Rnli Grace Darling Museum

Our object of the month for November is this poster advertising travel on the SS Forfarshire in 1837. If you needed to get to Hull from Dundee or back, this 'splendid and powerful steam vessel' was the prime choice. And if your were a 'common soldier or sailor', you could get in cheap by sleeping on the deck.

Happy birthday to Grace Darling! The skies came out to celebrate this morning, with this beautiful rainbow over St Aidan's church.
To mark the occasion, this afternoon we're hosting the premiere of three short films about Grace that young filmmakers from Beacon Films CIC have produced in partnership with the museum.These films will be shown in the museum over the next year.

A number of our amazing volunteers were invited to an award ceremony in Edinburgh last weekend, to thank them for all the work that they do. They had a wonderful time, meeting with other RNLI volunteers from across the region.

This half-term, can you help us find St Cuthbert's treasure? Create your own treasure map, but make sure you avoid the monsters!
Map making, dress up and more at the RNLI Grace Darling Museum from 27 October till 4 November.
Free entry, donations welcome

We're delighted to announce that we are one of six museums in the North of England selected to take part in this year's 'Meeting Point'. This Arts Council England funded programme partners museums and artists, resulting in the creation of new artworks, each inspired by an individual museum and its collections.
This project will provide a great opportunity to shed new light on the well-known Grace Darling story and the history of the RNLI. There are so many elements and themes that can be explored further, and we can’t wait to find out what inspires the artists and to work with them to create a new experience for our visitors.

Our object of the month for September is this lock of Grace's hair.
After word of her bravery spread, Grace was inundated with letters of praise from people all across the country. Many wanted something to remember her by, and locks of hair were a common memento in the early nineteenth century.
Grace sent out many locks of her hair. Some pieces were turned into jewellery, or plaited and coiled. A lock of Grace’s hair would have been displayed in someone’s home and shown to ...friends.
This example has been put in a presentation case along with a piece of Grace’s dress. Grace’s hair was dark brown but this piece of hair has been left in the light for so long that it has turned almost completely white.
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It's a beautiful day here in Bamburgh, and the museum is up and running again after the power issues yesterday. Please come in and say hello if you're in the area!

The electricity just came back on, so we’re open again for the rest of the afternoon

We had a great visit from a group of young filmmakers from Beacon Films CIC this morning. They're working on a project about Grace Darling and the RNLI, which will result in a couple of short films being shown at the museum.
Today was all about the Grace Darling story. The group had a great time exploring the museum and discussing what life would have been like living in a nineteenth century lighthouse.

Exactly 180 years ago today, Grace and William Darling set out in their coble to save the survivors of the SS Forfarshire who were stuck on Big Harcar rock.
Rescuing these nine people changed Grace's life forever. She became a celebrity, and has inspired people around the world ever since she and her father risked their lives to save others.

Inspiring read about the heroic actions of Jane Whyte, Aberdeenshire's 'Grace Darling'

Our object of the month for August is this print of the Darling's coble on display at the International Fisheries Exhibition in South Kensington in 1883. Newcastle MP Lord Joicey, who bought the coble from the Darling family, sent it out to various world fairs across the world. This helped keep the memory of Grace's bravery alive, and reinforced the idea that the coble needed to be preserved for future generations.
This coloured print, which was done from a photograph a couple of decades after the event, is on display in our current exhibition 'Tribute to a Heroine: 80 Years of the Grace Darling Museum'. The need to find a suitable home for the coble, a place where it could be seen by the general public, ultimately led to the opening of the museum in 1938.

Nice article about our summer exhibition in the Northumberland Gazette

Seahouses Lifeboat Station is looking for volunteer crew. To find out more, please have a look on the website or visit their Station Open Day on Saturday.

Happy 80th birthday to us!
The museum first opened its doors to the public on 21 July 1938, exactly 100 years after the rescue that made Grace Darling famous.
Want to find out more? Why no visit our new exhibition 'Tribute to a Heroine', which runs from today until 2 September!

