Wareham, Dorset, United Kingdom
Past Events up to April 2014 (Latest at Top)
A Centenary of Scouting 1907 - 2007
Brownsea Island, the largest island in Poole Harbour only a short distance from Wareham,
was the location chosen by Lieutenant-General Robert Baden-Powell in August 1907
for his first ever experimental Scout camp. The event is regarded as the real origin
of the worldwide Scout movement.
In the summer of 2007 the Centenary was celebrated by Scouts from all over the world
collecting on Brownsea Island in recognition of the hundred years of the movement
and Wareham Town Museum volunteers assembled a commemorative display.
40th Anniversary of the Opening
of Wareham Town Museum
1974 ~ 2014
Mouse over pictures to enlarge and to see winners’ names
40th Anniversary photos by Pam Bowyer-Davis
D-Day - 6th June 1944 - 60th Anniversary - June 2004
After much of Europe had been occupied by the Axis powers for four years, the Allies finally launched their campaign to liberate Western Europe in June 1944. Over three million service personnel were involved in Operation Overlord, which hinged on the ultimate success of the Normandy Landings on
D-Day. If the German troops were able to prevent the initial landings, the whole campaign would have failed.
Our Anniversary Exhibition depicted all aspects of how residents from Wareham and the surrounding towns and villages coped with life at the time of the D-Day landings sixty years ago.
There were numerous items of memorabilia from the era including posters, old photographs of Wareham from local people, a mockup of a 1940s room - complete with its Morrison Shelter, wartime radio gear, gas masks, stirrup pumps and also items on food production and rationing, together with items on evacuees. The Royal Navy Cordite Factory Association and Bovington Camp had exhibits, and there were specially recorded sound clips of local people who remembered Wareham during the war and also news broadcasts of the time (both set to wartime music) ... and did we also see Churchill and Montgomery look-alikes walking amongst us?
The Exhibition was officially opened by the Town Mayor Cllr. Ann Selby at 10am on Tuesday 1st June. She was to be seen with Army personnel (and their vehicles) who also attended the brief ceremony outside the Corn Exchange at The Cross, Wareham, next to the Town Museum.
Wareham Museum 40th Birthday Celebration
A Celebration of Wareham’s Heritage
Saturday 26th April 2014
Wareham Town Hall
A morning of talks about Wareham’s heritage,
with a focus on discoveries about the
heritage in the last 40 years.
In the afternoon there was a two hour guided walk around Wareham led by
Professor David Hinton
2000 years of Wareham’s history
by Lilian Ladle MBE,
Wareham archaeologist
Saxon Wareham
by Professor David Hinton,
Southampton University
Wareham Castle
by Roger Hills,
Dorset Castles Research Group
Preserving Wareham’s heritage
by Nick Fagan,
Wareham Town Trust
Photos: Gordon MacPherson
