The papers were bought from a Cheshire family who discovered them in a chest in a barn, 50 years ago. The collection takes its name from the Liverpool family business to which the correspondence is addressed. The Merseyside Maritime Museum was alerted about its existence after it was featured on the BBC's Antiques Roadshow.

It includes letters from slave traders who sent the details of their negotiations with African tribes back to Liverpool. There are also documents recording the gender and age of slaves, issued at Liverpool counting houses.

Curators at the museum say that the papers illustrate how the slaves were seen as commodities, rather than people. They reveal that sailors often died during the transatlantic journeys, and their deaths were recorded in a special column of the ships' papers. Members of one African tribe actually joined the slave ships' crews as free men - replacing those that had died.

It is thought that it will take a year for Merseyside Maritime Museum's curators to catalogue the papers. They were purchased with a 25,000 Heritage Lottery grant and will eventually be available to the public for research at the Maritime Archives and Library.

The Merseyside Maritime Museum is home of the Transatlantic Slavery Gallery, which examines the transatlantic slave trade and aims to promote an understanding of what has happened to people of African descent in the modern world.

Transatlantic Slavery Gallery

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'Fantastic' rise in museum visitors

National Museums Liverpool Huge visitor number increases of up to 600 per cent were recorded at National Museums Liverpool (National Museums Liverpool) when free admission was introduced at the weekend ( 1/ 2 Dec 2001).

Top of the turnstiles was the Conservation Centre, famed for its studio tours and Caf Eros, with the 600% plus increase from 56 visitors during the same weekend last year to 365 over the two-day period.

The Lady Lever Art Gallery recorded a massive 500% jump - up from just 206 visitors to 1,111 over the two-day period.

Next in the increase stakes came the Museum of Liverpool Life - up from 349 to 1,283.

Liverpool Museum zoomed from 1,390 to 2,682, Merseyside Maritime Museum from 816 to 1,524 and even Sudley House - perhaps Liverpool's least-known art gallery - modestly rose from 160 to 248 patrons.

Dr David Fleming, National Museums Liverpool's newly-appointed director, said: "This is fantastic news. Free admission means that more people will visit our museums and see just how good they are. These figures prove how right our Trustees are in introducing free admission, which will have long term benefits for the whole of Merseyside."

National Museums Liverpool runs eight venues (Walker Art Gallery Art Gallery is currently closed for refurbishment but reopens in February 2002).

The Merseyside Maritime Museum, HM Customs & Excise National Museum, Museum of Liverpool Life and Conservation Centre always charged. Until 1997, Liverpool Museum, Walker Art Gallery, Lady Lever Art Gallery and Sudley House were free.

In 1997, National Museums Liverpool reluctantly introduced the charging because of a funding freeze. The Eight Pass cost 3 and gave unlimited access to all eight venues. However, charges were scrapped for the under-16s and over 60s last year.

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It's Free for All at National Museums & Galleries on Merseyside

National Museums Liverpool (National Museums Liverpool) is delighted to announce that all admissions to its eight venues will be free from Saturday 1 December 2001.

Free for All means that all admission charges go at Liverpool Museum, Walker Art Gallery (reopening February 2002), Merseyside Maritime Museum, HM Customs & Excise National Museum, Museum of Liverpool Life, The Conservation Centre, Lady Lever Art Gallery and Sudley House.

National Museums Liverpool director Dr David Fleming says: "This Government has at last tackled the legislative loopholes which caused National Museums Liverpool to have to introduce admission charges across all our venues, in 1997. Despite the success of the National Museums Liverpool Eight Pass, offering a cross-site annual ticket at just 3, the trustees have warmly welcomed the opportunity to return to universal free admission.

"Following the introduction of free admission for children and seniors last year, we expect to see a considerable increase in overall attendance from 1 December 2001.

"I believe free admission to publicly-funded museums like ours is a right for everyone, and is an educational necessity. We look forward to welcoming more local people, more often, to enjoy the outstanding national collections which we care for on their behalf. Liverpool has some of the best museums in Europe and we are delighted that now we can offer free admission for all."

This is the first time Merseyside Maritime Museum, The Conservation Centre, HM Customs & Excise National Museum and Museum of Liverpool Life have been free as they always charged. The other four museums and galleries were free before charging was reluctantly introduced because of a funding freeze.

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Where there's muck, there's brass

Muck & Brass 17 Nov 2001 - 14 April 2002
Merseyside Maritime Museum, Albert Dock

Britain's first modern recycling industry - shipbreaking - is examined in an exhibition at Merseyside Maritime Museum.

Muck & Brass focuses on Thomas W Ward Ltd's scrap metal business activities at yards in Preston, Barrow and Morecambe when everything from battleships to cruise liners fell under the sledgehammer.

Ward's became the biggest scrap business in the UK and most of the metal came from the 650 vessels broken up at its North West yards. Many beautiful, classic ships ended their days amid the flash and crackle of oxyacetylene torches and the thud of chisels, hammers and rivet punches. Ships like the battleship HMS Repulse or the White Star Line's passenger liner Majestic - names that evoke the days when Britannia really ruled the waves.

World events brought prosperity to Ward's. For example, after World War I, the firm bought 113 vessels including the destroyer Usk and torpedo boat 107. Likewise, the end of World War II resulted in warship purchases for scrap including the submarine HMS Strongbow

Other well-known ships that were scrapped included the Isle of Man ferries Mona's Isle and Viking, the graceful Victorian passenger steamer Adriatic and HMS Dreadnought.

The exhibition features 24 panels full of fascinating facts and photographs chronicling Ward's business activities from 1894 to the end of shipbreaking in 1972. But the firm did not just scrap old ships. Other assignments included disposing of the remains of the ill-fated airship R101, the gutted shell of London's Crystal Palace and recovering technically important material from the scuttled German pocket battleship Graf Spee. There are also several objects on display including mementoes of scrapped vessels and a piece of fabric from the R101.

Shipbreaking, a dangerous and unglamorous industry, was a significant part of the North West's maritime economy for many decades and played an important recycling role.

Free for All - National Museums Liverpool is delighted to announce that all admissions to its eight venues will be free from 1 December 2001.

Find out more

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National Museums Liverpool buys Samuel Austin watercolour

The National Museums Liverpool have bought a watercolour of Liverpool's old St John's Market, painted in 1827 by the local artist Samuel Austin.

The painting was bought from the sale of British works on paper at Christie's on November 21 2001. The work, lot 29, was bought for a hammer price of 13,000 (total price 15,275). The Friends of National Museums Liverpool have agreed to meet half the costs and the rest is to come from National Museums Liverpool funds.

Julian Treuherz - Keeper of Art Galleries at National Museums Liverpool says: "It's wonderful to add this to our collection - it is a very fine quality, highly detailed watercolour by the Liverpool artist Samuel Austin well known in his day for views of Liverpool. We already have several of his works at the Walker.

"It shows the much loved St John's Market (now demolished) bustling with life - with stalls selling vegetables, chickens, fish and crowds of smartly dressed people buying from the market traders. It was painted in 1827 only a few years after the market hall was built so it is an important record of a vanished feature of Liverpool life.

"It will be shown from time to time (not permanently as watercolours fade if exposed to bright light) both at the Walker Art Gallery and at the Museum of Liverpool Life."

The painting is expected to arrive in Liverpool in the nest couple of weeks. It will then be condition checked and treated at National Museums Liverpool's Conservation Centre before going on display.

