News                                                                                                                                                           

• New Exhibition Starts Wednesday June 1st 2011.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      'Wish You Were Here' is an opportunity to step back in time via a display of some of the museum's fascinating collection of old post-cards (some by local photographers), of Mere and the surrounding district. The Museum holds over 500 postcards dating from 1902 onwards.  They document people, buildings and events in Mere for a century at least, though we are concentrating on the older cards in the collection – well, we had to limit ourselves somehow!  A good number of the postcards were published by national firms such as Wilkinson of Trowbridge, Frith and the prestigious Raphael Tuck & Sons (we have only one of these). However, by far the majority were made by local photographers and publishers: Frederick Holmes, Arthur Applin and both H.H. and Ewing Edmunds are among them, and (not surprisingly) John Walton also got in on the act !  The exhibition explores aspects of the history of postcards, but also looks at how postcards were used.  A large number of those we hold were sent via Royal Mail so there's something of interest for philatelists too ! The messages, while often unremarkable, just as often reveal fascinating facts about peoples’ lives in the first half of the twentieth century.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

• The Book of Mere - a reprint                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Containing well over 300 photographs, this book has been reprinted and is for sale at Mere Information point (The Library), Mere Pharmacy and Walton's (Mere Post Office). Newly reduced price £9.99.