Blog | Newton Abbot Museum

Behind the Scenes Part 3

by charlottee
in Museum
posted June 21, 2020

At last we are up to date, having taken you on the journey from an empty disused church to a nearly finished community building. Today we have some photos taken last week of the inside of Newton’s...

Behind the Scenes 2

by charlottee
in Museum
posted June 21, 2020

A skeleton of scaffolding, steel beams and wooden struts has been developing inside the four walls of Newton’s Place, all clad with layers of plasterboard, plaster (some of it Lime) and paint. With the dedicated documentation by...

Behind the Scenes at Newton’s Place

by charlottee
in Museum
posted June 21, 2020

Another two views behind the scenes for you all. A fascinating mystery that you might be able to help with and the chance to see a favourite from the old museum – the railway signals – coming...

Local Characters – Reminiscences of Newton Abbot 1905

by naadmin337
in Museum
posted December 13, 2019

The following is a transcript of handwritten notes made by Mr. Frank Zealley in the 1940s; reminiscing about street life in Newton at the turn of the 20th Century Many local characters and Hawkers of interest, were well...

What was an Ex- President of the Transitional Government of the USA, Doing in Newton Abbot in 1780, Three Years Before the American War of Independence was Over?

by naadmin337
in Museum
posted December 4, 2019

Henry Laurens was of Huguenot stock whose ancestors moved to the America in the late 1600’s, arriving in New York, then settling in Charlestown South Carolina. Laurens served in the Militia and rose to the rank of...

Eating and Drinking in Newton Abbot in the Swinging Sixties

by naadmin337
in Museum
posted November 20, 2019

I often hear the complaint that Newton Abbot shopping centre ‘is all charity and coffee shops’. Obviously, charity shops are a relatively recent phenomenon, but wondered what was available in the “days of yore” say 1960, where...

Wycliffe Egginton – Water Colour Artist 1875-1951 Headmaster of the Newton Abbot College of Art 1908-1919

by naadmin337
in Museum
posted October 9, 2019

The above monochrome (copied from The Sphere 17th May 1913) is of a Watercolour that was displayed in Gallery 1 of the 145th Exhibition of The Royal Academy in May 1913. The Art press described Egginton’s work...

Floodlit Football-Newton Abbot Hosted One of the First Games.

by naadmin337
in Museum
posted September 18, 2019

The first Association Football Game to be Floodlit was on the 14th October 1878 at Bramall Lane, when a crowd of 20,000 fans attended. Bramall Lane is now the home of Sheffield United, but at the time may...

The MacKrell Almshouses

by naadmin337
in Museum
posted September 11, 2019

I’ve been guilty of it myself, calling these buildings the Mackerel Almshouses, but I’ve just found out the correct name is MacKrell Almshouses, I thought obviously named after a chap from Scotland, but I was wrong again....

A Bizarre Accident Involving the Duke of Edinburgh, an Old Soldier, an Elephant, Newton Abbot Station and Wolborough Churchyard

by naadmin337
in Museum
posted August 2, 2019

When I say the Duke of Edinburgh, I don’t mean the present incumbent, although he had an accident recently, I am referring to Prince Alfred the second son of Queen Victoria. At the age of 12 he...

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