Open Day Triumph

OPEN DAY TRIUMPH

On May 7 we held an Open Day, which we were required to do as a part of the response to the Heritage Lottery Grant.  The main focus was on the Library and the work going on there.  Our 150 visitors were given an introductory short talk on the origins of the Athenaeum and some were lucky enough to have Professor John Belchem tell of his research into the way in which Liverpool was at the centre of the emigrant trade in the Nineteenth Century.

After viewing the Newsroom the visitors went to  the Library, where the Archivist team had made an exciting display on the Nicholas Monsarrat collection and of some the material that they have discovered, which included Elizabethan Treasury receipts and the a sermon of Bishop Ridley, one of the Oxford Martyrs , a Nineteenth Century  a passport and many other fascinating  items.  Our NADFAS ladies staged a display of their conservation methods and techniques.  The onlookers were spellbound.

This was followed by a visit to the Committee Room where Joan and Vin wove their usual spells over the ‘Usual Suspects’.

The guests then had the option of ascending to the dining room for Coffee, tea and cakes which proved very popular.  On their way out of the building the visitors had the chance to buy some of our Athenaeum merchandise; the reproductions of the Map of Liverpool displayed on the table in the Newsroom were especially popular.

By 4pm the more than 30 Proprietors who had given up a Saturday for the benefit of the Institution were exhausted but   thought that the day had been well worthwhile.

Our thanks go to all Proprietors, Staff and Professionals who ensured the success of the day.

 

David Brazendale

Library Chairman