Keeping a finger on the pulse of arty antics, an eye on archaeological excavations and an ear out for interesting museum acquisitions, it was a job picking out the top stories on the 24 Hour Museum in 2006. Well, here's what we found...
Notable anniversaries included the 200th birthday of Isambard Kingdom Brunel. The whole of the south west pulled out the stops for the Brunel 200 celebrations, and the mighty ss Great Britain, one of Brunel’s greatest creations, was awarded the coveted Gulbenkian Prize for museums in May.
We also revealed the restoration plans for Brunel’s lost garden near Torquay in Devon.
The 90th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme was solemnly remembered across the country in July, and staff from the National Army Museum travelled to France for a Somme memorial march.
Benjamin Franklin, the American Founding Father, was born in 1706, and in time for his 300th anniversary year the Benjamin Franklin House in central London opened to the public as a museum and education centre. Franklin had spent 16 years there prior to the War of American Independence.
Other significant museum openings included the long-awaited reopening of Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in July.
In London, Phase II of the Natural History Museum’s Darwin Centre got underway, the V&A opened its new Jameel Gallery of Islamic Art and the Museum of Childhood reopened in Bethnal Green.
The Horniman’s new aquarium proved popular and plans for the Wellcome Collection, a £30m venue in Euston exploring the connections between medicine, life and art, were also unveiled.
Liverpool’s award-winning National Conservation Centre reopened in June after refurbishment and in Bradford the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television was relaunched as the National Media Museum with a new remit to include radio and the Internet.
As usual, the Turner Prize courted controversy, and was won in 2006 by German artist Tomma Abts. It was also announced that next year’s Turner Prize would be staged in Liverpool as part of the build-up to the city’s 2008 European Capital of Culture celebrations.
Liverpool also saw its Biennial continue to build its reputation representing cutting edge art and over in Leeds the new Northern Art Prize was launched.
It was a busy year for Tate Modern with the world’s largest modern art gallery seeing its fair share of success and controversy – its re-hang was well welcomed but its plans for a new ‘glass ziggurat’ extension had a mixed reception.
Concerns over how the gallery had bought artworks from serving trustees hit the headlines in July but towards the end of the year everyone was talking about the incredible slides installed in the gallery’s Turbine Hall by German artist Carsten Höller.
Many were angered by Bury Council’s decision to sell a LS Lowry painting for £1.25m to help plug a budget deficit; the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council later decided to remove the museum from its national accreditation scheme.
London’s Transport Museum drew closer to its summer 2007 reopening and came up with an imaginative way of raising extra funds. It held an Ebay internet auction where members of the public could bid on personalised mannequins to be placed behind the wheel of vehicles in the museum.
Speaking of things online, Government ministers launched the website Understanding Slavery in preparation for the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade.
We continued to search out the best archaeology stories and were amazed to hear of headless horses, Roman skeletons and bodies in ancient ovens being found.
A curse on a 3rd century cloak thief was also discovered, and the hot weather in July revealed hidden buildings through the scorched earth.
The 24 HM revealed how a young archaeologist had uncovered new evidence to rewrite the story of the Battle of Towton, one of the bloodiest episodes from The War of the Roses.
The Stonehenge road improvement saga trundled on, with a solution to traffic congestion around the ancient site still up in the air.
Meanwhile, activists at Thornborough Henges, the ‘Stonehenge of the north’, finally won a reprieve in February when a nearby mining operation was turned down.
Campaigners had been worried that potentially important archaeological evidence surrounding the site would be destroyed in any new developments. Despite the county council’s decision, the controversy over quarrying in the area refused to go away.
Several underwater archaeology stories surfaced as well, with discoveries of World War One submarines from both sides of the conflict. German U-Boats were found by the coastguard off the Orkney Isles and divers from the north-east stumbled across a sunken British sub.
Delving further back into our maritime history, a 3,000-year-old log boat was found in the Tay Estuary and successfully raised in August.
Not all new finds were dug out of the ground or found underwater, however. A police knife amnesty in the summer led to a 19th century naval officer’s sword being handed in to Cheshire police.
Crewe policeman and naval history buff Alan Ingram spotted the 170-year-old blade and helped to save the weapon, which is now in the collection of HMS Warrior in Portsmouth.
Researchers were also busy investigating the natural world. A find of a fossilised amphibian with evidence of ‘fish fingers’ and wrists helped provide the missing link between the evolution of sea creatures into land dwellers.
Scientists at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew were also delighted when they managed to bring a batch of 200-year-old seeds back to life.
Artist Jason Shulman brought his late father back to life as an artwork. Kinetica hosted the sculpture A Piece Of My Father, created with the ashes of the deceased.
Finally, back in May Museums and Galleries Month went from strength to strength, with some 1,400 venues putting on special events and exhibitions on the theme of Making Connections: Past, Present And Future.
So, that was a selection of the toppers of 2006 - we shall bring 24 Hour Museum readers plenty more in 2007.
