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Some outside links may no longer be valid ! Click on the picture for more.
1950's and 1960's dance
A dance to help raise statue funds,click on the image for
pictures & video.
Miniature steam rally
Our Captain Mainwaring taking part in the 2010
Charles Burrell Miniature Steam Rally on Easter Sunday.
Click the image for more pictures & video.
Walmington Echo Issue 2
Issue 2 of the Walmington Echo is now on sale,it tells the story of our 2nd year.
On the road,again.
The museum team was out and about again,this time at Hanbury Court,a local retirement housing complex.
Filming in the museum
The museum was the setting for a music DVD,Andy Eastwood was film for his music DVD of World War II music.
1940's dance-December 5th 2009
We held another 1940`s style dance on December 5th 2009,click on the image for more pictures.
Dad`s Army Comes Home
The auditions for the play were held on November 14th
Special visitors
Just see who was at the museum on November 28th 2009
Visitors book
.
An unusal entry in our visitors book.
Looking Smart
Looking smart,tour guides Robin & Mick greet a tour party in their smart new `yellow` coats
Bill Pertwee
Bill was at the Museum signing copies of his new book.
Fireworks
The museum team was at the Thetford Fireworks display,see who the captain met !
Eccles Hall School
The museum team was on the road again,watch a special interview with `the boys`.
Heritage Weekend 2009
A series of events including stirup pump drill and the launch of the Walmington Banger .
Village at war
The museum team was at the Village at War event at Gressenhall.See the pictures & video.
Godfrey's Ghost
Nicholas Ridley was at the museum on Septrmber 5th signing copies of his new book,the book is called Godfrey`s Ghost and tells thestory of his father,Arnold,who played Godfrey.
Volunteers social
Every year the volunteers from the three Thetford Museums get together for a social event
and exchange thoughts about the work that we are all doing.
This year we had a Beer and Banger BBQ by the river.
Dad's Army Concert
The volunteer band from RAF Honington staged a special concert.
They played a new version of the Dad`s Army theme,the score of
which was auctioned to raise money for the charity
`Help for Heroes`
Dad`s Army producer and writer David Croft was there along with members of our `Friends`.
Colin Bean
Read the story of Colin Bean,who has sadly passed away.He was a great friend of the museum and will be missed.
On the road - June 27th
Armed Forces Day at Selly Oak,Birmingham.
On the road-June 21st
Dessert Rats open day at Munford.
Location Tour-June 21st
On the June 21st locations tour we were please to welcome
members of the Triumph Owners Club,South Essex Branch
Thomas Paine Weekend
June 6th & 7th was Thomas Paine weekend in Thetford and we have some unusal visitors !
New cards
We have some great new cards on sale in the shop,they are based on pencil drawing and can be used as cards or framed. We have 2 designs at present.
We'll meet again
The museum team was at the Theatre Royal Norwich on June 1st,there was a special show of WWII songs and we were there to tell everyone about the museum and our tours.
DAAS Weekend 2009
May 9th and 10th were special days,read about our special visitors .
We are always please to welcome special visitors to the museum,on normal opening days or by special arrangement.Read what one of our recent visitors had to say.
Culture 24 - new website listing
Have a look at our new listing on Culture 24,we hope that this site will help more people find their way to Thetford.
Norfolk History Fair-Gressenhall,May 25th
It was our first big outing of the year and our first visit to Gressenhall so we didn't really know what to expect. The sun shone and we all had a great day spreading the message about what we do.More pictures on the web page.
Museum talk-the museum on the road
Ian Lavender (Private Pike) is to play Monsignor Howard in Sister Act,due to start soon at the London Palladium.Please see the website for full details.
Happy Birthday Sainsbury`s 140 years old
The day Fiery Fred starred on Dad's Army
It is a classic Hodges versus Captain Mainwaring battle in vintage Dad's Army style.
Read the full story at EDP24.
Dad`s Army on stage
The St Neots players bring Dad`s Army to the stage.
Steam Rally
Easter Sunday saw the minature steam rally,it is held each year on Easter Sunday and is organised by the Charles Burrell Museum.We were open on the day and the parade passed the front on the museum.More photographs and video can be seen at the above link.
