Those of you who have visited the museum will have seen an exhibit on the burial of Joan Wytte. Joan was born in Bodmin, Cornwall, in 1775 and died of bronchial pneumonia in Bodmin Jail in 1813.

Joan was a renowned clairvoyant and healer but became aggressive and impatient due to an untreated abscess in her tooth and people came to believe she was possessed by the devil. She became known as 'The Fighting Fairy Woman'. She was imprisoned for Grievous Bodily Harm.

Her skeleton eventually came into the possession of the Museum of Witchcraft and was exhibited there for many years. When Graham took over 8 years ago he and the museum team believed she deserved a proper burial and Joan was finally layed to rest in 1998.

A CD and accompanying book have been written and donations to the museum flood appeal will be made from their sale. If anyone is interested in buying a copy please contact kathy.wallis@nasuwt.net

Officially our opening day was March 25th but we had an open day for Press and locals on Thursday 24th. We had over 150 people through the doors for wine, nibbles and a preview of all the hard work we've been up to since August 16th last year. The response from everyone was fantastic and we had excellent comments in our visitor's book. Many of the locals had never been to the museum before but said they were impressed by the exhibits and the professionalism of Graham and the staff.

On Friday morning we were all touched to see a queue (in good British fashion) of "Friends" and supporters waiting for the doors to open to be the first to see the new improved Museum of Witchcraft. Many had gifts and donations of artefacts to celebrate the reopening. Mike and his dog Ben, who have been very helpful with our sea witchcraft display, have written a poem about the the courage of the people of Boscastle. Ralph Harvey donated a ceremonial "Great Rite" belt. We received a large donation of books (mainly regarding Crowley) for the library, and the UKPagan.com group presented us with a beautiful hand made quilt and cushions.

Hunter's Moon Morris danced outside the museum on Sunday with great verve and vigour and there was a session of singing and merriment at the local Cobweb pub later that night. Members of "Morrigan", Cathy and Colin, joined in the music and Graham gave us a few songs as well.

Now all we need for the coming year is visitors so come and see us if you're in the area. This is the last of the current set of diary updates but it has proved to be a very popular addition ot the website so "watch this space". We hope to continue the diary in a slightly different format from now on.

Thanks once again to everyone for their support and fundraising!!!

Graham and Ralph Harvey with the Great Rite Belt

Hunter's Moon Morris

Mike and Ben

Well, we are almost there !! There has been an even more frantic frenzy of activity over the last few days as we get ready to reopen the museum on Friday 25th March.

Some good friends, Rosalie and Henny, have flown in from Belgium and Holland to give some last minute assistance with cleaning and putting the displays together.

We borrowed the overhead projector from the local village hall so Mike could get on with some innovative signwriting on the front of the building. He's come up with some very artistic new signage for the A-frame board as well.

Vivienne Shanley is doing a fantastic job refurbishing the "Selling The Wind" painting as well but I do not have a photo as yet.

Graham has had very little time to rest recently but I managed to get a shot of him having a well deserved 20 minute nap on Sunday with Mavis my cat.

This is the last update so thanks to everyone for all their support and help since the flood in August. We hope you can come and experience the museum in its new, well washed form sometime in the near future.

An exhausted Graham takes a catnap

Rosalie cleaning Joan's cottage

Henny and Rosalie cleaning the entrance

Mike signwriting the front of the building

It's all becoming a bit more stressful lately as the date for reopening draws nearer. There's a frenzy of activity as we try to get all the displays ready for the 25th March. The walls and the exterior of the building are currently being repainted, the alarms are being wired, and cabinets are being rejigged to fit awkward spaces. The dusting seems neverending!! Carole has been busy redoing the 'Images of Witchcraft' display which is looking very festive.

To celebrate the reopening, the Border Morris side 'Hunter's Moon' will be dancing outside the Museum of Witchcraft on Sunday 27th March. If you're in the area it's well worth coming along to see them in action.

David McCleery taking a break from London to help with the painting

Hunter's Moon Morris at the Museum of Witchcraft

Les Siford painting the entrance

With opening day only a month away we have to step up the pace even more. We have made good progress but there is a huge amount of work still to be done. The automaton has been returned fully refurbished and with improvements and additions, the stone circle has been cleared out ready for fitting the mirrors, the new (expensive) sliding doors are installed so that we can control the humidity and temperature in the museum. Lots of progress but still lots to do!

Nick and Dave working on the stone circle

The refurbished automaton

The museum is really starting to look as though progress is being made now. The front window display is under construction and is very different from the previous one. Raymund Rogers, a local artist, was brought in to put some finishing touches on the painted face of the mannequin we are using.

