Visitors were invited to join in celebrations on the completion of refurbishments to Sleaford Museum and Monument Gardens at an open day on Saturday.
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00:00So we've got a bit of a musical accompaniment here as well with the band from County Hill's
00:23Klansmen drummers.
00:24Just tell me a bit about today and how important it is.
00:28This is the opening or the rededication of Monument Gardens following a redevelopment
00:37which was funded by UK SPF money, the levelling up money, and effectively organised by the
00:46North West Union District Council.
00:48The major idea was to open up the museum visually and as you can probably see what we've done
00:56is got rid of a lot of the heavy planting and replaced it with minimum planting to
01:03get lots and lots and lots of space.
01:11And you've had a bit of a refurb of the museum as well.
01:14We have indeed.
01:15The exterior of the museum has been repainted.
01:17We've had completely new signage done as well and it's also been provided with lighting
01:25Do you want to take me in?
01:41So the interior of the museum has been redesigned.
01:46Only in as much as some additional cabinets.
01:49Nothing too much by way of external decoration.
01:53As you can see the idea is to make as much space as possible but we don't exhibit everything
02:00that we have.
02:01We only exhibit a selection of things and we tend to exhibit to themes or we respond
02:08to events.
02:10So for example behind the cake there you can see that we have got our remembrance display
02:16which we've left in place for today particularly.
02:22Ah yes.
02:29And for those people that may not have been here before, this used to have a different
02:34use didn't it?
02:35It did.
02:36This used to be an Edwardian toilet block and so where we're stood at the moment is
02:40in the ladies and was the gents.
02:43Of course.
02:44And so you've got some new exhibits on as well I believe.
02:47Yes we have indeed.
02:48Starting with this one here.
02:50This is the Hanley Cup and this was presented to Benjamin Hanley for his work in getting
02:59the Slea Navigation to actually function, actually to become a reality.
03:04And what we're doing at the moment is we are effectively babysitting this for the Slea
03:10Navigation Trust whilst there is a major exhibition on Sleaford Castle in Navigation House.
03:17When that exhibition comes out this will then transfer to where it properly belongs
03:22which is really in Navigation House.
03:24I see.
03:25But it's a very splendid cup.
03:27We've also used some of the things that we have as well such as the 1792 Act of Parliament
03:34which actually gave permission for the canalisation of the River Slea.
03:40Great.
03:42We have a new exhibition here celebrating this Festival of Sport.
03:48Festival of Sport was a major event in the town running from the mid-1970s right through
03:54to the mid-1990s.
03:56And many famous sports people of the day came to support what was happening in the town.
04:05So we had celebrities like David Coleman and Harry Carpenter and Jonah Barrington and
04:12Geoff Capes, Fatima Whitbread and so on.
04:17And they came to support the Sleaford Festival of Sport.
04:24And here we are hosting a temporary exhibition which is loaned to us by Dr Eric Grigg.
04:31Dr Eric Grigg from the Bishop Gossetet University has put together a travelling exhibition on
04:36the Home Guard in Lincolnshire.
04:38And we're hosting the Home Guard in Lincolnshire exhibition through until we close for our
04:44Christmas shut in December.