popular-‘Upon the Ebbing Tide’, a mixed media exhibition by Ray Balkwill, War Time Cartoons by George ‘Stl’ Stillings and a textiles display by Lympstone quilters.

Before we opened for the season, we hosted a very well attended and stimulating Romans Day. And throughout the year we ran a series of lectures at Matthews Hall on a diverse range of topics. As part of a grant awarded to the Museum volunteers took part in training and have been working on the reserve store project.

Our Shop and Tea Room continue to attract locals and visitors to the Museum, raising much needed funds. Special events included a Mother’s Day and a War Time Tea Party. We also welcomed large numbers to our annual Coffee Morning during Town Fayre Week and welcomed large numbers to enjoy tea in the garden during Charter Day.

Our Family Activities team go from strength to strength with a variety of events for children and adults. We had a performance from children’s theatre company, ‘Boo to the Goose’ as well as craft activities at Easter, in the summer and most recently a very successful Halloween event. And throughout the year our pre-school Story Time has proved very popular.

Without our wonderful volunteers we would not have a Museum in Topsham, so we would like to take this opportunity to thank them all. One special mention goes to Beth Daw-she has been responsible for making the thousands of scones needed for all those wonderful cream teas our visitors love. After many years Beth has decided to step down and we would like to say a special thank you to her and wish her well in the future.

A big thank you also goes to our Members who provide essential support to ensure Topsham Museum continues to thrive.

And finally, we were delighted to announce in the last issue that Charles Courtenay, the Earl of Devon is our first Patron.

Before the end of the year, we have a major event in December:

Christmas Market

Matthews Hall, Topsham, 8th December 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.  £3.50 pp including coffee and a mince pie. Under 12s are free.

Meet your friends for coffee, shop for christmas gifts, buy books, crafts, home-made cakes and produce and visit the many stalls.

Santa in his Grotto, £3 per child