Children in Aldenham Church by William Henry Hunt, reed pen and ink and watercolour

News

David Whorlow, Managing Curator, Mayor Ron Gealy, Dave Ashlee of Hertsmere Borough Council, Sylvia Collier of the Heritage Lottery Fund and Bryen Wood MBE, Managing Director of Bushey Museum

On Thursdays, visitors to the Museum may be able to visit theFrobisher School of Painting Studio behind the Museum, and see the artists at work.

Extract from Friends' Newsletter

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News from Rudolph Road and Reveley Lodge

We were well into December when we had an email from Hertford from Julie saying that Howard Guard, the High Sheriff of Hertfordshire wanted to visit all the Museums in Hertfordshire. More particularly, she wanted his tour to start in South Hertfordshire before Christmas. By then our only free day was Wednesday 19th December and happily that suited him and the other six museums in our area. A timetable was set and Julie provided a press release. It quoted the High Sheriff as saying: "In Hertfordshire we have many dozens of high-tec companies that rival any in the Silicon Valley. We burst with innovation and enterprise and we are surrounded by commercial success, but how many of us know that Hertfordshire hosts 43 Museums, all richly diverse and all of tremendous interest - I didn't until I visited the Museum stand at the Herts Show last year. How many know that St. Albans Abbey has debatably the longest Nave in the country and the finest remaining Norman Tower? The reality is that Hertfordshire remains an undiscovered secret for many people who just see it as a place to drive through, commute from, or occupy during office hours. Our Heritage is equal to the vibrancy of our companies - we just need to open the door to let people see it. I look forward to going through 43 of those doors in the next six weeks and discovering the many secrets that Hertfordshire Museums hold".

Hertsmere Councillor, John Donne, who is also Chairman of the Hertfordshire Museums Partnership, was quoted as saying: "Museums are an integral part of community which provide a valuable educational service to schools and local residents. We hope that this tour will help raise the profile of museums with their local councils and funders and help to encourage future support".

The High Sheriff of a county is the second most important citizen after the Lord Lieutenant. His role dates from Anglo- Saxon times and on behalf of the Crown he is nominally responsible for the Country's administration and for its law and order. Most of his powers have been devolved, but he still has many ceremonial duties and he gives support to the judiciary, the police and to many voluntary bodies.

On the appointed Wednesday Howard arrived at Rudolph Road with Julie. He was in full ceremonial uniform, complete with lace jabot and cuffs and wearing his sword. We were delighted that our Mayor and Mayoress, Councillor Martin Saunders and Jane Saunders were able to join us. They wore their chains of office and the three made a splendid sight walking round the Museum. Howard took a real interest in all our displays and was particularly taken with the Lucy Kemp-Welch Memorial Collection. He knows Sir John and Lady Kemp-Welch well and, of course, Lady Diana Kemp-Welch is High Sheriff of Essex. He also liked the shop and bought a number of items. His favourites were the tiny musical boxes that played carols, which Mike Wakelin had brought in for Christmas. His visit to the Frobisher Studio included chatting with the artists, who took the sudden appearance of this imposing figure in court dress with a sword entirely in their stride.

David had volunteered us to provide lunch, which we were pleased to do. We all went up to Reveley Lodge for it. Margaret and June had got out the silver and the best china and the dining room looked resplendent. They had cooked a prawn and ham risotto, followed by June's Jamaican lemon crunch and Margaret's exotic fruit salad. Ten of us sat down round the table and we know that Eila would have been so proud to have had the High Sheriff of Hertfordshire with the Mayor and Mayoress of Hertsmere at her table.

Bryen Wood