Kingsbridge Cookworthy Museum is now closed for the winter after the volunteers got together for an end-of-season party in the Museum’s main gallery which is the Old Schoolroom of Kingsbridge Grammar School.

The Museum attracts volunteers with a range of skills ranging from conservation and archiving to dealing with research questions or being a welcoming face at the stewards’ desk, and new recruits are always welcome.

Because of Covid restrictions, the Museum did not open until 31 May this year, but it has received a steady flow of visitors since then. It had a particularly good attendance for its Heritage Open Day in September, when all visitors had free admission and special activities were laid on for children, including a storyteller and rural craft demonstration.

A new exhibition, Don’t Stop the Music, opened this year featuring displays on various aspects of live music in the local area. There are a great many talented musicians in and around Kingsbridge and the exhibits include Kingsbridge Jazz Club, Kingsbridge Silver Band, Dartington Morris Men and a great many choirs, festivals, amateur dramatic groups and pub music events. The exhibition will run for another two years.

Administration Assistant Julia Hemming said: "Things pretty much got back to normal except our Local Heritage Resource Centre for researching family history became open by appointment only and we have found many people have been e-mailling in questions."

Although the Museum is closed until Easter 2022, the behind-the-scenes work continues and the LHRC remains open for local research and to view the Museum’s collection of over 30,000 local photographs.