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Our current exhibition – A Lifetime’s Collection of Electricals
Vintage Tech at Hedon Museum NOW!
Our exhibition – A Lifetime’s Collection of Electricals – is in full swing. Don’t miss your chance to see just a small part of this vast and usually hidden collection. The exhibition is constantly changing so you may need to pop in more than once!
Recognition for Hedon Airfield
A plaque has been placed at the Kingstown Hotel to commemorate a part of Hedon’s great history.
Hedon Airfield officially opened in April 1916, though it was only used by the RAF, but was used unofficially by early aviator Gustav Hamel in 1912, and postcards exist of Hamel standing with his plane on Hedon Airfield. The airfield closed in 1919 but was officially reopened as a public airfield in 1929 by Prince George, who flew to Hedon himself. Footage of the occasion can be found on the website for the Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust. Most famously the airfield was visited by Amy Johnson. On 24th May 1930, Amy Johnson completed her famous solo flight to Australia, the first female pilot to do so, by landing in Darwin in her damaged aircraft. On 11th August the same year, Amy received a hero’s welcome when she landed on Hedon Airfield. The Yorkshire Film Archive website has a video of this great occasion. The airfield was closed in 1939, but saw minor use during World War II.
Moonrise over Hedon Aerodrome
Photo courtesy of Alex Slingsby
Amy Johnson
Happy Yorkshire Day from Hedon Museum
Today all around Yorkshire, people celebrated their proud heritage, as is done every 1st August since 1975. Yorkshire is the largest county in the UK and there’s history around every corner. If you’re in Hedon tomorrow go for a look at the magnificent St Augustine’s Church, take a walk along the old railway track or pop into Hedon Museum to see some local history and our latest exhibition – A Lifetime’s Collection of Electricals.
Yorkshire Day Twitter page – @yorkshireday
A Lifetime’s Collection of Electricals
Enthusiastic collector, John Clappison, has had an interest in electrical items since he was 10 years old, when a relative pulled the wires out of a radio and gave it to him to fix. The relative was shocked to find that through trial and error, he’d completed the challenge. From then on his family, friends and neighbours knew who to ask when their TVs and radios broke. Years later however, the rules changed about fixing electrical items for your friends but the broken tech kept coming. This is how his collection began.
John claims to have always been more interested in the library than in football and it has served him well. His collection has grown to such a magnitude that he refers to it as ‘his museum’, and it features the very first TVs, radios, the first hairdryer (which would have plugged into your vacuum cleaner!), a video recorder from 1964 which would have cost you double the price of a car at the time and much more!
John will also be displaying photographs of the short-lived BBC Ottringham, a highly important transmitter station during World War II. Don’t miss your chance to see just a select portion of this extensive and incredible collection at Hedon Museum!
Exhibition runs Wednesday 2nd August – Saturday 2nd September. Opening times are every Wednesday and Saturday 10am – 4pm. FREE ADMISSION. Tea, coffee and biscuits are available. Pre-loved and local interest books for sale.
Transistor Radio
Photographs of BBC Ottringham
Personalised voice record – usually found for sale in amusements
Nazi Radio
For more work by John Parks or Kathryn Ashcroft, or to commission a work, please contact them through their Facebook pages – Property Art and Mouse in the House.
Last Chance!
Our current exhibition, Paintings & Sculpture by Father & Daughter, has only one day left! Don’t miss it!
Father and daughter, John and Kathryn
by John Parks
‘Einstein Mouse’ by Kathryn Ashcroft
‘Amy Johnson Mouse’ by Kathryn Ashcroft
Picture Stones by John Parks
Granddaughter Lily, 8
St Augustine’s Church by John Parks
Hurry before they fly away!
Beautiful hand-painted picture stones have been donated by talented artist John Parks. All the Guinea Pigs have gone and the phone boxes too, but you can still get your hands on some cute ladybirds and a little house. Don’t miss your chance because they’re disappearing fast!