Photographs and a DVD of the April 4th dance are now available,all proceeds to the museum funds.
Museum reopens
Museum open every Saturday.
The museum will be open every Saturday during the season from 10am until 2pm.
Museum AGM and open evening.April 16th 2009.
The Museum was officially re-opened by the Mayor, Councillor John Harding, following its successful renovation and refurbishment on Thursday 16/4/2009. A special evening had been arranged to thank all those people who had volunteered their services during the refurbishment.
Our 1940s night on Saturday 4 th April was the best yet! The Friends had decorated the hall, organised the food and laid on the now famous local Rusty Bucket ale , all we needed was the people. They came earlier than ever and sported some fabulous 40s outfits. The atmosphere was buzzing and the dance floor was full from the off. A truly fantastic evening with everyone joining in the forties fun. We have been running 40s dance classes since January and this was a chance to show off our new skills. The class looked amazing, no-one had a clue they were novices, they were all brilliant! If you would like to join them by learning yourself call Corinne on 07802 701911 now to register your interest as there will be new classes starting in the autumn. Photos will be available to purchase (proceeds to the museum) on the website in the next couple of days so look out for them. We will run another 1940s night later in the year but be warned they sell out very, very quickly , dont miss out, join our mailing list and make sure you act fast when we release the date!
New museum sign.
We have a new museum sign,now there is no excuse not to find us !The museum is in a listed building and it took quite some time to get the required permision for the sign.
See what we got up to in our first year at our Storyline page
Frequently Asked Question's:
Do I need to be an expert on Dad's Army?
In short ~ NO. It would be an advantage to have seen some of the tv programmes, be aware of the characters, or maybe have an interest in the 1940's.
Your knowledge will improve as you become more involved and our resident' experts will always be on hand to field any real searching questions from those die-hard' Dad's Army fans. Many of our visitors do not have an in depth knowledge, they just enjoy the Museum as a nostalgic view of the 1940's and the Dad's Army series.
To read more please click on the link.
On March 10th the museum took part in a special schools event working with the Ancient House Museum of Thetford Life.We hope that there will be more events with the Thetford`s Museums.We have uploaded some pictures for you to have a look at.
The AGM of The Friends of Thetford Dad`s Army Museum will take place on April 16th at 7pm.All members are invited to attend but we request that if you would like to attend that you email us at dadsarmythetford@googlemail.com
New badges
We are very pleased that we have two new badges on sale at our online shop and in the museum.We have an Enamel Badge of our logo and an Enamel Pin of our Army Helmet logo.Full details on the shop page.
We all must have heard the sad news that Wendy Richard died.At the start of her career she appeared in four episodes (Two & Half feathers,Mum`s Army,King was in his counting house,My British Buddy) of Dad`s Army and played 2 parts,Edith Parrish and later Walker`s girlfriend Shirley.Click the link for more information.
Read Ian Lavender`s comments here http://www.sundaymercury.net/entertainment-news/celebrity-news/2009/03/01/eastenders-wendy-richard-was-a-dear-friend-says-dad-s-army-star-66331-23035466/
We held our first location tour on Saturday February 28th,as part of the tour we took them for a sneak look at the work on the museum.Watch this space for details on the opening times and dates for the museum.We will staging many tours both public and private during the year.
Work continues on the museum and we hope to be able to announce the opening dates for 2009 very soon.Please keep a watch on this site or join our mailing list.
We were asked about a clip shown at the the end of the
Arthur Lowe program from BBC2 last Saturday (Dec 13th).
Our Chairman found the clip
Musical Skit by Capt Mainwaring, Sergeant Wilson and Crpl Jones
on YouTube,you can view this clip and others on our video page.
Pictures taken during the last location tour of 2008.
Want to go on a tour ?
The Friends of Dad's Army Museum
Present 1940's Dance Classes with Esther and music from Texas Tommy.
The classes will run for 14 weeks and begin on Sunday 11th January 2008 from 2 - 4 pm at the Carnegie Rooms in Thetford.
