Scenes of summer

While we enjoy the last days – and rays – of summer, it seems like as good a time as any to share some images of the season from the museum collection. There are certainly plenty to choose from, even though you’d be forgiven for thinking that Buxton is better known for its somewhat wintry reputation!

Postcard sent from Buxton, postmarked July 11th 1908

These pictures, reproduced on postcards, demonstrate the variety of activities available to residents and visitors in Buxton during the warmer months of the year.

Ashwood Park was built in the early 1920s on the grounds of the Ashwood Park Hotel. 

As well as sporting activities like tennis, bowls, boating and golf, visitors and residents could enjoy strolls in landscaped areas around the town and walks in the countryside.

The Serpentine Walks extend along the River Wye to the west of Pavilion Gardens

The more adventurous could explore further afield with trips by horse-drawn carriage and charabanc to scenic destinations including Dovedale, Ashford-in-the-Water, the Cat and Fiddle public house and the Goyt Valley.

 

Passengers leaving Buxton with their driver J Wilkinson and guard A Gallinson, pulled by the horses Black Jack and Little Arthur. Early 20th century.

While adults enjoyed promenading through Pavilion Gardens, there was also plenty of entertainment for children. We love this postcard of a Punch & Judy show by the Crescent:

Postcard dated 1896

Lest we forget that the sun doesn’t always shine in Buxton in the summer, we have two postcards showing a flood in Pavilion Gardens, which (while it may not have been the result of heavy rain?) certainly must have put a dampener on the usual summer pursuits.

Enjoy the rest of the summer – wherever you are and whatever you’re doing! Remember Buxton Museum and Art Gallery closes for redevelopment on 5 September so you only have until the weekend to pay us a visit.

 

May these waters never cease to flow

This week Buxton celebrates the well dressing festival, which began in 1840 to thank the Duke of Devonshire for piping a supply of fresh water to a well on the Market Place. Apart from a break between 1912 and 1925, the event has been held annually.

Celebrations on the Crescent in 1864, the first year that St Ann’s Well was decorated.

Since Thursday volunteers have been busy creating the dressings inside St John’s Church and this morning the results will have been installed at the three wells around the town ready to be blessed this afternoon.

The blessing of Higher Buxton Well in 1910.

 

The blessing of the wells starts with a service at St Anne’s Church on Bath Road followed by a procession that marches to each of the three wells in turn for a short blessing at each one. Afterwards the new well dressing Queen is crowned in a ceremony at St John’s Church. Next Saturday she will lead the annual carnival procession through the town.

Festival Queen Florence Morten leading the carnival procession in 1925.

 

The three wells are  St Ann’s Well on the Crescent, the Children’s Well (or Taylor Well) on Spring Gardens and Higher Buxton Well on the Market Place. The displays remain up until the following Monday (11th July this year) for visitors and residents to enjoy.

Palace Hotel Laundry parade float, June 1932

 

Buxton Museum and Art Gallery has a large collection of photographs and postcards that record the history of well dressing in the town, including wonderful well dressings, former festival queens, prize-winning parade floats and spectacular street scenes. Thanks to the people who collected them and the generosity of our donors and supporters, we’ll be able to keep and look after these snapshots of Buxton tradition for future generations to enjoy.

May pole dancing on the Crescent in front of St Ann’s Well, 1912.

More information about Buxton well dressing and associated events can be found on the official festival website here.

Dancing Round the Maypole

This week’s blog is by volunteer archivist Ian Gregory, who is currently documenting Buxton Museum’s collection of postcards, not to mention lending his expertise and enthusiasm to the Collections in the Landscape project.

The first impression is either twee or reassuring, depending on your point of view. Four young girls are dancing round a maypole at Buxton Well Dressings. The year is 1907, a time often associated with innocence and prosperity.

It is widely believed that well dressing goes back to pagan cultures where springs, rivers and lakes were sacred to or even physical manifestations of powerful deities. This was the view I was brought up with. For a long time, I never questioned it.

Then I raised the subject with a friend and he disputed this view. Apparently, there are no records of well dressings before the 17th century and some Peakland villages only began doing it in the 20th century. Well dressing is, in my friend’s opinion, a statement regarding the distinctive character of the Peak District, but one more recent than is generally assumed.

That said, I still respect the artistic standards achieved by the well dressers. They show real talent.

More information about the Buxton Well Dressing Festival.

Local Paper Announces Changes to the Museum

Local newspaper, The Buxton Advertiser, ran a feature on the big changes at Buxton Museum and Art Gallery this week. You can read it here.

New Exhibitions for Winter

If you tire of Christmas shopping, need an escape from the freezing temperatures or just want to see a good exhibition then Buxton Museum can help (our shop is great for stocking fillers too). Two local schools have taken over the foyer, Gallery Two and the landing and their big, bold artwork is a breath of fresh air.

In Gallery One, you can see the stunning results of a project by Freefall Arts. Though Your Eyes is a journey through everyday life from the 1930s to the 1970s using a collection of home movies, photographs and memories from the public.

Both exhibitions are on until 24 December (closing at 1pm) and admission is free.

Not that you need any further reason to visit Buxton Museum and Art Gallery but the well-loved Wonders of the Peak closes for refurbishment on 2 January 2016. If you want to hear that bear growl at you one last time then now is your chance!

There’s more information about the exciting plans for the future of the museum on the Collections in the Landscape blog.