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A collage of three photos including some baking equipment, some Lego and some Nintendo themed craft activities. There is some text, which reads Monthly Roundup 17th June to 14th July 2024.

Monthly Roundup 17th June to 14th July 2024

By News

This Monthly Roundup features Lego building, gardening, make-up, gaming and cookery! Read on to catch up with all that has been happening at The Devil’s Porridge Museum.

Monday 17th June

Cordite club was back on again today. We were delighted to be joined by Eastriggs nursery this week. To learn more about Cordite Club please click here>

Our free Arts and Crafts club for young people was on again today. A huge thank you to everyone who makes this possible and those who come along! Find out more about Arts and Crafts club by clicking here>

Tuesday 18th June

Fantastic to have another group visiting The Devil’s Porridge Museum today. Please be aware that it is essential to book group visits in advance. You can learn more about group visits by clicking here>

Thursday 19th June

We were delighted to welcome a school to The Devil’s Porridge Museum today. If you are interested in learning more about school visits please click here>

Our second group visit of the week also visited the museum today. It was brilliant to have them. Learn more about group visits here>

Friday 21st June

Brilliant to have another group visit at The Devil’s Porridge Museum again today. Please remember that it is essential to book group visits in advance. Learn more about group visits here>

Saturday 22nd June

Our free Gardening Club is for young people with our gardening expert Wendy is on on Saturdays. They have grown some excellent rhubarb so far! If you fancy joining us, you can learn more about this by clicking here>

Our Dig For Victory Garden is looking very good due to their hard work. Take a look at some photos of the garden below.

Today also marked our last group visit of a very busy week. Thanks to them for joining us! You can learn more about group visits by clicking here>

Monday 24th June

A school came to visit The Devil’s Porridge Museum today. It was fantastic to have them. Learn more about school visits here>

Our Arts and Crafts club was on again today. Learn more about this by clicking here>

Tuesday 25th June

Our youth council had a meeting to try out a World War One recipe for an upcoming project. Thanks to all of them who came along!

Some photos of making these biscuits can be found below.

Wednesday 26th June 2024

Today The Devil’s Porridge Museum’s Curator and Youth and Community Engagement Officer went to represent the museum at Longtown MOD for Armed Forces Day.

Thursday 27th June

Excellent to have another group visit The Devil’s Porridge Museum today. Find out more about group visits here>

Saturday 29th June

Today The Devil’s Porridge Museum’s gardening club was busy in our Dig for Victory garden again today. Please click here to learn more about this>

Our gardening club have even been growing some wild flowers in certain areas to encourage pollinators like bees!

Our Curator and Youth and Community Engagement Officer were representing The Devil’s Porridge Museum at Armed Forces Day in Carlisle. Take a look at some photos of this event below.

Monday 1st July

On the first day of July it was excellent to welcome a group visit. We would be happy to provide catering for your group visit, but this does need to be booked in advance. Find out more about group visits by clicking here>

Thursday 4th July

Our free Summer Holiday programme for young people started today with a Minecraft- Inspired Lego Building Competition. It was amazing to see what the young people who came along created out of Lego! There were so many creative designs that our judges found it very hard to choose our third, second and first place prize winners. The second and third place winners won Lego Minecraft magazines, while first place received a Lego Minecraft set. We loved all the Lego builds so much that we gave all the young Lego Master Builders who came along certificate and a little badge!

Brilliant to have some of the young attendees join us for a free breakfast before this workshop too. Below are some photos of this activity.

Friday 5th July

Today’s free workshop was 1940’s retro Make-Up workshop. It was lovely to have so many young people come along and fantastic to have some join us for a free breakfast before this workshop too.

Some photos of this workshop are coming very soon.

Saturday 6th July

Gardening club was on again today. It was fantastic to see the young people learning new skills. You can learn more about gardening club by clicking here>

Take a look at some of what they have been growing in the photos below.

Monday 8th July

Today we had a Mini Anderson Shelter craft workshop. It was brilliant to have young people to join us for this free activity and it was great to see some of them at our free breakfast before the workshop too.

Photos of this activity are coming very soon.

Tuesday 9th  July

Today we had another group visit to The Devil’s Porridge Museum. It was brilliant to have them. Click here to learn more about group visits>

Thursday 11th July

We had our free Retro Gaming Contest today with a Super Nintendo game console. Brilliant to have so many enthusiastic young people join us for this and it was lovely to see some of them at the free breakfast before the workshop. Below are some photos of this activity.

Saturday 13th July

Our free gardening club was on again today. Thanks to our gardening expert Wendy and all the young people who come along! To learn more about gardening club, please click here>

Doesn’t our Dig For Victory Garden look good? Below are some photos of it taken recently.

 

That’s it for this Monthly Roundup! We’ll be back for another Roundup in June. You can read our last Roundup by clicking here> We still have lots of  free Summer holiday activities for young people coming up, so be sure to take a look at our events page by clicking here>

A collage of three photos featuring a red phone box and the museum's Arts and Crafts Club. It reads "Monthly Roundup 20th May to 16th June 2024."

Monthly Roundup 20th May to 16th June 2024

By News

It’s Monthly Roundup time again! In this month’s roundup we have Arts and Crafts, Gardening and more! Catch up with everything below!

