What's Happening in the Museum in December?

Our next PlayDay is on 13 December so I bet you’ll never guess what the theme is going to be. That’s right, IT’S CHRISTMAS!!!

We’ll be hosting an afternoon of festive fun with all our usual attractions, including face-painting, arts and crafts, toys to play with and a story teller. The story will naturally be on a Yuletide theme and the crafts will centre around making Christmas decorations, including the basics such as paper chains and snowflakes to garlands, angels and stars. Face-painting will be on a similarly festive theme, unless you want something else, we can paint you up to look like anything you want.

If you want to join in then you can come to the Brighton Toy and Model Museum any time between two and five. Children's Playdays are held every second Sunday of each month. Admission is £5 per child and groups of up to 4 children can bring an adult for free, any additional adults would have to pay the regular price of adult admission.

In other news, it’s not too late to book tickets for Harry’s Tricks. Harry’s Tricks play 1920's, 1930's and 1940's popular music from Britain and America. They are led by the unique vocal and guitar style of Mike Potter, who combines the influence of Fats Waller, Al Bowlly, Slim Gaillard and Billie Holiday. They’ll be playing in the museum from 7pm November 21. It’s a child friendly event so you can feel comfortable bringing the whole family. Tickets for the Harry’s Tricks performance will be £8.00 for adult audience members, £5.00 for children.

November's Playday Won't Be What You Expect

Brighton Toy and Model Museum’s Last Playday was a Hoot, a Scream, And a Bump in the Night

We had a great turn-out of visitors who all got into the dress-up spirit and enjoyed all kinds of creepy games and activities on a Halloween theme. November’s Playday is going to be the same, but different.

Because it’s taking place on the second Sunday of November you’ll be thinking fireworks and bonfires, gunpowder, treason and plot, right? Well, actually, you’d be wrong. As we haven’t had an opportunity to mark the occasion until now, we’ll be celebrating the 150th anniversary of Lewis Carroll’s Alice In Wonderland.

Crafts will include colouring blow-ups of artwork by John Tenniel that was used in the first iterations of Alice in Wonderland and Through The Looking Glass, making masquerade masks and crafting sculptures from play-dough. As well as these activities there will be the other regular diversions that Playdays are known for. And, as always, if you feel like dressing up, you’re free to do so! We’ve always found that putting on a costume helps to create a fun atmosphere and lets you show off your haberdashery skills. So if you feel like being Alice, the Mad Hatter, a White Rabbit or even the Queen of Hearts, then November’s Playday is the place to let yourself go!

If you want to join in then you can come to the Brighton Toy and Model Museum any time between two and five. Children's Play-days are held every second Sunday of each month. Admission is £5 per child and groups of up to 4 children can bring an adult for free, any additional adults would have to pay the regular price of adult admission.

Another event that we’ll be hosting in the environs of the Museum will be a performance by Harry’s Tricks, playing popular British and American music from the height of the Jazz Age. We’ll be opening our doors at 7pm November 21, tickets for the night’s performance will be £8.00 for adult audience members, £5.00 for children. To get a taste of what Harry’s Tricks we’ve added a little video. Seeing the band live is an altogether different experience, especially in the setting of the Museum.

It's The Flying Scotsman Running Day

Ghastly Ghostly Goings-On Will Feature in this Month's PlayDay

It surely goes without saying that October’s Playday is going to be Halloween themed. Because Halloween’s so much fun! It’s always been a favourite with kids as there’s so much to do, with games, crafts, dressing up and scary stories. And that’s why we’re going to be pulling out all the stops to make our Halloween Playday extra spooky!

If you’ve been to one of our Playdays before, then you’ll know that we like to make the event special and different from the last. The staff dress up, there are stories, facepainting, crafts and toys to play with. Because of the Halloween theme in October there will be pumpkin classes where you can learn how to safely carve a Jack o’ Lantern, traditional Halloween games like Snap Apples, Nelson’s Eye and everyone’s favourite: Eating A Chocolate Bar Using A Knife And Fork While Wearing Gloves.

Unfortunately, because of the inherent mess involved in pumpkin carving, we won’t be doing that. On the other hand we will be helping design pumpkin templates and masks which children can wear or put on pumpkins to carve at home. (We were going to blame Health and Safety, but here at Brighton Toy and Model Museum we encourage putting sharp objects in sticky little hands, we just don’t want to have to clear it all up afterwards!)

