History on tour this half-term with pop-up museums

Visitors to Derriford Hospital and the Civic Centre will be asked to pop-in and take a break from the norm at a travelling pop-up museum this half-term, where they can discover more about Plymouth’s fantastic local history and culture.

The ‘love our past’ pop-up museum will feature intriguing objects from the Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery, fascinating documents from the Plymouth and West Devon Record Office, and fantastic still and moving images from the South West Film & Television Archive (SWFTA) and the South West Image Bank (SWIB).

The exciting temporary exhibitions will be at Derriford Hospital on Thursday 20 February and the Civic Centre tunnel on Friday 21 February from 9am to 4pm. There will also be a stand at the City Museum and Art Gallery on Saturday 22 February from 10am to 3.30pm for those wanting to find out more about a major project to showcase the city’s heritage.

Visitors will be able to take a sneak peek at just some of the fantastic collections that will form part of the city’s new historic and cultural attraction, and share their thoughts or ask questions of the knowledgeable and friendly history staff who will be on-hand.

Councillor Peter Smith, Deputy Leader of the Council, said: “This is a really great chance for people to understand and get involved in the development of a new historic attraction for Plymouth. We’re open to ideas and interested in local people’s suggestions about how we can attract national and international visitors, families, students and researchers to the city’s new home for history.

“The pop-up museum will showcase just some of the fascinating objects and stories that Plymouth has to share. Over 5,000 people visited the first pop-up museum we hosted in just four days. It was a great success and people who may never have visited the City Museum before were genuinely interested in what was on display.”

Passers-by will be able to offer suggestions about what they think should be included in the new £21M historic and cultural attraction currently being developed in the city. Plans include refurbishing the current City Museum and Central Library on North Hill and expanding it to three times its existing size. Spaces will be modernised and installed with the latest technology to create a truly exciting and interactive experience for visitors, with never-before-seen collections, artefacts and art.

It will be a cutting-edge, multi-media centre that will tell the stories of some of Plymouth’s heroes and legends such as Drake, Darwin, Scott and Reynolds. But it will also reveal how Plymouth has shaped the modern world today, with interesting products and stories, and share some of the lesser-known but equally intriguing stories.

There are also fantastic fun, free activities for families this half-term at the City Museum and Art Gallery – ‘The Croods’ animation will be showing on Tuesday 18 February from 1.30pm to 3.15pm, there is a drop-in creative workshop called ‘Inspired by nature’ on Wednesday 19 February from 10.30am to 1pm, a handling session called ‘When in Rome’ on Thursday 20 February from 10.30am to 1pm and a chance to see the animation ‘Turbo’ on Saturday 22 February from 1.30pm to 3.15pm.

For more information about the pop-up museum and Plymouth’s new historic visitor attraction for the city, visit @loveourpast on Twitter or loveourpast on Facebook, or for information about free half-term activities visit: www.plymouth.gov.uk/museumholidayworkshops

A new ‘loveourpast’ website will be coming soon with loads of information about Plymouth’s new historic and cultural centre being developed.