http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk/news/lots-of-interest-1.902257?referrerPath=home/2.2837

The Beacon is delighted to have secured a rare example of  Whitehaven Pottery, which went up for auction last week.  (See the above article in the Whitehaven News.)

More details about this latest acquisition, a 19th Century carpet bowl, will be available shortly.

Our Christmas Show is now showing and is proving more popular than ever.  Here's what The Whitehaven News said about it;

 

http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk/home/the-beacon-s-festive-show-is-a-real-cracker-1.898060?referrerPath=home/2.2837

http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk/news/festive-flair-at-the-beacon-s-christmas-show-1.893510?referrerPath=home/promotions

Cick here to see how our BBC Walking with Dinosaurs Exhibition inspired a local nursery in Whitehaven to create their own dinosaurs.

http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk/news/monster-tales-1.876037?referrerPath=home

For more pictures of the work created by the children, visit our Facebook page;

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Beacon-Whitehaven/166101388954

 

On Saturday 23rd July, The Beacon will be 15 years old.

Come along and help us celebrate.

Throughout the day, we are inviting visitors to join in the celebrations, share in a piece of birthday cake, and children can even take home a party bag with a souvenir of their visit inside.

Children’s facepainting will also be available from 1pm to 4pm.

There will be the opportunity for everybody to make their own birthday card and to share what they love most about The Beacon. These cards will then be put on before being added to the museum collection where they will be safely stored until our next milestone birthday.

To give everyone a chance to celebrate with us, we are staying open until 8.30pm (last admission 7.45pm).

Our birthday celebrations also coincide with the magnificent Lakes Alive event which also takes place this Saturday.  There will be an abundance of activity on the harbourside between 12 and 4pm including a Farmers Market and Street Entertainment.  The main event Maudit Sonnants (Celestial Carillon), which takes place at 10.00pm, will see a breath-taking concert of bell chiming taking place above Whitehaven’s Georgian harbour.

 

 

The BBC Walking with Dinosaurs Exhibition is creating interest all over.  If you thought you spotted a T-Rex at Carlisle Tarin Station, you weren't dreaming! 

Thanks to Northern Rail in arranging such a great day for us and the children of Brook Street Primary School, Carlisle on Weds 29th June.

See the links below for some of this latest Dinosaur madness.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MjzDpYb6m0

http://www.rail.co/2011/07/01/school-childrens-dinosaur-experience-at-carlisle-station/

http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/carlisle-kids-walking-with-dinosaurs-on-city-train-station-1.853156?referrerPath=2.880%2Fhome

The press are loving our BBC Walking with Dinosaurs Exhibition.  Make sure you don't miss it!

http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/new-dino-exhibit-roars-into-action-1.847561?referrerPath=home/2.1962

Dinodraw!
Competition launched at The Beacon

This summer The Beacon is to play host to an amazing exhibition, 65 million years in the making and we want local children to help us.

To promote the amazing, award-winning BBC Walking With Dinosaurs Exhibition which opens at The Beacon on June 11th, we are asking primary school children in West Cumbria to enter our competition to draw their very own Dinosaur. The winning entry will be printed on a banner that will go on display outside The Beacon, on Whitehaven’s habourside for everyone to see.

“This is a really exciting opportunity for local school children”, said Alan Gillon, The Beacon’s Learning Officer. 

“Not only will the winning entrant get to see their picture blown up to gigantic proportions – they will also receive a free visit for their class to the incredible BBC Walking With Dinosaurs Exhibition”.

The competition is open right now and the closing date is 31st May 2011.  The competition is open to all primary age school children within West Cumbria.  Schools can choose to make this a class activity and ask all the children to enter, or children can enter individually. Children should write their name, age, contact details and school on the back of their entry.

“We are looking for really bright and colourful entries”, said Claire Winter-Moore, The Beacons Marketing & Promotions Assistant. “Something that will really stand out on the harbourside – a terrifying Tyrannosaurus or a dazzling Diplodocus!”

The BBC Walking with Dinosaurs Exhibition is based on the award-winning BBC TV series.  This blockbuster exhibition will be at The Beacon from 11th June until 4th September. Admission to the exhibition is included in the usual museum admission price of £5 for adults and is just £1.50 for children.

A suspected dinosaur bone has been found on Whitehaven Beach by a dog walker. The small dog thought he had gone to heaven. Dog walker Pamela Martin said, “I heard my dog bark and he was digging at something. I couldn’t believe what ‘Snoot’ had dug up. I said ‘You’re not taking that home with you!’’.

