Triumph and Tragedy - Stories from Folkestone Old Cemetery, A Talk

Pioneering Ladies, Folkestone’s answer to ‘Flashman’, an Explorer, a Town Catastrophe, a Reformed Smuggler and a Shipwrecked Lady...

The people that came to stay at Cheriton Road come from far and wide and from all walks of life. But let’s start at the beginning where all the good story’s start. Cheriton Road did not start to come to life until the beginning of 1855, Her Majesty’s Inspector R.D. Grainger Esq. came to Folkestone and suggested that a new cemetery be sited east, north-east or north of the town. In December of 1856 the new burial board instructed the churchwardens that no more burials should take place within the grounds of the town's churches after the 1st September 1857. With this the scene was set for the new (now old) to become not just a place containing people, but also stories, some of which are explored with this talk by members of the Friends of Old Folkestone Cemetery.

About The Friends of Old Folkestone Cemetery

The idea for the ‘Friends’ group originated with Jan Holben, Richard Grundy (Jan’s partner), Peter Anderson (Historian) and Giles Barnard (District Council Community Safety Officer). Noticing how badly some of the graves had been neglected when visiting the old Folkestone cemetery for a Remembrance Ceremony Jan (as Chairman of the District Council at that time), Richard, Peter and Giles discussed what could be done to save this lovely place which tells a unique story of Folkestone – and the idea of ‘Friends of old Folkestone cemetery’ grew from this discussion.

The Friends were formally constituted in July 2016 and since that time have helped to care for the Cemetery and promote its heritage. For more details and how to get involved with their regular Saturday morning working parties CLICK HERE.

Booking

The talk is £5.00 per person, as with all our talks, they tend to fill up quickly. For further details  CLICK HERE to go to our contact form, call 01303 257946 and select option 0 (office hours only) or call into Folkestone Museum & Town Hall to buy your ticket and reserve a seat. If you are a subscriber to the Museum e-newsletter don't forget to quote the discount code at the till!

Refreshments will be available after the talk, donations appreciated


MakeIt! Eanswythe's Day - Anglo-Saxon Runes

Anglo-Saxon Alphabet pendants!

Folkestone's patron saint St Eanswythe has her feast day every 12th of September. Eanswythe lived during the mid-600s - the time of the Anglo-Saxons; they used runes as a form of writing.

We'll be making our own runes in celebration of Eanswythe, suggested donation £2.50 per participant.

Activities run downstairs in our learning space (11am-12.45pm and 1.30pm-3.30pm) and are suitable for ages 4-11, but if you're older or younger you'll still be more than welcome.

No booking is necessary, although if it gets a little busy we may have limits numbers for everyone's comfort and safety.

For further details CLICK HERE to go to our contact form, call 01303 257946 and select option 0 (office hours only) or call into Folkestone Museum & Town Hall.

 


Summer Holidays - Fossils & Dinosaurs

What left the three-clawed footprint on a Folkestone beach 120 million years ago???

This week we're exploring the the fossils of Folkestone for the last few days of the summer holidays.

Wednesday 30th August      Steve Friedrich's fossil roadshow

Thursday 31st August           Dinosaur babies (life size interactive puppets) roaming the Museum

Friday 1st September           Pterodactyl gliders

Saturday 2nd September     Tricera'toss' game

Activities run downstairs in our learning space (11am-12.45pm and 1.30pm-3.30pm) and are suitable for ages 4-11, but if you're older or younger you'll still be more than welcome.

Please note that last entry to the activity is 30 minutes before the session ends; 12.15pm and 3.00pm respectively.

No booking is necessary, although if it gets a little busy we may have limits numbers for everyone's comfort and safety, a voluntary donation towards materials would be gratefully received.

For further details CLICK HERE to go to our contact form, call 01303 257946 and select option 0 (office hours only) or call into Folkestone Museum & Town Hall.

A man with a boulder contain a dinosaur footprint
Steve Friedrich and the fossil Tridactyl footprint he subsequently gifted to Folkestone Museum.
A man holding a baby dinosaur as a child strokes it
Junior the baby T-Rex dinosaur (Thursday 31st August).

