midnightreflections
September 7th, 2004, 02:05 AM
Museum of Witchcraft update from Boscastle, 6th September 2004
Levannah Morgan
I visited the Museum on Saturday 4th September at Graham’s request. The news is good, in that it is now clear that most of the collection from the ground floor has survived, and can be repaired, and also not so good, in that the ground floor of the building itself is devastated. Most of the walls have been damaged, and the wall between the Museum and the shop in front has gone entirely. The water did not reach the upper floor of the building; it and the collection it houses is not damaged. The Museum will reopen at Easter 2005.
The flood left several feet of mud containing sewage and rotting food throughout the ground floor. As the water surrounded them, the display cabinets floated off their bases. Water then seeped into the cases. Paradoxically, this water then protected many of the objects from being broken as it seeped slowly out again and left them gently sitting in a cushion of mud. There is a “tideline” throughout the ground floor which indicates that the water was five feet deep.
Over the last five days Graham and the team, working in protective suits and hard hats in very restricted spaces, have managed to clear the worst of the mud out of the ground floor (shovelling it out by hand). I was amazed to see the progress that they had made. Community spirit in Boscastle has been fantastic, with local people rallying to help the Museum when their own homes and businesses are badly damaged.
The upper floor has been thoroughly cleaned and de-humidified and its humidity is now normal (55%). The collection there is fine; it was great to see the Richel Collection, the Crowley material, the Poppets, and all the rest of the things that are displayed upstairs looking fine. The spirits have returned to the upstairs (Graham and Kerrianne say they left when the flood happened and were gone for several days); the upstairs feels like the warm, beating heart of the Museum which is sustaining it, despite all that has happened. A candle is burning in the shrine.
Once the mud was cleared from the ground floor the cabinets were emptied one by one and as many items as possible recovered. Graham thinks at this stage that up to 90% of the collection may have survived. The museum has received a lot of specialist advice from other museums about how to save the objects, and it is hoped that they will be okay.
When objects are brought out of the Museum, they are gently washed, to remove the worst of the mud. They are then taken to another location where they are disinfected and sterilized and allowed to dry out slowly. Finally they are put in a room with de-humidifiers to complete the drying out process. This slow drying process is essential as it stops them from sustaining further damage. Some of the items will be sent to specialist repairers and conservation experts. Museums across the South West have offered to store items until they are able to come home to Boscastle. I was able to see the objects drying out and would like to reassure everyone that many old favourites, including Harry the tarred head, Alex Sanders’ horned mask, wands, athames, traditional charms and spells, are all safe. The items which have been lost appear to be mainly paper and cloth. Some of the objects have been altered a little by the floods and have acquired a different colour or a patina. In a strange way, this adds to them and the stories they have to tell.
Conservation experts who have seen how the Museum is tackling this work have been very impressed and Graham has been asked to write papers on disaster recovery.
“Joan”, the figure of the witch from the Witch’s Cottage, has already been repaired. She is sitting in the flat above the Museum and all her clothes have been washed and mended by Carole. She just needs some minor repairs to one eyebrow!
Almost all the collection has been removed now. Yesterday I helped empty one of the last remaining cabinets (Satanism) and washed the contents prior to removal for disinfecting. Graham then said that he had a girly job for me; cleaning the kitchen. This consisted of removing shelves and stacks full of plastic files and stationery buried under thick layers of stinking mud, clearing shelves of mud-encrusted crockery and utensils, and generally shovelling out the unmentionable stuff from the floor. Everything was removed into a wheelbarrow and dumped into a skip outside. Lee and I spent a happy couple of hours at this task. The electricity has been restored to the Museum and yesterday Graham managed to get the sound system going; it was great to hear Liz and Heiki’s chanting ringing out again.
The big problem is the ground floor building. Over the coming week it will be sanitized and building work will begin as soon as possible. They don’t know yet exactly how much work will be needed, or how long it will take. The Museum was insured and the insurance should pay for the building work. The display cabinets are very badly damaged ad it looks as if some may have to be replaced. If anyone knows of any display cabinets going spare, then the Museum would really like to hear about them.
Boscastle itself has suffered dreadfully. The roads into the village are passable, and essential services have been restored, but it is likely to be months before people can return to their homes. Some buildings have been washed away completely or demolished. Almost all the shops apart from the newsagents are badly damaged and boarded up. The entire harbour area is restricted, and people cannot go in without hard hats and protective suits. Most of the affected buildings have had several feet of evil-smelling mud containing raw sewage and rotting food left in them by the flood. If you get any of this on you, you have to wash it off with anti-bacterial stuff straight away, because of the health risk. Many buildings have suffered serious structural damage and some have holes in their roofs which were made by cars as they were swept down to the harbour. The riverbanks have been badly damaged and the harbour is still full of silt and stones which have been washed into it. The water is black with all the silt; it is hoped that the sea will remove a lot of this but it may need help. Work is going on round the clock to dry out the less badly affected buildings. Repair work is starting on roads and riverbanks and some of the buildings. In addition to repairing the physical damage, it is clearly going to take the people of Boscastle a long time to recover emotionally and psychologically from what has happened.
