Summer visitor numbers varied greatly across the UK as museums battled with poor weather, flooding and, more recently, foot and mouth.
Bill Ferris, the chairman of the Association of Independent Museums, said there seemed to be a lot of geographic variation. Some museums in the Cotswolds, Midlands and Yorkshire were badly hit by the floods, while venues in coastal areas often suffered because people weren't heading to the seaside. But Ferris said many inland venues such as his at Chatham Historic Dockyard had excellent seasons as people looked for something to do during the poor weather.
The Cotswold Motoring Museum was flooded during July and had to close for two days, but its general manager, Michael Tambini, said the main problem was the subsequent lack of visitors to Bourton on the Water, Gloucestershire.
"In the end it is going to be okay as we will make some savings and cut back on some things we might have done, but what we need to do is recover next year," Tambini said. "What the flooding has done is to highlight problems that places like us are facing. Mainly, it is very cheap to go abroad and it is difficult for us to compete with that."
Ironbridge Gorge, a collection of ten museums in Shropshire, was also hit by the floods, although its chief executive Steve Miller said only Enginuity, its interactive design and technology centre, was badly affected and had to close for a week.
"We made our best start to the season for 12 years, so we are not down on numbers, but there have been some big dips and certain events have been affected. The main problem was wrestling with the fact that people thought we were more badly hit than we actually were."
Weald and Downland Open Air Museum in Sussex has had to deal with poor weather and then the recent foot and mouth outbreak. The museum nearly went bust when the disease hit in 2001. The museum's head of operations, Henry Warner, said the "weather was challenging" and visitor numbers were flat, rather than the 5 per cent growth it had been aiming for.
Simon Stephens
Bill Ferris, the chairman of the Association of Independent Museums, said there seemed to be a lot of geographic variation. Some museums in the Cotswolds, Midlands and Yorkshire were badly hit by the floods, while venues in coastal areas often suffered because people weren't heading to the seaside. But Ferris said many inland venues such as his at Chatham Historic Dockyard had excellent seasons as people looked for something to do during the poor weather.
The Cotswold Motoring Museum was flooded during July and had to close for two days, but its general manager, Michael Tambini, said the main problem was the subsequent lack of visitors to Bourton on the Water, Gloucestershire.
"In the end it is going to be okay as we will make some savings and cut back on some things we might have done, but what we need to do is recover next year," Tambini said. "What the flooding has done is to highlight problems that places like us are facing. Mainly, it is very cheap to go abroad and it is difficult for us to compete with that."
Ironbridge Gorge, a collection of ten museums in Shropshire, was also hit by the floods, although its chief executive Steve Miller said only Enginuity, its interactive design and technology centre, was badly affected and had to close for a week.
"We made our best start to the season for 12 years, so we are not down on numbers, but there have been some big dips and certain events have been affected. The main problem was wrestling with the fact that people thought we were more badly hit than we actually were."
Weald and Downland Open Air Museum in Sussex has had to deal with poor weather and then the recent foot and mouth outbreak. The museum nearly went bust when the disease hit in 2001. The museum's head of operations, Henry Warner, said the "weather was challenging" and visitor numbers were flat, rather than the 5 per cent growth it had been aiming for.
Simon Stephens