Monday 20th May

Today it was fantastic to have Cordite Club back in The Devil’s Porridge Museum. This week they decorated their own fans. To find out more about Cordite Club, please click here>

Brilliant to have our term time Arts and Crafts club on again too! Below are some photos of this. A huge thank you to Wendy and Emily for all there help with this. Find out more about this free club for young people by clicking here>

On this day (20th May) in 2007 Chapelcross’ iconic cooling towers were demolished and thousands of people gathering to witness the event.
With aging equipment and a relatively small electrical output, the decision was made to shut down the reactors and close Chapelcross in 2004. The cooling towers were demolished as part of the decommissioning process.
You can learn more about Chapelcross by visiting The Devil’s Porridge Museum.
The section of The Devil's Porridge Museum, which is about Chapelcross Nuclear Power Station.

Tuesday 21st May

Some of our Youth Council had a meeting today. Our Youth Council have regular meetings, get involved in projects, workshops and more. We’re very proud to have two representatives from the museum’s Youth Council who regularly attend The Devil’s Porridge Museum’s trustee meetings. This allows them to share their thoughts and make sure young people’s voices are heard in The Devil’s Porridge Museum!

Wednesday 22nd May

On May 22nd 1915, the tragic local event which remains the worst rail disaster in British history occurred at Quintinshill near Gretna Green – a few miles from where The Devil’s Porridge Museum now stands. It involved troops on their way to board ships for the Gallipoli/Dardanelles campaign. Sadly, around 227 people were killed and around 246 injured.
Quintinshill Rail disaster
The Devil’s Porridge Museum has a display about the Quintinshill Rail Disaster where you can learn more about the accident.

Saturday 25th May

Gardening club was on again today. If you fancy joining us, why not click here to learn more>

Monday 27th May

A very large school visit to The Devil’s Porridge Museum took place today. Read more about this by clicking here>

In the afternoon we had a group visit. Please learn more about group visits by clicking here>

Arts and Crafts club also took place today. It’s always exciting to see what the young people there will create! Click here to find out more about Arts and Crafts club>

Saturday 1st June

Saturday means gardening club! A huge thanks to Wendy for all her work on this and to the young people who come along! Learn more by clicking here>

Monday 3rd June

Cordite Club was back in The Devil’s Porridge Museum again today. This week they enjoyed playing some games. Find out more about Cordite Club by clicking here>

In the afternoon Arts and Crafts club was on again. For the past two weeks they had been working on a project to create placemats. Below are some photos of this. Thank you to Emily for these.

To find out more about Arts and Crafts club, please click here>

Monday 3rd June 2024 marks the beginning of volunteer week. We would like to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to all our volunteers!

Volunteer's Week. Thank you to all our brilliant volunteers.

Tuesday 4th June

A group came to visit The Devil’s Porridge Museum today. It was excellent to have them at the museum. Learn more about group visits here>

In the afternoon, our Youth Council had an interesting training session, followed by another meeting.

Friday 7th June

Brilliant to have a school visit to The Devil’s Porridge Museum today. Find out more about school visits here>

Some photos of this are coming soon!

Saturday 8th June

Gardening club was on again today. The young people who came along are learning lots about growing their own food. If you fancy joining us, please click here to learn more and book>

A poster advertising Gardening Club at The Devil's Porridge Museum. This club is ideal for children and teenagers up to sixteen years old. It starts on Saturday 27th April 2024 from 10am to 12pm. To book please email education@devilsporridge.org.uk

Monday 10th June

In the morning it was fantastic to have a school visit to The Devil’s Porridge Museum. To learn more about school visits please click here>

In the afternoon it was brilliant to have a group visit to the museum. Learn more about group visits by clicking here>

Arts and Crafts club was on again today too. Find out more about this by clicking here>

Tuesday 11th June

We were also very proud to welcome someone who had recently celebrated there 100th Birthday for a visit to the museum! They worked at World War Two munitions factory, ICI Powfoot.

Wednesday 12th June

Today The Devil’s Porridge Museum had another group visit. It was great to have them! Here’s a quick reminder that you need to book any group visits in advance. If you would like any catering for your group visit, you will also need to book this advance. Find more details of group visits here>

Thursday 13th June

On Thursday 13th June, The Devil’s Porridge Museum had another group visit. It was lovely to have them visiting The Devil’s Porridge Museum. As always you can learn more about group visits by clicking here> Please remember it is essential to book your group visit and any catering you would like in advance too!

Saturday 15th June

Our gardening club was hard at work again today in The Devil’s Porridge Museum’s Dig For Victory Garden. Read more about this free club by clicking here>

If you’re feeling inspired to get gardening at home or would like a sustainable memento of your visit to The Devil’s Porridge Museum, this year the museum is selling plants in our phone box. You are welcome to have a look during the museum’s opening hours! A huge thank you to everyone who has made this possible and our volunteers who have donated plants!
You can still browse our second hand books for a £1 donation each inside The Devil’s Porridge Museum’s gift shop too. Thank you to everyone who has donated books to this!
That’s the end of this edition of our Monthly Roundup! We’ll be back again in July, but in the meantime you can check out our last Monthly Roundup by clicking here> 

We have some very exciting Family Friendly workshops coming up this Summer, so be sure to keep up to date with everything that is happening at The Devil’s Porridge Museum by following us on social media.  Find our social media platforms by clicking here> 

Stay safe and see you in July for our next Monthly Roundup!

