Museum of East Anglian Life
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Once again Christmas is upon us and the Museum will be selling locally grown Christmas Trees on the 29th November and then on the 5th, 12th 19th and 24th until 12 am.

We will be selling the traditional Norway Spruce and Norderman Fir both from 4ft to 7ft a £10 deposit is requested for all advanced orders. The Museum’s car park will be open, so choosing a tree and loading couldn’t be easier.

After Christmas all trees purchased from the museum can be returned free of charge and will be chipped and used in our award winning nature reserve.

Don’t forget!
Santa’s Grotto will only be open on the 29th November and then on the 5th, 12th and 19th of December between 10am and 4pm. £2 admission.

On the 26^th October storyteller Giles Abbott will be at the Museum of East Anglian Life telling tall tales and strange stories in the 13^th century Abbot's Hall Barn. Visitors will get the chance to write and illustrate their own fantastic tales using the Museum collections for inspiration.

At The Big Read, Big Draw, in the BIG Barn on the 29^th October you will hear the strange and twisted tale of Mr. and Mrs. Twit. who are two ugly, smelly, nasty, stupid people who spend their lives playing horrible tricks on each other.  Find out how they get their just desserts with the help of the exotic Roly-Poly bird and the Muggle-wump family. . . . . Look out for the 10 copies of  'The Twits' that have been left around Stowmarket. Please take one, read it and then leave it somewhere for someone else to enjoy!

Artist Juliet Lockhart will be at the Museum to help create Twit Art from recycled materials; including jumping jack monkeys and bottle birds. At 3pm a Grand Finale, the Great Escape, will take place, Twit balloons with messages from everyone who comes along will be released.

Abbot's Hall Barn, Museum of East Anglian Life

Admission is £6.50 for adults and children age 6 -14 yrs are FREE (no more than 3 children per adult). There is no extra charge for the activities.

On Saturday 5th September, the East Anglian Traditional Music Trust and the Museum of East Anglian Life host the eighth annual Traditional Music Day, with an eclectic line-up of events and guests at the 70-acre museum site in the centre of Stowmarket.

This year’s programme features plenty of local talent alongside guests from the top drawer of traditional folk music. The annual event has become extremely popular with many musicians, singers and dancers who would normally be found on the guest list of other festivals around the country, so you never know quite who else is going to appear during the day.

Guests appearing this year include:

• Michael Wright, a passionate and exciting player of the Jew’s Harp - a very ancient instrument - and has an unparalleled knowledge of the instrument’s history. Appearing with Michael are his brother David and niece Lucy, in a unique trio of jew’s harps.

• JigJaw combine four impressive talents in percussive dancing and vocal harmonies. Their distinctive performances draw on mouth music, nonsense rhymes and dances from Britain and beyond.

• Sam Lee, “the most accomplished and authentic interpreter of traditional English song to emerge in years” as one national review put it recently. Sam is a young singer with a compelling style and unusual repertoire, and brings with him Dogan Mehmet, a young performer equally at home in the Turkish tradition as the English one, from his band Sam Lee and the Gillie Boys.

• Wall Star Village Band are from the far north-east of England - just south of Hadrian’s Wall - and play the rants and reels of their local area on Northumbrian smallpipes and concertina, fiddle and piano. They’ll be providing lively music for the afternoon ceilidh, with caller Dave Hunt leading you through the moves with his infectious sense of humour.

• The Boat Band bring the little-known music of the Lakeland area to life with skill and pzazz on melodeon, fiddle, banjo and guitar.

• Jim Ward & Will Duke both hail from Sussex and are greatly influenced by their local traditions. Will returns to Traditional Music Day with more gems from his store of wonderful tunes and songs, whilst Jim is a newcomer to the event and specialises in Music Hall songs and monologues.

• Old Hat Concert Party - this informal group of East Anglian musicians, stepdancers, singers and story-tellers has been going for nearly 30 years and still comes together for a celebration every Traditional Music Day!

A one-off programme of special events, ‘Mouth Music’, features mouthorgan-players, whistles and “diddling” – singing for dancing as well as a lecture on the history of the jew’s harp by Michael Wright.

The day also features a chance to see the unique Museum of British Folklore on its only visit to Suffolk. Curator Simon Costin has put together a quirky exhibition of artefacts and artworks illustrating British traditions and is touring it in a caravan during this summer to raise interest in his proposal to establish a permanent national museum of folklore. There are also photographic exhibitions from Suffolk County Council’s Traveller Education Service – “Romany Roots” and from the East Anglian Traditional Music Trust – “Blaxhall Traditions”.

The event is very family-friendly, with all the attractions of the museum, including a play area and nature trail, as well as craft, dance and musical activities for children.

