Your Future Museum: A Dartmoor Walkshop

Join Kristy Turner, Manager of the Museum of Dartmoor Life, to enjoy Dartmoor & consider what stories you feel the museum should be telling. Is there a local topic that hasn't been given enough spotlight? What should we be collecting to help inform our future ancestors? We will meet at Sourton Village Hall car park, then walk in a loop to see the OXO Stone, fragments of another cross, 15th century church, the wonderfully weird Highwayman pub opposite, the ice works, a Bronze Age ceremonial circle which bizzarely is not shown on the OS maps, an apple crusher, the tramway and some reaves and extensive views. Huge thanks to John Howell for planning the route and joining us as our guide. Distance: 3 miles Start: 11am End: Approx 1pm Kristy says: Here at the Museum of Dartmoor Life we are currently reviewing our stored collection, much of which our visitors have never seen. Previously museums have been treated as store houses for the past and curators have decided what is displayed. But this is your museum and we want you to have your say about what you do and don’t want to see. There are many questions to consider and the answers are not always easy. What about a fabulous item that has nothing to do with Dartmoor? Should we display it? Or a very simple item that has an amazing Dartmoor story attached to it. How do we get visitors to engage with it? Or objects like this tartan handkerchief from Scotland. It has been in our stores for nearly 40 years. We do not know who owned it and it has no story associated with Dartmoor. We certainly would not accept it today, but what do we do with it going forward. Is there any reason to keep this? However, museum staff and trustees do not want to be blamed for their disposal choices, by future generations whose opinions differ. The 2026 exhibition, which opened on the 16th March, focuses on these dilemmas. We will be displaying never before seen objects that have been in store since the museum opened. We will be gathering information from you, about what you do and do not want to see in your Museum of Dartmoor Life. We particularly want to hear from those of you who do not currently visit the museum. What would make you engage with the collection? Are there more relevant items you think we should actively look to gain or stories we are not telling? We know the museum is well liked and popular with visitors but we need to continue to improve our offer, to keep moving forward. The comments we gather during 2026 will be used to inform our decisions about redisplaying our existing collections and acquiring new. We want you to feel included in the future development of your museum and to know that your opinions really matter. Hopefully your eyes will also be opened to the difficult decisions we sometimes have to make. This museum will never be finished. We will always be looking to collect from the present to inform our future ancestors. We want to engage with all our Dartmoor communities to create a living, breathing museum that you feel proud of. Please visit us this year and have your say.