Monthly Roundup 15th April to 19th May 2024

By News

This month our free gardening club for young people has returned for 2024 and we were delighted to welcome Bruce Keith into The Devil’s Porridge Museum to give a free talk. Keep reading to find out everything that happened in our Monthly Roundup for 15th April to 19th May 2024!

Monday 15th April

Arts and Crafts club was on again today. It was fantastic to see the young people at The Devil’s Porridge Museum being so creative! Learn more about Arts and Crafts club  by clicking here>

Wednesday 17th April

Brilliant to have a group visit to The Devil’s Porridge Museum today. Learn more about group visits by clicking here>

Thursday 18th April

On This Day (18th April) in the first planes took off at RAF Annan.
At its peak RAF Annan could boast a staff of 400 RAF personnel housed across its 200-acre site. The airfield’s main focus was training young, inexperienced fighter pilots in offensive attacks. Pilots came from far and wide to train at RAF Annan.
Tragically, many pilots lost their lives while training at RAF Annan.
You can learn more about RAF Annan by visiting The Devil’s Porridge Museum.

A RAF uniform with some information on display inside The Devil's Porridge Museum.

Saturday 20th April

We were happy to have a group visit again today. Please be aware that you have to book any group visits in advance. Any food also needs to be booked in advance. Find out more about group visits here>

Monday 22nd April

Our Cordite Club was on again today.  This week they had Scotch pie and beans for dinner. Following this they played Dominos and Connect Four. To learn more about Cordite Club click here>

Arts and Crafts club was on again today. Click here to learn more about our Arts and Crafts club>

The 22nd April is was also Earth Day. The Devil’s Porridge Museum’s volunteer and Youth Council member, Calum wrote a very interesting blog about Earth Day and What The Devil’s Porridge Museum does to help the planet. To read this click here>

Friday 26th April

We were delighted to welcome Bruce Keith into The Devil’s Porridge Museum to give a free talk about his third book “Scotland Beneath the Surface.” A huge thank you to him and to all those who came along!

Saturday 27th April

Our gardening club started again for 2024! The young people who join for our free gardening club us will learn how to grow beautiful plants, fruits and vegetables. Why not come along and join in? You can learn more about gardening club and how to book your place by clicking here>

This week they planted strawberries and potatoes! Below are some photos this.

 

Monday 29th April

Monday means our free Arts and Crafts club is on! Learn more about this here>

Tuesday 30th April

On the last day of April it was great to have another group visit. Fantastic to have them with us!  Learn more about group visits here>

Saturday 4th May

Gardening club was on again today! A huge thank you to Wendy, our gardening expert, as always. Fancy joining us for gardening club? Click here to learn more>

Wednesday 1st May

May started with Preston Lodge School’s visit The Devil’s Porridge Museum. It was fantastic to have them at the museum! Take a look at some photos of their visit below.

You can learn more about school visits here> 

If you fancy joining our education volunteer team at The Devil’s Porridge Museum and helping out with school visits, youth activities and more, you can click here to learn how to get involved!

Thursday 2nd May

Fantastic to have a group visit with us today! It was lovely to have them and they also enjoyed some sandwiches, traybakes tea and coffee at The Devil’s Porridge Museum.

We would be happy to provide catering for your group visit too, but please be aware that your visit and any food will need to be booked in advance. Find out how by clicking here>

On this day (2nd May), in 1959 Chapelcross Nuclear Power Station was officially opened as a combined military and civilian nuclear power station by Sir John Crabbe. It was the first Nuclear Power Station in Scotland.
You can learn more about Chapelcross by visiting The Devil’s Porridge Museum.
The section of The Devil's Porridge Museum, which is about Chapelcross Nuclear Power Station.

Tuesday 7th May

We had another group visit to The Devil’s Porridge Museum. Please remember that it is essential to book group visits in advance. Learn more about this here>

Wednesday 8th May

Today was  a very busy day!

Another group from Preston Lodge School came to visit The Devil’s Porridge Museum in the morning. Read more about school visits here>

In the afternoon it was time for another group visit! As always you can read more about group visits by clicking here>

Thanks to them both for coming along to visit The Devil’s Porridge Museum.

Saturday 11th May

Our gardening club was busy learning new skills today. Fancy learning more about growing your own fruit, vegetables and plants? Why not come along? Find all you need to know about our free gardening club here>

Sunday 12th May

Fantastic to have another group visit to The Devil’s Porridge Museum today. Please read more about group visits and how to book these in advance by clicking here>

Monday 13th May

Another group came to visit The Devil’s Porridge Museum today. It was brilliant to have them!

They also enjoyed sandwiches and a craft activity, which they had booked in advance. You can find out more about group visits here>

It was fantastic to have our Arts and Crafts club on again today. This week they made beautiful paper fans. Perfect for the summer weather! Click here to learn more about Arts and Crafts club> 

Below are some photos of this.