Because we’re an inclusive bunch here we won’t just be sticking with the traditional British and American Halloween entertainments, we’ll be drawing Sugar Skull designs, facepainting, telling stories, and a host of other traditional Halloween inspired crafts and entertainment. To find out more, you’ll just have to come along! There’s no need to book in advance and you can turn up any time between two and five. Children's Play-days are held every second Sunday of each month. Admission is £5 per child and groups of up to 4 children can bring an adult for free, any additional adults would have to pay the regular price of adult admission.

FLYING SCOTSMAN RUNNING DAY AT THE BRIGHTON TOY & MODEL MUSEUM Saturday - 17th October 2015

Brighton Toy and Model Museum will be holding a train running day on the theme of "The Flying Scotsman” on Saturday October 17th. The Museum's "0" gauge layout will feature models of locomotives and trains which operated as "East Coast Joint Stock" and "Special Scotch Express" from 1862, and from 1924 under the LNER, as the "Flying Scotsman".  The museum’s finest 0 gauge models of this iconic train will feature on the day, these models include many rare examples not often seen running.  The Museum's refurbished 00 layout will also feature more recently manufactured representations of the period’s rolling stock and locomotives.

"The Flying Scotsman" ranks alongside "Mallard", "Concorde" and "QE 2" among the pride of British transport achievements, and it should not be forgotten that we have Sir William McAlpine to thank for  returning it to the UK, in 1973, following a tour of the USA. The Brighton Toy and Model Museum is proud to have Sir William as Honorary Patron. Next year the Museum celebrates its 25th year of being open to the public, a series of special events being planned.

As well as Running Days the museum will be hosting a wide range of events over our jubilee year including PlayDays, a new dolls house exhibit, live events, guided tours and parties. The week of the anniversary itself will start off with a private function to thank all the people who’ve supported us over the past 25 years and will end with a party where we can thank all of our visitors, and those who have enjoyed the museum and made that work worthwhile. In between those events we will be holding guided tours around the museum. We’re currently looking for suggestions from our visitors, telling us what they would most like to hear about. To submit your suggestion tweet us using the hashtag #mytoysuggests or write a comment on our facebook page.

The Museum is directly below Brighton mainline railway station. Admission for the Running Day is: Adult;£10, child ;£5.(see our website for regular admission costs)The Museum is open 10.30 to 5.00, the train running times on the day will be :11.00 to 1.00 and 2.30 to 4.30.
Tel 01273 749494 ( www.brightontoymuseum.co.uk. )

Once Upon A Dream In A Toy Museum

Brighton Toy and Model Museum is the venue for another Playday on Sunday, this time it will be all about myths, monsters, fairytales and fables. 

Monsters. Some Scary, Some Not So Much

The theme for Play-Days different every time. The last Play-Day held on 16th August was called "To Infinity and Beyond" and focused on space and science fiction. The dozens of children present that day had a lot of fun and we expect the same from the next event which will be held on 13th of September. The theme of this one will be fairytale and myths, the title is "Once upon a dream..." Expect to see Hansel and Gretel, ogres, monsters and many other fairy-tale characters helping out around the museum.

Playdays have been an on and off institution at Brighton Toy and Model museum for several years but in advance of our 25th anniversary, we are aiming to make them into a regular feature of the great variety of things that the venue has to offer to the local community.

The Play-Days are aimed at children aged between 3 and 12 years old. The activities on offer include face-painting, storytelling, arts and crafts, colouring sheets, building sets and plenty of other games. The volunteers of the Museum help the kids with their creation in a friendly atmosphere and everyone is invited to dress up according to the theme.

The children's Play-days are now held every second Sunday of each month from 2pm to 5pm. Admission is £5 per child and groups of up to 4 children can bring an adult for free, any additional adults would have to pay the regular price of adult admission.

Did you also know that it’s possible to book the Museum for corporate events or as a venue for your various functions? If you’re looking for a totally unusual place to hold a meeting, party, conference of stage any other kind of event, then talk to one of our managers in person, over the phone on 01273 749494 or email us at info@brightontoymuseum.co.uk for prices and availability.

Saying Sayonara To Our Japanese Exhibit

Nothing is certain except change and that maxim is equally true here at Brighton Toy and Model Museum. Always a point of discussion among staff and visitors, the collection of Japanese dolls that were displayed in the cabinet at the north end of the museum’s first gallery are currently being replaced. 

