Alan Rose, chairman of Haddenham Museum Trust, has announced that a 30cm moon globe has recently been hung in the museum to celebrate our most famous former resident, Rev Dr William Rutter Dawes FRS. He is still known throughout the world of astronomy, and he has a crater named after him on the moon, and another on Mars.
The moon globe can be lowered to adult or child height so that visitors may find the Dawes crater. There is a dossier nearby giving details of Dawes' achievements in the field of astronomy.
He was better known in the village for having built Hopefield, 15 Station Road in 1857, where he lived for the rest of his life. He was also known for his generous nature in giving free medical advice and treatment to the poor of the village.
There is an article about Hopefield House and Dawes in The Haddenham Chronicles No 2 (autumn 2006) – copies of this, and other volumes are on sale at the museum and at Haddenham Community Library.
The museum is currently open on Sundays, 2-4.30pm (with last entry at 4.15pm), but will also be open on Tuesdays, 10am-12noon from July 20. The Methodist Church is open on Tuesday mornings for coffee, tea and biscuits, and welcomes drop-in museum visitors.
The museum's annual meeting for trust members is being held on Thursday, July 22, and DVDs from the museum's collection will be shown on the big screen after a short business meeting. If you are not yet a member but would like to attend this meeting, please visit the museum this coming Sunday or Tuesday to sign up as a member. It costs just £5 for a year, and membership brings with it discounts on all 18 issues of The Haddenham Chronicles and other items on sale at the museum, such as Haddenham themed greetings cards, copies of old and current Haddenham maps, and reusable cotton bags carrying the museum logo.
The museum has recently been sent a copy of Rosemary Parrott's book The Pilot in the Poster.
Her father, Peter Parrott, was the RAF pilot who is the subject of the book and his image was used in various recruiting posters during the Second World War. Peter was born in Haddenham in 1920 and was one of the fortunate pilots to survive the war and live to a good age of 83. The house where he was born is Homefield on Thame Road, or Oxford Road as it was known back then.
The pilot image arose when an RAF photographer asked Peter to look back at the roof of the Nissen hut he had just left. There was nothing there but the photographer dropped to one knee and took a photograph. The image captured a look of calm alertness while Peter was apparently observing some activity in the sky.
You can see a copy of the book in the museum, also copies of some posters will be in the wartime display.
For more information about the Haddenham museum, click here.
