Tours of the Clifton Swing Bridge in Bristol (above) featured in Museums at Night 2009. Organisers across the UK have been discussing their stories in the aftermath of last weekend's activities
Institutions across the UK have been reflecting on their Museums at Night adventures in the aftermath of a productive 2009 campaign.
From Bolton to Bath, everywhere and everything – from cathedrals of religion and sport to traditional tours and speed-dating – featured. Sometimes the nighttime events were breathtaking, occasionally they were eye-popping, and in almost every case they were plotted with intelligence, good humour and passion.
Urbis in Manchester
"For us it was a really successful way of promoting the Gallery to new audiences and those who cannot normally visit during the day," said Rachel Dingsdale of the National Gallery, where a talk by the Velvet Underground's John Cale and a late opening of the popular Picasso exhibition attracted more than 300 fans.
The noticeable arrival of a more fresh-faced bunch than museums normally welcome was a particular trend. "Generally we noticed a much younger crowd were in throughout the night," reflected Dingsdale, who added that the bar was particularly popular.
The National Portrait Gallery
At Newcastle's Lit and Phil, an independent library in a majestic Grade-II listed 19th century building, the ancient walls and bookshelves seethed with the weight of history. It was dauntingly atmospheric, a creaking creative tower which must be the envy of every other city in England.
"We've been able to experiment with the space," said Viv Wiggins of Monkfish Word Tank, a Geordie collective who created a captivating melee of films, performance and poetry in a cavernous Masonic theatre at the base of the building.
Three hundred people – from femme fatales donning crimson feather boas to drunken beatniks – turned up on Saturday night, few of whom were eager to leave when the lights eventually went up.
"It's been great to engage the Late Show audience with our poetry, and if we got offered this again we'd bite their hands off. It's taught us some really valuable lessons."
London Canal Museum
Their efforts also held a potential lesson for the campaign – almost every departing viewer called for more performing arts and theatrics, disciplines they saw as highlights of the burgeoning Late Shows programme in Newcastle.
Across the city, through the bustling pubs and clubs where glowstick-wearers merged with hen parties and neon ravers, a mother of four was extolling the virtues of late-night openings, allowing her to take part in art without worrying about the kids. It was an idea endorsed by scores of parents who had snared babysitters for the evening.
Still a fledgling concept, many of the venues taking part for the first time were encouraged by their debut attempts. "I'm hoping that next year we are able to run something bigger and better," said Lyndsey Thompson, Arts & Cultural Development Officer at The Chantry in Gravesend, which exceeded its anticipated capacity limit.
Ghosts in the Attic exhibition at the Edward Jenner Museum
At the Museum in the Park, in Stroud, a moth hunt was hampered by the weather. "The bats swooped about very obligingly instead," reported Learning Programmes Officer Ann Taylor, pleased with the development of her nature-reliant backup plan. "We had great comments from visitors and we are going to repeat the event in August."
Smaller, more unusual heritage points also fared well. Alice Kershaw, whose imaginative lecture and trip around London's Benjamin Franklin House attracted a sold-out crowd of 90 people, called Museums at Night "a brilliant and innovative idea."
"It got us visitors who otherwise wouldn't have visited," she admitted. "They all seemed to enjoy themselves, as we did. We would definitely take part in it again."
The Canterbury Museum
More than 120 people visited Florence Nightingale House in London, and the Helicopter Museum in Weston-super-Mare had the highest visitor numbers in its 20-year history, with more than 900 guests.
Anita Spencer, of Derbyshire's Bakewell Museum, scored some unexpected results from an evening of entertainment and "sumptuous" European food buffet.
"We had 85 people, some first-time visitors to the Museum," she said. "We gained two new volunteers and an offer of free car parking from a new neighbour."
Spencer may have won new recruits, but others had to make sacrifices. "I'm still feeling rather groggy after a pretty sleepless night on an airbed in my office," revealed Alison Hilton, Marketing Officer at the Museum of English Rural Life in Reading.
"It was weird, but well worth it. We had a great night. Everyone had fun, and loved the felt making and torchlight tour in particular."
The Topsham Museum
In the South West, Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery recorded more than 150 torchlight tour taggers in less than two hours.
"It was nothing too manic, but a nice steady flow of people came throughout the evening," said the gleaming refurbished centre's Jo Clarke.
In Topsham, near Exeter, the Topsham Museum also entertained 200 extra visitors on Saturday evening. "We would normally have been closed," pointed out the Museum's Charles Potter, who provided costumes for children and bygone music.
Children in Topsham
"Somebody obviously thinks that what museums are lacking is some candlelit tours, a good disco and children having a sleepover," wrote Rhian Angharad Jones in the Guardian on Saturday, sounding slightly stroppy about those rare takeovers. In actual fact, the number of attendees calling for the span to be extended over longer hours or a fuller weekend suggested extending the scope of the idea beyond one-offs.
The Canterbury Museum witnessed more than 100 punters in two hours. "We found that it attracted a lot of new audiences or lapsed visitors, and from quite a wide catchment area compared to our usual events," said Outreach Officer Peter Davies.
"It was very busy, and the astronomer had queues at his telescope at 10.30pm. That was an hour after we shut the museum."