After years on display the dolls are being removed and returned to their owner. Some people will be sorry to see them go while others welcome the chance to put a new display into the cabinet. Debate was often centred around these dolls, some thinking that they were ornaments rather than toys, and as such, didn’t really deserve their place in a toy and model museum. Those on their side maintained that they were models of human figures and, as such, deserved their place among the dolls houses, domestic playthings and scale figures.

A Taste Of Things To Come? A Glimpse Into Chris' Workshop.

However, as with any museum, space is at a premium so the decision had to be taken to remove them. Having been with us for such a long time, they had become something of an institution, but now they have been removed it’s given us the opportunity to carry out long overdue maintenance of the cabinet where they were homed. Gordon, maintenance expert, is taking advantage of their absence to properly damp-proof and tank in the cabinet, meaning that if anything goes wrong (such as the flooding we once experienced several years ago) the objects we have on display won’t be in any danger.

As well as damp proofing the space, Gordon also has to build shelving to fit and provide a new lighting solution which will show off the new attraction to its best advantage. It’s anticipated that this work should be carried out and completed well ahead of our 25th anniversary next year and the exhibit will be well established as a favourite among our visitors by then.

So, what is the new exhibit going to be? 

Brighton Toy and Model museum has for a long time, had a wide and varied collection of dolls’ houses and dolls’ house furniture. There has always been a yen to increase the amount of space that is devoted to exhibiting our collection of antique furniture, buildings, and oddments you would expect to find in a well loved doll house, the only problem we had was finding the necessary space to display it. So once the decision was reached to return the Japanese dolls to their owner, it was clear what to do with the room that became available.

Brighton Toy and Model Museum thank Anne Paige-Phillips for allowing us to borrow and display her collection of Japanese dolls for such a long time and hope that they are looking forward to their rest and retirement.

Brighton Toy And Model Museum PlayDays Are Back For Good!

After an unwelcome hiatus thanks to circumstances beyond our control, Brighton Toy and Model Museum’s PlayDays are back, and they're a roaring success! 

 Thanks to our manager being unwell recently, we hadn’t the time or wherewithal to organise our popular PlayDays. But with the taking on of Nadege, a former volunteer and now our full time Events and Volunteers Manager we now have the driving force needed to make these events successful. Take for example our last PlayDay, held on 16th of August which attracted dozens of visitors. Themed around science fiction and space exploration, there were all kinds of activities for children of all ages to get involved in, including playsets, stories, facepainting, as well as arts & crafts.

Playdays are aimed at children of all ages, so young children are catered for just as much as bigger kids and tweens. Children need to bring along an adult to look after them but the adult gets their admission free making each play event quite a bargain.

Our next PlayDay will be held on 13th of September. It will be entitled “Once Upon A Dream” and the theme will be fairy-tale and myth, so if there are any Grimm, Disney or Hans Anderson characters that are a particular favourite in your house, why not dress up and come along? We promise any Satyrs or Ogres will be on their best behaviour (at least until closing time)!

Our volunteers and helpers will be adding to the theme by dressing up in costumes evocative of a life lived ‘happily ever after’ and we encourage all our visitors to get involved too. Of course it’s not mandatory, we just really love fancy dress and think everyone else probably just needs an excuse to enjoy it as well!

Now that Nadege has taken over the PlayDays’ organisation, we’re happy to make it official that they will now be held regularly on the second Sunday of every month, with a different theme each time. There’s no need to book in advance, just come along and join in. Tickets are £5 for children, their first adult goes free (however, extra adults will need to pay the regular museum entry fee) and as the event is held in the museum itself, you can look at all the exhibits as well as taking part in the special activities laid on.

We love our PlayDays and are naturally quite excited about the next one, so we hope to see you then!

A Very Tasty Exhibition Has Come To The Museum

What do Alice in Wonderland, trains, the circus, old birds and buckets all have in common?
They're all biscuit tins in a new exhibition at Brighton Toy and Model Museum.

On Thursday we officially welcomed the Sarah Leather Biscuit Tin Collection to Brighton Toy and Model Museum. Among the guests were many of our friends and patrons, our mayor, staff and volunteers who all work so hard to make the things the museum put on work so well.

