Children? Refugees? How Wimbledon Museum opened itself up
Plus: One of Britain's leading photographers comes to Wimbledon
Morning, Wimblers — welcome to this week’s edition of The Wimble. I hope that everyone is enjoying the warm weather (at last!). I know I say it every week but please keep sharing and subscribing if you haven’t already — your support has been amazing so far and we’d love to get over that 2,000 subscribers mark before the end of next week!
The sun is shining on Wimbledon. As I write this, a moat of sweat has formed around my chair. I am quite literally melting. But we need to be grateful for the sun. I’d rather grit my teeth and perspire than watch Wimbledon drowned in a torrent of rain.
This week we’ve got your local news snippets, an interview with the Wimbledon Museum about their work with children and refugees, a talk from one of Britain’s most interesting photographers and a property of the week that is, for once, under one million pounds.
Please keep sending in your emails (zak@thewimble.com) and your photos of the week. Enjoy the newsletter and get in touch if you have a story, scoop or a conversation starter.
That’s it for now. Happy reading!
News Snippets 🗞
🦪 Balham-based oyster bar sets its sights on Wimbledon — Evgeniy and Catriona, owners of Oy Bar, are already working on their second venue in Wimbledon (set to open in autumn this year). Check out the news here and their website here.
🎗 Merton Lib Dems seek action on unclaimed benefits — an estimated £118m of benefits have not been claimed in Merton which are said to include £58m of universal credit and £35m of child benefits. Cllr John Oliver proposed the motion in a recent council meeting, urging the council to take the appropriate steps to identify those eligible for benefits. Read more from the Lib Dems here.
🌲 Save Wimbledon Park debate rages on — after Time & Leisure recently conducted an interview with Save Wimbledon Park, which argued that the AELTC’s expansion would set a bad precedent for other parks in London, the AELTC have issued a statement hoping to defend their plans, suggesting that there would be a 27 acre increase of parkland as well as other benefits. Read Save Wimbledon Park’s interview here and the AELTC response here.
Property of the week 🏡
It was about time we featured a property that wasn’t a mansion. Here’s a lovely two-bedroom flat for £650,000. It may not have a swimming pool, sauna and guesthouse, but it’s got a garden, two lovely bedrooms and a fireplace just begging to have a glass of wine placed precariously on top of it. Check out more details here.
Children? Refugees? How Wimbledon Museum opened itself up 🏛
Jacqueline Laurence is the director of the Wimbledon Museum. She previously worked as a barrister for 15 years before completing her MA in museum studies at UCL’s Institute of Archaeology. We sat down on a wet Monday morning to talk about community-focused curation and life at the museum.
Z: How did you become the director of the Wimbledon Museum?
J: Well, it’s the reality of the museum world that before people will give you anything, they expect you to have done a lot of volunteering. The whole museum system basically runs on volunteering. I actually came here before I did my MA. I knew about the Wimbledon Museum because my children visited when they were little. I walked in here one day and said, ‘I want to volunteer.’ First, they made me the manager, which basically meant I ordered the printing ink [laughs]. Then I was the photographs curator for a while and then very soon after that I became the director. So I suppose you could say my rise was precipitous. But the museum was very different back in those days.
Z: How so?
J: Firstly, it looked very different. It was the sort of museum you would come to for research, not the sort of museum you would bring your children to for an afternoon. The big difference now is that we’ve made the museum more interesting for young people and families. We also wanted to make the museum look lovely. This year we’ve tried to widen the museum to include an adult engagement programme. A group of asylum seekers came in April through a Tooting based charity called CARAS. And the feedback from it was amazing. We’ve also done workshops for adults with learning disabilities and we’re on the road to having a dementia friendly status.
Z: And how does the curation work?
J: The original museum was chronologically based, this is now theme based and story based. Rather than just leading with the object, we’re trying to choose objects that have stories attached to them. That’s not to say objects aren’t important; a museum without objects isn’t a museum at all in my opinion. Pamela is the curator. She used to work in local authority museums and was made redundant — so many local authority museums closed down — so she came here and now she volunteers three days a week. She’s an amazing resource.