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Museum acquires major flower watercolour collection

Liverpool Museum, William Brown Street, city centre

A remarkable collection of more than 300 watercolours of flowers by one of the giants of botanical art has been acquired by Liverpool Museum.

The Deliciae Botanicae by German artist Georg Dionysius Ehret (1708 - 1770) was originally in the collection of the 13th Earl of Derby whose natural history collection founded the museum in 1851.

Ehret worked in southern Germany and these rare early works show his precocious talent. It is probably the largest single collection of his work.

John Edmondson, the museums head of sciences, says: Ehret combined supreme artistry and composition with complete accuracy, launching the golden age of botanical art. He was the most important botanical illustrator of his time.

Flower painting was hugely popular in the eighteenth century and Ehret became one of the most sought-after illustrators of botanical books. He worked closely with the great Swedish naturalist and physician Linnaeus and the other great botanists of the period.

We are very fortunate to have these beautiful watercolour drawings and they will enhance and complement our existing collections.

The charming watercolours, bound in dark green leather, have hardly been exposed to light and are as fresh as when they were painted. Some the plants illustrated are now rare themselves.

The Deliciae Botanicae has been given to the museum by the Government in lieu of inheritance tax following the death of the late Lord Derby.

Loraine Knowles, keeper of Liverpool Museum, says: We are delighted to receive this collection. It is particularly appropriate because of Liverpool Museums long and continuing association with the Earls of Derby.

Press image from the album available, e-mail press@liverpoolmuseums.org.uk

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Behind the teams soccer pictures

Soccer Shots: Stephen Shakeshaft's Football Photos 23 Nov 2001 - 17 Feb 2002
Museum of Liverpool Life, Pier Head

More than 100 photographs charting the highs and lows behind the scenes at Liverpool and Everton will go on show at the Museum of Liverpool Life.

Award-winning photographer Stephen Shakeshaft had unlimited access to the teams in changing rooms, hotels and coaches - at work and at play - as well as on the pitch.

His pictures span four decades of change from the days of boot room strategy meetings to the multi-million pound industry soccer has become. Many have never been seen before. Moments of joy such as the European Cup successes contrast with quiet periods out of the spotlight.

Stephen, who is chief photographer on the Liverpool Daily Post & Echo, says: "I was fortunate to have worked when there were no restrictions on photographers. I travelled all over Europe with the teams and knew much-loved managers such as Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley and Howard Kendall.

"I had the chance to take many candid pictures, often on the spur of the moment, and these form the bulk of the exhibition."

In those days photographers were very much part of the scene: "It may seem amazing now but you could go anywhere around the teams without restrictions. However, since the arrival of exclusive TV deals everything has changed and there are less facilities."

The exhibition will feature many past and present favourites including Dixie Dean, Bill Shankly, Joe Fagan, Bob Paisley, Howard Kendall, Kevin Keegan, Kenny Dalglish and Michael Owen.

On the technical changes in his career, Stephen says: ""I first worked with heavy cameras which took photos on five inch by four inch glass plates, although this was right at the end of that particular era. We were restricted to taking 10 pictures so this was great discipline for choosing the rights shots. By the late 1960s we were on twin-lensed Rolleiflexes. Now we have digital cameras where you can see a picture instantly."

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Physical Brevity

being apart by Michaela Zimmer 25 October 2001 - 6 January 2002
The Conservation Centre, Whitechapel, Liverpool

A new exhibition of more than 30 photographs by Michaela Zimmer, National Museums & Galleries on Merseyside artist in residence at Liverpool's Conservation Centre, shows her work captured on camera.

She says; "My performances are not shown in public. I build objects that are not sculptures and I use photography for documentation. My successful pieces always end up combining my experiences of dancing, my training as a sculptor and my work with photography.

"The starting point is usually an object. It can be anything that attracts my attention and triggers the desire to connect with it. Sometimes a material fascinates me, other times I reconstruct found objects, sometimes I just use them as they are.

"The choreography that follows is improvised and ruled only by the attempt to gain the most effective physical and visual connection between the object and myself."

During these private performances, the definition of subject and object gets blurred. Whose presence controls whose movements? It is an experiment, an indefinite play, telling various stories in a physical language.

Zimmer prefers to use photography "to capture the 'frozen moment', a glimpse of a unification that only exists for seconds".

Michael Simpson, fine art curator at the city's Walker Art Gallery, says in his catalogue essay: "For Zimmer, making art is above all a physical act. Looking at her art is an emotional one."

You are invited to send a reporter and photographer to see the exhibition at 1030 hours on Wednesday 24 October 2001 at the Conservation Centre . Michaela Zimmer will be available for interviews.

Images can be obtained from the press office. A being apart catalogue is on sale, price £5.

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Horrible Histories: Funfair of Fear

Liverpool Museum, William Brown Street, city centre
20 October 2001 - 6 January 2002

The most gruesome and bloodthirsty episodes of history will be transported to Liverpool Museum for Horrible Histories: Funfair of Fear, an entertaining family exhibition of Britain's sinister past.

Horrible Histories stories, ranging from the Rotten Romans to the Vile Victorians, have kept children entertained in the goriest -- and most popular - series of non-fiction children's books in recent years.

Now award-winning author Terry Deary, voted the outstanding children's non-fiction writer of the twentieth century in Books for Keeps magazine, has brought to life a whole cast of colourful characters from the books, under the watchful eye of the dreaded Victorian fairground proprietor, Dr Dreary.

Dr Dreary invites visitors to...

Play Henry VIII at his own game - knock the heads off his wives to reveal which Terrible Tudors really lost theirs!
Get to grips with the leftovers of Knightmare Castle's torture chamber in the Measly Middle Ages.
Find out why Queen Victoria was not amused in a Vile Victorian music hall.
Throw 'slaves' to the lions and listen to the roars with the gruesome gladiators.
Create your own blood-curdling curse with the Cut-Throat Celts.
Hear the stories of the Blitzed Brits in World War Two.

Be warned - role playing actors will portray characters from each of the eras, so there really is no escape from the dastardly fun. History has never been so entertaining!

You are invited to send a reporter and photographer to the exhibition at 10.30am on Friday 19 October 2001 at Liverpool Museum. Costumed characters and some local children will be there. Terry Deary will be available for interview and photographs from 10.00-10.30am on Saturday 20 October 2001 at Liverpool Museum, before a ticketed opening event.

Events
The Terry Deary History Roadshow Tuesday 23 October 2001, 11am and 2pm
The Horrible Christmas Roadshow Saturday 1 December 2001, 1pm
The roadshows will take place in the lecture theatre at Merseyside Maritime Museum, Albert Dock.
Tickets are available in advance from the Liverpool Museum Information Desk, 1.50 adults, 75p children/concessions.

This is a touring exhibition from the National Museums & Galleries of Wales in collaboration with Terry Deary Ltd, supported by Scholastic Children's Books and Martin Brown.

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Leverhulme's hated portrait goes on show

Paintings from Lord Leverhulme's Collection
From 25 August 2001
Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight, Wirral

A portrait which 'soap king' Lord Leverhulme loathed so much that he cut out its head and hid it, goes on public display this week in the gallery he built for his fabulous art collection.

It is among five paintings from the collection of the late 3rd Lord Leverhulme being given a rare public showing at the Lady Lever Art Gallery. Lord Leverhulme, who died last year, bequeathed Portrait of William Hesketh Lever, first Viscount Leverhulme, painted by Augustus John in 1920, to the gallery.

Multi-millionaire connoisseur Lever was deeply hurt when he saw his portrait and told a friend that he found it "humbling to pride a chastening thought". He didn't want anyone to see it and, as the picture was too big to hide in his safe, he cut out the head and locked it up.