The biscuit tins, collected by Sarah Leather, are a superb insight into a bygone era of marketing and industrial production. Tins were manufactured by the same companies that were producing tin plate toys so the natural conclusion was to make containers that could be used as toys. Several advances in production techniques, including offset litho printing directly onto the metal meant that hard wearing, durable, colourful pieces could be designed whereas previously tins would be decorated with printed paper designs. Leather’s collection features several examples of the earliest of these tins, including Alice Through The Looking Glass tins which were (and then weren’t) endorsed by Lewis Carroll himself.

The evening itself was enjoyed by all present. Not only did we have a chance to meet the collector’s family, friends but our mayor, Lynda Hyde and her grandson Max, were also present. Chris took great joy in not only showing off his collection of O gauge models but giving them a run along with his inimitable impressions of the sounds of the trains.

Industrial Design Equals Fun Toys And Delicious Treats

The tins in the exhibit represent some of the most interesting and unusual containers ever created. Take for example the behemoth Chocolate Manner Wein train, a model steam engine with trucks which totals over two feet in length, or the McVitie and Price bird, a design that looks very much like a design for a tulip inspired vase, but with a bird’s head used as a lid. The technical difficulties inherent in producing such a complicated form can only be wondered at, and the fact that all this design and technical know-how was thrown into producing a means of transporting confectionary without it getting damaged or spoiled shows how much importance was placed on producing something durable, interesting and fun for the consumer.

We hope all those who attended had as good a time as we did hosting the event and look forward to welcoming everybody here again when we have more events and exhibitions in the museum. It shouldn’t be too long until we are able to bring more news of fun events as our 25th anniversary is just around the corner and we’ve already started to plan special extravaganzas that we hope will really bring the museum to life. But more on that closer to the time.

 Again, we’d like to thank our generous lender’s family for letting us put the exhibition together, it’s drawn a lot of attention already and we hope it attracts many more people to the joint delights of biscuits and tin toys!
If you want to read a little more about the exhibit, check out the write-up we received on our local BBC news site.

We're Bringing Playdays Back!

Now that Nadège is on the case as our Events Manager, we're able to get back into the swing of having regular Play Days again. So, on Sunday 16th of August we will be having our first Playday of 2015, and, in honour of NASA taking those awesome pictures of Pluto this event will be themed on Space Exploration and Science Fiction. Expect papercrafts, art, stories, play and most importantly FUN! All based around rockets and aliens, astronauts and space stations.
Thanks Nadege, we couldn't even planet without you!

Six months to go 'til 2016

New visitors to the museum often ask us how long we've been here, and are taken aback when we tell them that we've been here for over twenty years. In fact, the museum opened its doors back in 1991, and next year, 2016, will be our twenty-fifth anniversary!

The time has seen a number of changes – exhibitions and precious people have come and gone, and we've continually worked to cram more and more into the space, improve the lighting and facilities, bring in more collections, fill in the gaps in existing collections, and to basically do everything we can to make an already magical place better and better.

Today, July 1st, is exactly six months from the start of our Special Year, and we'll be using this time to think of even more ways to improve the museum and to create more online content about the origins of the museum and the people who built it.

We'll be holding events throughout 2016, including a week of celebrations on the 10th-14th May 2016. This year you'll be seeing some major changes on the website and some very special things happening in the museum before January 1st.

If you haven't visited for a while, we think you'll like the major lighting improvements and new displays that we've installed over the last few years. And if you still haven't visited us yet – what are you waiting for?

The Future For Brighton Toy and Model Museum is With the Cards

Brighton Toy and Model Museum has finally welcomed the Twenty First Century through its doors and has introduced card payments behind the till meaning we won’t send you away if you don’t have enough cash on you anymore!

There are many things going on at Brighton Toy and Model Museum at the moment. New layouts for the OO railway sets, new display cabinets for our Corgi car collections, and a new display of biscuit tins, which were highly decorated and often doubled, when empty, as toys in their own right.
As part of these modernisations, we’ve also gone and got ourselves a card machine so we can let visitors in without the inconvenience of having to go to the nearest cash point. We’re hoping that this advance will mean not having to send people back out into the rain when they stopped in to keep dry, instead converting them in to happy visitors, as well as welcoming people who’ve made the journey specifically to come and see us, only to have the inconvenience of needing to go and get cash from the train station before they can enjoy their visit to us.