We can't wait for our summer exhibition to open tomorrow. Our volunteers came in today for a special preview tour, so they're ready to tell you all about it.
'Tribute to a Heroine; 80 Years of the Grace Darling Museum' celebrates the museum's anniversary by telling the story of how and why the museum came about. The exhibition explores the importance of the Darling’s coble, shines a light on the changes the museum has seen and showcases some of the exciting new pieces in its ...collection.
The exhibition will run from 21 July - 2 September. Free entry, museum is open daily from 10am-5pm
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Would you like to join our team? We are looking for a part-time Visitor Services Assistant for Sundays.
To find out more about the role and how to apply, please have a look on our website:
https://jobs.rnli.org/…/visitor-service s-retail-assistant-p…

We have some exciting news to share! William Darling’s silver RNLI medal and his – though to be lost - original journal have recently come into the museum’s collection.
The journal contains a wealth of information about the family’s life before and after the rescue and the fame that came with it. The medal shows how important William’s part in the rescue was, and how highly regarded by the RNLI even though he never worked for the institution
These objects will help us shine ...a light on William's role in the famous rescue, and we are very grateful to the families who donated them to the museum.
Both items will be shown in our summer exhibition 'Tribute to a Heroine: 80 Years of the Grace Darling Museum', which will run from 21 July until 2 September.
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Yesterday the ‘Just One Inch of Water’ photo exhibition opened at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.
The RNLI has taken the lead in organising this exhibition, which will help raise awareness of the issue of global drowning, which kills 360,000 people a year worldwide.
If New York is a bit too far away, you can browse through the photographs and learn more about the issues in the online exhibition here: https://rnli.exposure.co/just-one-inch-of -water.

Wonderful museum and very friendly staff, last visited here 56 years ago and never forgotten the story of the bravery of Grace Darling, I have passed the story on to my grandchildren whom I hope will keep the story going. Hope to bring them for a visit some time.

Well worth a visit the staff are so friendly and helpful so many hands on pieces to look at drawers to pull out with even more information visited with my 12 year old granddaughter who knew the story but was so interested in the information.Only minus for me no toilets least none I could see but to be fair I didn't ask

We visited Grace Darling Museum in the summer, it's fantastic our grandson son loved it as he was doing a school project about Grace darling, staff are very helpful � would recommend to anyone.

This was an excellent day the museum and the churchyard such a good day exploring with my grandson and daughter. My first time around the area too I was amazed well worth another visit.

Staff so helpful. Lovely morning at the museum with my mam and daughter 6 as she is learning about grace darling at school. We bought plenty of stuff to bring back. The lady on shop was so kind and give us a free education pack for the school

Please take time to visit this child friendly, interesting and free museum with a very warm welcome. Everyone should know the heartwarming and inspirational story of Grace Darling.

Packed full of artefacts both fascinating and touching this museum is a little gem. Very helpful staff. That good I had to visit twice!

Nice little museum . Helpful Staff . The other bonus is that it's free to get in . My 11year old liked it as well .

Lovely museum, such friendly staff who talked to my girls about Grace and her family. Really informative and helped with our homework for this week. Thanks for a fab visit �

Lovely little museum and well stocked gift shop staffed by very friendly and knowledgeable staff. Don't forget to visit Graces house and grave. #Heroine

Excellent Museum, I was amazed at the size of the boat, how Grace and her Father handled that I don’t know.

Brave family.

Very friendly and helpful Voluteers.

It’s a must if you are in the area.

Absolute gem of a museum, run by lovely staff. Grace Darling would be proud!

A warm welcome & Really nice place my kids loved it.

A super trip here after a days SCUBA diving out of Seahouses. Great museum.

A small but perfectly formed museum that told the story of Grace Darling and her family superbly. There's a great viewing platform and some fun interactive stuff too.

A brilliantly engaging, well thought out museum which appeals to adults & children alike. We all thoroughly enjoyed & I really appreciated the positive message that women can be strong & achieve anything! Well done RLNI - I will be recommending a visit to anyone I know holidaying in the area!

Well worth a visit, my 5 year old Granddaughter had been learning about Grace Darling at school this term so the museum helped her understanding. The staff couldn't have been more helpful, excellent.

The story is put over to visitors in a very interesting way. Great interactive exhibits. The staff are a credit to the museum.

A small museum telling the story of forgotten heroes. We should celebrate these people as a maritime nation. After finishing visit the church and graveyard.