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Cheshire
Military
Museum
The Museum Celebrates
its 50th Anniversary
2022 has been an important year for us here at the Cheshire Military Museum as we celebrate our 50th anniversary!
The Cheshire Military Museum was preceded by a small museum dedicated
to the Cheshire Regiment which had been on the site of Chester Castle since 1928. Our museum, which opened in 1972, also included the collections of the Cheshire Yeomanry, the 3rd Carabiniers and the
5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards. Since its foundation the collection has further expanded to include Eaton Hall Officer Cadet School and the home front in Cheshire during both world wars. With the formation of the Mercian Regiment in 2007 we recognise their service alongside that of the wider military family in Cheshire.
During the year we have staged a number of events and projects which highlight the diverse and interesting collection housed here at the Museum.
Royal Visit
The Museum was delighted to welcome His Royal Highness the Duke of Gloucester on the 1st November. The Duke was guided through the displays and met with serving members of the Mercian Regiment and C Squadron, The Queen’s Own Yeomanry, members of the Castle Detachment Army Cadet Force and representatives of the veterans community. L/Cpl Derby was also on duty to greet his Royal Highness. The visit proved to be a real highlight of our 50th anniversary celebrations.
Young Curators!
As part of our celebrations this year we
have encouraged visitors young and old
to select their favourite object from the collection. Before the summer holidays we worked with pupils from Grosvenor Park
CE Academy who became young curators for the day. With guidance from museum staff and following a considerable amount of debate the group chose their 10 ‘star’ objects from the collection and worked on their own captions for them. Afterwards
the class produced wonderful posters to celebrate the anniversary and showcase
the items they had selected. Visitors can see which items were chosen as they are marked by a special gold. Everyone is being encouraged to choose a favourite object and put a star of their own on our special board. We are very grateful to the young curators for their hard work, well done!
Drinks Reception
Invited guests were welcomed to the museum for a drinks reception this
November to celebrate our past and
look to the future. The reception allowed
us to express our gratitude to the civil authorities, salute our veterans and cadets and showcase what is new in the museum, including our education programme which was relaunched for this academic year
and the new website which is currently in development. The event was supported
by our new sponsor CityFibre, we are extremely grateful for their generous support this year. Thanks also go to Cheshire College South and West whose students provided the catering which was very well received by all our guests.
New Acquisitions
The museum has continued to receive many wonderful additions to our collection. On Sunday the 1st of May members of the Norman and Walker families visited us to donate family items. William Ernest Norman, aged 96, wished to visit the Museum
Year 6 Grosvenor Park CE Academy, Chester during their Young Curators Day
Members of the Norman and Walker families during their visit to donate items to the museum
THE MERCIAN EAGLE