The new Guide Book is almost ready for the printers, the new security cameras are in place, and Graham is working on completing the second corridor.

H.R.H. Prince Charles visited Boscastle during the week to see what progress has been made in the village. Graham was invited to meet him for a second time. He originally met him during the Prince's last visit just after the flood. Next time we must ask him to visit the museum !

Graham meets Prince Charles

Raymund repainting the window mannequin

New security cameras

It's been a couple of weeks since the last instalment as things have been really busy. Much progress is being made on the second corridor, reinstalling displays, setting up a new security monitoring system and rebuilding the booth. We are working our way through Divination, Sea Witchcraft, Spells and Charms, and Modern Witchcraft and a start has been made on the Hare & Shapeshifting section in its new position near the Stone Circle.

Our carpenter Martin has started rebuilding the booth, putting up shelves and generally making it more user friendly. The work on the new security system is still in progress but new monitors have been installed. Les Read has done a great job on the paving outside the front door. All the paving slabs were ripped up and carried away by the flood so there was a great mess at the front of the building. It's now starting to look a bit more normal.

We are pleased to say our display on Gerald Gardner is expanding due to the kindness of Patricia Crowther who has loaned the museum a ritual sword made by Gerald Gardner, some cartoons of Gerald drawn by Arnold Crowther, and some other interesting pieces from her collection. Many thanks to Patricia and Ian who showed us great hospitality when we drove up to collect the artefacts this weekend.

A ritual sword made by Gerald Gardner

Booth rebuilt

Hare display

Modern Witchcraft

It was great to get the paintings back from Royal Cornwall Museum last week. It feels like a step in the right direction to be able to bring things back. The new library shelves are still being installed so it will be a while before we can bring the books back. Hopefully they might be back when we reopen at Easter but that is uncertain at this stage.

Work continues downstairs; the booth is being repainted and a new desk is being built, the Herbs and Healing section has been painted and Modern Witchcraft has started to be filled with artefacts again. It's difficult to see real progress when you see the place every day but I do think things are coming along well. We are also rewriting the guide book to fit the new layout.

As far as the village goes, the flood alleviation works have begun in earnest on the Jordan River. A massive pipe will be built under the road down past the Wellington Hotel to the river so there will be road closures coming up over the next few weeks. The general store has reopened with a new layout and some great new cheeses. New windows have been put in to the shop on the corner next to the museum so progress is being made there as well.

Paintings returned

New paint and desk for booth

Flood alleviation work begins

Welcome to the first of the diary updates of 2005 and Happy New Year to you all.

We would like to start by saying our thoughts and sympathies go to all affected by the dreadful tsunami in South East Asia on Boxing Day. Extra candles have been burning in the shrine for the sufferers of such great devastation.

There has been no break from work here at the museum over the last couple of weeks and the displays in one of the corridors are really going full steam ahead. Graham and Carole are filling the cabinets with Spells and Charms and Joyce has been busy redoing all the text labels. The Guide Book is also being rewritten to add information regarding the flood and to reflect the new layout of the displays.

Kerriann had one of her sparkly slippers ripped from her foot by the flood waters and Carole has amusingly turned the remaining one into a display.

Some of you may be watching 'The Seaside Parish' which is still being filmed. I managed to get a photo of Charlie and Dixon the two omnipresent camera guys today as they were filming the reopening of the village grocery store. The store is opening tomorrow 8th Jan and several others are on track to be open for Easter. The Otherworld Gallery and The Spinning Wheel Restaurant are just two of the businesses that plan to be up and running by then.

As an aside we've been interested to receive lots of emails from people who have seen orbs and strange faces in some of our photos. Quite intriguing!

'Spells & Charms' in progress

The Otherworld due to be reopening at Easter

Charlie & Dixon from Tiger Aspect

Displays taking shape

Fortune Cup display

Sparkly slipper

Well it looks like most of the foundation work is done (new flooring, new walls, paintwork etc) and now we can really start to get our teeth into the displays so to speak. Graham and Carole have been busying themselves with Divination, Working Tools, Ritual Magic and Satanism over the last few days and things are really starting to come together. Some of the paintwork will have to wait until next year as we have been advised that some of the walls are still too wet to paint. It should be interesting for people to see the original flood lines and get a feel for some of the damage.

Ritual Magic is looking extremely good and we are making the most of those great new cabinets in the other areas. They are being lined with a special velcro fabric to make labelling and display easier. The colours have been carefully chosen for greatest impact.

The new stair lift went in today which is an added bonus for disabled visitors. A similar one had been fitted last year but was obviously destroyed by the flood so we're very pleased to have the new one up and running. You'll see Joyce demonstrating it very nicely in the photo attached.

