Steve Lilly

Steve is the wonderful artist who has done a number of pictures for the museum including the wonderful cast drawing on display in the museum and for sale in the shop.If you can get along to this show please do.

Full details on the events page.

Jones’s Van

 

Now, we have launched our biggest ask yet – you may have read that the van is due to be sold at Bonhams auction in December. The museum is well known for its ability to work hard and raise large sums of money – after all we delivered the statue in just 2 and half years – however, 3 months may just prove a little tricky. If, like us, you believe that the van should come home to Walmington on Sea then we are going to need a very big push indeed. We are hopeful that one or maybe several generous benefactors will come forward to help us with a loan to enable us to raise enough money to buy the van. Then over the next few years, we will raise the sufficient money needed to pay the loan(s) back. As it will go to auction, the exact figure required is as yet unknown, however, it is estimated that it will sell for £20,000 - £30,000.

If you would like to help Dad’s Army Museum with their latest project, please contact Leaping Hare TIC on 01842 751975 or 07802 701911 or email info@dadsarmythetford.org.uk

Christmas cards & coasters

A small range of Christmas cards & coaster are now available from the museum shop.Why not pop in and have a look.The museum will be open every Saturday from 10am until 3pm to the beginning of December.We also hope to be open on Tuesday October 30th (Norfolk Schools half term).

Walking tour October 14th

The last walking tour of the Thetford locations for 2012 will take place on Sunday October 14th from the Captain Mainwaring statue at 11.30am.Your can book tickets here.

Village at war

Once again the museum was please to attend the Village At War event at the Gressenhall Rural Life Museum over the August Bank Holiday.

Jones’s Day pictures

Click on the picture above to see some photographs from our Jones’s van day on August 25th 2012.

The bus

The routemaster bus ready for the tour.

Jones's Van

Jones's van outside the museum.

Jones's Van Day

The Jones's Van day was a great sucess and we were pleased to welcome over 300 visitors.We also had a good first bus tour and we are looking foward to another this Saturday (September 1st).

Full report and pictures soon.

Festival events flyer

Download your copy of our festival flyer from here

Let it rain!

On Saturday afternoon it rained and rained and rained.Picture here is museum volunteer Mick Whitman keeping the rain from entering the museum with a broom.Cannot have the cakes in the Marigold tea room getting wet.Come and visit us on Tuesday until the end of September and Saturdays until December.Hopefully the sun will shine !

Busy Sunday

The museum had a busy Sunday on June 24th !

In the museum we welcomed a party of guys from Newcastle in Thetford for stag party.Chris Higgins ties the knot in October and came to the home of Dad’s Army as they are all fans of the show.After a Thetford locations tour they spent some time in the museum.

The rest of the team were attending the Desert Rats Day,a special day to mark the 70th anniversary of the Battle of El Alamein.

As you can see our Captain Mainwaring (Mick Whitman) was told to smarten up by a much higher ranking officer !

More pictures & story to follow.

Gardener’s Question Time

What fun - here are the fab team from Gardener's Question Time,recording in Thetford last night (July 30th) listen out on the 10th and 31st August).

 

We have (picture left) Roger Route from Thetford Gardening & Allotment Club, Bob Flowerdew, presenter Eric Robson, Bunny Guiness and Chris Beardshaw.Lovely that you called in for a photo at Mainwaring's desk.

Special events

Saturday August 25th

Jones’s Van day at the museum,10am until 3pm.

Routemaster bus tour (North) leaving at 10.30 and visiting Santon Downham,Brandon & Munford.

Leaving the museum at 10.30 am at a cost of £14.95.Details and booking information here.

Saturday September 1st.

Routemaster bus tour of the locations used in filming on the southern side of Thetford including Rushdon,Bardwell,& Honington.

 

Tickets £14.95 or £25 for both tour.Details & booking information here.

For more information on the Thetford Festival please click on the logo.

Radio Norfolk Treasure Quest

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The museum was pleased to host the first clue to Radio Norfolk’s Treasure Quest last Sunday (July 15th).Pictured in the Vicar’s office is the lovely Becky Betts.

Rate my sausage

For a review of the Walmington banger click on the image.

Busy Sunday

The museum had a busy Sunday on April 24th !

In the museum we welcomed a party of guys from Newcastle in Thetford for stag party.Chris Higgins ties the knot in October and came to the home of Dad’s Army as they are all fans of the show.After a Thetford locations tour they spent some time in the museum.

The rest of the team were attending the Desert Rats Day,a special day to mark the 70th anniversary of the Battle of El Alamein.

As you can see our Captain Mainwaring (Mick Whitman) was told to smarten up by a much higher ranking officer !

