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ARTIFACTS IN RUINS
To further prove that they are untroubled by
public opinion when it comes to Elvaston Castle and
Country Park, Derbyshire County Council are now
obstructing the people who have come forward to try and
buy back the farming equipment that they sold or donated
to the Working Farm Museum that was once such a source of
local pride.
Let us get something straight. The County
Council claim that falling attendance figures caused the
museum to close in 2001. Everywhere in the British
countryside had falling attendance figures in 2001 due to
the foot and mouth crisis. Derbyshire County Council
used it as an excuse to close down the Museum. This fell in line with
its
plans to clear the Estate so that they could develop it.
Let us make no mistake here, we will not
stand idly by and allow the County Council's methods to go unnoticed and unannounced. Take the County
Council spokeswoman who told the Derby Evening Telegraph
that: "Some items have fallen into a poor state of
repair due to lack of space to properly store them
indoors and the nature of the Working Museum, which
encouraged their continued use. We have been working to
put the situation right by properly logging and storing
more than 12000 objects."
This cannot go unchallenged. If the items fell into a
poor state of repair due to lack of space to store them
indoors, why are the few items that have been stored
under cover fallen into similar dereliction? Lance Hunt's
father's gypsy caravan has been stored indoors hasn't it?
Look at the state of that. A little bird also tells us
that the artefacts stored inside the Castle are in a
similar state of neglect, and covered in thick layers of dust.
"The nature of the Working Museum encouraged their continued
use" just underscores what we all know - that they were once working. If
the County Council was sincere with regard to properly logging and
storing the objects from the museum then they would surely start with
those which are the most vulnerable BECAUSE they have been left to rot,
out in the open. This they have so far failed to do.
The answer is plainly obvious. Look at the
photographs in the gallery. The people who have not only
allowed these things to happen are also the ones
responsible for it. Look at the piles of scrap metal in the gallery
photographs. The County Council are now refusing to allow
people whose family members sold or donated equipment to
have them back unless the individuals concerned have
retained the paperwork, even where the County Council
themselves hold evidence of who sold or donated it.
Let us try and stop any further deterioration of items and
exhibits on the Estate, indeed even the buildings themselves.
Lance Hunt's father, Norman, an agricultural
engineer who died 14 years ago, collected machinery and
agricultural equipment which he exhibited in a country
life museum at his farm in Turnditch. When he decided to
close it, due to ill health in the late 1970s, he sold
and donated his collection to various worthy causes,
including Elvaston Castle.
In 1980, a working estate museum was opened
at Elvaston but it closed in 2001 because of falling
attendance figures. Mr Hunt visited the stately home and
country park recently and was shocked by what he found.
Among the items that had belonged to his father were two
gypsy show caravans that are now sitting out in the open,
on ground next to the church. There are also many carts
and other pieces of historic farm machinery on land at
the estate's Home Farm.
Mr Hunt contacted Derbyshire County Council
to ask how he could get his father's items back. A DCC
spokeswoman said that, where possible, artefacts from the
estate are being returned to their original owners. A
spokeswoman said that the items were being identified and
logged properly, with a view to finding new homes for
them at museums, but former owners or heirs, such as Mr
Hunt, will only be approached if the museum search fails.
And they will not be allowed to take the
machines back, unless they can provide copies of
documentation they would have signed when the objects
were given to the museum, even if the county council's
own records show that the person making the request was
the donor. Councillors will also consider selling the
items at auction, the spokeswoman said.
A county council spokeswoman said, "Some
items have fallen into a poor state of repair due to lack
of space to properly store them indoors and the nature of
the working museum, which encouraged their continued use.
We have been working to put the situation right by
properly logging and storing more than 12,000
objects." (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph)
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