Our current exhibition – Paintings & Sculpture by Father & Daughter
A Family Art Exhibition for All
Whether you like abstract, realism or crafts, or just love to see something a little different, look no further than Hedon Museum. We are currently hosting the joint talents of a father, daughter and granddaughter team who have not disappointed with this wonderful and popular exhibition.
If you missed us on BBC Radio Humberside, find the show on BBC IPlayer here– we’re about 50 minutes in.
Granddaughter Lily, 8
‘Einstein Mouse’ by Kathryn Ashcroft
St Augustine’s Church by John Parks
Father and daughter, John and Kathryn
BBC Radio Humberside at Hedon Museum!
A big thank you to BBC Radio Humberside for coming to Hedon Museum this morning for your game ‘Absolutely Clueless’! In case anyone missed it – the last part of the clue was ‘Relatively Mickey pilots the way’ and the answer was the ‘Amy Johnson Mouse’.
Our current exhibition features perfect paintings and adorable sculptures and our next exhibition in August will be of particular interest to radio fans. It will feature the oldest radios, TVs, computers and even the first hairdryer!
BBC Radio Humberside visits for a game of ‘Absolutely Clueless’
BBC Radio Humberside visits for a game of ‘Absolutely Clueless’
Clue with the ‘Amy Johnson Mouse’ for BBC Radio Humberside game ‘Absolutely Clueless’
BBC Radio Humberside visits for a game of ‘Absolutely Clueless’
Paintings & Sculpture by Father & Daughter
It is always something quite special when a family comes together for an exhibition. Father and daughter, John Parks and Kathryn Ashcroft have teamed up to offer us a truly multi-media exhibition, and look out for a beautiful painting by eight year old Lily, the youngest exhibitor we’ve ever had! Kathryn’s little mice are a must-see for anyone who loves all things adorable, and if you want to see how varied the world of painting is, then you need look no further than John Parks. This is not the first experience they have of exhibiting. Both have shown their works at the Ferens Art Gallery in Hull, Bridlington Spar and even taken part in a touring exhibition for the BBC.
John loves to experiment. He has works of art with an abstract and a realistic style. He has used wool, he has painted stones, he has sketched, used watercolours and mounted on pieces of shed, something he quite aptly called Shed Art. Mounted upon seven pieces of shed are what look like painted ceramic, but it is actually cleverly disguised MDF displaying beautiful images. A more recent edition to his Shed Art collection is wirework on a piece of corrugated roofing. John has painted animals, flowers and landscapes, but his true love lies with architecture. He is often commissioned to paint people’s house in extraordinary detail, but for his personal work he prefers old buildings with interesting features. A beautiful window above a door, a crack in the wall, a smashed window pane, anything that adds character. Recently he has taken to layering the paper to achieve a 3D picture, a quite effective technique.
Given the intricacy of the little sculptures created by Kathryn Ashcroft, it is very surprising to learn that she only began making them a year ago. They are made from almost entirely recycled materials too! Any scrap of material, or spare button or piece of driftwood goes into crafting her next cute creation. What began as presents for family and friends, became a small business, such was the popularity of the mice. Each mouse comes with its own little box to stand in, decorated inside and with little accessories added in here and there. Look out for the ‘Space Mouse’! For her exhibition she will be putting together something special too! A mouse house, with a mouse hole on one side, and on the other her little mice in their homes. Some of her mice will be for sale whereas others, such as the ‘Amy Johnson Mouse’, can be commissioned.
Both artists are selling their works. Kathryn is also selling cards featuring her mice, and John has kindly said that all profits from the sale of his picture stones can go to Hedon Museum – snap them up before they disappear! This one promises to be something special so don’t miss it!
Exhibition runs Wednesday 28th June – Saturday 29th July. Opening times are every Wednesday and Saturday 10am – 4pm. FREE ADMISSION. Tea, coffee and biscuits are available. Pre-loved and local interest books for sale.
‘Amy Johnson Mouse’ by Kathryn Ashcroft
St Augustine’s Church by John Parks
‘Einstein Mouse’ by Kathryn Ashcroft
by John Parks
‘Space Mouse’ by Kathryn Ashcroft
by John Parks