Lever's housekeeper accidentally returned the rest of the portrait to Augustus John who, upset at what he saw as vandalism, told the press and caused a storm. The two parts were rejoined in 1954 at the instigation of the 2nd Lord Leverhulme and at the cost of the artist, who did not seem to bear any lasting grudge.

The other four important Pre-Raphaelite / Victorian paintings, lent by the Leverhulme family for the display, are:

A Visit to the Yacht by James Tissot (1836 - 1902). Born in the French port of Nantes, Tissot moved to London in 1871. Here he established a reputation as a painter of smart London social occasions.
Venus Verticordia by Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828 - 1882). This Pre-Raphaelite painter was obsessed with the idea of the power of woman over man. In this painting, Rossetti uses symbolism such as roses (love) and honeysuckle (persistence).
A Christmas Carol by Dante Gabriel Rossetti. The artist was inspired to paint this picture by reading the medieval Winchester Mysteries. But Rossetti's main aim in this type of picture was to convey a powerful sense of beauty rather than tell a story.
Tuscan Girl Plaiting Straw by William Holman Hunt (1827 - 1910). Begun in 1868 when Hunt visited his friend William Blundell Spence at his villa near Florence, this delightful scene shows the daughter of Spence's gardener wearing local costume.

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Band of Gold star Cathy Tyson joins tribute

Museum of Liverpool Life, Pier Head

Cathy Tyson, star of the TV drama Band of Gold, has sent a message of support for Slavery Remembrance Day tomorrow Thursday 23 August 2001 at the Museum of Liverpool Life.

Speakers at the annual event include the Bishop of Croydon, Rt Rev Wilfred Wood, and Baroness Howells of St Davids, of the Stephen Lawrence Campaign.

Garry Morris, outreach worker at the National Museums Liverpool (National Museums Liverpool), says: "The International Day for the Remembrance of Slavery and its Abolition is a key event in the cultural calendar of National Museums Liverpool. It brings together the museums, the city and the community.

"Since the Transatlantic Slavery Gallery was launched at Merseyside Maritime Museum in 1994, National Museums Liverpool has been working with individuals in the black community to develop this event and other projects. We recognise that museums should play a constructive role in developing commemorations where there are galleries and collections that celebrate the city's communities. National Museums Liverpool is working to make both the city and society a more whole and inclusive one."

Slavery Remembrance Day marks a successful rebellion by enslaved Africans in what are now Haiti and the Dominican Republic on 23 August 1791. A series of actions was set in motion that would bring about the end of slavery.

"This is the day to recall the legacies of slavery and the slave trade in both its positive and negative aspects. We are asked to acknowledge enslaved Africans as the principal agents of their own liberation and their pivotal role in unleashing and renewing a continuous movement for racial justice and social change."

The event will be hosted by former Brookside star Ebony and will also feature 1970s pop group The Real Thing singing Children of the Ghetto, poet and writer Curtis Watt, gospel singer Tayo Aluko and local schoolchildren.

"A warm hello. I regret not being able to join you today in celebrating this anniversary. I am working on my new TV role playing a priest.

"As a child, Liverpool had a few reminders of its slaving past which my mother would point out to me, lamenting that they were hidden from sight. Nevertheless, they burned in my child's mind.

"Thankfully now, the city has the Transatlantic Slavery Gallery at the Merseyside Maritime Museum and this yearly event. As you are all aware, coming together to think of people that suffered is a moving experience. No doubt tears will be shed today and new information will come to light on this painful part of our history.

"There are still many stories to hear (unearthed treasures) and I am smiling as I think of all the exciting experiences that lay ahead for our youth.

"There are more black actors emerging on to our stages, each one in their own way helping to redefine black life.

"Dreams are an essential ingredient of life and once you believe they are possible then you can take flight. For all of us it is hard to look at the pictures of our ancestors packed tightly on board the ships - the humiliation of the chains, their powerlessness but the museum and today enable us to express pent-up feelings in a positive way.

"I would like to join you in thanking our ancestors for breaking the chains, the known and unknown for their acts of courage.

"I am not burdened, inheriting their grief, but strengthened. They urge me on to get everything that was denied them.

"Let us put our efforts into respecting the rights to freedom of every living person and being on earth and beyond and I wish you a very moving day - one to remember."

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George Romney 1734 - 1802

Walker Art Gallery, William Brown Street, Liverpool
8 February - 21 April 2002

The year 2002 marks the bi-centenary of the death of George Romney, one of the key figures in British art in the late eighteenth century. He was known primarily as a portrait painter of eighteenth-century England's most powerful people and their families. He was the chief rival of Sir Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Gainsborough and was for much of his career more fashionable than both. A highlight of the British Art Season, this is the first ever comprehensive exhibition of George Romney and reassesses this great painter with a fully rounded overview of his career. It reveals Romney as an artist who experimented, developed and reinvented himself continuously - one of the first great Modernists in British art.

The exhibition, curated by Alex Kidson and organised by Walker Art Gallery Art Gallery, Liverpool, includes sixty-two paintings and seventy-two works on paper, many never publicly exhibited before. This exhibition concentrates on prime examples of Romney's work; among the lenders are the National Portrait Gallery, London; National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia; Huntington Art Collections, San Marino, California; Abbot Hall Art Gallery, Cumbria and many private collections in the UK and USA. National Museums Liverpool's own holdings include a number of superb portraits ranging over three decades of his career and a unique series of large-scale cartoons executed in black chalk and inspired by Romney's visit to Italy. Newly conserved and unseen for generations, the Liverpool Cartoons provide a high point for this exhibition.

A hundred years ago Romney's reputation was at its peak. Collectors were eager to own his portraits of fresh-faced English women, above all his pictures of Emma Hart, later Lady Hamilton, who in her youth was Romney's favourite model. As Victorian taste became outdated, Romney's art fell spectacularly from favour. His career remains little understood and many of his best-known works are among his least distinguished. Later in life, as overwork and disenchantment sapped his enthusiasm, his portraits became increasingly routine and even slipshod. However, he was able to re-kindle his energies for special sitters and when working on his occasionally sublime literary and historical paintings. At his best, he both drew and painted with freedom and a dramatic expressiveness unmatched in eighteenth-century British portraiture.

Born 1734, George Romney left Kendal in 1762 to seek work in London where he hoped to establish himself as a history painter. He returned twice to the Lake District but in 1767 made enough money to move back to London and a larger studio. For the first time he could paint ambitious full-length portraits and therefore aspire to patronage from the highest levels of English society. From this period, The Leigh Family, 1768 is Romney's first example of Grand Manner portraiture and one of his finest paintings.

Traditional views of Romney's career suggest that his trip to Italy, 1773-1775, led to a profound maturing of his style. However the crisp, elegant draughtsmanship shown in his full-length masterpiece Mrs Ann Verelst, 1771, indicates that he had mastered the vocabulary of the neo-classical portrait before he left. This painting also illustrates his use of high fresh colour whose zest matches the vividly decorated interiors of his patrons' homes. On his return from Italy Romney moved to Cavendish Square and fashionable society soon began to sit for him. Key to his approval in aristocratic circles was the patronage of Lord Gower. The Leveson-Gower Children, 1776-77 is an ambitious portrait of Lord Gower's children and is widely considered his masterpiece.

