Speaker Emily Toettcher 7th October 2022 - The Chesham Museum

Club welcomed Emily Toettcher from Chesham Museum to talk on an initiative launched to provide Loan Boxes to local Chesham schools.

Some Rotarians are Trustees of the Museum and for the rest of us Emily put some perspective into our awareness, or otherwise, of the Museum. Established in 2004, and then into a former bookshop until 2017, the physical artefacts and contents of the museum are currently in storage, but its work continues to provide a record of Chesham’s rich heritage for the whole community. The Museum is a registered charity and is registered under the museum’s accreditation scheme.

The museum’s new project ‘A Future for Chesham’s Past’ is funded by Arts Council England and Chesham and Villages Community Board. Its outputs include a pop-up exhibition illustrating the importance of the River Chess to historical industrial development and the impact of the building of the railway with the expansion it stimulated; a new website; events associated with the museum and the recent innovation of Loan Boxes for schools and Reminiscence Boxes for older people.

Within the educational syllabus is the requirement for children to learn of the social history of their community. To this end the museum is creating boxes with material illustrating Life in Victorian Chesham, from before living memory, by collating Victorian artefacts, clothing, and other material. Items are sourced from voluntary gifts and are commissioned and include clothing typifying apparel of the rich and the not so well off, tools typical of a bygone era and brushes & lacework typically made in local craft kitchen table workshops.

Even mundane toys provide learning opportunities. Boxes are being created of Toys through Times – the evolution of soft toy stuffing from natural fibre locally sourced to artificial material mass produced from synthetics; simple mechanical toys evolving through levers and pulleys, to spring power and on to the first electrically powered toys.

The intention is that these boxes, their contents and accompanying teacher’s notes, be loaned to schools at £30 a box for a two week period. Whilst Emily was not seeking financial support at the meeting it was clear that members saw this as a community activity working with local schools worthy of support.

Additionally, boxes are being created as Reminiscence Boxes, Chesham History Through Objects, containing material which has particular significance for the older population and including reference to the Five Bs of Chesham- Beer, Brushes, Bricks, Boots and Baptists. The museum is now working on a 1950s household reminiscence box. Such boxes being available for carers or community groups, possibly as stimulants for those with memory loss or as an initiator of group conversation.

Emily’s enthusiastic presentation created a buzz of interest into a local charity which has done so much to create an awareness and respect for the history of Chesham – and gave our president the opportunity to model some Victorian finery!!

President Laurence Sharp with Emily Toettcher

For more information on the museum and its very active programme visit https://cheshammuseum.org.uk/

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Chesham Rotary Meetings

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