A Blog Called Blog

• by charlottee
• in Museum
• posted October 28, 2022

Hi everyone, my name is George and for the last 5 weeks I have had the pleasure of doing work experience here in the Newton Abbot Museum. I have always enjoyed museums and can’t really say I found one I didn’t like and Newton Abbot is far from an exception, I was surprised when I first walked in because while I would like to think of myself as someone who is well versed in different aspects of history from Commedia Dell’arte to Corfu even down to the Dinosaurs I have to admit I knew next to nothing about Newton Abbot and never would have expected the museum to fit so much history in one building!

With each day that passes there are more and more surprises as no two days are the same, one day I could be on front of house, the next I could be reading through a newspaper from 1954! But as of this moment my favourite moment hands down is managing the items for the school visit, guiding pupils through the towns history during WW2 and the blackout era, talking about air raid wardens and their massive bells to brave firemen and of course the best bit… scaring kids while handling a grenade, after all they didn’t know if it would blow if I pulled the pin (hell even I didn’t know but it was still a lot of fun!)

There was a lot I never expected to learn during my time here be it trains, or barrels or ropes made of human hair there is always some new surprise even more insane than the previous lying-in wait… and I can’t wait to see what this place has in store for me next!

Editor’s note: Any armaments held by the museum have been safely disarmed and will not, in fact, explode during a handling session 🙂