We’ve never been happy about the trouble it’s caused our visitors in the past when they can’t pay by card and now that we are able to take payment in whatever form you choose we hope to be able to guarantee an untroubled visit for everyone who wants to enjoy our collections.
For more information about opening times, admission fees or group bookings please call us on 01273 749494 or email info@brightontoymuseum.co.uk

Our admission prices have recently been revised.

Adults:                                           £6.50

Seniors: (60+)                                 £5.50

Children (4-15 years) and Students:   £4.00

Family (2 adults and 3 children):      £14.00

Schools and Groups:                       Price on Application

Disabled (plus 1 carer):                    £5.50

Scheduled Closing Tomorrow

We'd just like to remind all of our visitors that the museum will be closed to to the public tomorrow, 18th of April 2015.
While the exhibits won't be accessible to the public, the museum shop and information points will still be staffed in case you need to ask us any questions or you want to buy any of our stock of new and vintage toys, greetings cards and gifts.

We'll be back to normal on Tuesday 21st April and by way of an apology, we will be running our O gauge collection on Saturday 25th so come along and take advantage of this opportunity to see our larger scale model trains in motion.

The Trains Will be Running On Time All Day at Brighton Toy and Model Museum

Well, things are warming up aren’t they? Spring is in the air, the sun is out and people have started coming to Brighton for an icecream, to sit by the sea and to play on the pier.
If you’re in Brighton on Saturday 25th of April, then why not pop into Brighton Toy and Model Museum? As well as all our usual attractions and the Easter Bunny Hunt we’ll also be running the gauge 0 trains so you can see them all in action.

Our 00-gauge model railway layout is always in motion, running through our interpretation of local landmarks at a 1:76 scale, however, most of the gauge 0 trains are not normally run so when they are it’s always a bit of an occasion. Many of these trains are from outside of the UK so it’s not always possible to see them in action, running through their ~1:43 scale layout.

The trains will be running at the heart of the museum and admission covers all the exhibits in the building. If you haven’t been to the museum recently you’ll notice a few changes, such as the 00 layout being updated and modernised, and new cabinets built specially to house our expanding range of Corgi Toys.
Unfortunately, the museum will be closed to visitors on the 18th of April, although the shop and information point will still be open if you need us. And to make up for this closure we wanted to do something a little bit special for our visitors, so we’re holding an impromptu running day so you can see our collection in action. We open our doors at 11am on Saturdays and we’ll be running the trains all day on the 25th so do come along, enjoy the spectacle and don't forget that if you’re under 16 you can enter our Bunny Hunt to win free admission for a year for you and your family.
We look forward to seeing you!

You Can Count On Brighton Toy and Model Museum for Easter Fun!

Dean's March Hare and Friends

Have you been along to Brighton Toy and Model Museum to take part in the Easter Bunny Hunt yet?

The competition to count all the rabbits and hares in the museum comes to an end at the end of the month. The competition is open to children under the age of 16, and you could win anything from free admission for your family for a year to a day pass, and all you have to do is find all of our rabbits and hares. Once you’ve found them all, fill in the entry form and we’ll pull the name of the winner out of the hat at the end of the month.

Pip, Squeak and Wilfred

We’ve had many guesses, some are pretty close, and some aren’t even in the ballpark! You have to look really closely at all of the exhibits in every section of the museum because some of them are hiding away in some quite unusual places. Now, we haven’t hidden any of them on purpose, you just have to be really observant to find them all.

A Pink Rabbit Potholder

The competition is free to enter, but you need to have been around the museum to count all the rabbits and hares, for which you need to pay for admission at the current rate. Unfortunately the price of admission is going up after the Easter break so take advantage of the present lower price and take your chance to win free entry for the next year while you can!

We've given you some pictures here to start you off, now you just have to find the rest...

Best of luck!

Easter Holidays Are the Perfect Time to Visit Brighton Toy and Model Museum

Brighton Toy and Model Museum are currently running an Easter Bunny Hunt; children under 16 are encouraged to find as many toy rabbits and hares as they can in order to win varying levels of membership at the museum, from a full family membership to a day pass.

Entry to the museum is free dependent of a visit to the museum at the usual rate of admission and winners will be drawn out of the hat on April 30^th.

Go along to the museum, enter the competition and enjoy admission at the current rate. Unfortunately the price of admission is due to increase after the Easter break, however, the museum staff and trustees are planning to introduce new concessions when the increases are introduced. Look at the website or the museum’s facebook page for information as it is released.

