While Kingsbridge Cookworthy Museum is closed for the winter there is still plenty going on behind the scenes.

Chair Philip Cole and Curator Kathy Courage are both pitching with a major project as Philip explains:

“I've managed to persuade our trustees to invest some money into revamping our entrance hall for the museum to enhance our visitor experience.

“We've taken several pictures off the old wall carved by the boys who were at the school.

“We've got some lovely photographs up there, which are indicative of the 30,000 image bank that people will be able to come and investigate and buy.

“In this little entrance lobby, we're going to have historic maps of Kingsbridge from the earliest Elizabethan one to.

This is a draft of the totems we've got in town.

“This is one of the first on glass. That's the most recent one, 2022 I think that was.

“We're having boards about the museum, the history of the school, the founder, and then when it was turned into the museum, a big welcome sign for people so they feel welcome.”

Visitors can sit down on the old bench, which was at the railway station and look at the sign which used to be at the King's Arms rescued from a skip.

The whole colour scheme is blending with that and to finish it off there’s a new shop unit and steward's desk, which the guys are installing at the moment.

Philip concluded: “There’s a fabulous exhibition of Kingsbridge during World War II, which Kathy, as curator, has put together.

“It's work in progress, but I just think it's great because we think this museum is one of the best, certainly in the South West, if not in the country.”

Kingsbridge Cookworthy Museum is due to reopen on Monday March 31.