Z: Who tells the stories to the visitors?
J: We’ve got the visitor assistants who are a very welcoming presence. There’s a delicate balance with museums, especially small ones like this, because some people want to be left in peace and if you jump on them as soon as they arrive they’ll run away again. This is specifically true of young people, as I’ve observed. Our visitor assistants vary in personality and in style but the key thing is that they’re here to help.
Sarah, another member of the Wimbledon Museum team, walks in. Jacqueline introduces us.
Z: Finally, is there a memory or a moment that has stuck out to you in the past few years, something that’s made you exceptionally proud to work here?
J: There was that lovely story with the mother and son.
S: We did a session making paper peacocks for children and their parents — a drop in session. A lady came with her son and they sat here for two hours. They were Ukrainian refugees. Just her and her son had come over from Ukraine, neither of them could really speak English and they were still waiting for a home placement. After they’d finished making the peacocks, they had a little look around. The boy was really pleased. The mother said that it was the happiest moment they’d had since fleeing the war.
J: And everyone was sitting around the table and it had the feeling of a homely kitchen.
S: It was just so lovely and relaxed.
The Wimbledon Museum is open Fridays-Sundays. Check out their website here for upcoming events and recent news.
Photo of the week 📸
This week’s photo is an action shot taken by Christine of her nephew cycling back to Wimbledon from Richmond Park. Keep sending your photos in! I love seeing what our readers have been up to: zak@thewimble.com.
Word Salad 🥗
The theme this week is “London Theatres”.
The rules are simple. The lengths of the words you are looking for are at the bottom and are in alphabetical order. Hold your finger on one of the labels for a clue. You can make words diagonally and in any direction.
Click here to play.
Download the app for iOS or Android to play as many Word Salads as you want.
The Wimble’s to do list 🎯
📸 Normski book talk and signing — Man with the Golden Shutter! Head down to Wimbledon Library this weekend to hear Normski (famed British photographer, broadcaster and DJ who documented much of London’s hip-hop scene in the 1980s) talk and share stories from his new book. Local band Azzures will also be playing music that merges dub, funk and rock. Grab your tickets here.
Where: Wimbledon Library
When: Saturday 3rd August, 18:30 PM - 22:00 PM
⚽️ AFC Wimbledon launch event — the Euros may have ended in tears, but that doesn’t mean AFC Wimbledon fans should be pessimistic about our upcoming season. This weekend, the club is offering you the chance to meet the players at their season launch event at Wimbledon Quarter. There will also be an appearance from two of The Wombles as well as merchandise and stalls highlighting the great community work of Dons Local Action Group. More info here.
Where: Wimbledon Quarter
When: Sunday 4th August, 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM
☕️ Board Games & A Brew — the Wimbledon Guild is hosting one of its regular get-togethers today. Pop down to the Guild’s HomeFood Cafe to have a cuppa on the house and play a few of your favourite board games: scrabble, chess and dominoes will all be there. More info here.
Where: HomeFood Cafe, Worple Road
When: Thursday 1st August, 14:00 PM - 15:30 PM
🍺 Pub quiz at the Fire & Stables — it’s that time of the week again. Engage your brain, shake off the cobwebs and try to remember who was Prime Minister in 1978 was; it’s pub quiz time.
Where: Fire & Stables
When: Sunday 4th August, 19:00 PM - 22:00 PM
Question of the week 🔍
Last week I asked you when Wimbledon was absorbed into the Borough of Merton. The answer: 1965
Q: What is the Buddhapadipa temple famous for being?
You’re up to date 👋
Thanks for reading this week. I hope you enjoyed the newsletter. Please keep sharing this with your friends, family, colleagues, enemies, distant cousins and anyone else with access to the internet. Comment below, send me an email (zak@thewimble.com) and subscribe if you haven’t already. I think that’s it from me. Take it easy and enjoy your weekend.