More pictures & story to follow.

Open on Tuesday

The museum will be open this Tuesday from 10am until 3pm,we hope to open every Tuesday until September.If you are traveling a long way please contact the museum to confirm that we are open.We will of course be open every Saturday until early December from 10am until 3pm.

Desert Rats

Colin Bean–Wigan Man

Click on the image for more details.

Just how much is the Captain worth ?

The Captain (Mick Whitman) and Pike (Saxon) at the Antiques Road show at RAF Marham on May 23rd.The programme is due to be aired in September.

Dates for your diary

On June 28th the Friends of Dad’s Army Museum Thetford will hold it’s AGM at the museum from 6pm.All Friends are welcome but we do ask that you let us know that you will be attending.

On Saturday August 25th as part of the Thetford Festival we will be holding a Museum day.Plans are still being made and will be published later.

Suffolk Austin 7 owners

The museum was pleased to welcome some visitors to museum last Sunday (May 20th) who arrived in some wonderful transport,five lovely Austin 7 cars.On a Sunday drive they arranged with us to call in and have a cuppa at the Marigold tea room.The club was the Suffolk branch of the Essex Austin 7 owners club and they meet every month at the Greyhound in Ixworth.

Mildenhall Register

The museum was pleased to welcome 50 members of the Mildenhall Register on Saturday May 12th.The Mildenhall register is the 15,90,140 & 622 bomber squadrons Association.The members enjoyed tea & cake in Marigolds and some went on the Dad’s Army Trail.Have a look at their website to see what they do.

On the road again

The museum team was on the road again on May 8th.This time we made the short journey to Garboldisham.The team gave a presentation to the local WI group who joined in the fun by singing the Dad’s Army theme tune.Our Captain Mainwaring (Mick Whitman) was on hand to judge the flower and badge competition.He also drew the raffle.

Absent Friends episode

This Saturday (May 19th at 18.30) the BBC will be showing the Dad’s Army episode called Absent Friends.This episode was first show in October 1970 but has missing from the repeat runs due to the mention of the IRA .Following the Good Friday agreement a few years ago it seems that the BBC have decided that the time is now right to include this very funny episode in the current run of repeats.

Ixworth WI

The museum was pleased to welcome some special visitors on Monday April 23rd.Members of Ixworth WI came over to have a look at the museum and statue.While they were here they had cup of tea in the Marigold Tea Room.The museum is pleased to welcome visitors outside our normal opening times by prior arrangement,please contact us for more information at dadsarmythetford@googlemail.com or 01842 751975 .

‘Wakeman, Pike & Lavender’

Theatre Royal Bury St. Edmunds

‘Wakeman, Pike & Lavender’

Rick Wakeman hosts an evening of chat with Ian Lavender reminiscing about their careers and David Crofts most enduring creation, Dad’s Army.

Prices for tickets range from £8.50 to £24.50 this will be followed by a post show reception, (tickets available at £15) this will give an opportunity to share in a more informal and intimate time, with the chance to meet Rick Wakeman and Ian Lavender personally.

First public tour of 2012

Today (April 15th) we held the first public walking tour.18 visitors braved the rain showers to be shown the locations used in the filming of the series.The next public tour is on May 20th details are here.We can organise private tours and visits to the museum.

Marigold’s new sign

The museum is very grateful to local historian and painter decorator  David Osborn who has completed this lovely new sign over the entrance to the tea room.Now you will have no excuse not to come along for a cup of tea and a slice of cake.

Mick Whitman interview.April 7th 2012.

Mick Whitman interview.

20000 and still counting

The museum opened for the new season at 10am on Saturday April 7th.We had to wait 40 minutes for the 21st visitor that day and the 20000th since we opened on December 7th 2007.The 20000th visitor was Lindsay Smith from Gressingthorpe in Essex.Lindsay was greeted at the museum door by our own Captain Mainwaring,Mick Whitman.The Captain presented Lindsay with basket of Dad’s Army Museum goodies and a free membership of ‘The Friends’.We had 170 visitors on this day and will be open 10am until 3pm every Saturday until early December plus Tuesdays in School Holidays.

Returning visitors

Adam Mullany first visited the Dad's Army Museum when his family brought him for a birthday treat on October 25th 2008 and boy what a change they all discovered when coming back to the museum when we re-opened for the new season. When they visited before we only had the one room, now there are 5 rooms and as one of those was our Marigold Tea room, it would have been rude not to have had a scone and jam! Adam said of his visit that he had great fun and it was 'delice'. Look forward to seeing you again soon Adam.

 

Service of celebration for David Croft OBE

Several members of the museum team were able to travel to London to attend the service.This is a report by a member of the museum team.