A Bunny Thing is Hoppening at the Museum this Easter

To join in the Easter celebrations and also commemorate 150 years of Alice in Wonderland, we’re all going mad here and offering annual family, junior and day passes as prizes to children aged 16 and younger, who can find all of the rabbits in the museum.

That’s right, just come to Brighton Toy and Model Museum between the end of March and the end of April, explore our collections and exhibits and count all the toy and model rabbits you can find). We don’t like to split hairs, so hares are included in the final count too (although we’re not counting pictures of rabbits and hares). It’s as simple as that. If you can find and count up all the rabbits and hares and get the same as us then you could win a free entry to the museum for a year, a free junior annual membership or a free day pass to the museum.

Just one of the Bunnies

The competition opens for entries on 30th March and the last entries will be accepted on 30th April 2015.

The winner will be drawn from the correct or nearest entries on 1st May.

You could win:

• 1st Prize: Family Membership valid one year
• 2nd Prize: Junior membership valid for year
• 3rd Prize: Family DAY pass (2 adults + up to 3 children)

Competition entry is free, however, you’ll need to have bought a ticket to the museum in order to count the rabbits and hares. Entry is open to children aged 16 and younger.

We’ve been around and around on several rabbit hunting expeditions and if you can find the same number as us, your name gets put in the hat and we will then draw the winners for first, second and third prizes.

Good luck!

Brighton Toy and Model Museum will be closed to visitors on Saturday 18th of April.

Brighton Toy and Model Museum will not be open to visitors on April 18th because of a prior booking. The museum shop and Visitor Information Point will however be open, so someone will be able to help those who’ve lost their way or need advice on other attractions and places of interest throughout the Brighton and Hove area.

Because we want to avoid disappointing people who love the museum and other potential visitors, we are discussing the possibility of opening to the public on the day after this closure, Sunday April 19th. Do feel free to call us on 01273 749494 to confirm if you’re in any doubt.

We regret that this inconvenience will cause to our friends and visitors and hope that anyone who is going to miss out on a visit to the museum on that date will be able to make alternative arrangements for another day.

If you have a group who are interested in taking advantage of Brighton Toy and Model Museum’s availability as a venue for parties, group outings or any other sort of special event then please do get in touch either by calling us on 01273 749494 or alternatively emailing us on info@brightontoymuseum.co.uk 

Please keep an eye out for updates re: alternative openings, we should be able to let you know very soon.

Anyone For The One Show?

Owen as Compo in
Last of the Summer Wine

If you’re in Brighton on Monday 23rd March, how about coming along to Brighton Toy and Model Museum and getting your face on TV?

The BBC’s flagship primetime sofa based discussion programme The One Show will be filming a piece using our mural of a Pullman as a backdrop. Perhaps they’ll come inside for a look around? Who knows?

Bill Owen, best known for his portrayal of Compo in the BBC comedy Last of the Summer Wine will be the subject of a profile on the One Show. Owen, who died in 1999, was famous as the Nora Batty chasing scruffbag lothario alongside Peter Sallis as Clegg (also known for his voicing of Wallace in the Aardman animated movies featuring Wallace and Grommet) and Brian Wilde as Foggy who famously played Mr Barraclough in Ronnie Barker’s prison comedy Porridge.

Owen as Mack  with Daphne Anderson
and Maria Remusat at The Royal Court

Owen was born in London as William Robotham in 1914 but moved to Brighton. However, his work commitments as an actor of stage and screen meant that he was often on the Brighton Belle commuting between the City and the sea, hence The One Show’s interest in our mural. Hard as it is to imagine now, Owen was once worried that his role of Mack the Knife would typecast him as a vicious hardman. In his own words: "Down in Brighton, where I live, I even get bus conductors calling me that."

A producer from the BBC called us here at the museum to see if filming would be possible. They asked about the mural and explained the reasons why they wanted to film outside our premises, however, we don’t anticipate them filming inside the museum which is staffed but not open to the public on a Monday.

So, do come along to the Museum, walk up and down, look interested in the museum and the tourist information we provide and maybe you, yes YOU, could appear fleetingly in the final segment.

Well That Was Quite An Event!

Brighton Toy and Model Museum were proud to host a very successful corporate function on Thursday night.

Local engineering firm AMA took advantage of the space we have to offer here at the museum to hold an evening’s entertainment. Attended by engineers and architects, the evening went like clockwork. There was music, the trains ran on time and there was a special appearance by our resident steam loco impersonator extraordinaire, Chris Littledale!

