DRAMATIC OPENING OF REFURBISHED GREEN HOWARDS MUSEUM
18th May 2007

An army Land Rover bursts through the wall of The Green Howards Regimental Museum in Richmond as a dramatic introduction to its newly-refurbished entrance area, which will be open to the public for the first time on Saturday 19 May. With the help of a Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £220,000, the Museum now greets visitors with a startling image of the modern Army, with a vehicle in desert camouflage complete with driver protected against the sands of Iraq. Beyond the vehicle, visitors will be greeted with a refurbished reception area that that includes a museum shop and a special ‘hands on’ area where the many children who visit the Museum – among them many school parties – will be able to handle objects from the Museum, wear uniforms and work with Museum Assistant Paul Cooper in his role as a World War I soldier. In a new research area visitors will have computer access to more than 6,000 archive photographs of the Regiment, dating back 150 years, which have been digitised by Sarah Taylor, the Museum’s Collections and Audience Development Officer and her team of volunteers. There is also access to computer databases of military history that can help people to research their family history. The design for the new reception area was undertaken by Will Daykin of Blue – The Design Company, based in Askrigg. He says, ‘The idea for the Land Rover bursting through the wall came as a result of discussions at the Museum about the need to show up-to-date life in the Army as well as its history. And we have decorated the curved glass wall of the study area with text taken from a document in the Green Howards archives.’ To mark the opening of the refurbished Museum there is a special exhibition for this year, organised by the local Red Cross branch, which shows the role of nurses in war. David Tetlow, Curator of the Green Howards Regimental Museum, says, ‘We are really excited about re-opening the Museum on 19 May after being closed for some time. The new entrance display is stunning, and we are confident that our visitors will be impressed. We are very grateful to the Heritage Lottery Fund for their grant and for funds from Richmondshire District Council and the Trustees of the Museum, which have enabled us to fund this project and Sarah’s work in developing our visitor numbers and facilities. We look forward to welcoming both regular and new visitors this summer.’

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