Isles of Scilly Museum appoints new Curator
The Isles of Scilly Museum on St Mary's has welcomed a new Curator.
Kate Hale will start work on April 1st, replacing long-time incumbent Amanda Martin.
Kate was a regular visitor to the islands before making the move with Jeremy Brown to run self-catering property Sylina a year ago.
Kate will be familiar to many islanders for her recent role as Linda Thomas's sidekick in Theatre Club pantomime Mother Goose. She has a theatre production background and said she is excited about the new challenge.
"I've loved the museum ever since I first started visiting Scilly. I think it has a charm that very few museums have now. It feels very eclectic and democratic, of the people, of the islands.
"I have lots of ideas about how to do more outreach, get more people in, offer maybe a programme of changing exhibitions, possibly look at using the space in slightly different ways. But essentially I'm just very excited to be involved in preserving and developing it."
Kate is not the only new addition to the Museum team. John Hutchins has been on board as admin/building manager since December 10th, looking after the building and structure.
He said of his decision to apply for the job: "Before I went to work at the airport I worked for the Department of Environment on the ancient monuments for four years. Being retired, it's nice to have an interest. I used to live upstairs so I always liked to pop down to the museum.
"This is basically doing the job I had at the airport, looking after the building and structure. I was Watch Manager there, so when I came down here it was almost the same job. The Museum and the building is lovely, it's a natural asset and it would be a shame if it gets neglected. But it needs work, so it's a challenge. Everyone needs a challenge even at my advanced age."
The Council is currently undertaking work on the Museum ceiling, which suffers from water ingress from the flats above.