Some of his most vibrant paintings of 1780s, such as The Spinstress, c.1784, are of Emma Hart, his favourite model and muse. These works form a bridge in his career between his portraits and his history paintings. Romney preferred to work on history paintings and made countless studies for literary and mythological pictures which he never had time to paint, many in a bold, spontaneous style that mark him as one of the first Romantics. This exhibition includes The Indian Woman, 1793, one of a number of little known paintings which can be considered as an original contribution to British art in the 1790s. George Romney died in 1802.

Note to editors:

Alex Kidson is curator of British Art at Walker Art Gallery Art Gallery, Liverpool, one of the National Museums Liverpool.
The Walker Art Gallery will be the only venue to show all eighteen Liverpool cartoons. Fourteen of the Liverpool cartoons have never been exhibited publicly.
A fully illustrated catalogue and a book of essays edited by Alex Kidson will be available. The exhibition is in association with and tours to the National Portrait Gallery, London 30 May - 18 August 2002 and the Huntington Art Collections, San Marino, USA 15 September - 1 December 2002.
www.walkerartgallery.org.uk/romney

Further press information from Catharine Braithwaite on 0161 747 7820 or e-mail catharinebraithwaite@talk21.com

For images (transparencies, CD ROM, tiff or j-peg) please contact National Museums Liverpool Press Office on telephone 0151 478 4615, fax 0151 478 4777 or e-mail press@liverpoolmuseums.org.uk

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Leonardo Drawings from the Royal Collection

Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight, Wirral
15 February - 21 April 2002

Ten of the finest drawings by the Renaissance master, Leonardo da Vinci, from the Royal Library, Windsor Castle, will go on show next year at Lady Lever Art Gallery, as part of the celebrations to mark the Golden Jubilee of Her Majesty The Queen.

The Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight, Wirral, is the first venue for the Royal Collection's touring exhibition, Ten Drawings by Leonardo da Vinci from the Royal Collection: A Golden Jubilee Celebration, which will be shown from 15 February to 21 April 2002. This is an exceptional opportunity for people in the North West to see these masterpieces in one of the region's finest art galleries. The Lady Lever Art Gallery is one of National Museums & Galleries on Merseyside's three art galleries.

The Royal Collection holds the world's most important group of Leonardo drawings, unrivalled in terms of its size and breadth of subject matter. The ten drawings selected for the exhibition have been specially selected to reflect all stages of Leonardo's career and the wide range of his interests, such as architecture, engineering, anatomy, optics, geology and botany.

The exhibition includes dramatic studies of the sea-god Neptune, a cataclysmic tempest overwhelming a landscape, and mortars bombarding a fortress. There are delicate drawings of a beautiful youth in profile, the drapery of a kneeling figure and a sprig of blackberry plant. The highly finished map of southern Tuscany and the studies of a horse in three positions, the anatomy of a shoulder and of the science of light and shadows reveal other aspects of Leonardo's work.

A fully illustrated catalogue by Martin Clayton, Assistant Curator of the Print Room at Windsor Castle, will be published by the Royal Collection, price 6.95 to coincide with the exhibition.

The exhibition at the Lady Lever Art Gallery is sponsored by Unilever Research.

A full set of images are available on CD Rom, can be e-mailed as tiffs or j-pegs contact National Museums Liverpool press office on 0151 478 4615 or e-mail press@liverpoolmuseums.org.uk

For further information about the Royal Collection, please contact Public Relations and Marketing, the Royal Collection, telephone: 020 7839 1377, e-mail: press@royalcollection.org.uk

Note to editors:

The drawings by Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) have been in the Royal Collection since before 1690 and were probably acquired during the reign of Charles II (1660-85). Although the drawings can never be on permanent display, because of the potential for damage from exposure to light, they are regularly lent to exhibitions in the UK and around the world and are shown in changing displays of treasures from the Royal Library at Windsor Castle.
The Royal Collection is held in trust by The Queen as Sovereign for her successors and for the Nation, and is administered by the Royal Collection Trust, a registered charity.
Following the showing at the Lady Lever Art Gallery, the exhibition will tour to: Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea (27 April - 7 July)
Graves Art Gallery, Sheffield (13 July - 21 September)
Ulster Museum, Belfast (27 September - 8 December 2002)

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Young generation museum workshops success

Museum of Liverpool Life,
Pier Head

Thousands of young people are taking part in a series of workshops looking at their communities in the past, present and future through visual art, video, drama and creative writing.

Generations Apart is a two-year project involving 100 youth groups from across Merseyside. It has been enormously successful with more than 2,000 young people aged from five to 25 taking part so far.

Barclays Bank plc is sponsoring a series of workshops during August at the Merseyside Maritime Museum and the Museum of Liverpool Life. In addition, there are drop-in sessions where members of the public can take part in the hands-on craft sessions running until the August bank holiday.

Christine Martindale, Barclays' community affairs regional manager, said: "Barclays is actively involved in providing support, help and commitment to the communities in which it works. Our support takes many forms but the overriding aim is always the same: to help communities help themselves for the benefit of all.

"This project is an exciting and innovative project involving local youth groups, their families and communities. I have visited the workshops and found them bubbling with ideas and excitement. I am looking forward to viewing the final display at the end of the programme. I am sure it will be imaginative and creative.

"Generations Apart is one way Barclays can provide new forms of support for future generations with the aim of making a real and lasting difference."

Generations Apart will culminate in a special celebratory event in May 2002 when a selection of work produced over the past two years will be on display.

13 August 2001

stephen.guy@liverpoolmuseums.org.uk

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Behind the teams soccer pictures

Soccer Shots: Stephen Shakeshaft's Football Photos
23 Nov 2001 - 17 Feb 2002
Museum of Liverpool Life, Pier Head

More than 100 photographs charting the highs and lows behind the scenes at Liverpool and Everton will go on show at the Museum of Liverpool Life.

Award-winning photographer Stephen Shakeshaft had unlimited access to the teams in changing rooms, hotels and coaches - at work and at play - as well as on the pitch.

Stephen, who is chief photographer on the Liverpool Daily Post & Echo, says:"I was fortunate to have worked when there were no restrictions on photographers. I travelled all over Europe with the teams and knew much-loved managers such as Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley and Howard Kendall.

"I had the chance to take many candid pictures, often on the spur of the moment, and these form the bulk of the exhibition."

In those days photographers were very much part of the scene:"It may seem amazing now but you could go anywhere around the teams without restrictions. However, since the arrival of exclusive TV deals everything has changed and there are less facilities."

The exhibition will feature many past and present favourites including Dixie Dean, Bill Shankly, Joe Fagan, Bob Paisley, Howard Kendall, Kevin Keegan, Kenny Dalglish and Michael Owen.

On the technical changes in his career, Stephen says: "I first worked with heavy cameras which took photos on five inch by four inch glass plates, although this was right at the end of that particular era. We were restricted to taking 10 pictures so this was great discipline for choosing the rights shots. By the late 1960s we were on twin-lensed Rolleiflexes. Now we have digital cameras where you can see a picture instantly."

Ten samples of pictures from the exhibition with quotes from Stephen Shakeshaft.

stephen.guy@liverpoolmuseums.org.uk

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Lost and found: gallery acquires "missing" settee

The Lady Lever Art Gallery has bought a George II walnut settee in the Thornton Manor "sale of the century" after it was believed to have been lost.

The settee was put into the auction after it was discovered that a member of the late Lord Leverhulme's family had kept it in store.

George II walnut settee

Now it will be reunited with the rest of the original set of eight chairs in the Lady Lever Art Gallery, which houses the finest art treasures collected by William Hesketh Lever, the 1st Viscount Leverhulme. The gallery paid 30,000 for the settee. It was one of five lots acquired during the sale which attracted bidding from all over the world and saw price records broken.