On a warm sunny day (Thursday 15th March) we gathered on the steps of St Martin in the Fields


Church. So many familiar faces were around us. so many well-loved characters represented there.

At 11.00pm the door were opened and we were admitted to find our reserved seats. We were very

fortunate in having places in the Gallery which gave us a grandstand view of the proceedings.

The service of Celebration for the life of David Croft was just that. Some glorious hymns —

Onward Christian Soldiers and I Vow to thee my Country amongst them and tributes from Jimmy

Perry. Jeremy Lloyd and Mark Thompson (DG of the BBC) were by turns funny, evocative and

achingly sad.

The music was led by the Choir and by Rick Wakeman with tributes sung by Sandra Browne Hart

(Dido's Lament) and Su Pollard (Follow your Heart).

Ian Lavender read The Last Word". the final paragraph of David's autobiography You Have Been

Watching, a moment's silence held and then the whole congregation burst into spontaneous

applause which seemed to last for ever.

The band (Premier Brass) played the recessional music. The Dad's Army Theme followed by The

British Grenadiers.

We took our leave, feeling by turns sad and uplifted but most of all glad to have been present and

honoured to have known such an outstandingly talented and charming man.

Museum re opens

We are pleased to confirm that the museum will reopen on April 7th at 10am.We are expecting the 20000th visitor to the museum on this day,it could be you !

Mini Mainwarings

Our limited edition Mini Mainwarings are looking just fabulous! These very special little men are all cast individually by sculptor Sean Hedges-Quinn from his original maquette in cold cast resin. Numbers are limited to 80, one for each episode made - which one is your favourite? Each statue comes in it's own stunning box, held safely within museum grade foam. To secure your statue (and maybe your favourite  episode?) please contact Corinne Fulford on info@dadsarmythetford.org.uk or 07802 701911. You will need to place a deposit of £75 - total price is £450. You can pay in full or by instalments - whatever suits you best.

Philip Madoc

We were all saddened to hear the new that Philip Madoc passed away today (March 5th).To read the story of this great actor please follow this link to the BBC news story.

The museum was delighted that Philip was able to attend the unveiling of the Captain Mainwaring statue on June 19th 2010.The picture below was taken the day after as members of the cast were getting reading to travel to Bressingham for Croft & Perry Day.Our thoughts are with his family & friends.We will all remember with great laughter his role as the U boat captain in the classic episode,The Deadly Attachment.

Service of Celebration for the Life of David Croft OBE

There will be a Service of Celebration for the Life of David Croft OBE that will be held at 11.30am on Thursday 15th March 2012 at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square, London WC2N 4JJ. All are welcome BUT admission will be by ticket only.Please contact the museum for further details.

Saturday Kitchen

Hope you didn't forget to tune into Saturday Kitchen last Saturday (Jan 28th) on BBC1.The wine recommendation bit was filmed on location in Thetford by Cactus Television. It featured the statue of Captain Mainwaring and a shot of the museum sign.If you did miss it you might find in on the iPlayer.

Andy, Suzie, Claire, 'The Captain' and Mike.

Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Calling all our re-enactor/vintage/theatre friends – We have been approached by the Guildhall School of Music and Drama based in Moorgate, London. They are producing a production of Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream which is going to be performed at the Barbican Centre’s Main Theatre which is a great opportunity for those involved and indeed Guildhall. The design for the production is based around the 1940’s with some of the action set in a 1940’s hospital. For this production we are in need of some props that you might be able to help us with, these are as follows :
16 X Identical Chairs – Church/Village Hall/ Chapel Chairs
4 x Sunglasses – 2 x Male, 2 X Female
Surgical Instruments
Surgical Trolley
Surgical Folding Screen
Surgical Drip
Hypodermic Needles – Possibly Glass or Metal, large.
Hospital Washbasin – With wheels.
Air Raid Patrol Lamp
Military Milk Float – They need an electric vehicle that is able to take singers on the back of the float/truck and be driven onstage. Ideally this should resemble a 1940’s Bedford Flatbed truck but due to stage weight restrictions it has to be under 3.5tonnes hence the idea of a Military looking Milk Float.
The dates they would need to borrow the items from would be : Friday 10th February to Wednesday 7th March.
If you can help, please get in touch.Call our museum manager,Corinne Fulford,on 07802 701911.

You can email us at dadsarmythetford@googlemail.com or you can complete the contact form at http://www.dadsarmythetford.org.uk/contact.htm

News pages

The museum is now starting it’s 5th year and it is quite amazing just what we have got up to.This page will show you all our recent activity.If you go to our archive new page you can see what we have been up to since 2007.