Summer Holidays - Myths & Legends

We're off to the ancient Mediterranean to explore myth & legend!

Trojan horses, medusa and the fearsome cyclops; we're taking this week's inspiration from Greek myths for our make & take holiday activities.

Activities run downstairs in our learning space (11am-12.45pm and 1.30pm-3.30pm) and are suitable for ages 4-11, but if you're older or younger you'll still be more than welcome.

Please note that last entry to the activity is 30 minutes before the session ends; 12.15pm and 3.00pm respectively.

No booking is necessary, although if it gets a little busy we may have limits numbers for everyone's comfort and safety, a voluntary donation towards materials would be gratefully received.

For further details CLICK HERE to go to our contact form, call 01303 257946 and select option 0 (office hours only) or call into Folkestone Museum & Town Hall.

a wooden horse
The Greek Trojan horse.

Summer Holidays - Pirates & Smugglers

Arrrr me hearties!

We're casting the net a bit wider then Folkestone's own maritime traditions. Tales of smuggling, piracy on the high seas, this week we're making wanted posters, miniature treasure chests... And on Saturday we're joined by the redoubtable Commander Blunt AKA the pirate Edward Teach; who'll be teaching you all the tricks of the pirate trade! learn more about Commander Blunt by clicking HERE.

Activities run downstairs in our learning space (11am-12.45pm and 1.30pm-3.30pm) and are suitable for ages 4-11, but if you're older or younger you'll still be more than welcome.

Please note that last entry to the activity is 30 minutes before the session ends; 12.15pm and 3.00pm respectively.

No booking is necessary, although if it gets a little busy we may have limits numbers for everyone's comfort and safety, a voluntary donation towards materials would be gratefully received.

For further details CLICK HERE to go to our contact form, call 01303 257946 and select option 0 (office hours only) or call into Folkestone Museum & Town Hall.

a man dressed as a pirate
Commander Blunt AKA pirate Edward Teach.

Summer Holidays - Trains to the Seaside

All aboard - the train is now departing!

The railway arrived in Folkestone 180 years ago, with the towns first station opening on the 28th June 1843. The arrival of the railway would lead Folkestone grow more than ten times the size it was beforehand - that's how important the railway was! We'll be making steam engine driver hats, green & red guards flags (whistles optional) and also building a railway themed window displays during the week.

Activities run downstairs in our learning space (11am-12.45pm and 1.30pm-3.30pm) and are suitable for ages 4-11, but if you're older or younger you'll still be more than welcome.

Please note that last entry to the activity is 30 minutes before the session ends; 12.15pm and 3.00pm respectively.

No booking is necessary, although if it gets a little busy we may have limits numbers for everyone's comfort and safety, a voluntary donation towards materials would be gratefully received.

For further details CLICK HERE to go to our contact form, call 01303 257946 and select option 0 (office hours only) or call into Folkestone Museum & Town Hall.


Summer Holidays - Collectors & Curiosities

Follow in the footsteps of the first collectors!

The idea of museums and collections really starts 400 years ago when keen collectors put together cabinets of curiosity - a cabinet, sometimes a whole room or even hall, full of strange and wonderful things. This week we'll be making our owns cabinets for our younger visitors to put their treasured things in. We'll also be making things to put in them - ancient clay tablets with special messages, fossil footprints and local artist Catherine Farr will be using feathers and leaves to make prints (collagraphs) on Thursday 3rd August.

Please note that last entry to the activity is 30 minutes before the session ends; 12.15pm and 3.00pm respectively.

Please note there will be no activities on Saturday 5th August

Activities run downstairs in our learning space (11am-12.45pm and 1.30pm-3.30pm) and are suitable for ages 4-11, but if you're older or younger you'll still be more than welcome.

No booking is necessary, although if it gets a little busy we may have limits numbers for everyone's comfort and safety, a voluntary donation towards materials would be gratefully received.

For further details CLICK HERE to go to our contact form, call 01303 257946 and select option 0 (office hours only) or call into Folkestone Museum & Town Hall.


Summer Holidays - Festival of Archaeology 2023 - The Egyptians

Its the Council for British Archaeology's 2023 Festival of Archaeology!

