VISITOR numbers have remained strong at The Bowes Museum during the past year compared to London-based attractions which are facing a more uncertain financial situation, volunteers have been told.
The annual meeting of The Friends of The Bowes Museum heard how 43,000 people visited the building between its reopening on May 17, 2021, and March this year.
Jonathan Peacock, a member of the friends, said: “That’s about 85 per cent of our normal visitors.
“If you look at London, they were getting about 20 per cent of their visitor numbers which is why London museums are in such a dire financial situation and why we are in a much stronger position.”
The meeting heard that The Friends of The Bowes Museum had provided 1,000 volunteer hours over the past year. As well as providing volunteer visitor guides, the organisation also raises cash to help buy works of art. Recent acquisitions include Henry Alkin’s painting of John Scott, who worked for the museum’s founder John Bowes, when he was training at Cotherstone.
As of December 31, 2001, the friends had a “healthy” cash balance of £46,413 and treasurer Ray Morris said the charity’s financial position remains sound.
But he warned that an “awful lot has happened in the year since then” , adding that the charity’s investments, kept for a “rainy day” , had been worth £158,000 at the end of the year but this figure was falling quickly.
Mr Morris said: “By the end of May, that had gone down to £150,000 and I expect by the end of June, it will be down to £142,000. We are by far not alone in that and there is nothing we can do about it.
“The redeeming factor is everyone who has investments does so for the long term and they will recover. There is no need to panic.”
The museum’s collections manager, Dr Jane Whittaker, gave an overview of the past year.
She said the museum had recently launched a new website but this was still a “work in progress” .
Dr Whittaker explained how a £43,000 grant had been spent on a project taking a closer look at The Silver Swan, which has stopped working.
The 249-year-old automaton was taken apart last year and examined by a team of experts in front of the public in an effort to find out more about it and come up with a long-term plan.
She added: “Eventually we can use that information so it can inform our strategy for the swan, the focus of which is to get it playing again.”
A Silver Swan exhibition is being planned for 2023 to mark the 250th anniversary of its first appearance in public.
Dr Whittaker said this would be another chance to examine the mechanism.
She added: “It’s an opportunity to develop our longer term strategy with the Silver Swan and understand what is it about the swan that inspires audiences.
“It’s still an iconic item and we know people want to pay to see it play.”
Dr Whittaker also told the friends how the museum’s income was on target and the cafe and shop were “doing well” .
The meeting also heard how a volunteer gardening team, which was formed in 2020, was keeping the park tidy and archive volunteers were busy researching cataloguing and translating documents in the Reading Rooms, which are still closed to the public.
