Should Birmingham have a Gun museum??

Hayboy · Joined: 14 Sep 2007 Posts: 1 Location: Birmingham

I am trying to gauge if there would be any interest in attempting to get a gun museum started in Birmingham? For a city that is the birthplace of companies such as Webley and Scott and BSA (to name but two!) it is a crying shame there is nowhere to go to find out or see more.
I have just visited the pen museum in the Jewellery Quarter which is an excellent example of what can be done.
I would be interested if there are people out there that think the same or if anyone has got anywhere with this previously? Please feel free to post or to contact me and maybe we can get something done - if it can happen it has got to start somewhere and who knows what might be possible.....

Updated 6-3-2010 - I have since started a website on the back of my original post

UPDATED BY WEBMASTER

I SHARE YOUR ENTHUSIASM BUT PLEASE DO NOT JUST JOIN THIS FORUM JUST TO PUBLICISE A LINK TO YOUR WEBSITE ESPECIALLY WHEN YOUR LINKS PAGE MAKES NO MENTION OF MADE IN BIRMINGHAM OR THIS FORUM

madeinbirmingham · Posted: Wed Mar 31, 2010 10:40 am Post subject:

Hayboy

Joined: 14 Sep 2007
Posts: 1
Location: Birmingham

PostPosted: 16 Feb 2010 05:55 pm Post subject: Should Birmingham have a Gun museum?? Reply with quote Edit/Delete this post Delete this post View IP address of poster
I am trying to gauge if there would be any interest in attempting to get a gun museum started in Birmingham? For a city that is the birthplace of companies such as Webley and Scott and BSA (to name but two!) it is a crying shame there is nowhere to go to find out or see more.
I have just visited the pen museum in the Jewellery Quarter which is an excellent example of what can be done.
I would be interested if there are people out there that think the same or if anyone has got anywhere with this previously? Please feel free to post or to contact me and maybe we can get something done - if it can happen it has got to start somewhere and who knows what might be possible.....

Updated 6-3-2010 - I have since started a website on the back of my original post

UPDATED BY WEBMASTER

I SHARE YOUR ENTHUSIASM BUT PLEASE DO NOT JUST JOIN THIS FORUM JUST TO PUBLICISE A LINK TO YOUR WEBSITE ESPECIALLY WHEN YOUR LINKS PAGE MAKES NO MENTION OF MADE IN BIRMINGHAM OR THIS FORUM
_________________
JP --- History is just one thing after the other!

madeinbirmingham · Posted: Wed Mar 31, 2010 10:44 am Post subject:

The answer is NO

Birmingham should have an industrial museum that reflects the fact that it had more diverse trades that any other city, not another single interest, museum for the benifit of a few enthusiasts.

The greatest enemy of a museum is boredom, sadly single interest museums are usually guilty of this. Museums are businesses and should be planned and run as such. Museums need to appeal to their major audience-those who have no interest in industrial history, not enthusiasts.

The Severn Valley Railway is a prime example, they do not turn over six million pounds a year with trainspotters.
_________________
JP --- History is just one thing after the other!

Tigerbob · Joined: 23 Mar 2008 Posts: 35 Location: Sutton Coldfield

J.P.
I think you have found the solution to your attempts to get enough interest to open an "Industrial Museum" in Birmingham.

Birmingham should have an industrial museum that reflects the fact that it had more diverse trades than any other city.

The Thinktank.

Not another single interest, museum for the benefit of a few enthusiasts.

The Thinktank.

The greatest enemy of a museum is boredom, sadly single interest museums are usually guilty of this. Museums are businesses and should be planned and run as such.

The Thinktank.

Museums need to appeal to their major audience-those who have no interest in industrial history, not enthusiasts.

The Thinktank.

I think you'll find that the Thinktank at Millenium point addresses all the points you made.
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I was born with nothing, I have fifty per cent of it left.

madeinbirmingham · Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2010 12:14 pm Post subject:

I have never found anybody who has a good word to say about Thinktank, except me!

I think the displays in the cabinets are nice (how pathetic can I be?)
_________________
JP --- History is just one thing after the other!

tonyshew · Joined: 09 Sep 2007 Posts: 68 Location: Hockley Heath

True JP,

All comments that I have heard have been pretty scathing. Cherry picking the exhibits from Newhall Street, making it a kiddies playground - you know the sort of thing. For this reason, I have not been to The Thinktank - so maybe I have misjudged it and should pay a visit....???

whisper whisper... even those at Dollman St choke when mentioning The T**nkt*nk... whiser shisper but you didn't hear that from me....

Tony

madeinbirmingham · Posted: Thu Apr 08, 2010 8:38 am Post subject:

The main advantage of being funded by a local authority or government is that when what you produce is a failure you carry it on regardless, remember The Millenium Dome and The Public?

Any failing commercially funded project would be scrapped or re-jigged straight away.

It would seem the Think Tank is a failure but the first stage of solving any problem is to admit one exists!

JP
_________________
JP --- History is just one thing after the other!

AndyW · Joined: 02 Nov 2007 Posts: 11 Location: Moseley

I was in the Dollman Street storage depot a few weeks ago and found the stored items fascinating. There is so much, a lot I saw at the old Newman Street science museum, which could be displayed and isn't, it's bizarre. What wasted resources.

fireman · Site Admin Joined: 07 Sep 2007 Posts: 89

Just a pity that no one in Birmingham seems to care that we have not got a proper industrial museum

madeinbirmingham · Posted: Mon May 10, 2010 7:21 am Post subject: