2020 is a big year for the museum with Gilbert White turning 300 in July we are already working with more than fifty partners to make this year a celebration of Gilbert White as well as our usual events and activities, we’re getting tired just thinking about it!
January
We are kick starting the year by launching our Gilbert White 300 website. This will be your go to place for all the GW300 events across the country, as well as a place for news and blogs on Gilbert White himself.
There will be two exhibitions in 2020 the first will be a look at Gilbert White’s international legacy. Showcasing the books published all over the world and discussing how the world outside of Selborne influenced White. You can see ‘Gilbert White Around the World’ from January till the end of June.
Hampshire Cultural Trust are starting the partner celebrations with their exhibition Microsculpture at the Willis Gallery in Basingstoke and with a talk on Gilbert White & Alton at the Allen gallery in Alton.
The museum will also be for the first time ever opening Tuesday-Sunday 10:30-16:30 throughout January.
February
February is a busy month for us! We start off with Story Telling for Children on the 8th, followed by a trip into space with our talk From Fire to Ice – A Journey Through the Solar System on the 12th February.
our annual We Love Our Friends and Volunteers Day is on the 13th, this is a day not only to celebrate the the volunteers and supporters we have but to invite people who are interested in volunteering and would like to know more to meet volunteers and find out more about the opportunities available. On the 15th & 16th it is our Snowdrop Weekend, then the following half term’s theme is love birds, with activities for those children who love birds and what to know more about them and help them in there own garden.
We begin our GW300 Talk series with Ronnie Davidson-Houston’s talk ‘But Gilbert White Only Wrote One Book…‘ on the 20th.
Also in February we launch our 2020 Antarctic talks starting with the 27th February’s talk by Dr Robert Headland ‘Antarctic Sovereignty; from Captain Cook to Operation Tabarin’.
March
We continue our Antarctic talks with Monitoring the heartbeat of the ocean: The work of the Continuous Plankton Recorder Survey with Marianne Wootton on the 19th March.
On the 26th Dr June Chatfield will talk at the Allen Gallery in Alton on Gilbert White and his Tortoise.
April
In April we will be having lots of new workshops, Gilbert White talks and Antarctic talks. We’ll be able to announce soon all the partner activities which will be launching around this time!
May
May will be a big month with two big projects soon to be announced with GW300 partners, plus an extra Antarctic Talk, more Gilbert White Talks and not forgetting our Nature Festival on the 24!
June
June as always will be dominated by our Unusual Plant Fair on the 20th and 21st, hopefully with a little Gilbert White 300 twist, we will also be celebrating Alton Regency Week, with a bumper day of Gilbert White activities on the 26th.
Also in June will have lots of GW300 activity including a special evening event at the Natural History Museum.
July
The big month itself! We will be celebrating with all our partners here on the 18th July for Gilbert birthday!
Our GW300 exhibition will open in July and run till the end of the year.
August
Our outdoor theatre returns on the 30th with Jane Austen’s Emma.
September
Our GW300 celebrations continue with a Gilbert White feast on the 12th.
October, November & December
We will continue with GW300 events right up to the end of the year with a return of the Ecofair in November and Mulled Wine in December.