The other items were:

The Richmond stool - an important piece of late 17th century baroque carving in the style of Daniel Marot, which is not represented in the gallery. It was possibly made for a member of the Royal family or the court of James II or William and Mary. 19,000.
The original plaster model (maquette) for the memorial to the 1st Lord Leverhulme and his wife in Port Sunlight Church. This joins a collection of similar models by the same sculptor, Sir William Goscombe John, for the Port Sunlight War Memorial, also at the Lady Lever Art Gallery. (Withdrawn from sale and sold privately.)
Study for A Seat in St James' Park by George J. Pinwell. A very beautiful and delicate watercolour by an underrated Victorian illustrator, represented at the Lady Lever by a work in a very different style. 7,000.
Study of Sir David Murray Sketching - drawing by Thomas Raffles Davison. The artist, seen here at his easel, spent two summer holidays as Lord Leverhulme's guest at Lews Castle on the island of Lewis. This informal drawing is therefore a souvenir of the friendship between the artist and collector. 800.

National Museums Liverpool keeper of galleries Julian Treuherz said: "These five acquisitions will enhance the already richly diverse collections at the Lady Lever Art Gallery. We hope to put them on display in the near future."

The purchases of the furniture were made with funds from a Leverhulme family charitable trust and The Art Fund (formerly the National Art Collections Fund), the maquette with funds donated by Robert Holden Ltd and the drawing and watercolour with funds from a Leverhulme family charitable trust. All prices are hammer prices.

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Service celebrates founder of Liverpool Museum

A service to mark the 150th anniversary of the death of the founder of Liverpool Museum, Edward Smith Stanley, 13th Earl of Derby, is being held at Ormskirk Parish Church at 7 pm on Monday 2 July 2001.

The Earl, who amassed a remarkable natural history collection and established a menagerie at his stately home, Knowsley Hall, will be the subject of a major new exhibition, The Earl and the Pussycat, at the newly-refurbished Liverpool Museum from June to September 2002.

He bequeathed his fascinating collection of zoological specimens to the city of Liverpool when he died in 1851. Ten years later the new Liverpool Museum building, housing this collection, was opened in William Brown Street. (It was originally called the Derby Museum.) Now the museum is being expanded and refurbished as the major part of the National Museums Liverpool Into the Future project costing nearly 40 million and supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, European Regional Development Fund and Littlewoods.

The Earl, a leading local benefactor who gave an estimated 100,000 to churches and schools, was a famous natural scientist who knew all the leading naturalists of the time. His aviary and menagerie at Knowsley, where many rare species bred for the first time in captivity, were world famous. Lord Derby was president of the Zoological Society of London for many years.

The exhibition will feature remarkable items from the Earl's collection. Many of the zoological specimens were the first individuals ever collected of that species and are still widely used by scientists from all over the world.

The exhibition's title has been inspired by Edward Lear's famous nonsense poem, The Owl and the Pussycat. Lear was commissioned by the Earl to paint living animals in his menagerie. He composed many of his poems and limericks for the children during his stay in Knowsley from 1831 to 1836.

As well as the exhibition to celebrate the Earl's life, there will be an international conference discussing his enormous influence on natural history taking place 3 - 7 July 2002 at Liverpool University.

The service, which is by invitation only, is at Ormskirk Parish Church, where the Earl is buried. It will be conducted by the Rev Christopher Jones and attended by the present Earl and Countess of Derby.

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David Fleming is new National Museums Liverpool Director

National Museums Liverpool (National Museums Liverpool) has named Dr David Fleming OBE, currently Director of Tyne & Wear Museums, to succeed Sir Richard Foster as its new Director.

"David Fleming is a museum professional with an impressive list of achievements and substantial experience of running a multi-disciplinary, multi-venue museum service. He has been a great success in the North East and brings academic rigour, energy and vision to National Museums Liverpool," says David McDonnell, Chairman of the Trustees of National Museums Liverpool.

David Fleming joins National Museums Liverpool at an exciting time - the culmination of National Museums Liverpool Into the Future, an ambitious building and improvement project totalling 40 million. Next year will see the Walker Art Gallery open refurbished special exhibition galleries and a new gallery dedicated to craft and design, and the Liverpool Museum will launch new attractions and improved visitor facilities, doubling the size of its public areas.

Dr David Fleming "National Museums Liverpool is one of the world's greatest urban museum services, with a fabulous range of collections. I am delighted and honoured to have been asked to direct National Museums Liverpool, and I'm sure there are very exciting times ahead. I look forward to ensuring that National Museums Liverpool combines its role as a major national museum service with that of providing top quality museums for people in Merseyside and the North West region," says David Fleming.

Dr Fleming is due to take up his new position in October 2001. This follows a six-month search to find the right candidate.

Dr Fleming joins National Museums Liverpool after ten years successfully leading Tyne & Wear Museums, one of the biggest regional museum services in the UK. During his tenure he re-energised the ten museums and galleries and led the service through a period of substantial capital development - creating the Segedunum Roman Fort and Museum and presiding over the refurbishment of Newcastle Discovery Museum, Sunderland Museum & Art Gallery and South Shields Museum & Art Gallery.

Tessa Jowell MP, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport said, "I am delighted that David Fleming has been appointed as the new Director for National Museums Liverpool. David has long and wide experience in the museums field including management of multi-site services and of capital projects. He joins the museum at a particularly exciting time when the 40 million National Museums Liverpool Into the Future development is in its final stages. I wish him every success."

As the former principal keeper of museums at Hull City Museums & Art Galleries, Dr Fleming has supervised collections similar to those in Liverpool, with important maritime and slavery collections. At Hull he was also responsible for the capital project creating Streetlife: The Hull Museum of Transport, in 1990.

Educated at the London School of Economics, University of Leeds and University of Leicester. Dr Fleming was awarded an OBE in 1997 in recognition of his service to museums. In 2000 he was appointed President of the Museums Association and he has a high profile nationally and internationally for his work to connect with wider audiences while promoting best practice in managing art, history and science collections.

For more details contact: Jo Cooper or Stephen Guy, Press Office, tel 0151 478 4779/4612, fax 0151 478 4777. J-peg photographs are available please e-mail the press office on jo.cooper@liverpoolmuseums.org.uk or stephen.guy@liverpoolmuseums.org.uk

Notes for editors:

David Fleming
Born 25 December 1952, Leeds
Partner: Alison Hastings (Editor, Newcastle Evening Chronicle), four children and one step child

Education and Honours
BA Hons History, University of Leeds, 1975
MA English Local History, University of Leicester, 1976
PhD 'A Local Market System: Melton Mowbray and the Wreake Valley, 1549-1720', University of Leicester, 1981
Associate Member, Museums Association, 1986
OBE, 1997
Fellow, Royal Society of Arts, 1997
President, Museums Association, 2000

Museum positions
1981-83 Curator, Yorkshire Museum of Farming
1983-85 Curator (Collection Services), Leeds City Museums
1985-90 Principal Keeper of Museums, Hull City Museums & Art Galleries
1990-91 Assistant Director (Museums Management), Tyne & Wear Museums
1991-2001 Director, Tyne & Wear Museums

National Museums Liverpool Into the Future
National Museums Liverpool Into the Future is National Museums Liverpool's major capital project for the 21st century. It will create new opportunities for public access, enjoyment and lifelong learning, doubling the size of Liverpool Museum, renovating galleries at Walker Art Gallery Art Gallery and creating new displays at the Museum of Liverpool Life. It will involve refurbishing 16,000 sqm of historic buildings, restoring 8,000 sqm of galleries to public use, and bringing 30,000 objects and works of art out of store.

