Winter nights have drawn in, and many museums and houses are using the dark hours to run dark events - ghost hunts, bat watches, lantern making... So when a photography club emailed an "Elizabethan House" about some night time photography, staff replied to them, willing to help plan an after hours visit. I know about this because the photography club's response to this plan was apparently so unpleasant, that the house's staff compiled a joke letter, and then wanted to share it with you all. It is easy for us, within our institutions, with our detailed knowledge of how they function, to scoff at public misunderstanding about their inner workings. We have a duty to educate and inform the public not only about historic sites, but also the surprising ongoing costs just to maintain the status quo, let alone develop them.
Aaaaaalllthough... Staff frustration is very understandable when someone expects to bring 8 to 15 people on a special out of hours visit, paying less for the whole group than is usually paid for one person! And they then threaten to break into your venue. Read on to see the full image sent to me of the venue's mock letter. And do watch out for that box hedge!
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I’m not saying that these wouldn’t happen at other times of the year, just that they certainly happened during the school summer break at our museum.
More museum holiday fun? Find out what I've overheard in the holidays here. I thought it was a piece of paper on the floor of the museum.
I honestly thought I was just picking up a receipt or a crunched up ticket. That was why I blithely picked it up. And then froze as I pondered "Why is this paper wet?" AND IT WAS HAM. A previous venue I worked at had some offices in the older refurbished areas of the building, as well as the newly built extension. They were cramped, but very beautiful as a work space. One staff member had regular "visitors", as her office was the first door at the very top of the main stair case.
To get to the top of the stairs, people had to actively climb over or unclip two rope barriers, and squeeze around or move a Private sign on a freestanding post. On one occasion, she had to ask a visitor if they would delete the photo they had just taken of her sitting at her desk.
Sketch done at the British Museum, of two of the many offenders happy to be trampled come an evacuation.
I chose these two as they were sat slap bang by the signs, and couldn't have not seen them when sitting down. |
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February 2023
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