We were able to host their evening, not only providing the museum space as a venue but also laying on a pre-paid bar offering both drinks and hors d’oeuvres as well as bringing in silver service waiting.

If you have an event you’d like to put on which you think would be enhanced by the unique exhibits within the museum along with the services we can put on, including licensed bar, waiting and entertainments then just get in touch. Call on 01273 749494, email tig@brightontoymuseum.co.uk or drop in for a visit where one of our staff will be more than happy to show you around and explain the benefits of holding your event with us.

As Heard On BBC Sussex

If you’re listening to the BBC’s Sussex station then you may have heard one Mr Chris Littledale waxing lyrical about the toy museum, its history and the exhibits that it currently has on display.

Simon Jenkins, the BBC Sussex reporter telephoned Chris this morning and asked for an interview. Chris leapt at the chance to take advantage of this fantastic piece of media exposure and so Messrs Jenkins and Littledale spent a few hours walking around and talking about the museum, its history, and the many toys it has on display.

By all accounts Simon Jenkins was extremely interested in everything that the museum has, the trains, the Corgi cars, the stuffed toys, in fact everything that you know the museum for.

If you would like to hear the interview then you can hear it throughout the day today (19/1/2015) and tomorrow and then on the BBC’s Listen Again service for another week.

If you don’t get a chance to listen to the interview though, don’t worry. You can always come along to the museum and see what it is that we have on display that gets everybody so excited! 

Hello and Welcome to 2015!

We hope you had a good Christmas and New Year and that you’re looking forward to an even better year in 2015.

Here at the toy museum we've got a lot to look forward to and can’t wait to tell you all about it. We’re looking forward to a new website which we hope will make the museum a much easier resource to use. With clearer layout and new links to the Toys in the Community project and educational resources we think that it will really be something we can be proud of.

Biscuit Tins As A Zoo Train

Speaking of the Toys in the Community project, most of the filming has been completed, we've interviewed young and old, people from abroad and those who've barely ever left the Sussex region and from all walks of life to hear about what they remembered about their toys. There are a couple of interviews left to do and then Andrea will be editing them all down and putting them up online in advance of the book and mobile exhibition that will be appearing as a part of the Toys in the Community project. When I say there are a couple of interviews left to do, that doesn't include the interviews that we’re hoping to conduct during Brighton’s Festival Fringe. If you keep an eye out for the bathing machine the Fringe has generously offered to let us borrow, you could still be an interviewee if you have any toys you’re particularly keen to tell us about.

The Corgi Car Extention

If you are still interested in sharing your memories of toys and you live in the Brighton area you can still get in touch. We can film or record your words at home, in the museum or anywhere else that suits you. You just have to let us know. To book a time to talk about your memories of toys and play you just need to contact Andrea on 01273 749494 or email on memories@brightontoymuseum.co.uk and we’ll take it from there.

 As well as these exciting new developments it’s important to remember that we’ll still be doing the our tried and tested events too; the museum’s booked up right through to Spring with school visits.

I took a look around the museum earlier on today and noticed a number of new things that weren’t here last year. For instance there’s a new exhibit of biscuit tins. These days we’re only used to biscuits being sold in square or oval tins for special occasions so it’s surprising to see the array of different tins it used to be possible to put biscuits into: aeroplanes, mushrooms, birds’ nests, even a steam loco pulling a number of carriages!

Double O gauge Funicular Railway

Opposite the biscuit tins we've built a new cabinet which is going to facilitate our growing display of Corgi Toys. I spoke to Glenn, the owner of the exhibit who was setting out the new cars. Over 20 years collecting Corgi Toys means that he is able to share hundreds of cars and trucks through the museum. Many of them are special editions, Corgi exclusives or export editions which come in different colours, have different features or are in many other ways special and unique.

As well as the new exhibits, it’s also good to see some of the older exhibits’ refurbishments are nearing their completion. The 00-gauge train diorama is coming on, featuring as it now does a few local sites of interest such as the Hastings Funicular Railway and the Long Man of Wilmington.

I’d just like to add that everyone here is missing our fantastic museum manager Tigger. She’s under the weather and hasn’t been able to make it in to the museum recently so everyone here would like to take the opportunity to wish her a speedy recovery. Get well soon Tig!