Mr Toad welcomes visitors back to new-look museum

COME and enjoy the new-look River & Rowing Museum on Mill Meadows, Henley, which reopened on the Saturday of regatta weekend.

It was great to welcome so many familiar faces, young and old, back and to receive such fantastic feedback at the more vibrant, exciting look of the museum and everything it has to offer.

Mr Toad was on hand to greet his adoring public, who were delighted to welcome him back from hibernation.

Among the changes are a transformed shop and café, plus a brand new children’s play area. The galleries have been refreshed and include new displays, rediscovered old favourites from our archives and a new exhibition, ‘Unlocked’. This display showcases the fascinating collection of art created by women that has been rediscovered through our Collections Audit Project.

Thyme Café, our museum’s hidden hangout, serves delicious breakfasts, brunch and lunch using only the finest ingredients, and is proving a great hit with our visitors.

The River & Rowing Museum Shop has been refurbished to create a welcoming environment specialising in items from local suppliers, including The Henley Distillery, Honeys of Henley, Candles Fighting Cancer and Ace Henley playing cards.

We also stock well-established brands such as St Eval (candles, diffusers and toiletries), Caroline Gardner (cards and gifts), Gibsons (jigsaws) and Sass & Belle (gifts).

Our ‘outdoors’ section includes essentials for your canine companion, Kabloom seed bombs and organically produced bird houses.

‘Community Corner’ includes local initiatives, such as Conviktion; bags made by a small team of skilled prisoners at HMP Huntercombe, providing the men with purposeful work and new skills to help them gain extra confidence to prepare for release and beyond.

Little Willows, our new children’s play area, brings together all the elements of Marsh Meadows, Wind in the Willows and the River Thames. Aimed at children under seven, the area provides lots of educational toys, books and colouring for little ones, along with a cosy corner for Mr Toad to meet his fans.

With stunning views over the meadows and the river, this is a great place to spend time admiring the scenery while the little ones play. Rain or shine, we hope you will love Little Willows.

Another new exhibition which will be on display in our Community Gallery later this month, is ‘Living with a Brain Injury’.

This will showcase individual pieces and group collaborations from Headway Thames Valley clients, their family members and professionals working in neuro rehab. The hugely popular John Piper Gallery will also reopen later this month.

Old favourite The Wind in the Willows walkthrough gallery has been given a wash and brush up and is ready to welcome old friends back.

During the upcoming summer holidays, look out for children’s workshops, including object handling with the curators, yoga and wellbeing and music with Maddy, along with activities specifically aimed at tweens and teens, and a Little Henley trail.

Look out for further details on our social media pages later this week.

Come along and experience the changes for yourself — we think you’ll like them.