The wartime motto 'Make Do and Mend' could have been especially for small museums, as we're very good at it! Our ever-resourceful Rail Group have come up with a way to protect the joins in points. A short piece of angled metal can strengthen and protect it from the weather! Only another 41 to go...

George Bruce invented the type-casting machine which produced text letter by letter. This is linotype. This means that you can type a line of text and it selects the matrices which act as a mould to create a whole line of words to be printed. Once used, the typecast can be melted down and reused.

This is nothing to do with us but today is the birthday of both Bram Stoker and Vlad the Impaler, who the character of Dracula is supposed to be based on. Just thought we'd put it out there.

The Print Shop are in the last stages of our exclusive 2026 calendar! This will be the front cover of what will be a limited edition, numbered publication, only available from the Museum shop. We'll let you know when it goes on sale but it will be on a first-come, first-served basis!

OMG YOU PEOPLE I had to work all day!

Days when the Museum is closed to the public are always good for having a wander in lesser-known areas. We went for a walk along the railway track (very carefully). We found some bracket fungus that looked quite suitable for Bonfire Night - black with orange edging - and a very confused primrose.

We get some very weird Stuff in Boxes donated to us. Some things appear from where they were forgotten inside something else. All of these boxes still have the original contents inside them... #Museum30 #Boxes Day 7

A little bricked-up side door in the Arundel Gin Building (where the Plumbers live). It could be for #AdoorableThursday but is actually for #Museum30 #sharing

Here's your reminder to look out for hedgehogs this Bonfire Night. Stacks of logs and leaves look real inviting to hedgehogs searching for places to hibernate. Remember to check your bonfires before lighting them!

Honestly. We all need to read this. The amount of money apparently being spent, which could instead be being invested in our museum services is horrific. Next figures from DCMS/PAS are due in the next month or two. How bad will they be? #Archaeology 🏺 #Torcs #Detecting

#Museum30 and #Signage We're very good at signage. Not just around the site, like here but we also have Paviours. This is the museum of Roadbuilding which also showcases a whole range of road signs!

#Museum30 We're Amberley Museum and Heritage Centre. We have been Amberley Chalk Pits and Amberley Working Museum. We're in a disused chalk quarry on the South Downs. We tell the story of the chalk pits and lime burning and host a wide selection of craft and industrial exhibitions.

It's Halloween! Or Samhain, depending on what you prefer. We're getting ready for our Amberley Fright Night tomorrow, which is causing a lot of excitement. And apprehension. Who knows what will happen?

We felt that this was essential to point out.

Our Wood Spirits of various shapes and sizes are usually found in the Greenwood Village, where they are brought to life. Many are usefully pocket- sized. Just right for this time of year...

He that shall live this day, and see old age, Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours, And say, “Tomorrow is St Crispian:” Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars, And say, “These wounds I had on Crispin’s day.” 1415 #OTD #Agincourt #HenryV #PlaymobilInfestation

Well, it is Halloween next week.

Waywardens were appointed by the Parish Council to be responsible for the upkeep of roads. They officially existed from 1555 to 1835 when the Highways Act was passed.

It's National Nuts Day! Which leads to the inevitable comments about how common they are around here... However, we do have a selection of natural nuts (this is getting worse...) such as below. Couldn't find any hazelnuts as we have very active squirrels.

Goth Womble

This is one of our Baguley Drewry engines. Some years ago it was hit by a 100-ton train which broke the axle and bent the chassis. You can see the impact point and the bend in the body. It's been restored and repaired and now works perfectly!

This is a Very Old Electric Cooker! It's a Belling and dates from 1919. It has a 'hob' on the top, a plate rack to the side and a dishwarmer underneath. Inside is both the oven and the grill. It's made from sheet steel and is a design taken from WW1 submarines! Built to last...

This is a Very Old Telephone Box. In fact, it's one of the first-ever Telephone Boxes. It dates from 1921, when they were first installed by the Post Office. Unfortunately, ours isn't wired in. This is probably just as well as we'd get confused between pressing Button A and Button B.

We do love the designs from the 1930s. This rather gorgeous radio from 1934 would look a treat by the fireplace!

youtu.be/BYBmdYiWl_M Every day's a school day here at Amberley!

It's International Sawfish Day! They're nothing to do with us, we just think they're cool.

Today is World Bread Day. So, in a link which isn't tenuous at all, here is a vintage Food Mixer from 1955 in which you may have mixed your bread dough. Found in our Milne Collection of enthralling domestic appliances.

It seems that today is National Grouch Day. Given the amount of computer trouble we've already had this morning, this seems very appropriate. #grouch #grumpy #fedup

#BannedBookWeek Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein' was once banned because of it's exploration of man placing himself in God's place and creating life. Dr Frankenstein used electricity as the spark of life - this photo from Halloween last year looks appropriate!

Upkeep on the rail tracks. For once without a mix of management watching 😜

This is Ada Lovelace, daughter of Lord Byron and considered to be the first person to write a computer programme which was for Babbage's Analytical Machine. She died in 1842 In her honour, today is Ada Lovelace Day and is all about encouraging women and girls in mathematics, science and engineering.

Today is World Octopus Day. Another occasion when it's difficult for an industrial museum to be relevant. However, we have our cogilicious Steampunk Weekend this Saturday and Sunday, 11th & 12th October and this picture is from our last Steampunk event. #octopus #steampunk #costume

Today is Global James Bond Day! Here is 'Roger Moore' looking very dashing on a Zorin locomotive at the entrance to Main Strike Mine. Which is here at Amberley. Amberley Museum was used as the location of Main Strike Mine for the 1985 film 'A View to a Kill'. #jamesbond #bond #aviewtoakill

Amberley is such a lovely place to be but it can change after dark. If you want to experience the chills and frights of the Museum at night, try our Halloween Evening on Saturday 1st November... if you dare! www.amberleymuseum.co.uk

Although the transistor was invented in 1947, it wasn't patented until this day in 1950 by three American physicists - Shockley, Bardeen and Brattain. This led to the three scientists being awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1956. Radio Caroline would never have existed without them...

Today is the 100th anniversary of John Logie Baird first testing a working TV system - the first time moving images had been sent and received. This is a Baird television set from 1930. It transmits a 30-line picture which was refreshed 12.5 times per second. #television #BAIRD #transmission

Dare you visit Amberley after dark for our Halloween event on Saturday 1st November? www.amberleymuseum.co.uk

There is a...magnificence...to this

'Our public libraries are free in three critical senses. Firstly, they cost nothing to join and to use. Secondly, they are open to all in our communities. We must also add a third concept of freedom: the freedom to read – to engage, without restraint, a diversity of knowledge and opinion'.

OTD in 1880, Thomas Edison first demonstrated his electric light bulb. He had been beaten to it by Joseph Swan who demonstrated his in 1878. They merged their companies in 1883, to start manufacturing lamps as seen in the second picture. You need to imagine this upright and attached to the wall!

We've been yarn-bombed! This gorgeous piece magically appeared last Sunday, with the tag 'Nanny Bear's Crochet'. Aren't we lucky!

This is a Crampton locomotive. It was patented OTD in 1843 by Thomas Russell Crampton. It's safer than earlier versions, as it has larger rear wheels and a lower boiler, which reduced its centre of gravity so that it could travel faster.

youtu.be/1p_BvaHsgGg Today is National One Hit Wonder Day. 'Safety Dance' by Men Without Hats seems appropriate for an industrial museum.

🤣🤣🤣

Today I learnt the name of the Turkish football team Galatasary translates to 'Palace of the Celts', after the Celtic people who settled in Anatolia.

One of our lesser known volunteers sunbathing yesterday.

Today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day. This is quite difficult for an industrial museum but please feel free to hop on board one of our buses on our Autumn Bus Day (Sunday 21st September) and join the Amberley crew for a voyage around the Site! Ooooh-Arrrr! www.amberleymuseum.co.uk

They may be small but nearly 40 miniature steam engines can make an unbelievable amount of noise!

Miniature steam engines queuing up for water. A bit like wildebeest around a water hole in Africa. Only wetter, greyer and smokier.

We've posted this before but we still think it's a marvellous picture.