The bone has been discovered in good time to promote the Beacon’s summer blockbuster exhibition ‘BBC Walking With Dinosaurs’, which opens to the public from 11th June to 4th September.

 

Follow this link for more details

http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk/news/snoot-s-historic-discovery-on-sands-1.823430?referrerPath=home/2.2837

Our "Looking Back at Mount Pleasant" talk, delivered by Local Historian Alan Routledge took place today (15th March).  Due to popular demand, we have now set another date for the talk on Tuesday 22nd March at 2pm.  Call us now to book your free place.

 

http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk/news/talk-celebrates-change-1.816228?referrerPath=home/2.2837

Our new POP Gallery is progressing well and we've got lots planned for our opening weekend of 19th & 20th Feb.

 

Here's what we've got planned;

• CFMs Robbie Dee will be here on Saturday from 11am to 2pm. (Sat only)
• Performances of iconic dances of the decades by the Alison Taylor Dance Academy. (11am, 12, 1 & 2pm.  Sat only)
• Cumbria Classic Mini Club Rally (Sun only)
• Face painting
• Karaoke

Don't miss it!

 

If you want to see how the new gallery is progressing, visit our Facebook page (via the link on our Home Page). 

 

The team at The Beacon has been working hard over the past few months to get everything ready for our new popular culture gallery POP -Life After Rationing.

 

January 31st will see the museum galleries temporarily closed to the public for 2 weeks to allow the installation of the new gallery to take place.

 

 

The official launch of our new POP gallery will take place on Saturday 19th February from 10am.

 

 

The Beacon's shop and Harbour Gallery will remain open as usual during this time.

 

 

Watch this space for further information about our launch day!

All the way from Tate Britain, The Beacon is awaiting a very special guest.

 

Arriving on 25th November, the oil painting by pre-Raphaelite artist Arthur Boyd Houghton entitled “A Mother & Children Reading”, will be delivered to The Beacon where it will be on loan for approximately 2 years.

 

On public view from Sat 27th November, the painting will be displayed in the museum and will be the focus of many events and activities during its residence.

 The Copeland Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition was judged last weekend. 

The winners are;

Adult category – Christine Redgate, Haverigg
Title of image – “A Knight On White Satin” taken at Hodbarrow Nature Reserve.

 

 

Junior Categry – Holly McGrady, Whitehaven
Title of image – “Where’s all the snow gone?”, taken at Dalton – in – Furness.

 

The main prizes are a large print of their winning photo as well as a limited edition postcard produced from their image.  This will be sold at The Beacon and also Whitehaven Tourist Information Centre.

 

 

The images are currently on display in The Beacon’s Harbour Gallery within our Christmas Show  exhibition.

 

 

Details of the prize presentation will be announced shortly. 

 

 

The competition is sponsored by Graeme Cameron Photography.

Do you remember Copeland in the 1950’s – 1980’s? Do you remember the Whitehaven mini skirt competition in 1967? Do you remember the toy shops in Copeland in the 1960’s? Where did people go to get a 1980’s spiral perm?

The Beacon’s new popular culture gallery is currently being designed and researched. Be part of this gallery and get involved. The Beacon needs you!

 

 

The Beacon is looking to create a focus group to contribute to this community based exhibition. Tell us what we cannot do without in our brand new gallery and what Copeland stories we should cover.

 

 

Charlotte Stead, The Beacon Curator, says: ‘We would really value your involvement with the exhibition. We are looking forward to working with the community to create something that represents the lives of Copeland people of the late 20th Century’.

 

 

The proposed date of the first meeting is 7pm to 8pm on Thursday 11th November.

 

 

If you would like to volunteer to be part of the group please contact The Beacon on 01946 592302 or email thebeacon@copelandbc.gov.uk.

2010 Copeland Wildlife Photographer of the Year

The Beacon and Graeme Cameron Photography are inviting all Copeland residents to be inspired by The Beacon’s forthcoming exhibition, Wildlife Photographer of the Year which will be showing in the Harbour Gallery between 25th September and 31st October. Copeland residents have the opportunity to take part in the competition by sending in their own wildlife photograph to The Beacon with the chance to have their image professionally reproduced and printed as a postcard.

The competition is open to all Copeland residents and will be split into two categories; adults 16 years and over and children under 16. The photograph should have been taken by the entrant in Cumbria during 2009/10. Entrants can choose whether their photograph is colour or black and white.  Photographs must be at least 10” X 8” on matt or gloss photographic paper.