I mentioned in an earlier instalment that the dehumidifiers had to be sent back. Since then the humidity has risen considerably up to 70 - 80% but we have some new ones on order and they should arrive early in the new year. The dust continues to be a menace, it's a neverending job keeping things clean.

The television crews have been busy in Boscastle over the last few months and they seem to be continuing their coverage, including a live broadcast opposite the museum on the local Spotlight BBC news on 23 December. It's all good publicity for the village and the museum. We have opened up the kitchen in the flat upstairs for them to make themselves tea and coffee as it is such a hideous night.

Yule greetings to you all from everyone here. We hope 2005 will be dryer and happy for everyone and thanks again to everyone for supporting the museum. I'll write more next year.

Joyce trying out the new stair lift

Night time shot of BBC readying themselves for another live broadcast

Boscastle on the televison again

Library coming together

Ritual Magic looking good

Just a quick update this week: Some of you may have seen the museum featured on BBC1 Breakfast news this morning. Apart from a couple of misquotes it was a very positive piece on the progress Graham is making with the museum. Film crews seem to be the norm around the village since the flood and there will be more televisual treats on BBC 1 on Dec 28 when a couple more programs on Boscastle will be aired.

The floors are now finished (just the booth and the passageway to go) so we can start putting new skirting boards in and get on with more painting. Once this is done we will be able to retrieve our paintings which are currently being cared for by the Royal Cornwall Museum.

Work is being done in the upstairs gallery to change some of the exhibits around. Graham came up with a striking new design for the Ritual Magic section. I've attached a photo so you can see for yourself how amazing it looks. You will notice many changes when you next visit the museum, both upstairs and down. Hopefully you'll think they are for the better.

upstairs gallery floor finished

Carole spraying Graham's new ritual magic display

downstairs flooring finished

A couple of weeks have passed since the last update. We have been extremely busy gearing up for the Friends of the Museum meeting last weekend. The meeting is normally held in Boscastle but this year was in King Arthur's Halls in Tintagel, an amazing venue. Carole and Kerriann did a talk on the flood and Jason Semmens spoke on 'Cunning Folk.' Both talks were very well received and we hope everyone enjoyed the weekend.

Graham has been busy getting things clear for the new flooring which is being laid as I write. The workshop floor is complete and the upstairs gallery is being done today. Although we were not flooded upstairs the damp has penetrated the floor so new floor coverings are required. We've chosen a deep red colour to match the walls and it's starting to look really good.

Unfortunately the Red Cross need their dehumidifiers back so they're now outside waiting to be collected. They have made such a difference as you can imagine and Graham has ordered some others which will be permanently used in the museum to control the atmosphere.

The artefacts and parts of the museum are being professionally photographed over the next few days. John Hooper and his wife Jackie are helping us out by taking photos of the more interesting pieces in the museum which may be used for post cards or posters next year.

They're not the only ones with cameras here at the moment. The BBC has been filming in and around the village for a special Breakfast news programme on Dec 13 and The Seaside Parish chaps have been busy filming for the next series which will start in February next year.

John Hooper photographing artefacts

Kevin from Bodmin Flooring laying the upstairs flooring

Leza sorting out the dehumidifiers for their return to Germany

New floor goes into the workshop

Graham has been focussing on getting the workshop finished this week. It has been painted white, skylights have been put in the ceiling, and shelving donated by the Puppet Museum and The Spinning Wheel has been put up to store tools and artefacts. The whole room is now much lighter and more organised and should prove to be much more functional than it has been in the past.

New shelving is also going up in the library. We are taking the opportunity to replace the existing wooden shelves with new archival shelving which is much kinder to books over the long term. Graham is also looking into sourcing permanent dehumidifiers, security systems, sliding doors and other general conservation devices for both the library and the museum itself. We are currently using dehumidifiers kindly on loan from the German Red Cross which has saved us and the insurers a lot of money.

The 'Satanism' display is the latest one to be redesigned. It is also being relocated to a different part of the museum.

Flood alleviation is high on the agenda in Boscastle at the moment as massive works will be starting in the new year. Graham is ensuring he has a big input in the Harbour plans so a similar incident will not be able to happen again.

Carole at the new library shelves

Graham putting up new shelving in the workshop

Satanism display under reconstruction

Emptying the Red Cross dehumidifier

The work continues at a steady pace. The workshop is almost completely repainted in a glowing white - an enormous improvement on how we found it after the flood with everything coated in a putrid silty scum. Les and his team are doing a phenomenal job and are right on schedule with the rebuild. The wet weather was a worry when doing the roof but that is all finished now.

