‘Use it or lose it’ – that’s the message from the chairman of the Historic Ryde Society amid the uncertain future faced at The Museum of Ryde.
The creation of the Museum of Ryde – which is housed in the basement of Grade II listed Royal Victoria Arcade on Union Street – was funded initially by the Heritage Lottery Fund and opened by then-MP Andrew Turner in 2011.
Run by volunteers of The Historic Ryde Society (HRS), the Museum won awards from the Isle of Wight Community Action Group in 2012 and 2013, but it’s been a long time since then, and currently, things aren’t looking as rosy.
Since opening back in August of 2011 the museum didn’t break even until 2019, with the establishment ‘living on the fat of the system’ according to Chairman Brian Harris.
A promising Christmas in 2019 gave renewed hope going into the New Year of 2020, however, as March came around – and more importantly the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic – all hopes for a successful year were dashed.
Since then it has been tough for those involved with the museum, who are struggling just to keep things going, with current proceedings at a ‘use it or lose it’ stage.
Speaking exclusively to Island Echo, Brian Harris, Chairman of Historic Ryde Society has said:
“We were beneficiaries of government funding during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the truth of it is the pandemic has really affected us.
Article continues below this advertisement “At the moment, with increasing electricity and insurance charges, and far fewer visitors to Ryde, our reserves have been used up, and things are becoming unsustainable.
“When people say why don’t you close a few days a week we say that it actually costs more when we’re closed as we have to keep a de-humidifier on to preserve all of the items here.
So then, what does museum have on show… well it houses many a historic item including military memorabilia and equipment, silverware, commercial items, clocks, diaries, a large collection of old school photographs, the Puckpool swing, an ice well – which was uncovered in 2012 – and the famous Donald McGill Postcard Museum home of the world-famous Saucy Seaside postcards – which are lent to the museum for a small fee.
Brian told Island Echo that the postcards were definitely the museums biggest draw:
“Around 80% of our visitors come in to see the postcards with only 20% or so here to see the history of Ryde.”
Many of the items in the ever-growing collection have been gifted to the society over the years, something that, hopefully, won’t stop anytime soon.
HRS admitted that they didn’t need 100s of visitors a week to make ends meet but that it was still tough taking enough to pay the necessary overheads. A small ‘army’ of dedicated volunteers works to keep the doors open on a daily basis.
Brian went on to say:
“Come on down and be amazed at all the things we have, everything has a story.
“Please, use it or lose it. We don’t want to give up, but times are very tough and we need your help.”
Entry to the museum is just £4 for adults with accompanied under 16s free – this includes a free return within 14 days. The museum is open 11:00 – 16:00 Monday to Saturday.
Historic Ryde Society is hosting a charity quiz night this Thursday (29th June) at 19:00 at Yelf’s Hotel.
How about one musuem for the whole island, centrally located with plenty of parking and a pro curator.
This is a fabulous museum and must be preserved.
As children living in Ryde during the fifties, sixties and seventies this museum is especially magical.
The archive of photographs is huge.
Perhaps someone out there can offer them a new home which would be cheaper?
We do not want to lose it.
I’d like to make it clear that the Museum of Ryde has no problem with the current landlord, who bought the Royal Victoria Arcade at the beginning of 2020, just before the pandemic hit – obviously, he has a mortgage to pay. We are paying the same rent as we were in 2015 – unfortunately, I wasn’t involved in the financial arrangements at the time.
As far as I’m aware, the landlord hasn’t yet decided on any increase for his tenants – I’ve no idea where the figure of 45% mentioned above came from, and neither did he when I questioned him.
With increasing electricity and insurance charges, and far fewer visitors to Ryde, our reserves have been used up, and things are becoming unsustainable.
There seems to be a suggestion here that the people of the island need “to use it or lose it”, which makes little sense. I visited once and it was OK but would not go again to see the same stuff. The problem is clearly poor marketing because the only new customers are likely to be holiday makers. Clearly, the “Museum of Ryde” brand has little appeal and sounds boring. Maybe give it some thought, do some research, try rebranding, and make the place more of an attraction to holiday makers before closing it down
Very poorly marketed and advertised, I’ve lived in ryde for 20 years and never heard of it!