THERE is still time to visit Malvern Museum before it closes for the year at the beginning of November.
As well as meeting Brother Luke in the entrance, visitors can learn more about the monastery in which the Malvern monks lived.
Other characters bring history to life too, such as the radar scientist, the Victorian housemaid grappling with a new fangled vacuum cleaner or the man in the bath.
One particular Malvern man is worth mentioning this month. In 1914 he worked for the Malvern grocers Jones and Davis. 100 years ago (see picture, right), William Morris aged 26, landed in France with the 2nd Battalion of the Worcestershire Regiment.
He was involved in repelling the German advance on Paris during September and was then heavily engaged in fighting around Ypres.
On October 31, he took part in the famous charge on German forces holding the chateau in the Belgian village of Gheluvelt. This was considered to be the ultimate British achievement in the First Battle of Ypres but sadly it cost William Morris his life. He is commemorated on the Menin Gate in Ypres. His father received the news on Christmas Eve.
William’s brother was injured in a separate battle against German forces in China at about the same time but survived.
The family came from Newtown Road and both boys had attended Cowleigh School. The Belgian village gave its name to the park in Worcester, where there will be a day of commemorations on October 31 this year to mark the event.
The museum has had another successful year, with visitor numbers increasing noticeably since the beginning of August, almost certainly due to the greater public interest in our heritage arising from the national commemoration of the centenary of the start of the Great War. This has been reflected in strong sales of the museum publication Malvern in the Great War – 1914.
The gatehouse was the focus of our Heritage Weekend event on September 13 and 14, which was also a great success with over 200 visitors to the museum, a number of whom showed a keen interest in the building and taking advantage of a short guided tour.
The last regular day of opening at the museum this year is Saturday, November 1, but the museum will also be open over Remembrance Weekend, the November 8 and 9. The museum will reopen to the public on March 22, 2015.
In the meantime the Museum Friends’ Association remains active, with monthly lectures as advertised on our website malvernmuseum.co.uk.