An area has been opened up under the stairs behind the booth to create extra storage and also another area of damaged wall has been taken out near the stone circle so as to create extra display space.

The next section of the Divination display has been started today. We're using one of the Natural History Museum cabinets and it's going to look stunning. We're so happy to be able to recycle these amazing cabinets. By the way, did anyone notice the weird images in the photo of Cecil Williamson's mirror in Divination in the last instalment? The crystal balls really looked alive in that shot.

Vivienne Shanley has been busy restoring The Wheel of the Year which she originally painted several years ago. It was obviously damaged in the flood so she's redoing it in oils and the colours look incredible. Her partner Steve Brayzier is a specialist in metal work and has been helping with the restoration of some of the athames and other metal objects. There are many more volunteers working behind the scenes for which we are very grateful.

Les the foreman in the newly painted workshop

Divination display with freshly scrunched paper towel in foreground

Hare in stone circle with view of opened up area under the stairs

Steve has been restoring some of our metal work

Viv repainting the Wheel of the Year.

Opened out area under the stairs

Busy as ever in the museum and beyond over the last week or so. Graham has been up to London to pick up some beautiful mahogany display cabinets which have kindly been donated by the Natural History Museum. They look amazing but some have to be slightly customised to fit in the museum as they are so large. We are hoping to get a few more and a couple of the other businesses in Boscastle are so impressed they are hoping to get some for their shops as well.

The "Divination" display is starting to take shape downstairs in a different location using one of the cabinets donated by the Puppet Museum in Eastbourne. It's great to see some of the displays going back in after we've seen so much going out. Repainting has started in "Sea Witchcraft" the new front doors are well and truly insitu. The workshop out the back has been replastered and is starting to look its usual messy self with cabinets and tools taking up their rightful positions.

Kerriann and Carole had a great time meeting people at Witchfest in London last weekend. The Children of Artemis gave us a space and also held an auction to help raise funds for the museum so a big thank you to Dave Mercer and his team for that and also to the people who donated items and money for the fund.

The Pagan Federation National Conference is coming up at the end of November and I believe we will also have a presence there. We have put together a set of photograhic panels with pics of the flood and how we've been progressing so keep an eye out for that if you're interested.

Kerriann & Carol at Witchfest.jpg

Natural History Museum cabinet admired by Kerriann

The Harbour 11.11.04

Yet another owl appears from the debris

Divination resited

With one display back in action (The Wisewoman's Cottage) Graham is keen to get some of the others started. Appropriately, he has reinstalled the small fishing boat which forms the basis for Sea Witchcraft this week. This display was, ironically, only slightly damaged by the flood waters so should be fairly straightforward to sort out.

More display cabinets have been donated, the latest from the Natural History Museum, so Graham will be collecting them from London this Thursday.

One of the favourite displays came back from restoration this week. Rory De Tigo, a well known sculptor and artist down here in Cornwall has done a fantastic job restoring her to her former glory. He is busy with several other pieces of our more delicate objects so a big thank you to Rory for all his help.

A big thanks also go to AXA ART our insurers. They have been particularly accommodating and very helpful during this difficult time so we cannot praise them enough. The same cannot be said for everyone in the village, some of whom are having no fun at all with other insurance companies, but AXA ART have been great. Unfortunately Graham is still awaiting payment for his Landrover Sally from a different insurance company who shall remain nameless.

That's it for now. Hope to see some of you at Witchfest!

Meg Merrilles restored to former glory

Dan fixing blown out wall

Dusty witchballs still in place after the flood

Sea Witch Craft starting to take shape

Well, what a week! As far as building work goes things are really happening. A new roof is being built on the workshop (unfortunately the hideous weather has meant a lot of leaks while the job is being done but we can cope with a few drops of water), walls have been plastered, walls have been removed to open up more space, plinths have been installed, and last but not least, the Wisewoman's Cottage has been reinstated. "Joan" is now back at her table with her lovely animals after Carole's careful restoration work. Some finishing touches still need to be done but it's great to see at least one of the displays coming back together.

We've had yet more promises of display cabinets this week. We picked up a lovely one from the National Aquarium in Plymouth (worth a visit actually if you're ever looking for something to do in Plymouth), and The Natural History Museum in London has some fabulous ones which we hope to pick up in the next few weeks.

It was a very emotional day yesterday as The Witchcraft Seminar, held in Tintagel, was chosen as the event to hand over the money raised so far by the Pagan Federation, Children of Artemis, and the Friends of the Museum of Witchcraft. To date, £5,400 has been raised and we believe more is coming in all the time. The cheque was presented by Levannah Morgan of the Pagan Federation so a huge thank you goes out to all who have contributed. Your donations will be used wisely.