They are aimed at beginners but all welcome.
For more information please email
dadsarmythetford@googlemail.com
or call
Corinne Fulford
07802 701911
First pictures here
Please accept our apologies but the current 40's dance classes are actually fully subscribed, however, we are still taking details for a waiting list as we do intend to run another course of classes later in the year. So if you are interested please get in touch as they are proving to be very popular and we would hate for you to miss out!
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See some pictures of the Thetford Christmas Tree Festival
including the Dad`s Army Tree (from The Thetford Society) here
On Friday December 5th the Christmas Lights were switched on by
our Captain Mainwaring assisted by our warden Hodges.
The Captain has a visitor !
Pictures are here.
The museum is one year old !
The museum was opened by David Croft,writer/producer of
Dad`s Army on Friday December 7th 2007.See the video.
During the year we have had nearly 4000 visitors.
If you have visited us,we hope you enjoyed the museum,if you have not been please come and see us when the museum reopens in February (please watch for confirmation).
Full information will be on this site or you can join
`The Friends` and/or join our mailing list
Dad's Army on the BBC
Several new items have been issued on the BBC site.
'Don't panic' - comedy classic is restored
These are worth having a look !
Celebrating the Life & Achievements
of David Croft.
Several members of `The Friends` were invited to the EPIC studio in Norwich on November 7th.Clips of David`s shows were shown along with a filmed interview.Ian Lavender (Pike from Dad`s Army) and Richard Gibson (Herr Flick from `allo `allo) were interviewed and told some stories about David.David was presented with a special map of Thetford.
More pictures here
EPIC run the UK`s premier independent HD studio and production facility.
Click here for more info
1940's Dance
The dance held on November 15th was a great success and enjoyed by all those that attended.We thank everyone who came and all those that helped.
There are some more pictures and video here.
Pictures taken during the evening are available to buy from here.
Can we talk to you ?
We have been giving talks to local groups about
Dad`s Army and it`s association with Thetford.
This talk took place on November 21st 2008 at
Feltwell.
If you are interested please contact.
The Ancient House Museum Club
On October 18th members of the Ancient House Museum Club attended a special session at the museum .Karen White and John Bardwell told the children what life was like in the 1940`s.They were able to try on gas masks,hear what the Air Raid Wardens did and have a go with a stirrup pumb.The group meet museum volunteers Neville Lockwood and Mick Whitman (aka Captain Mainwaring) who told them about Dad`s Army and the `extras` who came from Thetford.This is first activity planned between the Ancient House Museum and the Dad`s Army Museum.
We'll meet again . . . down at the library
Our Captain Mainwaring (Mick Whitman)was among those who
attended a special event at Thetford Library on
November 12th.
Click here to read the full story in
The Bury Free Press
So we have opened an online shop !
This is a `secure` shop and you can pay
by cheque,card or PayPal.
Have a look !Click on the item image.
There are some more items on show here
Heritage Foundation
On the 12th October The Heritage Foundation held a lunch to celebrate 40 years of Dad`s Army. Representatives of the museum attended and were able to meet several members of the cast and writers / producers. Several other celebrity supporters of the heritage foundation also attended.Jill Daniels,who sang at the July event,was there as well and told everyone how proud she was to be a member of `The Friends` of the museum .Everyone who attended the event was given a copy of the museum information leaflet.
More pictures here.
'look out for 'Captain Mainwaring' - on Saturday morning (September 20th) he was at Sainsbury's Thetford to help present the lucky programme winner with her prize of flat screen TV & set of Dad's Army DVDs. The presentation was at 11 am'
See the pictures here !
We hope that you made the journey into
Thetford for Heritage Day.
There are are a few photographs here.
The Guardian On Line
Has some interesting photographs
(including photographs from
Jonathan Ross salutes Dad`s Army)
See the picture,click here
If you have not read about our Dad`s Army Weekend
'Some sad news.Eric Longworth, Dad’s very own Town Clerk, passed peacefully away on Monday (August 18th) at his care home.
He did not suffer and it was all very sudden.`
Read the story of Eric here.
The BBC has released archive
material on Dad`s Army.
