Sunday 12 August 2007

Derby's Museums & Art Gallery

We wanted to give each partner organisations a chance to say a few words about what they do. To start us off, here are a few words from Anneke Bambery, the Head of Museums in Derby:

View of the Derbyshire Nature Gallery at Derby Museum & Art Gallery"Derby Museums and Art Gallery is a service consisting of three separate museums, all situated very close to the city centre. And all are free.

The
Museum and Art Gallery contains fine collections and fascinating displays covering archaeology, porcelain, geology, wildlife and military history (the latter is currently being redisplayed). It is also home to the world-renowned Joseph Wright of Derby collection of paintings, including The Orrery. As with all of our museums, there is a lively programme of special exhibitions and activities.

The Silk Mill beside the River Derwent at Cathedral GreenThe Silk Mill, Derby’s Museum of Industry and History, stands on the site of the world’s first factory – the silk mill of John and Thomas Lombe, now part of the Derwent Valley
Mills World Heritage Site. We have displays on Derbyshire’s industries and working life, including railway engineering, power for industry and, of course, our famous Rolls-Royce aero-engines. Right now we are working on plans and seeking ideas on how we should develop this museum over the next few years.

Pickfords House Museum, on FriargatePickford’s House is a museum of Georgian Life and Historic Costume. It is an elegant Georgian townhouse built in 1770, and designed by the prominent local architect Joseph Pickford as both a family home and business premises. You can see historic furnished rooms, changing displays of costume, and a permanent display of toy theatres.


We've all been thrilled to be a partner in the Derby Cathedral Peregrine Project. Our service is all about making links between people and their heritage, culture and environment. So what could be more suited to this ambition than a webcam, allowing people all over the world to see how Derby encourages wildlife and supports public understanding? Interest has been huge, and our staff have worked very hard to help set up the webcam and support this blog. We've enjoyed meeting all the visitors who came to our museums as a result of their interest in the falcons, and the discussions on the blog have been fascinating. It’s been a pleasure to have launched the project with our partners the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust and Derby Cathedral, but I must also record our thanks to our colleagues in Derby City Council’s Corporate IT department and to Capita for ensuring the cameras were configured and presented so effectively on our website. It’s been a tremendously exciting experience for us all.

We hope the peregrine project will entice some of you to visit us. You can find our addresses and directions on the left hand menu of our Museums' web-pages.


Anneke Bambery, Head of Museums"



Contributions from our other partners will follow shortly.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

As a Derby girl born and bred I have visited all three museums on several occasions and find them a great day out. so anyone who is visiting for the first time please go along , or even if you have been before go again there is so much to see and learn, and after all they supported the peregrines let us support them. Sam Derby

Anonymous said...

There's clearly a lot to see in Derby. I would love to see the Pickford's House especially, if I ever get over there.

Anonymous said...

I'll definitely visit your museums the next time I come to Derby. Jennie, HK.

Anonymous said...

Pax Canada 11.49pm
bird on the nest edge and breakfast on the other side

Anonymous said...

08.19 'Breakfast' still in right hand nest + 'mum' still on edge in left hand nest...

John A

Anonymous said...

08:31 Breakfast is now being consumed!

Anonymous said...

10.50am both adult birds can be seen on the camara,s

Anonymous said...

Bird on the ledge below the nestbox. I guess what I am seeing in the box is the remains on breakfast.

Has anyone else noticed that at night on the left hand side in the front corner it looks like a mouse is there, but in daylight there is nothing there? It must be a trick of lack of light and the feather debris. I've noticed it the past two nights.

Anonymous said...

Could it be the spider's cobwebs that Nick referred to that is creating the illusion of 'a mouse'?

John A

Peregrine Project Member (Nick M.) said...

I had also noticed at night what, to me, looked almost exactly like fox droppings! (Rather unlikely I think) But I suspect this is what Karen Anne interprets as a mouse. It is likely to be a feather, or a part of one, rather than the abberation of the spiders web on the lens. The latter just appears as a blurred, pale smudge on the lens. The infra-red light changes coulors and shadows in some quite surprising ways.
I suspect we will all be looking even closer from now on.

Anonymous said...

Just for jollies, I uploaded screen snaps of a "mouse" photo and then the ame photo with the "mouse outlined":

http://members.cox.net/katkolling/tmpmouse.JPG

http://members.cox.net/katkolling/phantommouseoutlined.jpg

helenhoward said...

there is a load of feathers and the remains of something on the ledge. Any ideas any one? 1718 gmt

Anonymous said...

Karen Anne - you're clearly barking mad. I did have to add the missing ".jpg" to your url, but anyone with an ounce of natural history knowledge can tell at once that your outline is not a mouse.
It's clearly a large over-fed cat.

But unless we're going to start looking at the shapes of all the passing clouds to see what the birds have been eating today, I think we should not pursue this thread any further. Go and put a wet towel around your head and lie down for a bit!