This is a steam engine with its jacket on and off. We didn't know that they look like a wrapped Mini Chocolate Roll underneath. This is Polar Bear, who is undergoing a truly substantial amount of renovation and conservation and should be full steam ahead later this year.

Being an industrial museum, we are a repository of useful(less) information often unknown to others. Today is the birthday of the great Harry Brearley in 1871, who invented stainless steel. He made cleaning many things and the washing up so much easier.

So disappointing. Archaeology and history belong to us all, not just the wealthy. Has it been studied? Conserved properly? Published? Just depriving the rest of us of knowledge and understanding.

Yet another example of everyone having to chip in to buy back our shared heritage.  "this once in a generation discovery" This time £74.000 was sought to pay metal detectorist and landowner for a museum to have the chance to acquire this Iron Age Hoard. 1/3 share.google/Lr0bmVeQW5qs...

It's #internetfriendsday! We've made lots of friends on Bluesky (although we'd love to make some more). Thank you to everyone who has decided that they like us! And sorry for disturbing you, as it's also Apology Day 😀

This is Erna Schneider Hoover, who had one of the first patents for computer software in 1971. She invented a program to deal with phonecalls when the manual switchboard got overwhelmed. Surprisingly, she also found a retirement job for Princess Leia. #womeninstem

There are an unusual number of bashful people around the Museum today, as it's Pay A Compliment Day. There would be more but we're a bit out of practise.

For #adoorablethursday we offer this instance of a door and a window being swopped over. We always love where you can see changes in a building!

Today is Create-a-Vacuum Day. So here is one that was made earlier. Much earlier. In 1905, in fact.

Did you know that rail wagons can act like weather vanes? They don't indicate the wind direction but if it's going to be wet.

An old man was out in his rowboat, he saw a bunch of fish. Hello little fishes, what kind of fish are you ? They yelled back Can you speak up as we are a little herd of herring

Amberley has no dinosaurs. Or any other fossils. Or flint. This makes us quite unusual as a chalk site. However, it did make us an excellent place to quarry chalk. But we do have to provide our own dinosaurs.

TV is 100 years old today. We have a working original of John Logie Baird's Televisor, as demonstrated OTD in 1926 at 22 Frith Street in London. It shows a ventriloquist's dummy called Stookie Bill and an office worker, William Taynton. Fabulous.

This is the Maverick Trail Race which takes place here every spring. WE ARE CLOSED ON SATURDAY 7TH FEBRUARY. This is for the race to take place this year.

Amberley Museum's offices are in the original office block built for Pepper & Sons when the chalk pits were in operation, dating to the 1850s. The inside has been adapted a little for modern use, so we do have the odd anomaly. Like this door, which no longer leads anywhere! #AdoorableThursday

This is an Arnold carriage from about 1896. We don't have one. However, today it's commemorating Walter Arnold who was issued with the first ever speeding ticket in Paddock Wood, Kent OTD in 1896. He was travelling at 8mph in a 2mph zone and was chased by policeman on a bicycle for 5 miles!

These are thermionic valves, otherwise known as 'tubes'. They were quite important for early radios and television. Today is the anniversary of the first radio sets being made in Chelmsford. Lucky them!

We have reopened for 2026! It's a beautiful sunny day and visitors are enjoying rides on the bus and train!

It's also #NationalHandwritingDay We found some ledgers in the original site office, when office work was obviously done properly!

It's #NationalPieDay. Our cafe will reopen tomorrow, so in the mean time, here is an example of a radio and a television made by W. G. Pye Ltd.

We found this rather attractive example of 4th century Roman Brickwork and got very excited because we too have Bricks. Lots of them. Different sizes, shapes and colours.

One of things we're really good at is companies and businesses that have been consumed by others. Never heard of Pratt's Petroleum? It was around 1888 - 1935, when it was absorbed by Esso.

We're not Roman but have a lot of numerals spread around.

We would like to point out that this doesn't just apply to finds from the ancient past. More modern items are also affected.

Have you listened to the latest news? Amberley Museum reopens on Saturday 24th January - 3 days time - for the 2026 season! Initially open Saturdays, Sundays and Wednesdays 10am - 4pm, the train and bus rides will be running, the cafe will be open and our 49 exhibitions will be available!

Today is #MuseumSelfie Day. It's also unbelievably wet and wild but our Event Manager did her best. Do you have an Amberley selfie you could share with us?

This time next week we'll be reopen to the public! We actually reopen on Saturday 24th January, so we'll be open on Sunday 25th. Bus and train rides available - not necessarily this bus as it's uncomfortable when it's raining. Cake and hot chocolate in the cafe. Perfection.

We reopen to the public next Saturday and we're REALLY looking forward to all the visiting dogs! These are some of our 'residents', who own some of our volunteers.

Someone once said 'Progress makes things worse'. We feel that this comparison between a tradition road roller and a modern one illustrates this rather well.

We just felt that this was a really good Friday video.

We're looking forward to the steam rollers who visit us in the summer, as it's National Pothole Day and raining. Really raining. So much so that we can't 😁 go outside to photograph the people who are actually fixing our potholes.

We feel that restricting this to deep-sea animals ignores the potential for chaos within so many other things.

This is a Kineopticon, invented by Birt Acres (no, that's not a typo). OTD in 1896, it was used for the first ever public film screening at the Royal Photographic Society. A 10-second classic of Rough Seas at Dover.

We've just found this on Another Site. We had thought that all things steam must necessarily be marvellous. However, there is now an exception...

Whilst we thought we were great fans of all things steam, we've decided to make an exception...

Today is Peculiar People's Day, which we think is fabulous, as it's all about celebrating quirks and eccentricities. Amberley is particularly good for this, as we celebrate many inventions that were first thought of as eccentric. So, show off your weirdness and be proud of what makes you different!

Working at an Industrial Museum can be a huge amount of fun - especially when we get to have a go! Can't say either of us are future winners of the Pottery Throwdown but it was pleasantly messy 😍

We're getting into stargazing! The #SouthDownsNationalPark will be visiting us in February and bringing lots of telescopes and other exciting stuff to stare at the night sky with. Weather permitting, we might get views like this, taken by Neil Jones!

Nicola Tesla died on this day in 1943. He is incredibly important to Amberley Museum, with his work on alternating currents, the AC induction motor and so much more. We love Tesla! (And boo to Thomas Edison, who seems to have nicked much of his work)

It's too cold for us to go outside and play with steam engines. So we're making a model of the suitably-named 'Polar Bear'. Find the printout on our website! www.amberleymuseum.co.uk/wp-content/u...

Happy Winter Solstice everyone! The days are getting longer from today 🌞 #Winter #WinterSolstice

Today is the last day of our 2025 season! Have a marvellously magical Christmas and a fabulously perfect New Year and we'll see you in 2026!

Morning.

We have a throne for Father Christmas! It's very exciting because it's been made from bits of old boat. Note the carefully placed drawer for Santa snacks.

It's National Flake Day in the USA. Not chocolate but snow, apparently. Very disappointing. It's even more disappointing that we're in the South of England where it's just raining. Not even a single, solitary flake.

Love this. So clever!

Did you know that UFOs or Unidentified Aerial Phenomena were gaining such interest at the end of the 19th century that the French Academy of Sciences offered a 100,000 franc prize for anyone communicating with extra-terrestrials. Mars was discounted, as it was felt Marians were too easy 😜

This is a bayonet with its scabbard. Not ours, we hasten to add. However, it appears that we do have one in the collections labelled 'domestic'. A domestic bayonet. We wonder what the alternative is.

It's always good to be in the festive spirit.