The Heritage Lottery Fund has given National Museums Liverpool Into the Future a total of almost 28million, the European Regional Development Fund has allocated 3.65million matched funding and the project has attracted corporate support from Littlewoods as well as receiving generous donations from many individuals.

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Jazz Picnic with George Melly at Combermere Abbey

George Melly and the John Chiltern Feetwarmers, will play an outdoor concert at Combermere Abbey, near Nantwich, Cheshire, on Saturday 25 August. Proceeds from the concert will go towards National Museums Liverpool redevelopment project, National Museums Liverpool into the Future, and the Combermere Abbey Restoration Fund.

National Museums Liverpool into the Future is a 40 million refurbishment project focusing on the Liverpool Museum and Walker Art Gallery Art Gallery in the heart of Liverpool. The scheme, part-funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, is the largest project of its kind in the UK and will see the opening of new exhibition galleries at Walker Art Gallery, and the re-launching of the Liverpool Museum. Walker Art Gallery will re-open in February 2002 with a season of exciting exhibitions including George Romney and the art of Paul McCartney.

Combermere Abbey is a complex of medieval and 16th century buildings that was extensively remodelled in the early 19th Century in the Gothic style that was so popular at that time. The estate, on the Cheshire border, overlooks a scenic lake set in rolling parkland. Today, Combermere is the home of Sarah and Peter Callander Beckett who are restoring and conserving the buildings, follies and gardens. In the mid 90s, Sarah inherited the estate from her mother after recently returning to England after 15 years in the public relations industry in the USA. Sarah is jointly organising the event with National Museums Liverpool.

Tickets priced 15.00 each are on sale from the Combermere Abbey ticket office on 01948 662 880 / 876. VISA accepted. Children under 4 go free, children 16 and under are half price.

dawn.capper@liverpoolmuseums.org.uk

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Walker Art Gallery - temporary closure

The Walker Art Gallery is closed to visitors in order to complete the building improvements and refurbishments as part of the National Museums Liverpool Into the Future. On completion, the Walker Art Gallery will have new galleries and visitor facilities and be able to bring bigger international exhibitions to Liverpool.

The Walker Art Gallery will re-open with a magnificent retrospective of the much admired 18th century painter George Romney, 1734-1802 in the new special exhibition galleries, 8 February to 21 April 2002. This will be followed by an exhibition of the art of Paul McCartney in May, and the John Moores 22 exhibition in September.

A final addition to Walker Art Gallery will be a new room dedicated to craft and design which will open in summer 2002 to house a changing display from Walker Art Gallery's decorative arts collection.

National Museums Liverpool (National Museums Liverpool) has been awarded a total of almost 28 million by the Heritage Lottery Fund for this flagship project - the largest grant it has made to a museum.

National Museums Liverpool Into the Future will also transform Liverpool Museum, creating eight new attractions, improved visitor facilities and doubling the area of public space in the museum. The new attractions at Liverpool Museum will open during summer 2002 and the new aquarium is expected to be completed next autumn.

press@liverpoolmuseums.org.uk

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Meccano: From Factory Floor to Toybox

Meccano: Twentieth Century Toys 2 June - 28 October 2001
Museum of Liverpool Life & Merseyside Maritime Museum Pier Head, Liverpool

A new two-part exhibition celebrates the amazing Meccano factory which provided generations of children with countless hours of pleasure and enjoyment while changing the world of play.

Meccano: Twentieth Century Toys looks at the Liverpool plant and its products, founded by Frank Hornby a century ago. At Meccano, building kits and model vehicles entered a golden age for detail and precision engineering. Workers at the Binns Road factory skilfully made such legendary toys as Meccano, Dinky Toys, Hornby train sets and Bayko building sets.

This fascinating exhibition gives visitors an insight into the lives of the workers, who were mostly women. It shows how the toys were lovingly designed, produced and assembled and why collectors and enthusiasts still treasure them.

At the Museum of Liverpool Life, displays focus on the factory and workers' social lives illustrated by letters, trophies, toy moulds, Dinky Toys and the Miss Meccano competition.

The Merseyside Maritime Museum exhibits include a host of big Meccano models such as the Titanic, a transporter bridge and windmill as well as more Dinky Toys, Hornby trains including a track layout and Bayko kits. Showcards, booklets, boxes and packaging show how Meccano products were marketed.

Curator Sharon Brown says: "We have had a lot of help from former Meccano employees as well as enthusiasts who have assembled several of the models on display. We hope this exhibitions will revive happy memories and show just how special the factory and its products were."

You are invited to send a reporter and photographer for a preview of the exhibition at the Museum of Liverpool Life at 1030 hours on Thursday 31 May 2001. Sharon Brown will be available for interview along with former Miss Meccano competitors.

When the exhibition opens on Saturday 2 June 2001, there will be series of public activities including interactive machines from the John Moores University engineering department, robots and Meccano building demonstrations. Admission to exhibition and events by Eight-Pass (3 standard giving unlimited admission to all eight National Museums Liverpool venues, 1.50 concessions - children and seniors free). More events will follow during the summer.

www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/maritime/exhibitions/meccano/

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VIVIENNE WESTWOOD: the collection of Romilly McAlpine

Liverpool Museum, Liverpool city centre
25 May - 30 September

The bold, witty and strikingly beautiful clothes and accessories designed by Vivienne Westwood and collected by Lady Romilly McAlpine highlight the work of one of Britain's most original post-war fashion designers in Liverpool Museum's exhibition Vivienne Westwood: the collection of Romilly McAlpine.

The exhibition includes some of Westwood's most important designs: the Diamond Encrusted Codpiece Corset, made to special order; the dramatic grand Midnight Experience Skirt worn by Romilly McAlpine to the 1994 state opening of Parliament; the Portrait Jacket and the classic Rocking Horse Boots.

Romilly McAlpine's collection displays the innovative cut, unconventional use of striking fabrics and sensual appeal that mark out Westwood as a world-class haute couture talent. It includes a stunning selection of tartans and tweeds in which Westwood promoted a truly feminine but sassy silhouette. Elsewhere, shredded net creates the illusion of feathers; brilliant green tweed is slashed and studded with coloured glass, while a classic mackintosh is printed with sweet-faced cupids.

Sexy, figure-hugging suits reveal Westwood's respect for the tailoring traditions of Savile Row. Tight bodices, bustle skirts and jackets with deep cuffs, reflect the way she has explored the past to create designs that are uncompromisingly modern.

Among the accessories there are the super elevated shoes that have become Westwood's signature pieces, as well as zany hats, gloves, socks, bags, stoles and scarves.

The way Romilly McAlpine puts her outfits together illuminates Westwood's work, not as catwalk fashion, but as real clothes. In her subtle changes to Westwood's intentions we see the wearer's imagination extend the creative possibilities of the designer's vision.

Vivienne Westwood: the collection of Romilly McAlpine is a Museum of London touring exhibition and includes over 35 outfits from Lady McAlpine's collection from 1986 to 1996.

dawn.capper@liverpoolmuseums.org.uk

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National Museums Liverpool Into the Future: Walker Art Gallery

The second phase of National Museums Liverpool's major building and refurbishment programme, National Museums Liverpool Into the Future, will see the new galleries and facilities open to the public at the Walker Art Gallery on 8 February 2002.

