Volunteering at Crawley Museum has given me the opportunity to peek behind the curtain of how a museum functions and what work goes into organising and storing exhibitions. I had a very romantic idea of how museums looked behind locked doors, and still do to some extent. Thanks to modern…

It began with a talk to the U3A by the then curator of Crawley Museum, Helen Poole, and the late Gillian Pitt. They were giving us an up-date on the move from Goffs Park House to the new premises in “The Tree”. After the talk a clipboard was passed round…

One of the first things I learned was how to handle objects. Gloves were essential and they had to be powder free and in this case we used Nitrile gloves. Then we had to handle the object. Always lift the object from the base to give it as much support as possible…
I was keen to learn about the formal processes, for example the need to comply with heritage sector regulatory standards. Also I learned of the need to be aware of contaminants, such as moulds, which could cause devastating damage if not properly identified and contained. That some items donated to…

Caroline Haslett at the Signing of Youngmans lease, September 1949. Suffragette and women’s equality campaigner Caroline Haslett (1895-1957) was born and grew up in Three Bridges. She went on to champion the role of women in the world of mainstream employment – particularly engineering – by their emancipation from domestic…

As we entered the new millennium, Crawley had two thriving Choral Societies – Concordia Singers, formed in 1962, and The Weald Choir of Crawley, formed in 1970. Having co-existed in friendly rivalry for over 40 years, in 2016 the two choirs prepared to put on a joint concert at The…

My family moved into the house next door to Robert Smith in about 1974 when my son, Steven, was 13 and Robert was 15. They obviously knew each other, as neighbours, but did not move in the same circles because Steve went to Hazelwick school and Robert went to St…

When we held our exhibition on The Cure in 2018 we asked visitors to share with us what music meant to them by writing on index cards. Here are some of their answers: ” I like music because you can express yourself. Music has inspired me to be more confident…

I remember when I first heard The Cure. It was March 1979. A friend played me ‘Killing an Arab’ and introduced it to me with the words ‘they come from Crawley!’ The local music scene at that time had certainly never seen or heard anything like it. I was amazed.…

The Crawley Bobby Dazzlers were started by Vi and Bob Leake in 1982 when their daughter Jenny wanted to create her own majorette corps.Throughout the 1980s Jenny, Vi and Bob led the troop to competitions, public displays and of course Crawley Carnivals. They were successful in competitions winning both individual…