Cornwall At War Museum

The Cornwall At War Museum opens today for the 2019 season. There are new exhibits, a mock up of a WWI tank for children to clamber over, and a variety of projects still ongoing. The shop has a whole new range of gifts and souvenirs. Last year we had over 12,000 visitors, and were voted the best museum in Cornwall by Tripadvisor - a title which we'd love to win again. All the buildings are wheelchair friendly, children can run off their energy in the safe play fort, and well behaved dogs are welcome and can go in all the buildings. We look forward to meeting all our visitors this year.

Only a week to go until we open for the 2019 season. No photos this week, we were all too busy yesterday getting new displays organised, cleaning up rooms and making sure nothing had been forgotten. The shop will have a whole new look with many different items on the shelves. The NAFFI has a new coffee machine that makes all the different types that are popular, so for the first time you can choose what type of coffee drink you'd like. This week will see the final bits and pieces done and then we'll be ready to greet the first visitors next Saturday. Hope that you can come and meet us this year.

As Easter is so late this year the museum will open the 2019 season on Saturday the 30th of March at 10 a.m. Until July the museum will be shut on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, with the exception of school holidays when we will be open 7 days a week.

Yesterday was a day of getting everything ready for the opening of the 2019 season on the 30th of March - just 2 weeks away. It's a state of organised chaos not suitable for photos. For a bit of fun we thought we'd show the volunteers dogs this week. Contrary to the old adage, none of us look like our dogs, especially Les and his Chihauhau, Paddy. First up is 3 year old terrier Spot who belongs to Ken. Spot loves everyone and gives Ken instructions on driving the vehicles. Les has Paddy the Chihauhau. Love the look of surprise on Paddy's face. Hamish the Westie belongs to J.B and obviously finds toilet rolls far better than any dog toy. Lastly my Labrador, Carrek. He'll be 12 in May and loves his walks.

One of the more unusual finds for the museum this year is a pair of Indian cinema benches that have been given a new lease of life as the back seats for the Roxy cinema. The benches come from a cinema in Calcutta and date to around the early 1900's. Made from teak with iron legs and arms, the benches were made for a family to occupy with graduating seat sizes. At the far end (looking straight at them) are two small sizes for children, then comes the larger size for the wife and lastly the largest size for the husband. The iron work has been protected with paint and the woodwork has been oiled to help preserve it. Behind the benches you can see a collection of old film projectors, and the walls are covered in  posters for films, mainly for WWII films and some later ones. During the open season there is a looped DVD playing in the Roxy cinema showing how the museum has grown to what it is today. The building renovations, the construction of new buildings, arrivals of new it

Yesterday was another busy day at the museum. Steve and Adrian were setting the right time on the clock, whilst Roger suspended some model aircraft from the hangar roof. Photos of floors being painted aren't interesting so they won't get on here, but they still have to be done. It's one of those jobs that nobody ever notices, but a fresh, clean floor makes all the difference to a room. Sheila painted the cinema floor and the floor in building 2 and they look immaculate.