Events run from 11am to 5.30pm and include:
• Stepdance Special – the biggest annual gathering of stepdancers, featuring
many from East Anglia, including a number from Gypsy families. Stepdancing is a lively informal version of tap dancing, and is now attracting a lot of interest from younger people.
• Concert programme throughout the day featuring special guests (due to limited space,
concerts are accessible only to advance ticket-holders)
• Singing sessions for all to join in with, or listen
• Big music session featuring fiddles, concertinas, melodeons and dulcimers
• Ceilidh (barn dance) with Northumbrian band “Wall Star Village Band” and caller Dave Hunt
• Have-a-go sessions – a chance to try out traditional instruments including squeezeboxes and tin whistles or our unique collection of traditional dancing dolls, also a chance to make your own instrument from junk – for all the family!

The day will be opened by Mrs Vera Waspe, the Mayor of Stowmarket, at 10.30am.

Further event information

Special day tickets are available in advance from the East Anglian Traditional Music Trust, which give access to all events, space permitting. Closing date for advance tickets is Thursday 3rd September. On the day, ordinary museum tickets can be bought, together with a programme, which allows entry to all outdoor events, but not the concert programme.

Locally produced food and real ales will be available on site throughout the day.

Further details about the events and guests can be found at www.eatmt.org.uk on the Traditional Music Day page. The website also has a full timetable and tickets details. Further information from: the East Anglian Traditional Music Trust on 01449 771090.

Come and get your Xmas trees from MEAL. From November 30th to December 23rd.

• Long lasting, finest quality.
• Locally grown.
• Drive through collection.
• FREE recycling service after Christmas.

Santa's Grotto

Every Saturday in December. All proceeds will be used to improve and develop the Museum.

Trees will be available for collection from the 30th November to the 23th December and can be pre-ordered up to the 20th December.

Please contact Paul on 01449 612229, contact us via the website or call in to the Museum of East Anglian Life opposite Asda.

The Museum of East Anglian Life in association with CAMRA - the Campaign for Real Ale, kicks off its 13th Beer Festival on Thursday 18th June. The event which runs through to the Sunday afternoon of 21st June is perhaps the Museums most celebrated annual event. Visitors will have the chance to sample up to 60 East Anglian real ales and a number of ciders. The festival takes place in the beautiful setting of the museum's 14th century Abbots Hall barn.

Museum Director, Tony Butler reckons that the museum is the ideal venue for an ale festival.

"Stowmarket has a long history of brewing. There are former hop beds on the museum site near to the Rattlesden River. Although there is no longer a brewery in the town, companies like Muntons have helped the town retain its malting Traditions."

Tuesday 28 April 2009

At the Museum of East Anglian Life, Stowmarket, 28th April 2009

Schools Day for key stage 2 pupils. Travel back in time to the year 1898. Using the Museum's collection, children will have the opportunity to experience Victorian Life. There will be a variety of workshops and activities throughout the day looking at life in the home, at school and at work.

Monday 4th  May 2009

Why not join us to celebrate the coming of May and the start of springtime by joining in our Annual May Day Celebration.

Dancing round the Maypole, Morris dancers, traditional music and jig dolls are coming to the Museum of East Anglian Life on Bank Holiday Monday 4^th May 2009 !

Throughout the day we will be encouraging all ages to join us in dancing round the Museums Maypole and welcoming the Green Dragon Morris Dancers who will dance at 12:30 and 2:30pm.  They are a mixed group of men and women dancers who aim to have fun with flamboyance and finesse !  The children - the  " Morris Minors " - make a significant contribution to the energy of the side.

For the children we also have a Green Man hunt around the Museum along with a Green Man mask-making workshop (no need to book). The dances chosen for the maypole will be simple, and basic instruction will be given on the day.

Especially for this year May Day sees the launch of a new online exhibition 'When Were We Happy'. The exhibition uses four time periods to compare and contrast the well-being and happiness of the people that lived in the village of Stowupland, near Stowmarket, in the years 1851, 1901, 1951 and now.

Why not come along and join in, relive memories of your childhood, learn about the traditions of May Day for the first time or have a look at our new exhibition.Â

Sunday 22 March 2009

The Museum of East Anglian Life opens its doors for the 2009 season on Sunday 22 March with its traditional free Stowmarket Day. It provides the opportunity for visitors to see what’s new around the Museum and take advantage of a 25% discount on the normal price of a museum season ticket. During last years Stowmarket Day year the museum welcomed almost 2,000 visitors.

Director Tony Butler says, "It is an exciting time at Museum of East Anglian Life. We on the cusp of ambitious new developments at the museum each year should see new activity taking place. We want local people to support their local museum and be a part of its future."