Page 72 - QDG Year of 2020

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1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards
Firing Line
Well, where to start this year? I must admit that as we moved into January 2020, we had so much to look forward to, another busy year, visits to the
with the assets of the Officers’ and WO’s and Sgts’ Messes which have been transferred previously. While we were there, we were lucky enough to enjoy the Regiment celebrating a belated St David’s
Day. As always this was a great occasion - all the Squadrons participated in tasks throughout the day which were presented in the Gymnasium in the afternoon, followed by a Regimental BBQ to finish. It was great to see the Regiment continuing with this great occasion.
Within a week of returning to the museum, we were informed by the Castle Manager that the museum was to immediately close alongside the castle, with the 31st May 2020 being the possible date to return. Of course, this was not quite what happened! As I write this, the museum remains closed with no reopening date planned at present. All our museum floor staff were put on furlough in March 2020 and are set to remain on furlough until,
possibly, March 2021. The only staff that have remained working during this time are the management team consisting of Mrs. Rachel Adams (the Managing Curator), myself (the Regimental Curator) and Miss Hannah Searle (the Assistant Regimental Curator).
Work behind the scenes has continued to remain busy, mostly via working from home with the occasional return to our offices when we are given permission. Regular checks are carried out in the museum and the archives to make sure our collection is safe and serviceable. We have been posting on social media throughout the pandemic to continue to promote the museum and our online shop has remained open in the hopes of raising some much-needed funds.
Looking to the future, we are working towards a variety of new on-site exhibi- tions with the aim of having them ready for when the museum reopens, possi- bility with some new online exhibitions depending how long we remain closed. The plan for exhibitions is as follows:
Regiment and new exhibitions. pandemic struck and as I am writing, the museum has been shut for almost ten months.
Then the
2020 started well, with preparations for new exhi-
bitions and a visit to the Regiment. We completed a temporary exhibition on the modern-day Regiment, which
was installed and unveiled at
the beginning of March 2020.
This was set to run for six
months and should continue
for the designated time once we reopen.
In March, myself and the Assistant Regimental Curator visited the Regiment for the first of three yearly visits; at this time, we were totally unaware that this would be our only visit in 2020. This visit was another positive one, with the focus being on auditing the Corporals’ Mess assets to transfer the ownership of these assets to the Heritage Trust. This is in line
Work behind the scenes has continued to remain busy
Ongoing Exhibitions:
March 2020 – present
Modern day Regiment equipment
This exhibition shows the modern-day equipment that the Regiment uses now and will stay in position until 2021 as it was opened just as the museum was closed.