This is the first of an (in)frequent series of updates on what we’ve been up to.
The big news is that, administratively, January was an exciting month — it’s not often you get a chance to say that! We have now formally merged with the dormant Museum of Theatre Technology. This means we are now both a registered charity (No. 328189) and a Limited Company (No.02375414 ), formalising our organisation and, we hope, opening more doors in the future, particularly for preserving historic equipment and also improving our financial position.
Many thanks are due to those who recognised the need to preserve our old technology including Roger Fox, Joe Aveline, Fred Bentham, Iain Macintosh, and others, who started the ball rolling with MOTT, and to David Wilmore of Theatresearch, who kept the it on life support for several years until we were able to take over the reins.
Mike has been busy restoring several recent additions – a scissor arc by F J Borland from Leeds possibly from a magic lantern and a Strand Portable 6 dimmer. These are hardly portable at 100Kg and take up a lot of space in a kitchen!
After eight months of negotiations, we have acquired a Rank Strand green Patt 252 effects projector, which has now been added to our extensive stocks of projection equipment. It is already apparent that there are a number of small component-level design changes compared with the 1960s version. Further investigation will document these differences, adding to our records.
Upcoming Projects
Inventory
With recent donations, the merging of existing collections, and the inclusion of the Enlightenment Initiative collection, it is clear that a proper inventory of our artefacts is increasingly important. This will allow us to understand what we hold, manage restorations effectively, and respond to offers of equipment. We have looked at Excel-based options and customised apps; if anyone has experience of specialist museum inventory packages, or knows of other (preferably free) options, please let us know.
Furse Paperwork
Last summer we began cataloguing and scanning our archive of Furse literature, which runs to hundreds of documents, so that it can be included on Jon Primrose’s Theatrecrafts website (www.theatrecrafts.com). After completing an initial tranche, this work was paused in the autumn and has now restarted. Once everything is online, look out for further Furse-related activity.
TAT Exhibition
A small exhibition at Nottingham Trent University, focusing on the Torpedo Attack Teachers and research into their development and deployment, has been requested and is scheduled to open in April ’26.
Rescues
Several companies and venues currently clearing period equipment have been in touch with us, and we anticipate a number of rescues in the coming months.