The Museum in Newtown has been awarded a CyMAL grant to replace the wallpaper at the Museum. They have chosen a reproduction of an 1800 wallpaper which has also been used at Owen’s house in New Lanark. They will take the opportunity to do a minor re-hang of the paintings to bring items with similar themes closer together. This will mean closing the Museum for 2 weeks from 12 February to 25 February inclusive.
Patricia, the Curator, contributed to a documentary about the co-operative movement which BBC Wales have produced in conjunction with a 3 part drama called The Baker Boys. The documentary explores the ideas of Robert Owen and includes film of Newtown and the Museum. The BBC press release says:
Baker Boys actor Mark Lewis Jones takes a journey into the past to reveal the incredible vision of the co-operative movement’s Welsh founder, Robert Owen. And Steve Meo uncovers how his radical thinking is impacting Welsh communities over 200 years later. Robert Owen is a man for our times. “Big Society” is not a new phenomenon. It seems this visionary Welshman was always way ahead of his time.
The film goes out on BBC 1 Wales on Mon 7 Feb at 22.35 and on BBC 2 Wales on Wed 9 February at 22.00.
Following her work with the BBC, the Curator was asked to contribute a blog to the BBC Wales history site and her enthusiastic description of the Museum will appear at http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/waleshistory/2011/02/