There have been some amazing money raising events going on all over the country but one which stood out was a rather unusual idea, organised by some very adventurous members of the Magical Community - a Bonk-a-Thon(!) which raised around £200. So thanks for that everyone!!!

Also, the sign from the Wisewoman's Cottage, which turned up in Wales near Witches Point, has finally made it's way back to the museum. Adrian Bryn-Evans who runs Friends of the Museum returned the sign to us today. The sign (not Adrian) looks very weathered but appears to be in remarkably fine condition and with a little linseed oil should make a lovely exhibit in itself.

Carole & I held a small stall at the Witchcraft Seminar selling Museum of Witchcraft t shirts & some of the retail items that made it through the flood - a bit of a practice session for Witchfest in a couple of weeks where we will be having a stand with some more photos of the flood and the progress we are making. Please come and say hello and find out first hand what has been going on. Hopefully we'll see some of you there!

Witchcraft Seminar stall - Carole

Adrian happily displaying sign at the Witchcraft seminar

Carole with Joan in the Wisewoman's Cottage

Graham with cheque

We've had a couple of very dirty girls in the museum over the past few days. Hannah & Carole have been giving the shrine a very good clean which, as you will see from the photos, was an extremely filthy job! The mud has been working up a particularly nasty stench over the last few weeks and when it was released into the open air it really made its presence known. But now it's looking much better and the heavy rains we had last night have refilled it with fresh water so it should get back to normal soon.

The workshop/storeroom is taking shape and the new roof will be completed in the next couple of weeks. Les Read and his team have been working really hard to get things rebuilt as fast as possible. Steve who is one of the builders has been keeping a close eye on the website (I think secretly to see if he ends up being mentioned on it). We wanted to put a photo of him on the site but the ones Graham took were very boring so, as Steve was Mr January on the famous Boscastle Builders calender, we thought we'd give you a treat & put that photo on.

The Wisewoman's cottage is almost ready to be reinstated. The painting has been completed, the furniture is in, the artefacts are being polished and once the faux fire has been redone we'll be able to put Joan back in where she belongs. She's looking pretty good after being carefully restored by Carole, except for losing one eyebrow which is currently in a small envelope tucked under her shawl.

Finally we'd like to show you a new photograph which has just been given to us showing Carole & me trying to protect the museum from the flood with an old wooden door! We realise now that we were perhaps being a little optimistic as the water rose at least another six feet soon after. Scary stuff!

Mr January

Carol and Hannah cleaning shrine

Carole and Kerriann protecting museum with wooden door

Hannah with mud from shrine

Since the evening of Saturday 2nd October we've been hard pressed to get Graham to stop searching the local environs for a crock of gold after a beautiful rainbow was seen arcing over the whole of Boscastle. We are sure this is a good omen for things to come and we managed to grab a quick photo for your viewing pleasure.

It's been an eventful week since the last instalment. Graham and I made a trip up to Eastbourne during the week to pick up some display cabinets which have been donated by the owner of the Puppet Museum there. The museum was housed in one of the round Napoleonic Defense Towers on the seaside at Eastbourne and unfortunately has had to close. The tower was incredibly damp and many of the cases were more furry than some of ours but we managed to select some very good cabinets, clean them up and bring them home. Thanks to Mel, the owner of the collection, and Jerry from Green Man Books for organising the donation, and Ray and Freya the dog for helping with the move.

The new floor base has been laid this weekend. Terry and Lee spent a very long Saturday laying some special concrete screed reinforced with glass fibres for extra strength. The next step will be a levelling compound over the whole floor before the vinyl flooring can be put down.

The walls are now up to about 5 foot high so we're feeling a bit more secure. A quotation has now been accepted for replacing the flat roof on Graham's workshop which was due for replacement anyway so while it is empty it's a perfect time to get that sorted out.

Upstairs Martin the carpenter is busy enclosing the area at the top of the entrance steps as part of our move to control the environment in the library. The office space will be much warmer during winter and the door at the top of the steps should help us control the humidity.

That's all for now. I will be back next week with more news.

Martin at work

Rainbow over Boscastle, Graham looking for a crock of gold

Lee and Terry laying new floor

Well, the building work has commenced and walls are starting to go up. The new floor should be put in some time this week, the workshop roof will be replaced and the walls strengthened, and replacement doors and windows are now underway. The small kitchen out the back will need to be totally redone as it was underwater and very muddy for several days. I have included some photos of the commencement of the main wall between the museum and Cornish Goodies and of Martin, our local carpenter, replacing one of the doors.

