Boscastle's Graham King to receive Chief Coastguard's Commendation
Submitted by Thorgrim on Tuesday, 22 March 2005 Page Views: 6999
Museums Graham King, owner of the Witchcraft Museum and a volunteer with the Boscastle Coastguard rescue team, is to receive the Chief Coastguard's Commendation. Last August when Boscastle was devastated with flood water, Mr King alerted Falmouth Coastguard to the worsening situation who then took the decisive action to scramble helicopters to the scene ensuring that no lives were lost. The Witchcraft Museum in Boscastle took a severe pounding from the floods and Graham feared that his business was lost.Although severely damaged, the museum miraculously survived one of the worst floods in UK history. Owner Graham King, the museum team, and scores of volunteers worked tirelessly day and night to rid the museum of hundreds of tons of sewage, mud and silt. Despite the devastation thousands of irreplaceable objects were salvaged.
"It's a miracle", says King. "At first the museum looked like a disaster zone with display cases smashed by the force of the water. Internal walls were demolished and doors had been ripped of their hinges."
Firemen searching the museum directly after the flood were horrified to discover a woman's body in the mud. Fortunately it turned out to be the resident waxwork witch 'Joan'.
Working closely with their insurance company the museum employed local builders, carpenters and electricians to reconstruct the home of this unique and important collection.
Further details of the restoration can be found on the museum website Click here