This year's theme is 'Archaeology and Creativity', so we're heading to the land of the Pharaoh's for a make & take activity. Throughout the week we'll be looking at mummies & sarcophagus', cartouches & hieroglyphs and Egyptian clothing.

Activities run downstairs in our learning space (11am-12.45pm and 1.30pm-3.30pm) and are suitable for ages 4-11, but if you're older or younger you'll still be more than welcome.

Please note that last entry to the activity is 30 minutes before the session ends; 12.15pm and 3.00pm respectively.

No booking is necessary, although if it gets a little busy we may have limits numbers for everyone's comfort and safety, a voluntary donation towards materials would be gratefully received.

For further details CLICK HERE to go to our contact form, call 01303 257946 and select option 0 (office hours only) or call into Folkestone Museum & Town Hall.


MakeIt! Summer Solstice

Know your henge from your dolmen!

Some of the oldest structures in the United Kingdom are henges, like Stonehenge in Wiltshire or dolmen, which are tombs made of giant slabs of stone that are covered in earth. Sometimes they line up with the sun, moon or stars at special times of the year, the summer equinox or solstice, when the sun rises above Stonehenge is famous the world over.

We'll be making our own mini-henges in celebration of the summer solstice; suggested donation £2.50 per participant.

Activities run downstairs in our learning space (11am-12.45pm and 1.30pm-3.30pm) and are suitable for ages 4-11, but if you're older or younger you'll still be more than welcome.

No booking is necessary, although if it gets a little busy we may have limits numbers for everyone's comfort and safety.

For further details CLICK HERE to go to our contact form, call 01303 257946 and select option 0 (office hours only) or call into Folkestone Museum & Town Hall.

 


Rebuilding Folkestone's Roman Villa - The Folkestone Miniaturist, A Talk

'Rebuilding' Folkestone's Roman Villa in miniature

Folkestone's East Wear Bay Roman Villa was originally excavated in 1924 by Christ's Hospital (Horsham) teacher & noted amateur archaeologist Samuel E. Winbolt, working alongside employees of Folkestone Borough Council. Subsequent digs have taken place, including a rescue dig in 1989, necessitated by coastal erosion and the more recent excavations led by Canterbury Archaeological Trust [CAT] as part of the 'A Town Unearthed' project (2010-2011) and their 2022 autumn dig to assess the villa's condition, the first time its interior had been seen since its post war reburial.

As part of Folkestone Museum's redisplay of its Roman themed display case it commissioned 'The Folkestone Miniaturist' Mike Perry to produce a scale model of the villa in its Roman heyday. Using artefacts from Winbolt's 1924 excavation held in the Museum's collection, conversation with local archaeologists Dr Andrew Richardson and Keith Parfitt MCIfA, FSA and a lot of research in Roman architecture Mike has now produced a scale model, including some of its interior rooms. This talk is about how it all happened and is a chance to see the model up close before it goes in the display case.

archaeologists and Mike Perry discussing details of Folkestone's Roman Villa
Keith Parfitt, Andrew Richardson and Mike Perry discussing details of the Roman Villa using S.E. Winbolt's book about the 1924 excavation.

About Mike Perry

Also known as ‘The Folkestone Miniaturist,’ Mike's career started with a course in theatre design at the Birmingham College of Art and went on to have a prolific career working on set design for major films, TV shows and theatrical plays. Some of the more well known productions Mike has worked on include The Italian Job’ (1969) and ‘Auf Wiedersehen Pet’ (1983-2004) as well as working for local television company TVS before going freelance and subsequently moving to Folkestone and carving out, quite literally, another career as The Folkestone Miniaturist.  To learn more about Mike and his work CLICK HERE to read a Folk Life article about him.

Booking

The talk is £5.00 per person, as with all our talks, they tend to fill up quickly. For further details  CLICK HERE to go to our contact form, call 01303 257946 and select option 0 (office hours only) or call into Folkestone Museum & Town Hall to buy your ticket and reserve a seat. If you are a subscriber to the Museum e-newsletter don't forget to quote the discount code at the till!

Refreshments will be available after the talk, donations appreciated