Carole and Joyce and several other volunteers have been kept very busy with the restoration of artefacts which seems to be a neverending job. Many of the objects need to be dried very slowly and carefully to avoid damage so need to be moved through a series of spaces from 'slightly damp' to 'warm & dry'. We appear to be doing very well so far with minimal post flood damage.

Our taxidermied animals have been returned from "Pampered Pooches" in Camelford where they were being washed & blow dried. They are looking particularly fluffy and fresh so thanks again to the staff there.

Graham will be going off to the Puppet Museum in Eastbourne this week. Unfortunately it is closing but they may have some display cases for us to replace the ones we have lost. Thanks to Jerry of Green Man Books for alerting us and arranging our visit.

Thanks also to those astrologers who have sent charts and interpretations in. There is some really interesting stuff there.

That's all for now. We will continue our weekly updates until we stop.

Owl Guardians

Work commences

Carole restoring artefacts

Graham pretending to build new wall

Martin makes new toilet door

Work is progressing steadily at the museum. The cleaning and decontamination process is complete and rebuilding work is due to start next week.

We have had a bit of a setback with the flooring however. At the request of the cleaners we removed the lino on the ground floor in case of mud ingress. In doing so we discovered 3 layers of lino covering a wooden and cement block floor and unfortunately all the wood is rotten so we need to relay the entire area with a latex cement mixture before we can put any new coverings down. Lee and Graham have spent all weekend stripping out the old floor in readiness for the next stage.

The workshop is starting to take shape with some building work starting there in the next day or two. We are hoping to install a window and redo the roof as the water reached the ceiling and has caused some structural damage. More dehumidifiers have been placed throughout the museum as the relative humidity has been around 85% on the ground floor.

The Wisewoman's Cottage is also coming along nicely. Graham has repainted the room and replaced the table and chest of drawers with some period pieces from a local Camelford second hand furniture restorer. The sign from the cottage has amazingly been found washed up on a beach in Wales (somewhere near Witches Point we believe) and has been returned to Adrian at Friends of the Museum. The taxidermied animals from the cottage are currently being restored by "Pampered Pooches", a pet grooming salon in Camelford. That may be a job they won't forget in a hurry!!

You may notice the quality of the photos improve from now on. Our digital camera has taken a beating with water & mud and we finally replaced it yesterday so the only fuzz you see on the screen now should be Graham's hairstyle!

Stone circle without mirrors

Painting Joan's cottage

Removing flooring

Exterior view

Remains of adjoining Cornish goodies

Plastic removal

Workshop dries out

Recovered sign with guardian

We can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel as far as cleaning & disinfecting artefacts goes. The contents of only about three boxes from the storeroom remain to be cleaned as of this weekend. There have been some interesting finds in some of the boxes including Egyptian scarabs, talismans made from coins, and apparently Greek or Russian Orthodox iconography.

Unfortunately it seems almost 50% of the artefacts in the storeroom have been lost. This area was very badly hit by the flood and due to the fact access was almost impossible for nearly three weeks the silt has had time to destroy quite a lot of the pieces. Graham is particularly upset about the loss of all his power tools and many of the old hand tools left to him by his father.

Graham & Lee have been busy taking out block work and opening up spaces in readiness for when the professional cleaners come in hopefully today or tomorrow. Dehumidifiers have been placed in most parts of the museum but humidity still remains around 85% on the lower floor.

This weekend we have had a fair bit of annoyance with 'catastrophe tourists' strolling in to buildings to check out what's going on. Graham had a large group of people walk in to the museum to say hello because they saw him on television. This is despite large "No Entry" signs at the entrance to the harbour.

Despite this small annoyance and the hard work everyone is putting in spirits are remaining high as steady progress continues. Thanks again to everyone for their support and messages.

Wisewoman's cottage

Area leading to museum

Disinfection Central

Divination Area

Flood recovery storeroom

Removal of mud & silt has been going well & we have now retrieved most of the salvageable objects from the ground floor. Dehumidifiers have been placed in the upper floor & the library to try & stabilize the humidity at the recommended 55 - 60%. It was up to around 90% after the flood & obviously 100% downstairs!

Yesterday Graham & Lee Fox were finally able to tackle the kitchen and workshop/storage room at the back of the museum. Much debris had been piled up & overturned in the workroom and we were unable to get past the door so it was a major task for the chaps. Obviously the smell was almost unbearable as almost three weeks worth of sewerage & rotting food had been building up in there. They did a fantastic job in making the areas accessible. Many thanks to Lee for his help! (I have attached some pictures of Lee & Graham covered in mud)

We are starting to make headway in answering all the amazing letters & emails we have received. Many thanks to the volunteers from the PF & Friends of the Museum of Witchcraft for their assistance in this task. We will respond to each one as soon as we can.

