The refurbishment of the basement of the Museum has now been completed at a cost of some £57,000.  The Heritage Lottery Fund covered 81% of the cost and the Museum contributed the remainder.  Chris Cunningham of the Harrison Sutton Partnership designed the room, complete with disabled facilities and an access ramp accessible to Barton Street car park, and Ness Construction of Shaldon carried out the work.

The official opening will take place on 24th November at 2pm, the ceremony to be performed by Jocelyn de Lusignan, after whom the room is named.

Already, 170 school children have taken advantage of the new facilities, which will comfortably seat 48 people at a time, and will be available to other groups for meetings and research.

Any enquiries regarding availability please telephone the Museum on 01626 888557. or email on dawlish@devonmuseums.net   

A copy of the very first Dawlish Museum publication, "Notes on Old Dawlish", printed in 1976, was recently given to the Museum along with other research artifacts from the late Grace Griffiths who was a local librarian and historian.  The Museum Society decided to reprint it, unaltered but with a new cover, to celebrate the  imminent 40th anniversary of the Museum.  It was a case of deja vu for George Warren of Swiftprint, because as a very young man he had worked on the original at Daw Printers, and this time round he had the onerous task of proof reading this unique book.  Copies can be obtained from the Museum and other local outlets at the price of £2.95.

On a recent visit to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the twinning of Dawlish with Carhaix, the Mayor and the Chairman of awlish Twinning Association, Ted Cameron, were presented with a gift of a traditional, hand crafted lace cap and collar.  These are now on display in the Museum, with photos and text explaining the custom of lace making in the area.  They are beautifully made and represent many, many hours of skilled work.