Friday 13 May 2011

Hendon and District Archaeological Society pull out of Church Farmhouse Museum project


There is a very interesting and dismaying article over on the Finchley Arrow blog. Hendon and District Archaeological Society, who had been hoping to work up a plan to take over Church Farmhouse Museum, have pulled out of the project. There is a letter explaining why: in short, it boils down to Barnet council not being even remotely serious about helping a Big Society organisation to take over the running of a council service.

Have a read here.

I had heard that there were valuable items being thrown away into the skip outside Church Farmhouse. I went and had a look the other evening, and saw mostly genuine rubbish but also some photographs that might have been of historic interest. At least, they might have been of sentimental value to the men and women in uniform pictured! I photographed this (see above) though it was late and I wasn't in rummaging in skips mood so I didn't get close up.

If anyone lives nearby, they might keep an eye on developments. It certainly is a sad sight to see the Museum closed, with a sign in the window only warning that this building is alarmed, and items of old furniture and files being slung into a skip around the side.

This used to be a facility for the whole community. Robert Rams, we look on your works and despair!

1 comment:

Mrs Angry said...

I find this really upsetting, and infuriating too: it is absolutely clear that there is no interest in finding alternative ways to keep CFM going, and that there is purely a commercial incentive for shutting the museum. There is a drive to sell off council owned properties, flog the family silver, and CFM fits the bill nicely, doesn't it?