One request: we are really interested in the astrological chart & interpretation for the time of the flood. If there are any astrologers out there who are interested in putting one together we would be really interested & might include it in any future display the museum does on the flood. The timings are fairly vague because of the confusion but the river broke the bank around 1530hrs but reached it's height around 1630hrs on August 16 2004 in Boscastle Cornwall UK.

The Children of Artemis have kindly agreed to sell Museum of Witchcraft t-shirts (provided by Wicked Teaze) to help raise funds for the museum. There is a limited number as these are the survivors of the flood - they were about to be delivered the same afternoon - so check out their website if you are interested.

We will be doing weekly updates from now on unless there is a major development so keep checking the site.

Lee and Graham

Where the entrance used to be

Workshop Clean up

Workshop Clean up

Workshop Clean up

Workshop Clean up

Workshop Clean up

Well it's been a few days since the latest update from the Museum of Witchcraft. As you can imagine it's been frantic here. Graham has taken the decision to utilise the large number of local people who have offered their assistance in cleaning & clearing the museum. There are two main reasons for this:

1.Health and Safety - there is a real problem with sewerage & rotting food contamination to the silt infiltrating the museum and
2. there is nowhere for volunteers from outside the village to eat or sleep so logistically it is very difficult. Local volunteers have none of these problems.

It is also proving to be an important healing process for Boscastle residents to be personally involved with the rebuilding of the key buildings in the village.

Over the last few days we have recovered more than expected. The Royal Cornwall Museum in Truro has taken our paintings for storage so a huge thank you to them. The British Cycle Museum outside Boscastle has donated storage space for some new display cabinets we received from a museum in Gloucestershire.

Most of the recoverable artifacts from the ground floor have now been cleaned, disinfected and dried in Graham's garage with the help of the museum team. The upturned display cabinets have been removed and their contents sent off for conservation. Much structural damage has been sustained and we are awaiting builders to give us an estimate of the cost of the damage.

We are totally blown away by the amazing support we are getting from the pagan community as a whole and from others who are normally not quite so tolerant of our beliefs. The Pagan Federation Devon & Cornwall Branch & the Children of Artemis websites are also keeping updates from the museum. Please check them out. We will try to keep you all up to date as & when things change.

We retrieved Joan from the wisewoman's cottage - she gave the fireman a fright as they thought she was a dead body!

Slow progress today as we still have no power to the museum. Despite the village being opened to the public at midday today the harbour area is still sealed off so we can only get to the museum 2 to 3 at a time with special permission.

We are trying to re-establish the office upstairs to bring some semblance of normality to the space but this is difficult with the lack of power & telephone lines. We hope this problem will be remedied within a day or two.

Yesterday afternoon Tamsin & Stephanie, both museum conservation specialists from the Penwith, & North Cornwall District Councils respectively, were allowed in to assess the damage (Photo attached). Although structural damage is quite extensive they hold high hopes for a large proportion of the artefacts as long as they are removed carefully & stored well. Our next priority is to remove the artworks and any organic matter like mummified cats, stuffed toads and leather items.

I found a lovely crystal ball buried in the mud in front of the shrine yesterday. We believe it is from 'The Otherworld' shop's display cabinet. It was totally unharmed. I have attached a photograph. Other items recovered yesterday were the athames from the front window display and the Gerald Gardner painting.

We were touched and amused to receive a comfort box full of wine choccies and cleaning equipment in the post today from a coven in Devon. Thanks guys it really cheered us up. All the messages of support we have received are fantastic and we will be replying to them all as soon as we get a chance.

The candle is continuing to light the shrine.

The cordons around the village remain tight so access is still a problem but Graham managed to get in under the Coastguard banner today & retrieve more bits You'll be pleased to know that Alex Sanders' horned mask has been retrieved today along with 2 cauldrons, one of Levannah's staffs, the God & Goddess terracotta statues, and the "wondrous candle".

We've been busy disinfecting everything because of the health risk. A museum conservator should be arriving to inspect the damage today (if we can get her through the barrier) so we can start to get together a plan of action for volunteers.

We have received some quite upsetting phonecalls from a very few individuals (who are not personally known to the museum) accusing us of overplaying the damage to the museum, hence we are not calling on volunteers. Let me say that this is definitely NOT the case as you will see by some of the photographs. We still have very limited access & could only get in to take them this morning.

