Herne Bay’s local museum, run by volunteers
Our next exhibition, opening 16th September will be Tight Lines – A dip into the history of Herne Bay’s Sea Angling Clubs, in association with Heron Angling Society, the Herne Bay Angling Association and Greenhill Sea Angling Club.
Exhibits include vintage and classic outboard motors, fishing equipment, memorabilia, photographs and much more!
As the artwork is finished off for the 2018 calendars, to be available in the museum shop from September onwards, here’s some advance information on next year’s competition.
The theme will be Leisure and Pleasure, and we hope to feature a wide variety of photos celebrating the different activities our town has to offer.
Full terms and conditions will be made available later on, when the competition is officially launched nearer the end of the year, but in the meantime start taking those photos!
We do ask that you are very aware of the need to seek permission from anyone identifiable in the photographs, and will assume that you have done so before you submit any photos to us.
We can’t wait to see what you come up with!
We had a great time at the Fun Day in Herne yesterday, meeting people and telling them about the museum. There were plenty of local souvenirs and small toys to buy, as well as books and other information about the town.
Did you know where else the bouncing bombs were tested during the Second World War?
It’s common knowledge that the bombs were tested off the coast of nearby Reculver, and a statue of Barnes Wallis now stands at on the downs near the King’s Hall to commemorate the connection.
But as this report suggests, they were tested in Scotland as well.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-40648104
One of the smaller, Highball bombs is a popular attraction at the Seaside Museum, Herne Bay, and we are currently making arrangements to display the fragment of the larger Upkeep bomb that was found on Reculver beach earlier this year.
Bayfest promises to be a summer-long festival, with events throughout the town. The Seaside Museum Herne Bay is proud to present our own events in conjunction with the festival.
Children must be accompanied by an adult on all museum activities.
Wednesday 9 August 11.00-12.00 Story time and Craft at the Seaside Museum – Make wooden spoon pirates and mermaids. Free event
Thursday 10 August 11.30-3.30 Dress up in Victorian costumes at the Seaside Museum. Free event
Saturday 12 August 2.30-3.30 Local Smuggling Tales with Storyteller Rob Masters. Family activity at the Seaside Museum. Take part in a play about a true rescue of two children that happened in the sea at Herne Bay. Free event – limited numbers, please book in advance
Monday 14 August 10.30 Beach crawl – Meet at the King’s Hall. Free event – limited numbers, please book in advance.
Wednesday 16 August 11.00 Learn all about Punch and Judy with Pip the Clown at the Seaside Museum. Free event – limited numbers, please book in advance
Thursday 17 August 11.00-12.30 ‘Mr Punch’ puppet making workshop at the Seaside Museum – Part 1 Make Mr Punch. Limited numbers, please book in advance. Cost £3.00
Sunday 20 August Meet at 4.30 Travel back in time 56 million years to discover the fossils of prehistoric monsters that once lived in Herne Bay, with Phil Hadland. Booking essential. Free event. For full details please contact the Seaside Museum UPDATE: THIS EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED
Tuesday 22 August 11.00
Learn all about Punch and Judy with Pip the Clown at the Seaside Museum.
Free event – limited numbers, please book in advance
Wednesday 23 August 11.00-12.00
Story time and Craft at the Seaside Museum – Clay printing.
Free event – limited numbers, please book in advance
Thursday 24 August 11.00-12.30
‘Mr Punch’ puppet making workshop at the Seaside Museum – Part 2 Paint your Mr Punch.
Limited numbers, please book in advance.
We all love cartoons – they seek to entertain and amuse. But sometimes their fun hides a serious message.
This new exhibition, now open, explores the relationship between cartoonists and the sea over the past hundred years or so, featuring images from notable cartoonists such as W.K. Haselden, Will Dyson, Emmwood, Giles, Strube, Trog and others, mostly original artwork.
Sometimes the sea is a literal one – as a seafaring nation we seem to view the sea with great distrust and a healthy respect for all the dangers it can hold. We are an island community fascinated with this alien element that surrounds us. We play in it, sail on it, but we never entirely trust it. It both attracts and repels us, but at least it saves us from the horror of having a land border.
Sometimes the sea is used as a metaphor for trouble or personal difficulty – politicians are seen cast adrift on a tide of events or drowning in issues beyond their control. In cartoons the ship of state can take the form of anything from a square rigger to an ocean liner, captained by a feckless prime-minister and steered toward rocks or a turbulent ocean.
Issues of the day may be analysed with a satirical edge, or the cartoons may carry propaganda to aid the war effort.
The show is in association with The British Cartoon Archive, University of Kent, who are kindly loaning all the artwork, and forms the SEASIDE MUSEUM’S contribution to the Cartoon Festival, which itself is part of BayFest, the new Herne Bay Festival.
Join Roamin’ Rex, a time-travelling character, as he discovers Kent’s fantastic museums and heritage sites.
The Seaside Museum Herne Bay is proud to be one of the 25 museums in Kent who are part of the Wheels of Time scheme. Young visitors (5-11) may collect an exclusive badge at each museum, making an impressive collection, and there’s also a chance for 5-14 year-olds to earn learning credits for Kent Children’s University.
We have a dedicated children’s area within the museum, with hands-on activities and dressing up, as well as plenty to learn about our town’s history and development.
Our shop carries pocket-money gifts and toys.
Full details at https://wheelsoftime.uk/
We had a great time Friday evening, seeing a different view of the town, as Ian Tittley from the Natural History Museum took us out beyond Neptune’s Arm at low tide, and showed us some of the sealife there.
On Monday June 12th, Ian Tittley of the Natural History Museum presents a talk on Life between the tides at Herne Bay.
Tickets cost £5 (£4 for volunteers) and are available from the museum. Seats are limited, so please book in advance.
6.30 for 7pm start (refreshments available).
Of all the habitats in which communities animals and plants are found, none is richer than the sea shore. This narrow strip is occupied by a wide variety of life. Rock, sand and mud create quite different environments and the seashore life associated with these differ considerably.
The coastline at Herne Bay in its natural form is essentially of soft clay, sand, shingle and occasional boulders; it has, however, been much altered by man with the loss of a small estuary and the introduction of artificial substrata such as Neptune’s Arm which has created a man-made reef now densely clothed by seaweeds and animals.
We will look at the range of life in these different habitats including the West Brook at Hampton which contains saltmarsh now rare on our length of coast and perhaps formerly present at Herne Bay.
We will also encounter species washed ashore from elsewhere, and think about non-native (alien) arrivals and their impact.
The Eagle, the British comic featuring Dan Dare, was created in response to the influence of the imported American comics, in the days after the Second World War. Originally a Chaplain, Dare developed into the Pilot of the Future, and developed a wide following amongst the boys particularly, during its publication between 1950 and 1969.
This popular exhibition shows the development from the first idea to the well-loved comic figure, and includes some of the comics, artwork, toys and ephemera that accompanied the phenomenon.
Talks by the curator, either forming a guided tour or as part of our evening talk series, help to round out this fascinating glimpse into the background of the comic, and takes many a visitor back to his childhood.
On Eagle Day, Sunday 18th June, you are welcome to bring along your own ephemera and share your memories with others.
This one is a must. Fascinating!