Some people have expressed frustration that they cannot go to Boscastle to help with the clean up. You can see from the above that conditions there are too difficult and dangerous for people to visit. In addition, there is nowhere to stay and nowhere to park cars. The Museum appealed for volunteer help immediately after the flood and are very grateful to everyone who offered their services. Having never experienced a disastrous flood before (!) they simply did not realise that conditions would make it impossible for people to go. It is still difficult to know when people will be able to go but the Museum have been immensely cheered by the hundreds of very kind offers of practical help and would like to thank everyone who responded; you did wonders for morale.
Despite this, there are still other ways in which you can help. Firstly, please remember the Museum and the people of Boscastle in your magical work. They will need lots of support to get through the long, difficult months ahead, and anything you can do on a magical level will be much appreciated.
Then there is money. The appeal organised by the Pagan Federation Devon and Cornwall, the Children of Artemis and the Friends of the Museum has so far raised £7,000. It is hoped that insurance will cover essential building work but the real problem is that the Museum has to generate every penny of income it receives from the admission fees received from visitors; it does not receive any grant aid or public funding whatsoever. There will be no admissions until Easter next year so therefore there will be no income. It costs about £2,000 per month in essential bills (rates, electricity, services etc) to keep the Museum going even when it is closed, so the PF, CoA and Friends are aiming to raise £14,000 to tide the Museum over until it is able to re-open next year. We are already half way there. If you would like to think about organising some fundraising, then that would be marvellous. Grateful thanks to everyone who has helped with this so far.
The last couple of weeks has been pretty terrible for the Museum and its supporters, but they have come through it determined that the Museum will be back, stronger and better, next year. As one of the co-ordinators of the appeal for support, I have learnt just how kind and wonderful people can be when there is a crisis. We have received thousands of emails from Pagans, Witches and people who love the Museum from all over the world, and very generous financial and practical help. Knowing that this support is there has really boosted morale. It is difficult to put into words how much this has meant; thank you for your wonderful kindness and Goddess bless you all.
The spirit shown by Graham, Kerrianne and all at the Museum has been magnificent. They are all determined that the Museum will be back next year and that it will continue to grow and learn from this experience.
The Museum will open again at Ostara next year; I hope to see you there.
Blessings
Levannah Morgan
(on behalf of Pagan Federation Devon and Cornwall; Children of Artemis and Friends of the Museum of Witchcraft).
Levannah Morgan
I visited the Museum on Saturday 4th September at Graham’s request. The news is good, in that it is now clear that most of the collection from the ground floor has survived, and can be repaired, and also not so good, in that the ground floor of the building itself is devastated. Most of the walls have been damaged, and the wall between the Museum and the shop in front has gone entirely. The water did not reach the upper floor of the building; it and the collection it houses is not damaged. The Museum will reopen at Easter 2005.
The flood left several feet of mud containing sewage and rotting food throughout the ground floor. As the water surrounded them, the display cabinets floated off their bases. Water then seeped into the cases. Paradoxically, this water then protected many of the objects from being broken as it seeped slowly out again and left them gently sitting in a cushion of mud. There is a “tideline” throughout the ground floor which indicates that the water was five feet deep.
Over the last five days Graham and the team, working in protective suits and hard hats in very restricted spaces, have managed to clear the worst of the mud out of the ground floor (shovelling it out by hand). I was amazed to see the progress that they had made. Community spirit in Boscastle has been fantastic, with local people rallying to help the Museum when their own homes and businesses are badly damaged.
The upper floor has been thoroughly cleaned and de-humidified and its humidity is now normal (55%). The collection there is fine; it was great to see the Richel Collection, the Crowley material, the Poppets, and all the rest of the things that are displayed upstairs looking fine. The spirits have returned to the upstairs (Graham and Kerrianne say they left when the flood happened and were gone for several days); the upstairs feels like the warm, beating heart of the Museum which is sustaining it, despite all that has happened. A candle is burning in the shrine.
Once the mud was cleared from the ground floor the cabinets were emptied one by one and as many items as possible recovered. Graham thinks at this stage that up to 90% of the collection may have survived. The museum has received a lot of specialist advice from other museums about how to save the objects, and it is hoped that they will be okay.
When objects are brought out of the Museum, they are gently washed, to remove the worst of the mud. They are then taken to another location where they are disinfected and sterilized and allowed to dry out slowly. Finally they are put in a room with de-humidifiers to complete the drying out process. This slow drying process is essential as it stops them from sustaining further damage. Some of the items will be sent to specialist repairers and conservation experts. Museums across the South West have offered to store items until they are able to come home to Boscastle. I was able to see the objects drying out and would like to reassure everyone that many old favourites, including Harry the tarred head, Alex Sanders’ horned mask, wands, athames, traditional charms and spells, are all safe. The items which have been lost appear to be mainly paper and cloth. Some of the objects have been altered a little by the floods and have acquired a different colour or a patina. In a strange way, this adds to them and the stories they have to tell.
