Published at 12:13, Thursday, 05 February 2009

Woodbine cigarette packets, an ancient washing machine and a double chin remover are just some of the weird and wonderful treasures to be found at Dalbeattie Museum. A fascinated Keith Fergus meets its passionate chairman, Tommy Henderson

Dalbeattie Museum

Determined, stubborn, passionate, brave: all words to describe
Tommy Henderson, who, as chairman of Dalbeattie Museum, has drawn on all of these characteristics in his ongoing quest to bring his beloved hometown to a wider audience.
He’s certainly had to be determined – and stubborn. Having listened to both the representative of the Scottish Museums Council, who said a museum in Dalbeattie would never work, and his local MP, who reckoned that at a museum would be pointless “as Dalbeattie had no history,” Tommy decided to ignore their advice and carry on regardless.
That was 21 years ago, in which time Tommy, together with a dedicated team
of volunteers and the backing of locals,
has made Dalbeattie Museum an astonishing success, with over 3,500 people passing through its doors between April and
October every year; each visitor witnessing an incredible treasure trove of artefacts
at this fascinating window into
Dalbeattie’s past.
The museum, described by Tommy as a “social history”, takes up two rooms in an unassuming building off Dalbeattie’s
main street.
Tommy explains some of the reasons behind the museum’s success: “First of all,
we are independent, and any decisions are made by committee, but more importantly, we meet and greet everyone who comes in. We don’t just sit there po-faced and say ‘right up the stairs, off you go’.
“We’ve always been welcoming and up until last year we charged £1.50 for OAPs and kids until we were left a sum of money by a gentleman from the town – right out of the blue – so we made the museum free of charge, which tripled our numbers.”
The “meet and greet” policy has proved invaluable to the museum’s success and Tommy is eager to make everyone feel at home. His unrelenting enthusiasm extends much further than the museum. He gives over 20 lectures a year, as far afield as Stranraer and Glasgow, on the subject of Dalbeattie’s history while also taking the museum to local schools – his natural gusto perfect for garnering kids’ interest in the past.
Furthermore, five videos recounting Dalbeattie’s history have each made over £1,000 in profit, which has, along with
any donations from Tommy’s lectures,
been pumped back into the running of
the museum.
The people of Dalbeattie are proud of the significant historical contribution their small town has made, with granite being crucial in its development. Walk on the cobbled streets of our towns and cities and there is a good chance you are stepping on Dalbeattie granite. The Thames embankment and Liverpool’s Mersey Docks use granite from Dalbeattie while a church on the Sea of Galilee and a lighthouse in Sri Lanka are some of the more exotic and extraordinary uses of the exported stone.
Dalbeattie also used to be a thriving mill town, with 12 mills drawing on the free flowing waters of the River Urr.
“We had bobbin, saw, lint, two big drain mills, and a dyeing works – you always knew what the colour was when the burn changed colour,” Tommy says.
The success of the quarries and mills drew a wide variety of trades to the town and Dalbeattie flourished.
“This was a great place,” Tommy adds, with genuine passion for the town. “Dalbeattie was ahead of its time. We were recycling before it became fashionable –
we brought scrap metal in from Ireland to make wheels and shovels, rags were imported from Liverpool and turned into cartridge paper and bones to make fertiliser. Recycling’s not a new thing to Dalbeattie, we’ve been doing it for years.”
The need for a museum was obvious, but why did it become Tommy’s responsibility?
When the resident Rotary Club was considering the potential for a local history museum, they knew of Tommy’s accumulation of local artefacts.
“I am a mad collector,” he says, with
pride. “I worked for Scottish Power for 38 years and was involved in handling all sorts of responsibilities including flittings. People left behind what they considered junk, I thought better of it and threw the ‘junk’ in the back of my van – much of which became the nucleus of Dalbeattie Museum.”
The museum was established in the building it resides in today, which was originally rented from the British Legion. But with rent increases looming large, Tommy had to raise enough money to buy the building outright.
“We had six months to raise £16,000 or the rent would increase,” Tommy recalls. “We managed to raise £18,000 with the 326 members of the museum giving a little extra on their yearly £5 subscriptions. This raised £10,000, while the coffers were further boosted with another £5,000 from a trust fund we set up. That’s the kind of support we get here.”
Such is the enthusiasm for Dalbeattie’s history to be preserved and exhibited for everyone, that the museum boasts 11 volunteers, allowing it to open seven days
a week.
Tommy is now 72 but still devotes his time and energy to developing the museum.
“Dalbeattie, to me, is the centre of the universe”, he says; his love for his town palpable. “Quite simply I take pleasure from it; meeting folk and getting feedback when I do my lectures. I enjoy taking the museum to the kids, and we discuss it with them at their level. We have fun, which is the way history should be.
“Everything in the museum brings back memories for people. We have a 100-year-old electric washing machine. I didn’t know there was an electric washing machine produced 100 years ago, but it is in pristine condition and full working order. It really is a great crowd-puller.
“We also have a painting worth £3,000 which is great, but it seems to be the smaller details, like an old woodbine cigarette packet, which bring back a lot of memories”.
The museum is crammed full of wonderful things to stimulate the memory bank: from the popular – an original nine-inch television set, cameras galore, clothing, and old photographs – to the idiosyncratic, like the double-chin remover and hair restorer.
But more importantly, everything has been found in and around Dalbeattie and donated by locals.
Tommy says: “The locals have contributed so much, it is their museum.”
The museum celebrates its 21st anniversary this year and Tommy is already looking to the future with a new book on Dalbeattie and a DVD about the museum. A recent grant
will also enable him to buy a digital projector to transfer the museum’s other videos
onto DVD. The funding came from the Scottish Museum Council which all those years ago saw no future in the museum – although they are now a member. It’s strange how things can come full circle. But with Tommy Henderson at the helm, it’s no surprise and in his own self-effacing way, he simply states: “It just shows what can be done with a wee bit of dedication and enthusiasm. You can move mountains.” You can add modesty to Tommy’s list of traits.

Published by http://www.dgblife.co.uk