Heritage Centre - Trust Annual Report 1995
Last year's report told of a year of consolidation. 1995 has seen the Heritage Centre Management Committee faced with a possible closure, or a great leap forward as explained in the Chairman's Remarks. Undaunted, we opened as usual on Saturdays during the winter ir order to maintain contact with Trust members with a pot-pourri of past exhibitions on display. We opened our main season in April with a fascinating exhibition of photographs taken and donated by Bob Sollars under the title "Winchester through the lens of Bob Sollars". The exhibition was opened by the Mayor (Councillor Ray Pearce) and the photographs were compiled into a book by John Brimfield; the book was launched by the new Mayor (Councillor Mrs Pat Norris) in May 1995. The Heritage Centre is very grateful to Bob Sollars and John Brimfield. November 1995 will see the Heritage Centre once again helping a local association, this time the Royal Observer Corps Association, with a display on their listed World War II command post. This command post was one of eleven built and the only one in its almost original condition. The ROCA hopes to raise funds to purchase the command post and set up a Corps museum.
During the closed months of the year, two rooms were repainted, and new panels were put up to display the 1873 Ordnance Survey map of Winchester. Our thanks are due to Jim Mitchell for his work in installing the revised displays. We undertook our half term quizzes and are supporting the city's Literary Week with a Literary Quiz. A freezing spring day earlier in the year saw Jo Gordon Watson running a book sale in St Maurice's Covert which, in spite of snow and hail, brought in a most useful contribution to Heritage Centre funds. A large model of Winchester Cathedral made of 65,000 match sticks has been loaned to us by Andy Anderson, who sadly has been too ill to see his model in place.
There is little doubt that the very hot weather this summer has had an adverse effect on our visitor numbers, but for the first time we are remaining open for an extra month until the end of November, so we hope that the number of visitors will pick up in the cooler weather. The coming year will involve much hard work, as we determine the feasibility of enlarging the Heritage Centre to promote the objectives and activities of the Trust. Do come and visit us - who knows, Bob Sollars may have taken your photograph at school in your mini-skirt a blue suede shoes!