Tuesday 14th May

Two more groups came to visit The Devil’s Porridge Museum today. If you would like to learn more about group visits please click here>

On This Day in 1915, The Times newspaper reported the huge shortages of ammunition on the Western Front leaving the British vulnerable. As a result, the British Government created the Ministry of Munitions with David Lloyd George taking up the role. He created H.M. Factory Gretna.
We’re proud to tell the story of H.M. Factory Gretna and the people worked there at The Devil’s Porridge Museum. Why not come and visit us to find out more?

Thursday 16th May

Another school came to visit The Devil’s Porridge Museum today. Find out more about school visits by clicking here>

Photos of this school visit are coming soon!

Saturday 18th May

Gardening club was on today. To learn more about gardening club click here>

On This Day (18th May) in 1917, King George V & Queen Mary visited H.M. Factory Gretna.
 
Victoria May McIver was chosen to present flowers to flowers to the Queen, as she was the youngest patient in the hospital at the time of the royal visit. Below is a photo of this.
Victoria May McIvor greeting the royal couple visiting the factory. 
Learn more about Victoria by clicking here>

And that’s it for our latest Monthly Roundup! In June, we will be back with another Monthly Roundup, until then you can check out our Roundup for last month by clicking here>  To keep up to date with everything that’s happening at The Devil’s Porridge Museum be sure to follow us on social media. You can find our social media platforms here>

A collage of three photos of a child decorating an Easter hat, a young person looking at a Easter trail in the museum and a Easter basket. Some text reads "Monthly Roundup 18th March to 14th April 2024."

Monthly Roundup 18th March to 14th April 2024

By News

There’s lot’s of Easter Egg-citiment in this month’s roundup! From jewellery making to an Easter Egg trail around The Devil’s Porridge Museum, read on to find out all the egg-citing activities that have been happening.

Monday 18th March

This week The Devil’s Porridge Museum’s Cordite Club had a Egg-cellent Easter craft to enjoy at The Devil’s Porridge Museum.  Find out more about Cordite Club by clicking here> 

Below are some photos of Cordite Club from this week.

We also had our term time Arts and Crafts at The Devil’s Porridge Museum today. Thanks to everyone who helped with this. Learn more about Arts and Crafts club here>

Tuesday 19th March

Our Office Manager gave a talk at the job centre today. We’re always on the look out for new volunteers! Why not check out our latest volunteering opportunities by clicking here>

Thursday 21st March

Today we had a group visit. It was fantastic to have them at The Devil’s Porridge Museum! Please remember that it is essential to book group visits in advance. We would be happy to provide catering for your group as well, but this also has to be booked in advance. Read more about group visits by clicking here>

Monday 25th March

This was the first day of our Easter Egg trail around The Devil’s Porridge Museum. It ran at The Devil’s Porridge Museum until 5th April 2024. Admission was essential to take part in this activity.

It was fantastic to see so many young people enjoying this trail! There are three photos of this below.

Tuesday 26th March

Today we had a group visit to The Devil’s Porridge Museum. It was brilliant to have them! Learn more about group visits by clicking here>

Wednesday 27th March

An Egg-citing Easter Bonnet workshop took place today. Brilliant to see all the young people there being so creative! Take a look at the photos below. Thank you to Emily for taking these photos!

Thursday 28th March

We were delighted to welcome another group visit to The Devil’s Porridge Museum today. Learn more about group visits by clicking here>

Our Easter Basket workshop for young people also happened today. A huge thank you to everyone who came along to this and a massive thank you to those who helped to make this event happen! Below are some photos from this activity.

Wednesday 3rd April

A jewellery workshop took place today. Some beautiful jewellery was made by the young people. As always thanks to everyone who helped to make this happen! Below are some photos of this activity.

Thursday 4th April

Today we had a flower pot decorating workshop. Below are some photos of this activity.

A huge thank you to everyone who helped to make our Easter holiday workshops happen. We would also like to thank everyone who came to these workshops!

Saturday 6th April

Excellent to have another group visit came to visit The Devil’s Porridge Museum today.  It was brilliant to have them with us! As always group visits need to be booked in advance. To learn how to book your group visit, click here>

Monday 8th April

Cordite Club was back in The Devil’s Porridge Museum again today. This week they made their own coasters from Hama beads. Find out more about Cordite Club by clicking here>

Our term time Art’s and Crafts club was back on again today. Learn more about Arts and Craft’s club by clicking here>

 

And that’s the end of our Monthly Roundup for April! There’s still what promises to be a very interesting free talk given by Bruce Keith coming up on the 26th April. Fancy going along? Find out more and how to book by clicking here> As always you can check out last month’s roundup by clicking here>

 

 

A collage of three photos of children at The Devil's Porridge Museum's Arts and Crafts club with the words "Monthly Roundup 19th February to 17th March 2024.

Monthly Roundup 19th February to 17th March 2024

By News

 

Time for another Monthly Roundup for 19th February to 17th March 2024. Read on to find out all that’s been happening at The Devil’s Porridge Museum.

Monday 19th February

Fantastic to have our Cordite club back in The Devil’s Porridge Museum today! This week they had a talk about Dorothée Pullinger.