The deadline for entries is 4pm on 31st October.  All entries should be sent to The Beacon, West Strand, Whitehaven. CA28 7LY.  Winning entrants will be informed shortly after the closing date and their photos will be on display in the Harbour Gallery at The Beacon until mid January 2011.

The winner of the adult category will have their image professionally printed as a 24"x16" 10mm thick frameless picture to take home worth £75.00.  The winner of the junior category will have their image professionally printed as a 18"x12" 10mm thick frameless picture - worth £60.00.

As well as having their images professionally reproduced as frameless pictures, the winners will also have their image printed to produce a limited edition postcard which will go on sale in The Beacon and Whitehaven Tourist Information Centre.

Entry forms with terms and conditions can be downloaded here.

As well as from The Beacon, forms are also available to collect from the following locations;

• Whitehaven, Egremont and Millom Tourist Information Centres,
• Fotomax, Lowther St, Whitehaven,
• Max Spieilman/Klick Photos, King St, Whitehaven,
• Whitehaven News Office
• Copeland Centre, Whitehaven

Breathing New Life Into Old Objects - Loving Cup Unveiled

A glass loving cup is to be unveiled by the Mayor of Copeland, Cllr Mike McVeigh at the Friends of Whitehaven Museums annual Wine Get Together on 7th September 7.30pm at the Beacon.

The Friends have invited The Beacon curator to nominate one item per year from The Beacon’s museum collection that is in need of conservation. This year the item selected was an 18th century glass loving cup.

Charlotte Stead, Beacon Curator said “The cup was donated to the museum by the Douglas family in the 1980’s. When the cup was gifted to the museum it was in a poor state of condition with cracks running alongside the handles. Due to its condition the cup was never able to be displayed. With the generous support of the Friends, the cup was conserved by Jenny Truran at the Lancashire Conservation Studios in Preston. The cup is now able to be on show in the museum for everyone to enjoy”.

This cup is an important piece of Whitehaven’s history. The cup was engraved  by a local jewellery maker and engraver, John Douglas, for his brother and his new wife. Inscribed with the entwined initials ‘DCD’, which stand for Daniel and Catherine Douglas.

The loving cup, shaped like a two handled bowl, goes back to ancient wedding traditions. The purpose of the Loving Cup ceremony is for the bride and groom to share their first drink together as husband and wife and to show the coming together of two families.

Celebrating the arrival of the World Cruise Ship at Whitehaven, The Beacon and Whitehaven Tourist Information are offering special Whitehaven Harbour Trails.

 

Whether you are a visitor from the cruise ship or are local to the area, these trails offer you the perfect opportunity to learn more about the rich history of this beautiful Georgian Harbour.

 

The cost is just £5. Admission to The Beacon museum is also included in the price

 

Tickets available from The Beacon (01946 592302) or Whitehaven Tourist Information Centre (01946 598914).

“Cowern’s Whitehaven-

Whitehaven In Pen, Ink & Pencil”

By Raymond T. Cowern (1913 – 1986)

 

 

As part of the Whitehaven festival celebrations, The Beacon now has a new exhibition in its museum gallery. This collection of Raymond Cowern’s work depicts Whitehaven town and harbour between 1968 and 1986.

 

Cowern sketched Whitehaven extensively from the houses and businesses in the town to the harbour and its boats. Originating from Birmingham, he had a fondness for drawing Whitehaven's distinct architecture. Cowern attended Birmingham Central School of Art and The Royal College of Art’s School of Engraving.  He has exhibited at the Royal Academy and was also a member of the Royal Society of Painters in Watercolour.

 

Cowern was the Dean of Art and Design at Brighton Polytechnic before his retirement in 1976. He eventually moved to Whitehaven upon his retirement where he was artistic advisor to the Copeland Collection of contemporary local art, now held at The Beacon. Cowern was well known to many in Whitehaven as a result of this role.

 

In 2005 The Beacon was presented with over 350 of Cowern’s pen, ink and pencil sketches of scenes around the town by his wife, Margaret. The full collection includes both framed and unframed works. This exhibition shows the framed works from this collection.

 

The exhibition is open Tuesday to Sunday and school and bank holiday Mondays from 10am to 4.30pm and will be on display throughout the summer. As the Beacon Gallery is part of the main exhibition area, standard museum admission price applies, with last admission at 3:45pm.