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Dartmouth at work
Dartmouth runs on volunteers. A phrase that’s often used in the town. There are many organisations, events and projects here that could not operate without the time and energy freely given by young and old throughout the community. Steph Woolvin caught up with a few of these helpful heroes… interview by Steph Woolvin
David Lingard CHAIRMAN OF DARTMOUTH MUSEUM
So what is Dartmouth Museum all about? It’s a small, fascinating collection in an old merchant’s house, built in 1640. There are over 15 thousand his- toric artefacts with models, paintings and photographs. There are, as you might expect, a lot of maritime and military links with a tapestry about the town’s contribution to D-Day in 1944.
How long have you been involved with the museum? Nearly 20 years.
Why did you want to sign up? Although a Naval Officer and En- gineer, I’m a frustrated historian at heart. We weren’t given the choice to learn history at O Level when I was a boy. I would have loved it.
Is it hard work? Well, there’s a lot to think about, it’s not just showing off a few historical artefacts to visitors! I have to keep on top of the finance, historical records and health and safety and access is- sues. We have National Accreditation to achieve and maintain. This is the same one the V&A and others have to complete. The submissions are incredibly complex – the main one being over 75 pages long.
How many volunteers do you have? There are about 300 members on the
books and 70 are active.
Are there specific roles? We have some clearly defined jobs like treasurer and education officer. People tend to stick to the things they enjoy and become very good at, for example the education officer is a retired teacher. Some just like to pop in and keep things neat and tidy, others enjoy updating the records, we have a couple who like running the shop. That’s the beauty of this place, no one is made to come – we are all volunteers and turn up because we want to, so there’s a great atmosphere.
Do you get a lot of school visits? Yes. There’s plenty for children to do here - they can be placed in the stocks, search for answers to questionnaires or look through the microscopes and open drawers to see what artefacts are inside.
Tell us about the Jesse Roo m… It has a Tree of Jesse in plasterwork on the ceiling - which is a genealogy of Jesus. It’s thought to be the only one of its kind made of plaster and is of international importance. It was probably created by Italian crafts- men in the 1640s and managed to survive the Civil War. A World War Two bomb brought it to the floor
in 1944, but the Borough Surveyor painstakingly put it back together.
What did you used to do? I was in the Royal Navy. I joined when I was 18 because I wanted to see the world. Back then people didn’t travel as they do now! I trained at Dartmouth’s Royal Naval College. My first job was a Deputy Weapons Engineer and I went to the Mediter- ranean, South America and the Far East. I experienced the Cold War and the Falklands War. My wife was a physiotherapist so on occasions she came with me and worked where ever I was posted which included two years in Canada. We moved to Dartmouth in 1977.
Do you volunteer anywhere el se? I’m the vice chairman of the Naval College Museum, and I sort out the admin for a scuba diving club but I have done several other things including welfare with the Royal British Legion.
So you dive? I have done since I was young. I learnt in the Navy. We would dive from ships, there were some great spots in Turkey where I worked for three years. I had to stop a couple of years ago, due to health issues but I hope to
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