Just A Mo!

 I said last week that the Museum in Sheringham was worth visiting,  despite the disappointment of the Scott/Shackleton exhibit. Here are some of the highlights of the trip

This didn't quite work! I attempted to take a series of shots in the viewing tower to show the 360° panorama. But believe me, it is a fabulous experience, to see the horizon across the sea, and then the land behind you, under a wide Norfolk sky.

For centuries, Sheringham has been home to enthusiastic knitters. Around the museum are  knitted fish hanging from hooks, and baskets of knitted crustaceans. There is an amazing display of miniature fishermen's "Ganseys". And a scarf. The label by the photograph says "Every member of the J C Madge lifeboat crew was presented with a hand-knitted scarf. Crew seen here with an unknown lady knitter" Poor woman - all that work and nobody thought to note down her name!

The women who knitted the ganseys had a particular stitch pattern for each fisherman. Then if a man was washed overboard and drowned, he could be identified by personalised gansey. The team working on the Northfolk project have recreated these in an amazing display [more info here]

I did like the display of nautical flags, and arranged four flags in a favourite word

In WW2, there was a Y station just outside the town , which communicated with Station X [Bletchley Park] The name came from Wireless Intercept  or WI . The museum had a scale model of the radio tower and some pieces of WW2 equipment.

There were lifeboats old and new. And finally John Craske

This guy was a fisherman, originally from Sheringham. But when he was 24, his family moved to Dereham to run a fish shop, and a fresh fish delivery business. Young John even brought fish out to Swanton Morley. Every Sunday he sang hymns in Dereham Market Place, and here he met his wife Laura. But he was dogged by ill health, and had to stop work. He took up painting and embroidery, and produced wonderful stitched pieces depicting the sea, the boats and the norfolk countryside, as well as wonderful paintings. He earned a lot of money selling these artworks, and they became particularly popular in the USA. When he died, aged 62, in 1943, he was buried in Dereham Cemetery. Obviously finding out more about a  gifted guy from Dereham who loved hymns and embroidery was something that I really appreciated! You can read much more of his fascinating story here. One final thing that amused me

The plaque reads ֍֍֍֍֍ Urban District Council. There is a public right of way over the whole of the  promenade. Agreed passage over the portion belonging to the Admiralty secured by agreement. Edgar C Rolf. Clerk Of The Court. September 1905 

This plaque was put up on the  Fishermen's Slipway, but nine years later, at the start of WW1, fearing an invasion, the word Sheringham was scratched out! When the coastal defences were renewed almost a century later, one of the engineers saved the plaque.

Did they really think the Germans would not be able to work out where they were? 

The Mo was fun, there were lots of books I would have liked to buy in the gift shop, and some very neat embroidery kits. I would recommend it for a visit - lots for all ages, about many aspects of the town's history [I haven't even mentioned the prehistory stuff and the dinosaurs and fossils...]

But I would agree with Sue's comment last week - the layout is quite labyrinthine, and it is easy to turn a corner, and get lost, or miss one of the exhibits. Good value for money, as these things go, with items to interest all ages from toddlers to grannies!