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History show attracts nearly 100 visitors
Nearly 100 people visited the Royal Pharmaceutical
Society’s London headquarters on Saturday July 14 for the “Lambeth Pharmacy
History Show”, organised by the Society’s museum as part of the annual
Vauxhall festival. Among the visitors were two members of the Society
who had travelled from Bristol especially for the show.
Visitors were offered a programme of new displays,
hands-on demonstrations and expert talks on plant-based medicines. The
normally quiet waiting space outside the President’s office was constantly
busy as visitors inspected the wares on offer from costumed 15th century
“apothecaries” (Joanna Castle and Peter Gregory) and their colleague the
confectioner (Mandy Wynn). Committee rooms overflowed as visitors crowded
in to hear talks on the use of plants in modern pharmacy (Michael Watts)
and early physic gardens (Letta Jones).
The Pharmacy History Show was the latest in a series
of events arranged by museum curator Caroline Reed and her team to raise
the museum’s profile and bring its collections to new audiences.
Ms Reed told The Journal that last year’s
participation in London’s millennium “String of Pearls” festival had boosted
visitor figures by 270 per cent. But, because the displays are scattered
through the building, most weekday visits to the museum have to be carefully
managed to avoid disrupting the Society’s working routine. Opening the
building on a Saturday allowed the museum staff to make use of areas that
would be unavailable during the week.
Ms Reed said that the museum was grateful to those
who had helped make the afternoon a success, and particularly to those
members of the Society who had volunteered to help. They were Rathindra
Banerjee, Dr Shirley Ellis, Peter and Christine Homan, Dr John Hunt and
Michael Shaw.
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