Read more about Cordite club here>

Monday 26th February

We had a fantastic time with the children and teenagers from Girlguiding! The Brownies, the Guides and the Rangers visited us at night to explore the museum, learn about our collections, and complete some challenges to earn their Girlguiding badges!

The Brownies were working on their Collectors Badge, the Guides on their Human Rights Badge, and the Rangers on the Woman’s Rights Badge!!

 

Friday 1st March

We enjoyed having a group visit to The Devil’s Porridge Museum today. Please remember that it is essential to book any group visits in advance. Learn more about group visits here>

Monday 4th March

It was another busy day at The Devil’s Porridge Museum today!

First we had Cordite club, which you can learn more about here>

Then we had Arts and Crafts club.  This week they made stunning jewellery boxes just in time for Mother’s Day. Read more about Arts and Craft’s club here> Below are some photos of this weeks Arts and Crafts club.

Lastly, it was fantastic to have another group of young people visit us today!

Friday 8th March

Today we had a school visit The Devil’s Porridge Museum. It was brilliant to have them at The Devil’s Porridge Museum. Read more about school visits here>

Wednesday 13th March

Today The Devil’s Porridge Museum’s Youth and Community Engagement Officer headed to a local school to hold an outreach session. You can find out more about in school sessions by clicking here>

Thursday 14th March

It was time for another school visit to The Devil’s Porridge Museum today. Fantastic to have them visit! Read more about school visits by clicking here>

 

And that’s the end of this month’s Monthly Roundup. We’ll see you again in April. In the meantime you can check out our last Monthly Roundup here> We have some Easter activities coming up so check out what’s happening at The Devil’s Porridge Museum by clicking here here>

 

A collage of three photos. These are of two bagpipers, some children with their Valentine's crafts and a young person taking part in The Twitchers Museum Adventure at The Devil's Porridge Museum. There is some text which reads "Monthly Roundup 22nd January to 18th February 2024."

Monthly Roundup 22nd January – 18th February 2024

By News

Welcome back to another Monthly Roundup for The Devil’s Porridge Museum! From Burns Night to Valentine’s Crafts there’s been lots to enjoy at The Devil’s Porridge Museum. Read on to find out more.

Friday 26th January

On Friday 26th January we had our annual Burns Supper! We had haggis, highland dances and bagpipers. Thank you to everyone who came along and all those who helped to make this event a success!

Below are some photos of what happened at this event.

Monday 29th January

We were delighted to have our first school visit of 2024 today. You can read more about school visits here>

Our term time Arts and Crafts Club for young people was back on again in the afternoon. Learn more here>

Wednesday 31st January

Today the installation of our latest exhibition began. Thanks to Museum’s Galleries Scotland for their generous support of our climate change project. Below are some photos of installing the exhibition.

We were delighted to have our young curator, Riley join us to help to put up the exhibition. He designed one of the panels which is now on display as part of the exhibition. Some photos of our Young Curator, Riley and the panel he created can be seen below.

As part of the exhibition we have an activity where people can share what they are doing to tackle climate change. Take a look at some photos of this below. A huge thank you to those who let us take and share these.

Monday 5th February 

Our group of retirees, the Cordite Club were back in The Devil’s Porridge Museum again today. This week they enjoyed some fun board games.

Learn more about Cordite Club here>

Great to have our term time arts and crafts club back in The Devil’s Porridge Museum today too. Read more about this here>

 

Wednesday 7th February

We were delighted to have a visit from University of Glasgow, campus Dumfries today. The museum’s Office Manager, Curator and Youth and Community Engagement Officer gave the students a talk about the way the museum is run. This covered business, marketing, caution, education and the community. Below are some photos of our visit. Thank you to them for letting us share these!

 

Monday 12th February

Today was the start of February half term, which means the start of a very exciting trail around The Devil’s Porridge Museum from Kids in Museum’s and Walker Books.

The Twitchers Museum Adventure poster with a photo of four Twitchers books. The Kids in Museum's and Walker Books logos also feature.

The Twitchers Museum Adventure in The Devil’s Porridge Museum

Join birdwatching detectives the Twitchers and explore the beautiful birds and amazing animals in The Devil’s Porridge Museum. The Twitchers Museum Adventure from Kids in Museums and Walker Books celebrates the release of Feather, the fourth book in The Twitchers series from bestselling author M. G. Leonard. Find the birds and make your own pledge to protect wildlife. Complete the activity sheet to receive your Twitchers sticker!

Below are some photos of young people taking part in this activity in The Devil’s Porrridge Museum. Thank you to everyone who has joined us for this so far. Another thank you to everyone who allowed us to take and share these photos.

There’s still time to take part in this trail if you have not done so yet. It will be running until 25th February 2024. Remember admission into the museum is essential to take part in this activity!

We also had some fantastic free Valentine’s Day crafts for young people at The Devil’s Porridge Museum today. Take a look at what they made in the photos below!