We are becoming very frustrated by all the red tape but hopefully it will be relaxed in the next day or two. We are even having trouble getting back in to the cordon to my house after a meal at the pub at night because police shifts change & they don't know who we are. Very annoying!!

I have included some of the photographs from the interior of the museum which were taken this morning. Note the tide line on some of the photos.

The books were taken by Kay Transport to the National Maritime Museum this morning so thanks very much to Tim Prout and his team at Kay Transport in Plymouth for donating their services. The books were packed with boxes and loads of other stuff kindly donated by Dairy Crest organised by Gary Shorrocks so thanks to them also.

There is still limited access to the museum. Overground water has been supplied by SWW so we hope to get some type of plumbing sorted today. There is no electricity at the site and the Health & Safety aspect is critical as the silt is full of rotting food from the Harbour Restaurant and sewage from the broken pipes.

Graham managed to rescue a couple of items yesterday. We were all relieved when Graham found “Harry” our tarred head in the cabinet. He also recovered the fox mask and a mummified cat from the silt. Kerriann found Pat Crowther in the shrine (a photo that is) which was rather fab.

We’re hoping to get some more photos out later today so keep checking the website.

All the books and archives have now been removed from the library and will be transferred some time this week for storage at the National Maritime Museum in Falmouth who have very kindly donated their facilities.

As I write we are still unable to gain access to the main museum due to danger but as the weather is looking better today we remain hopeful. Graham has ceased his Coastguard duties for now and can concentrate on the museum.

We know we have a huge number of people wishing to help and it's very frustrating not being able to do anything, so perhaps some of you could organise fun events to raise funds. I know some of you are doing this already which is excellent.

At "Coastguard Central" we've been developing a great relationship with the Salvation Army who have been here since Day One feeding & watering the troops. They have now parked the van in Kerriann's driveway so there is a constant stream of good-looking firemen on the forecourt.

Salvation Army in driveway

Graham's uniform wrapped around Kerriann's broomstick

This evening at very short notice the museum team was informed that we could gain access to the library to start removing books. We were only allowed a very small number of people as the area is still deemed unsafe we are sporting hard-hats so look very fetching. We were not allowed into the museum itself but managed to take a peek at certain areas.

The main entrance and wall connecting us to Cornish Goodies on the corner has been demolished so at least some air can now get to the museum & start to dry things off. We are still unaware when we will be officially allowed to enter the building as it is full of sewage affected silt. Very bad weather is forecast for Sunday but we are crossing fingers that this will not delay our access. Rest assured we will be alerting volunteers as soon as it is feasible.

A photo of our now obviously ridiculous attempt of holding the water back from the Museum. The photo shows a visitor who was helping us hold a sheet of wood across to guide the river away from the museum

A visitor helping us hold a sheet of wood across to guide the river away from the museum

Graham was able to gain unofficial access to the museum today to take some photos. As you can see, the force of the water was immense. The wall between the museum and Cornish Goodies next door is being demolished today and the building made safe. Hopefully soon after, we can gain proper access and start the cleanup. The main problem then will be the health and safety aspect because the silt is full of raw sewage.

Graham's beloved Landrover "Sally" has been recovered from the middle of the harbour, and as you can see she's not faired well.

We have been overwhelmed by the response from everyone offering their help and support. Rest assured we will let people know immediately when we can go in and get things happening.

Graham's beloved Landrover "Sally" recovered from the middle of the harbour

A cursory inspection by the Government Surveyor has revealed that the museum is structurally sound and only one internal wall has collapsed.

Graham in his role as coastguard has managed to gain access to the building and can confirm that the ground floor has two feet of mud and silt, and the water level had reached a height of five feet.

Almost all of the display cabinets have been thrown over by the force of the water and we are unsure of how much will be salvageable. Cecil Williamson's scrying mirror seems to be undamaged.

Offers of help are coming in from professionals and volunteers across the world.

Today we hope to recover the museum computer and bring it to Graham's partner Kerrianne's house, which is currently being commandeered by the coastguard and being used as their headquarters.

Today Graham King, owner of the Museum of Witchcraft, was able to venture into the building to witness first hand the damage left behind by the flash floods. The structural damage is severe. The lower floor is unrecognisable; 5 feet of mud fills the corridors and booth area. Display cases are upturned and contents missing.

On a more positive note the upper floor and contents appears to be mainly undamaged, as does the library and museum archives. The Museum will take time to recover but rest assured it will be back, restored to its previous splendour.

Graham King was interviewed on the Today programme this morning, on Radio 4. To listen to the interview, an audio file (*.ram) of the Today programme interview is available to download: Radio 4 Interview.