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posted by [personal profile] owlfish at 11:08pm on 10/02/2010 under ,
For the third day running, my American employer is closed due to inclement weather. Here, there have been daily flurries with entirely negligible accumulation, when any. Tonight, the sidewalks iced up though. Tread softly.

I know the country roads are particularly treacherous and yet - I keep making it to Canterbury just fine through all the weather, including today's, while other people who live within ten miles of the city are unable to.

Speaking of Canterbury, I'll see if I can't fit in a bit of urgent tourism sometime soon. The city's Roman Museum and Westgate Museum are in danger of being shut down being re-examined for ways to save on city council budget. (Petition against closure. FB Group.) The public relations issues these museums have is immediately evident in the article, if the best illustrative photograph the Independent could find is in black and white and dates from the 1950s.
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There are 8 comments on this entry. (Reply.)
 

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posted by [identity profile] alextiefling.livejournal.com at 11:43pm on 10/02/2010
Those museums in Canterbury - especially Westgate - have a long history of neglect and under-selling. I've never seen Westgate open, so I've never been inside it and don't know if the inside of the building itself is worth seeing. But if I was the head of the museums service and was looking for a site to shut, I'd be very tempted - it's not very big, and I'm sure the better artefacts could be displayed to better advantage in one of the service's several museums which aren't proposed for closure at all.
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posted by [personal profile] owlfish at 11:56pm on 10/02/2010
It's open Saturdays, with lovely views over the city, I hear. I'm not likely to be back there on a Saturday anytime soon.
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posted by [identity profile] drasecretcampus.livejournal.com at 12:54am on 11/02/2010
Which other museums? The Beany is closed for a major refit, and I think the sites in Whitstable and Herne Bay are rumoured to be closed (although HB is scheduled for some kind of rebranding and rebuilding). That leaves the Canterbury Museum, which seemed reasonable full and coherent - Anglo-Saxons to Bagpuss. Which museum have I missed?

I'm not clear who runs the pilgrim's house or Greyfriars - I don't think they're council.

As the sole surviving city gate, it would be a shame to see it reduced to something that scrapes paint off buses. And it looks like Westgate Hall is to close and be demolished, losing another performance space (such space and a library having been earmarked for Whitefriars but singularly invisible. The library is squatting in the former Degas centre, a former outpost of CCCCCCCCU.
Edited Date: 2010-02-11 12:55 am (UTC)
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posted by [identity profile] swisstone.livejournal.com at 11:47pm on 10/02/2010
In the spirit of fairness and accuracy, here is the Council's official statement:

http://www.canterbury.gov.uk/main.cfm?objectid=5065
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posted by [personal profile] owlfish at 11:51pm on 10/02/2010
Ahh, useful. Thank you. I'll update.
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posted by [personal profile] owlfish at 11:57pm on 10/02/2010
P.S. That's an update from sometime today. When I looked at the museum websites last night in case of further information, it wasn't there.

Glad they're addressing the rumor mill.
Edited Date: 2010-02-10 11:57 pm (UTC)
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posted by [identity profile] drasecretcampus.livejournal.com at 12:46am on 11/02/2010
Cllr Perkins's spelling is making my teeth great, er, grate...

Must do Roman Museum soon, in case - as I said to you, Westgate is ok if minor and best for the view.

Apologies for gossiping past closing time!
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(no subject)

posted by [personal profile] owlfish at 11:32am on 11/02/2010
The odds of me being in Canterbury on a Saturday any time soon are exceedingly slender, so I doubt I'll be able to see Westgate, at least anytime in the next several months.

Thank you for all the time spent gossiping! It was extremely useful for me. The museum will keep. Indeed, the museum may yet keep for years and decades to come.
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