Tuesday 13th February

Brilliant to welcome another group to The Devil’s Porridge Museum today. It was lovely to see them enjoying their visit! Please remember that groups need to book their visit in advance. Any food also for group visits also needs to be booked in advance. Learn more about group visits here>

 

And that’s the end of this edition of the Monthly Roundup! We’ll be back with another Monthly Roundup in March, but in the meantime you can find our last Roundup here>  Just a wee reminder that you can join in The Twitchers Museum Adventure trail at The Devil’s Porridge Museum until 25th February 2024. Learn more about this here>

A collage of three photos featuring The Devil's Porridge Museum's Cordite Club making calendar cards. Some text reads "Monthly Roundup 18th December 2023 to 21st January 2024."

Monthly Roundup 18th December 2023 – 21st January 2024

By News

Welcome to our first Monthly Roundup of 2024! We hope everyone who celebrates had a happy New Year and a merry holiday season. You can find out all of what’s happened so far this year by reading below!

31st December 2023

On the last day of the year we opened especially a coach visit to The Devil’s Porridge Museum. It is essential for coach visits to be booked in advance. Find out more here>

Monday 8th January 2024

Today The Devil’s Porridge Museum and our café re-opened to the public! It was fantastic to have our volunteer back and it was nice to be welcoming visitors again!

Monday 15th January 2024

Today marked our first Cordite Club of 2024! Today the members they got creative with a calendar craft! Learn more about Cordite Club here>

Below are some photos of the Cordite Club.

And that’s the end of our first Monthly Roundup of 2024! There’s still more to come in January including The Devil’s Porridge Museum Burns Supper, which you can read more about here> We’ll be back again for another Monthly Roundup in February, but in the meantime you can catch up on our last Monthly Roundup here>

 

A collage of three photos. Two of the museum's cordite club and one of a Christmas tree inside The Devil's Porridge Museum. It features some text which reads "Monthly Roundup. 20th November 2023 - 17th December 2023."

Monthly Roundup – 20th November – 17th December 2023

By News

It’s time for our last Monthly Roundup of 2023! Read more to catch up with what’s been going on at The Devil’s Porridge Museum in our Monthly Roundup 20th November – 17th December 2023.

Monday 20th November

Arts and Crafts club were back in The Devil’s Porridge Museum today. It was brilliant to see the young people there being so creative! Read more about Arts and Crafts club here>

Monday 27th November

Fantastic to have Cordite Club back in The Devil’s Porridge Museum today. Learn more about cordite club here>

We were delighted to welcome our local nursery, Eastriggs and Dornock Early Years to sing some songs our cordite club. We particularly enjoyed ‘Ye Cannea Shove Yer Granny Aff A Bus’. A huge thank you to them all for joining us and their beautiful singing. Below are some photos of this.

Later we also had arts and crafts club for young people at The Devil’s Porridge Museum.  Read more about Arts and Crafts club here>

Thursday 30th November 

Today we had a talk given by Bruce Keith where he presented his book ‘Are we nearly there yet?’ which was very interesting. A huge thank you to him for doing this. You can read more about this event here>

Another thank you to everyone who joined us for this.

A purple rectangle shaped book with the title "Are we nearly there yet?" The Devil's Porridge Museum's Café can be seen in the background.

Saturday 2nd December.

Today it snowed (just a wee bit) and The Devil’s Porridge Museum remained open as usual. Below are some beautiful snowy photos taken by Museum Assistant, Emily. A thank you to her for sharing these photos with us.

Monday 4th December

It was our last Cordite Club of 2023 today. This meant that everything was very festive from raffle prizes to room decorations and there were even Christmas crackers! They had lovely music for played for them. Father Christmas himself popped by to check out if the members of our Cordite Club had been naughty or nice! He did have some presents to give out too! Below are some photos of this.

A huge thank you to everyone who helped out with Cordite Club this year. A special mention goes to Eleanor and Shelia who always spend a lot of time and care organising each session of Cordite Club!

Learn more about Cordite Club here>

Arts and Crafts Club was on again today. They did some colouring in today! Read more about Arts and Crafts club here>

Wednesday 6th December

Instead of giving each other Christmas cards  in the museum each year we hang tags with Christmas wishes on a Christmas tree and collect donations. Museum trustee, Eleanor has also made her own knitted snowmen and Christmas puddings, which have been sold in the museum. This year both of these things raised a total of £60 that we were decided to give to Eastriggs and Dornock Early Years. We were delighted to do this today and it was wonderful to be treated to some lovely songs while we were there! Thank you to them for singing to us.

Thursday 7th December

Today we were pleased to welcome another school to The Devil’s Porridge Museum today.  Read more about school visits here>

This year the 7th December is Christmas jumper day. As it’s our last week before The Devil’s Porridge Museum closes for Christmas, our team have been wearing their Christmas jumpers all week!

Monday 11th December

The Devil’s Porridge Museum and the museum’s café is now closed for the festive season to give our volunteers a well earned break! We will be re-opening on Monday 8th January 2024.

Thank you to everyone who has supported us this year!

We were also proud to have a visit from a local nursery today. Thanks to them for coming!

The last arts and crafts club of the year also happened today. It was brilliant to have the young people joining us for this for some festive crafts. Below are some photos of what they made this week.

Thursday 13th December

Today The Devil’s Porridge Museum’s Youth and Community Engagement Officer went to a local school with some objects to talk to some of the pupils there.

Friday 15th December

Time for our annual Children’s Christmas Party! It was fantastic to see the young people their enjoying themselves. Photos of this event have now been added below!