The Walker Art Gallery, which houses the most important national collection of fine art in the English regions, will be almost completely re-hung, with highlights including newly refurbished galleries of 17th century art (the Wolfson Galleries), additional space for twentieth century and contemporary art and a magnificent retrospective of the much admired 18th century portraitist George Romney, 1734-1802 in the new special exhibition galleries.

In order to complete the building and refurbishment, it is regrettably necessary to close the Walker Art Gallery from 4 June 2001 until the reopening on 8 February 2002. The Walker Art Gallery continues to be open at weekends only between now and Sunday 3 June.

The special exhibition galleries will provide space for large-scale international touring and self-generated shows to display work in optimum conditions. The new rooms have been designed to display light-sensitive works and will provide the Walker Art Gallery with an opportunity to show its extensive collection of watercolours, prints and drawings. Twelve unique black chalk drawings by George Romney, unseen for generations, will be on display in the Romney retrospective from February in these rooms while his portraits of glamorous beauties will be shown in the adjacent refurbished gallery.

As a final addition to the Walker Art Gallery, a new room dedicated to craft and design will open later in 2002 to house a changing display from the Walker Art Gallery's decorative arts collection. Exhibits will include John Lennon's Hard Day's Night stage suit, Ron Arad's Little Heavy Chair and the post-modern Casablanca cabinet by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis.

The exhibition of the art of Paul McCartney will now open later in 2002. Sir Paul has restated his determination that this major celebration of his career as a painter will be seen for the first time in his home city and dates for this exhibition will be announced shortly. The postponement has been caused by unexpected delays in the completion of the building work and the knock on effect this will cause for commissioning the new galleries. Such delays are not uncommon with building projects of this scale.

National Museums Liverpool Into the Future will also transform Liverpool Museum, creating eight new attractions, improved visitor facilities and doubling the area of public space in the museum. In total the project will see the refurbishment of 16,000 sqm of historic buildings, restoration of 8,000 sqm of galleries to public use, and bring 30,000 objects and works of art out of store.

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VIVIENNE WESTWOOD: the collection of Romilly McAlpine

Liverpool Museum, Liverpool city centre
25 May - 30 September 2001

A unique collection of clothes will go on display in Vivienne Westwood: the collection of Romilly McAlpine at the Liverpool Museum from 25 May to 30 September 2001. The exhibition celebrates Vivienne Westwood's standing as Britain's greatest post-war fashion designer and illustrates the change in her status from punk enfant terrible to national living treasure.

Romilly McAlpine has built up a large collection of Westwood clothes since 1986 when, as wife of Lord McAlpine, former Treasurer of the Conservative Party, she became one of Westwood's most significant patrons by choosing to wear her creations at public events. The exhibition, featuring clothes from 1986-1996, will consider the relationship between the couturier and the client, and will examine the way Romilly McAlpine has made Westwood's clothes 'work' for her.

"I was leading such a conventional life in some ways as a politician's wife, and participating so much in what was then the current establishment, it was fun to have something irreverent, but classical. The clothes always made me feel as if I stood out from the crowd. Within those circles, Vivienne was considered outrageous and avant-garde. My view is that she was always ahead of her time. And I wanted to support a British designer. So you got the whole mix with Vivienne. It was perfect for me." Lady McAlpine.

The exhibition includes some of Westwood's most important designs: the Diamond Encrusted Codpiece Corset, made to special order; the dramatic grand Midnight Experience Skirt worn by Romilly McAlpine to the state opening of Parliament in 1994; the Portrait Jacket and the classic Rocking Horse Boots.

2001 is a significant year for Vivienne Westwood marking thirty years since her first collection and the opening of her first King's Road shop 'Let it Rock'. In the year in which she celebrates her 60th birthday, Westwood will be creating no fewer than four new collections, opening shops in New York and Milan and launching a cosmetics line.

Vivienne Westwood: the collection of Romilly McAlpine is a Museum of London touring exhibition.

www.liverpoolmuseum.org.uk/westwood

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Royal Liver's new display panel

Royal Liver Assurance has given a new display panel, recounting its history in words and pictures, to the Museum of Liverpool Life.

The friendly society, based in the nearby world-famous Royal Liver Building on the Liverpool waterfront, now has one million members in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

The panel tells of its humble beginnings in 1850 when nine working men met at the city's Lyver Inn in St Anne Street to form the Liverpool Liver Burial Society. Members made regular payments and received help towards burials, the cost of which often ruined poor families.

The first head office was in the front room of a house in the city centre's Pickop Street. As the Society grew rapidly it moved several times to larger premises before moving to the purpose-built Royal Liver Building in 1911.

Among the pictures is a photograph of a banquet seating 40 people around one of the huge clock dials before it began its journey to Liverpool. The clock, 220 feet above the ground, is officially known as The Great George and was built by Grant & Co, Leicester.

Royal Liver, which offers a wide range of financial services, was awarded the Freedom of the City of Liverpool in 2000.

Royal Liver's Chief Executive Brian McCaul says: "We are delighted to have contributed this display panel to join the other fascinating exhibits at the Museum of Liverpool Life."

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Pierhead painters on show

A View from the Pier is an exhibition of 26 paintings of sailing ships produced by pierhead painters, on display at Merseyside Maritime Museum (17 March - 13 May, 2001).

Self-taught folk artists, pierhead painters made accurate and detailed ship portraits in a nave and colourful style. They were often sailors with a working knowledge of vessels or local artists such as sign painters.

The finished paintings were sold to captains and crews and were particularly suitable for less affluent crew members who could commission portraits of their favourite vessels for the first time.

As well as being delightful folk art, the paintings provide important documentary evidence of the last days of sail.

Schools of pierhead painters were active in France, Italy, Northern Europe, America and China. The style emerged in Britain, Holland and Scandinavia during the 19th century.

This exhibition features rarely-seen pierhead paintings from the collections of the East Riding of Yorkshire Council and includes works by marine artist Reuben Chappell of Goole, regarded as one of the leading exponents of this type of art.

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Museum memorial planned for Sir Richard Foster

A permanent memorial to Sir Richard Foster, director of the National Museums & Galleries on Merseyside, will be set up, it was announced today, Tuesday 13 March, 2001.

David McDonnell, chairman of National Museums Liverpool trustees who today backed the memorial plans, said: "Sir Richard will be forever associated with National Museums Liverpool and he will never be forgotten. It is fitting that a memorial should be set up to ensure that his name will be remembered by future generations."

Mr McDonnell said the form of the memorial had yet to be decided. "We want to make sure that the memorial is acceptable not only to Sir Richard's family but also all those who knew him as a colleague and a friend.

"Since his death, both Sir Richard's family and National Museums Liverpool have been inundated with heartfelt condolences. Many people have signed the condolence books at the eight museums and galleries. This is just some indication of the love and respect in which Sir Richard was held. Our memorial must reflect this."

Sir Richard died last week, aged 59, after being director of National Museums Liverpool since its foundation in 1986. He was due to retire next year following the completion of National Museums Liverpool Into the Future, the multi-million programme of rebuilding at Liverpool Museum, Walker Art Gallery and the Museum of Liverpool Life.

An emergency meeting of the 15 trustees today took all the necessary decisions to enable National Museums Liverpool's business to continue. They decided not to appoint an acting director. Tony Archard, head of National Museums Liverpool's central services, was today appointed acting accountancy officer and will make all the financial decisions until a new director is appointed.

Meanwhile, the process of recruiting a new director is underway. The selection process began before Sir Richard's death and interviews are expected to be held in May 2001.

