Museum and Archive Annual Report 2010
Tours
We ran the Bach Tours for North Shore Heritage Week and Auckland Heritage Festival in September and October 2009 and the two weekends in February and March this year. The scone with tea is proving very popular and we have got a good routine for organising it. New World Devonport is generous in supporting us with discount on the scones and supplying the jam, tea and coffee free. For the summer tours we introduced a booking system and restricted the numbers to twenty participants with a child or two added on. This works out well as people can keep together and hear the guide. Also if the weather is not favourable serving tea to more than twenty in the bach is rather confusing. In the summer we set the chairs outside and people stay on chatting – almost like old friends.
Figure 1: Heritage Week 2009
For the forthcoming Heritage Festival season we are doing tours on five successive Sundays from 4 September to 3 October 2010. Fullers have organised an internet booking system that will take payment for the reduced ferry fare and the tour. Life will be much easier. The baches and their story is becoming a popular item on the conference agenda too. We have hosted several groups and DoC likes to showcase us. Talks: several bowling clubs, Probus and Takapuna Rotary.
Concession
The sale items have been a great success this summer: - tea cosies, milk jug covers, Rangitoto models, postcards and water. We now have a concession with DoC which allows us to do this legitimately. Not to forget the Auckland Botanical Society's fantastic book. We have also had requests to host painters who have done images of baches. Ian Cheeseman came one Saturday with his work that was displayed in the courtyard. Sale of appropriate items adds to our coffers and creates interest, but we are cautious against having a 'shop'.
Figure 2: Tea Cosies are a popular item for sale
Bach 38 Museum
We were lucky enough to recruit four new volunteers in November. Our objective is to have the bach open at least one day every weekend and holidays from Labour Day to Easter. We did very well this year and I think we could claim a 75% success rate. Some volunteers offer the visitor 'tea and gingernuts' for a donation. A big Thank You to our volunteers.
Videos
Yes, plural. Two videos have been made of the work of Rangitoto Island Historic Conservation Trust this year. Kylie Newman doing her Bachelor of Communication specialising in Video did a 10 minute one about the Trusts' work. Hopefully you will see it at the AGM
Guests
Sandy, the black back gull watcher stayed again last year. And we have had our first 'artist in residence'. Tui Mamaku – a singer songwriter stayed 3 days in May.
Plaque Project
The empty sites along the path draw a lot of questions. It has been my idea to erect a small interpretation plaque at these sites with photos a short history. The Arrowsmith family had one made for their grandmother's bach last year. I put a proposal to DoC and got approval and commitment to do the artwork and erection. Three quotes from engravers were obtained. I wrote short histories from the oral histories I have collected over the years and photo selected from various collections. Application to the Environment Initiatives Fund by ARC has been successful. And so we intend to have ten plaques in place before the summer. Now that the groundwork has been done it will not be difficult to organise plaques for existing baches – at owners cost. To be consistent the plaques will have the same layout and artwork as those already approved by DoC.
Figure 3: Example of suggested plaques
Archives
Our records are continually being added to. With the assistance of our volunteer Savita, the archives were sorted, rationalised and each box contents summarised and recorded.
Susan
Museum report [pdf] 577kb