And that’s it! Our last Monthly Roundup of 2023! As always you can check out last month’s Monthly Roundup here and keep up to date with everything that’s happening at The Devil’s Porridge Museum on social media.

We would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone who celebrates a very merry festive season and a Happy New Year! The Devil’s Porridge Museum will be open again on Monday 8th January 2024 and we’ll see you in January for our next Monthly Roundup. In the meantime stay safe and enjoy yourself!

 

 

A collage of three photos of what has been happening at The Devil's Porridge Museum. They feature some kids dressed up at our Halloween party, a our animals in war memorial with a dog next to it for our animals in war remembrance service and a assortment of festive tombola prizes for our Cordite club. Some text reads "Monthly Roundup 23rd October 2023 to 19th November 2023."

Monthly Roundup – 23rd October – 19th November 2023

By News

Keep up to date with what’s been happening at The Devil’s Porridge Museum with our Monthly Roundup for 23rd October 2023 to 19th November 2023. We were proud to remember all those animals and people who served in war in November. Read more about this and everything else that’s been happening below.

Monday 23rd October

The second week of October half term continued with some spooky Halloween monster crafts at The Devil’s Porridge Museum.  Today the made spiders pumpkins and more. It was fang-tastic to see all the young people there being so creative! Take a look at some of the photos below.

Tuesday 24th October

It was time for our next Halloween workshop and this time the young people were making haunting Halloween lanterns. Photos of this event are coming soon.

Wednesday 25th October

Time for a Halloween wreath making workshop. These were perfect for the young people who came along to use to decorate their house! Photos of this event are coming soon!

Thursday 26th October

It’s been fantastic to have so many young people join us to enjoy our free October holiday workshops. Today was no different with some pumpkin painting in The Devil’s Porridge Museum. The pumpkins the young people painted were spook-tacular! Photos of this event our coming soon!

Friday 27th October

On Friday was our spook-tacular annual Halloween party for young people! There was lots to enjoy from some treats to eat to guessing the number of sweets in the glass and going around the museum in the dark to find our resident spook Sam (who only comes out for Halloween). We think everyone looked very spooky and it was very hard to choose winners for our best dressed costume contest! There was also a best dressed mummy contest (don’t worry we let the people back out of their bandages at the end!).

A selection of photos of the frightful fun can be seen below! We would also like to say a massive thank you to everyone who helped out with our October holiday workshops this year and all those who came along to them!

Saturday 28th October

Today marked our last gardening club of the year. A huge thank you to all the young people who came along for all their help in our garden. We hope to see you again next year!

Another huge thank you to Wendy for all our hard work on this.

Monday 30th October

Today our Cordite Club got crafty! They were making Halloween lanterns this week. It was great to have them back in the museum again today. As always a huge thank you to Shelia and Eleanor for all their hard work on this! Learn more about Cordite Club here>

Our term time Arts and Crafts Club for young people was back again today. Read more about this here>

Monday 6th November

Fantastic to have another school visiting us today. It was brilliant to have them and there are some photos of their visit below. You can learn more about school visits here>

Our Arts and Crafts club was on again today. Learn more about this here>

Friday 10th November

Today we held our Animals in War Remembrance Service at 11am. We were proud to remember with  local schools and animals. Thank you to everyone who joined us for this.

A poster for our 'Animals in War Remembrance Service' with a photo of a dog next to a stone memorial to animals in war. There are three wreaths in front of animals in war memorial.

 

Saturday 11th November

Today we were proud to join people across the country in holding a 2 minute silence to mark Armistice Day. Thank you to everyone who joined us to remember the people and animals who served and sacrificed so much during wartime.

Sunday 12th November

We were proud to hold a 2 minute silence at The Devil’s Porridge Museum to mark Remembrance Sunday today.

Representatives of The Devil’s Porridge Museum were proud to be laying wreaths at Eastriggs and Dornock war memorial today.

Monday 13th November

We had our Cordite Club back in The Devil’s Porridge Museum on Monday 13th November.

Another huge thank you to Eleanor and Sheila for making this happen! Today they had lots of fantastic Christmas themed prizes in their tombola, which are in the photos below. Thank you to the people who donated these prizes.

Learn more about our Cordite Club here>

We also had our Arts and Crafts club on again today. The young people were making Christmas decorations out of popsicle sticks, including wee Christmas trees and snowflakes. It was fantastic to see what they were creating.  Learn more about Arts and Craft club here>

Our café Christmas menu is also available from today! Why not pop in the café and treat yourself to a festive toasted baguette with your choice of fillings from Tukey & Trimmings OR Brie & Cranberry Sauce for £6.95? Our Christmas menu is served from 10:30am to 2:00pm and will be available until Monday 10th December 2023. Our café also now has it’s own Facebook page. You can find it here>

Wednesday 15th November.

Today we had a coach visit The Devil’s Porridge Museum. It was lovely to have them, but here’s a quick reminder that it is essential for you to book your group visit in advance. Please read more about group visits here>

 

That’s all for this Monthly Roundup! We’ll be back in December for the last Monthly Roundup of 2023 (where has this year gone?). Please feel welcome to check out our previous Monthly Roundup in the meantime here> You can also keep up to date with what’s happening at The Devil’s Porridge Museum on our social media pages here>

A quick heads up! We do close over Christmas from 11th December 2023, so that our team can have a well earned break! Don’t worry we’ll be sure to post this on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and our website, as well as information about when re-open on 8th January 2024!

