FINISHING touches are being made to a Dorset museum which has been closed for winter.
Volunteers at the Purbeck Mining Museum in Norden have been working to get the site ready for its reopening on March 24.
The 2023 season will offer greater insight into the Purbeck Ball Clay industry, bringing extended opening hours, and a set of new trails.
These trails are being installed throughout the 25 acres of woodland around the museum, and will provide visitors with an opportunity to find out more about the area’s industrial past, while spotting wildlife along the way.
Peter Sills, the venue’s chairman, said: “As a ‘living museum’ for visitors, we’re keen to provide much more than just a static display of artefacts from yesteryear.
“That’s why we’re continuing to increase the frequency of our demonstrations of engine and wagon movements on the restored narrow-gauge tracks at Norden and looking to extend our outdoor offering with new woodland walks.”
The museum is run by a team of volunteers who have been working hard to get it ready ahead of visitors arriving later this month.
They have helped to maintain buildings, tracks and rolling stock, clear areas of dense undergrowth, and carry out wildlife surveys and landscape assessments.
Peter said: “It has certainly been a hectic winter for everyone connected with the museum.
“We’re looking to extend our opening times this year and we are always looking for new volunteers who have an interest in local history, engineering and the local ecology and who enjoy meeting people.”
“Our volunteers come from far and wide and anyone who joins us for the 2023 season will be joining us at a really interesting time as we have so many exciting plans for continuing to extend and develop the facilities and activities for visitors.”
One of the latest volunteers to join the Purbeck Mining Museum’s team is David Hyde from Binnegar near Wareham.
Davis said: “I picked up a book at an exhibition at Olympia in 1958 that referenced the Purbeck mining industry.
“Little did I realise that I would be returning to the area sixty years later to play my part in helping to support and promote such a significant heritage venue.”
More information on the Purbeck Mining Museum can be found at http://purbeckminingmuseum.org
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