Trustees today also decided to organise a memorial service. Details will be announced shortly.

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Meccano: Twentieth Century Toys

The life and work of Meccano inventor Frank Hornby and the passion his toys inspired will be explored in Meccano: Twentieth Century Toys, a two-part exhibition at the Museum of Liverpool Life and Merseyside Maritime Museum (2 June - 28 October 2001).

Celebrating one hundred years of production, the exhibition at the Museum of Liverpool Life will survey the creativity of the early factory, including work in the model room, paint shop and offices, along with outings, sports teams, the Meccano Guild and annual Miss Meccano pageant.

The display will reveal how the mainly female assembly line workers found their social, romantic and working lives revolved around the factory. It will also explore the end of an era and sudden closure of the Binns Road factory, Liverpool.

The Merseyside Maritime Museum display will focus on Meccano kits and Hornby and Dinky models. With testimonies from collectors and enthusiasts, it will also look at how kits were used by engineers to design and test machines and how Bayko was used in Liverpool University architectural competitions.

The exhibition will show how Frank Hornby's products changed the world of play and the legacy they left for children of the 21st century. Displays will explore the phenomenon of Meccano Magazine, the Meccano Guild, Dinky Collectors Club and Hornby Railway Company.

Curator, Sharon Brown says: "We had an incredible response to our appeal for former workers to come and tell us about their experiences of Meccano. Meccano has touched so many people's lives - there was clearly a strong bond between workers."

Admission will be free to Eight Pass holders; kids and seniors go free!

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'Mir' men land in Liverpool Museum

Mir cosmonauts Colonel Alexander Volkov and Dr Alexander Martynov will touch down on their latest mission - meeting visitors at Liverpool Museum's Space Gallery.

The celebrated spacemen will visit on Sunday March 18 as part of National Science Week (16-26 March 2001). Both men have a wealth of experience in long-term space flights and will answer questions about life in the stratosphere.

Commander of the cosmonaut team, Col. Volkov is one of the most highly-decorated space travellers in Russia. He was commander on Mir for three expeditions between 1988 and 1992 when the legendary orbiting space lab carried out a large programme of scientific research.

Col. Volkov was made a Hero of the Soviet Union and Space Pilot of the USSR as well as being awarded the Order of Lenin, Order of the October Revolution and the Golden Star Medal for the courage and heroism shown during the Mir flights.

Mission controller Dr Martynov was responsible for landing space vehicles on the Moon, Mars and Venus as well as the safe return of manned spacecraft to Earth. He is the author of 120 scientific articles and six books dedicated to spacecraft motion control in planetary atmospheres.

There will also be special screenings of 'Mission to Mir' in the gallery on the day and throughout National Science Week.

The visit has been arranged by SATRO, the Science and Technology Regional Organisation.

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Exhibition celebrates voyage of Wirral youth

A Tall Order, a photographic exhibition of the voyage of Stavros S Niarchos, will be on display at Merseyside Maritime Museum from 10 March - 8 April 2001.

The exhibition by Nick Parkes, a student at Stockport College, documents the experiences of the young men and women from Wirral, Merseyside (aged 16-24) who sailed as crew members on board the Sail Training Association vessel Stavros S Niarchos on a voyage during August 2000.

The voyage was supported by Merseyside Police as part of their 'A Chance of a Lifetime' initiative. The scheme is designed to promote good citizenship and reward those who, despite difficult circumstances, have contributed to their community.

Merseyside Police decided to mark the Millennium by chartering two ships - STA Stavros S Niarchos and STA Sir Winston Churchill. The cost, 86, 000, was raised through local business and industry.

Nick Parkes accompanied the crew on board STA Stavros S Niarchos as photographer to document the voyage from Amsterdam to Portsmouth, Cherbourg, Cobh and finally Birkenhead.

The crew were greeted at Birkenhead by family, friends and local dignitaries including the Chief Constable, the Mayor and local M.Ps.

A Tall Order will be on display at Merseyside Maritime Museum 10 March - 8 April 2001.

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Walker loans Simone painting to National Gallery

One of the great treasures from the Walker Art Gallery, "Christ discovered in the Temple" by Simone Martini (c.1284 - 1344), is to be loaned to the National Gallery in London.

Simone Martini was unrivalled during his lifetime for the expressive qualities of his paintings. "Christ discovered in the Temple" is an outstanding example of his work, painted in 1342 when he was living in Avignon producing small works for discriminating private patrons.

There are very few examples of Simone's work in Britain, and none in London. "Christ discovered in the Temple" is widely regarded as the Walker Art Gallery's most significant European painting.

The painting was bought in 1804 by William Roscoe, a Liverpool lawyer, radical politician and pioneer collector of early Italian art. It entered the Walker Art Gallery in 1948 via the Royal Liverpool Institution, along with a large group of other works collected by Roscoe.

'Christ discovered in the Temple' by Simone Martini The picture is a compelling depiction of the Holy Family in dispute: Christ's parents, having lost him for three days after the Passover Festival, find him still in the Temple and challenge his behaviour.

Mary's question, 'My child, why have you done this to us?', is inscribed on her book, and we expect Christ's defiant reply: 'Did you not know I must be in my Father's house?'

The picture's emphasis on Mary's struggle to understand fully the divine paternity of her son may relate to a controversial work of contemporary theology. No painter had previously focused on this moment from the Gospel narrative.

"Christ discovered in the Temple" will be on display in the National Gallery from 1 February to 22 April, 2001.

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Who was this Lusitania victim?

An appeal for information has been launched after a bronze medal, awarded posthumously to a stewardess who died in the Lusitania disaster, was acquired by Merseyside Maritime Museum.

Isabel Harding Morrow, aged 42, from Bootle, Merseyside, was one of the 1,195 people who died when the luxury liner was torpedoed by a German U-boat in May 1915.

The Lusitania was heading from New York to Liverpool when she was sunk off the coast of Ireland, an event which helped bring the United States into World War II.

Very little is known about Isabel Harding Morrow except that she was the daughter of Mary Morrow of 98 Worcester Road, Bootle. Her father was John Morrow, who died some time before Isabel.

Curator Rachel Mulhearn says: "We are appealing for any members of Isabel's family to come forward so we can include the information in our display. It would be nice to have family photographs or letters to go with the medal."

Isabel's medal has joined other Lusitania items in Merseyside Maritime Museum's collection including one of the ship's massive propellers salvaged from the wreck and an original deckchair washed up after the sinking.

Rachel Mulhearn, Curator of Maritime Collections, can be contacted at Merseyside Maritime Museum, Albert Dock, L3 4AQ, telephone 0151 478 4406.

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Museum lifeboat display highlights work of RNLI

A D-class inflatable inshore lifeboat is on display at Merseyside Maritime Museum to spotlight the work of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) from 13 January - 25 February 2001.

Founded in 1824, the RNLI has an active fleet of 307 lifeboats strategically placed around the coasts of Britain and Ireland. On average, lifeboats are launched more than 6,500 times every year and save 1,000 lives.

Lifeboat men and women are volunteers and the RNLI depends entirely on voluntary contributions and legacies for its income. There are over 4,300 volunteer lifeboat crew members, including over 200 women, providing an on-call 24-hour rescue service up to 50 miles out from the coast.

The 4.9 metre long lifeboat is accompanied by panels describing the work of the RNLI today. The display also includes a children's area with quizzes and things to see and do.

After being on show at the museum, the D-class lifeboat will be based at Kippford, Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland.

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