A photo of a creepy child wearing a gas mask with a illustration of a small phone box in the sky collaged on a burgundy background. A photo of The Devil's Porridge Museum is just visible behind the background. Some white text underneath the photo of the child with a gas mask gives that images source as Wikipedia.

The Devil’s Porridge Museum’s Doctor Who Playlist

By News

The 23rd November 2023 marks the 60th anniversary of sci-fi TV show Doctor Who and since our usual Monthly Roundup person is a bit of a fan, she thought it would be fantastic to look at some of the times the show visited the general times or subjects The Devil’s Porridge Museum focuses on.  Read on to discover The Devil’s Porridge Museum’s Doctor Who Playlist!

Of course we are NOT saying that these Doctor Who episodes are in any way historically accurate or the views expressed in this program are those of The Devil’s Porridge Museum (Doctor Who is about an alien traveling in time and space in a phone box after all!). This is just for a bit of fun!

SPOILER WARNING! Although, we’ve done our best not to share too many spoilers be aware that some will be included in this blog post and you’ll find more if you choose to follow the links by the clicking on the episode titles.

World War One

The War Games (1969)

The War Games is a last story featuring the 2nd Doctor (Patrick Troughton) and the first few parts are based during World War One. There’s a WW1 ambulance driver and the trenches feature. Of course, it soon turns out that things are not quite how they seem and much more is going on (don’t worry we’re trying not to share too many spoilers here!). This 10 part story and not all the parts are based during World War One, but we still think it deserves a mention.

The Family of Blood (2007)

The Family Blood is the second part of a two part episode (the first part is Human Nature) based prior based prior to World War One. It is only near the end of the this episode were WW1 features. The 10th Doctor (David Tennant) and Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman) also have a beautiful moment of remembrance in this story. Both these things earn it a mention here.

Twice Upon a Time (2017)

Twice Upon a Time was a Christmas special, which was the 12th Doctor’s (Peter Capaldi’s) last episode. It features a World War One British army captain (played by Mark Gatiss) and also includes a heart-warming scene in relation to this. Well, it is Christmas after all. Football anyone?

 

World War Two

The Curse of Fendric (1989)

The Curse of Fendric is a 7th Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) story, which is based during World War Two at a British Naval installation. This is what earns it’s place on this list.

The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances (2005)

The Empty Child and The Doctor Dances are based in London during The Blitz and features The 9th Doctor (Christopher Eccleston).  A quick word of warning! This episode has probably one of the most terrifying monsters in Doctor Who and there’s a chilling transformative moment in The Empty Child. (Obviously, this is just the opinion of our Monthly Roundup creator person, but nevertheless you have been warned)!

A creepy child wearing a gas mask with a hat on

The Empty Child. Is it just me or does that gas mask seem familiar? Photo source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Are_you_my_mummy%3F_(6097816122).jpg#/media/File:Are_you_my_mummy?_(6097816122).jpg

Victory of the Daleks (2011)

Victory of the Daleks is based during World War Two, it features Winston Churchill (Ian McNeice) and The 11th Doctor (Matt Smith). As you may have gathered from the title it does feature some of The Doctor’s best known foes, or the daleks (we did say these episodes might NOT be historically accurate didn’t we?). Look out for the jammy dodger.

The Window, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2011)

This is another Christmas special, this time featuring The 11th Doctor (Matt Smith). The episode is based in 1941 and there’s a few moments inside a Lancaster Bomber, which is why we’ve included it here. We do have to say that it may feature a Christmas Eve excursion to another planet and some rather wooden people though!

Spyfall Part 2 (2020)

Part 2 of Spyfall features the 13th Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) and spends some time in Paris during World War Two. The episode also features WW2 British Resistance agent Nora Inayat Khan (Aurora Marion). This is what earns it’s place as the most recent episode on the list. However it’s important to note that not all this episode is based during World War Two.

 

 

Chapelcross Nuclear Power Station

Ok, obviously there’s no Doctor Who episodes based explicitly around Chapelcross Nuclear Power station, but what about one which was filmed at a nuclear power station? Yes the connection may be a wee bit thin, but this is just for a bit of fun so bear with us!

The Hand of Fear (1976)

“Eldrad must live.”(Can you talk about The Hand of Fear without saying that?) The Hand of Fear features The 4th Doctor (Tom Baker) and Sarah Jane Smith (Elizabeth Sladen). Some of this story was filmed at Oldbury Nuclear Power Station in Gloucestershire (we’re pretty sure that this probably wasn’t the bits on the alien planet though), which is why we’ve included it here.

 

 

So there you are! That’s the end of The Devil’s Porridge Museum’s Doctor Who Playlist. Now if your ever wondering what Doctor Who episodes to watch before or after visiting The Devil’s Porridge Museum you’ll know just which ones! Are there any you think we missed? Or is there is any more Doctor Who episodes you think deserve a mention? Why not let us know on our Facebook or Twitter pages?

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