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Welcome to the Winchester Museums' newsletter
In this, the third issue of Review, we look at a couple of new developments that are pre-occupying staff just now: the creation of a 'Community History Partnership', or as Sher Kent, Museum Services Manager, describes it, a Friends organisation; and the beginnings of a volunteer programme at the City and Westgate Museums, here detailed by Michael Nelles.

The very desirable objective of broadening the museum's audience base is being addressed in many different ways. Kathleen McCulloch mentions one initiative using Web 2 applications and the Flickr website to create a gallery of past exhibitions. If you missed the recent Portable Antiquities Scheme exhibition, 'Art and Artefacts', described here by Rob Webley, Finds Liaison Officer, then you can follow the link he provides and experience the exhibition as a slideshow on Flickr.

The collections form the heart of the museum and it's always gratifying to see them grow. Ross Turle, Curator of Recent History, enthuses over the recent donation of material to create a Hat Fair archive that gives a representative picture of this annual summer event and Robin Iles, Education Officer, places in context some of the museum's collections that have been with us since the 19th and early 20th centuries in his piece, 'Souvenirs of Egypt'.

Research on the collections, leading to new knowledge, is fundamental to the museum's activities. Recent work by Dr Annia Cherryson has yielded grisly details on some of Winchester's late Saxon unfortunates, which will hopefully be published in a national journal in due course. At which point a plug for the latest book to be published by Winchester Museums should be made: follow the link to the flier giving full details, and how to obtain a copy, of Artefacts and Society edited by Helen Rees.

And finally, Helen didn't feel we could end the Museums Service's twenty-eight-year association with Hyde (see Review 2) without recording a few, highly personal, memories of her time as Finds Officer in the 'Potshed'.

Enjoy,

Geoff Denford, Principal Curator

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