A Crawley Parody PreludeFree time free land free loveEverything was free It was the season for bicyclesAnd we wanted to raceOn a track with lots of featuresTough, very little grace Someone thought to ask DonBecause he had the toolsImplements borrowed fromThe councils unused pools Donald a real skivvyReady within two…
Town All these big palaces and castles The centrefold of tourism But what about that little town Now built up, the history forgotten How much i know of the Tudors, Victorians and the woes of war On such a large scale. But oh, How little i know of this local…
WHERE’S THE QUEEN? When I was young I saw the Queen,Opening a building new and clean.I thought she’d be in royal gown,With jewels and sceptre, wearing crown,Like the queens in all my books;I expected Royal looks.The crowd were cheering; “Hip hooray!Oh, this is a lovely day!”Mum, excited, “There’s she is!”I…
THE CROW I am the crow From my perch on high I see the town below. I’ve watched you Crawley, I’ve seen you grow. From stones to iron and the age old market. The coaching stops, trains and the old racecourse Machines matching my ability to fly The New Town…
As part of our 2020 exhibition on historical writing about Crawley, we were running a writing competition and displaying the entries in our temporary exhibition space. As we then closed to the public due to Covid-19 we wanted to find a different way of sharing the writings with people, so…
(Written by Graham Crozier, 2020) Photograph of South Side of Crawley High Street, from Crawley Museum’s Collection. Date unknown The Victorian period witnessed the commercial expansion of Crawley and one of the key figures in that process was Frederick Russell, the proprietor of Russell’s Emporium in the High Street. Frederick…
In these strange and unprecedented times, local author Renny Richardson is offering a free of charge electronic version of his first book via Crawley Museum. All the Bright Company of Heaven, first published in 2011, and long out of print tells the story of another dark time in Crawley’s history…
(Written by Graham Crozier, 2019) Painting of the Rent Strike from Crawley Museum’s collection. Painted by J.E. Fuller, 1955, Crawley. 90cm x 78cm. The Rent Strike of October 1955 has all but disappeared from the awareness of people living in Crawley today. However, it can be seen as representing an…
Here’s another object from our stores. If you were writing a label for it what would you put on it? It doesn’t have to be serious! Comments from our followers on social media included: “Iron. Something my Mum used to spit on before she started ironing.” “Iron, often put in…
At Crawley Museum we love crows. Why? Because the word ‘Crawley’ comes from the Saxon word for ‘Crows Wood’. When we’re open people love to colour in Crows in our Learning Space. While we’re closed for a while, why not colour one in at home? Just click the link below:…