Conservation experts who have seen how the Museum is tackling this work have been very impressed and Graham has been asked to write papers on disaster recovery.
“Joan”, the figure of the witch from the Witch’s Cottage, has already been repaired. She is sitting in the flat above the Museum and all her clothes have been washed and mended by Carole. She just needs some minor repairs to one eyebrow!
Almost all the collection has been removed now. Yesterday I helped empty one of the last remaining cabinets (Satanism) and washed the contents prior to removal for disinfecting. Graham then said that he had a girly job for me; cleaning the kitchen. This consisted of removing shelves and stacks full of plastic files and stationery buried under thick layers of stinking mud, clearing shelves of mud-encrusted crockery and utensils, and generally shovelling out the unmentionable stuff from the floor. Everything was removed into a wheelbarrow and dumped into a skip outside. Lee and I spent a happy couple of hours at this task. The electricity has been restored to the Museum and yesterday Graham managed to get the sound system going; it was great to hear Liz and Heiki’s chanting ringing out again.
The big problem is the ground floor building. Over the coming week it will be sanitized and building work will begin as soon as possible. They don’t know yet exactly how much work will be needed, or how long it will take. The Museum was insured and the insurance should pay for the building work. The display cabinets are very badly damaged ad it looks as if some may have to be replaced. If anyone knows of any display cabinets going spare, then the Museum would really like to hear about them.
Boscastle itself has suffered dreadfully. The roads into the village are passable, and essential services have been restored, but it is likely to be months before people can return to their homes. Some buildings have been washed away completely or demolished. Almost all the shops apart from the newsagents are badly damaged and boarded up. The entire harbour area is restricted, and people cannot go in without hard hats and protective suits. Most of the affected buildings have had several feet of evil-smelling mud containing raw sewage and rotting food left in them by the flood. If you get any of this on you, you have to wash it off with anti-bacterial stuff straight away, because of the health risk. Many buildings have suffered serious structural damage and some have holes in their roofs which were made by cars as they were swept down to the harbour. The riverbanks have been badly damaged and the harbour is still full of silt and stones which have been washed into it. The water is black with all the silt; it is hoped that the sea will remove a lot of this but it may need help. Work is going on round the clock to dry out the less badly affected buildings. Repair work is starting on roads and riverbanks and some of the buildings. In addition to repairing the physical damage, it is clearly going to take the people of Boscastle a long time to recover emotionally and psychologically from what has happened.
Some people have expressed frustration that they cannot go to Boscastle to help with the clean up. You can see from the above that conditions there are too difficult and dangerous for people to visit. In addition, there is nowhere to stay and nowhere to park cars. The Museum appealed for volunteer help immediately after the flood and are very grateful to everyone who offered their services. Having never experienced a disastrous flood before (!) they simply did not realise that conditions would make it impossible for people to go. It is still difficult to know when people will be able to go but the Museum have been immensely cheered by the hundreds of very kind offers of practical help and would like to thank everyone who responded; you did wonders for morale.
Despite this, there are still other ways in which you can help. Firstly, please remember the Museum and the people of Boscastle in your magical work. They will need lots of support to get through the long, difficult months ahead, and anything you can do on a magical level will be much appreciated.
Then there is money. The appeal organised by the Pagan Federation Devon and Cornwall, the Children of Artemis and the Friends of the Museum has so far raised £7,000. It is hoped that insurance will cover essential building work but the real problem is that the Museum has to generate every penny of income it receives from the admission fees received from visitors; it does not receive any grant aid or public funding whatsoever. There will be no admissions until Easter next year so therefore there will be no income. It costs about £2,000 per month in essential bills (rates, electricity, services etc) to keep the Museum going even when it is closed, so the PF, CoA and Friends are aiming to raise £14,000 to tide the Museum over until it is able to re-open next year. We are already half way there. If you would like to think about organising some fundraising, then that would be marvellous. Grateful thanks to everyone who has helped with this so far.
The last couple of weeks has been pretty terrible for the Museum and its supporters, but they have come through it determined that the Museum will be back, stronger and better, next year. As one of the co-ordinators of the appeal for support, I have learnt just how kind and wonderful people can be when there is a crisis. We have received thousands of emails from Pagans, Witches and people who love the Museum from all over the world, and very generous financial and practical help. Knowing that this support is there has really boosted morale. It is difficult to put into words how much this has meant; thank you for your wonderful kindness and Goddess bless you all.
The spirit shown by Graham, Kerrianne and all at the Museum has been magnificent. They are all determined that the Museum will be back next year and that it will continue to grow and learn from this experience.
The Museum will open again at Ostara next year; I hope to see you there.
Blessings
Levannah Morgan
(on behalf of Pagan Federation Devon and Cornwall; Children of Artemis and Friends of the Museum of Witchcraft).