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In September MMF held its first Talk in the Pop-Up shop in Fremlin Walk. After the extensive periods of lockdown it was good to meet up again with fellow Friends.

Robin Ambrose, the local historian and writer, was our first speaker

The uses to which the Pop-Up Shop in Fremlin Walk are being out has been expanded over the last three months.
It is being used to hold MMF events and meetings, providing a real focal point in the town centre for Friends. The Trustees are already holding monthly Board meetings. And the Events’ calendar commences in early September with a talk by Robin Ambrose

We are pleased to report that Robin Ambrose, the local historian and writer, is to give an illustrated talk to the Friends.
It will be at the Pop-Up shop in Fremlin Walk on Thursday 2nd September – starting at 6.30pm.
The talk will be “Sights and Memories of Sandling”. It covers Sandling & Boarley: four Big Houses (including Boxley Abbey), the zoo, the riverside, farms, wartime and more).

The team at the Museums are again operating the wonderful collections here in Maidstone.

Things are a bit different though. The main Museum is open between 10am and 4pm, Wednesday-Saturday for most of the year. During school holidays, it is open from Monday to Saturday but will close altogether from mid-December to mid-February.

Friends have a Gardening Club, held at the Museum on Tuesdays every 4 weeks. It starts at 10am and lasts no longer than 3 hours. The objective it to maintain the three open spaces at the Museum – the Courtyard in front of the Tudor part of the building, the Godiva courtyard to the rear of the main staircase near the Bentlif library, and the gardens at the rear of the Tudor part of the building.

The MMF shop opened again in May.
In 2019, together with the Museum, Friends gained the use of a substantial shop in Fremlins Walk Precinct – at no cost. The shop had been vacant for some months and agreement was reached with the precinct management company for MMF/Museum to use the premises under a short term lease, providing no commercial use is secured . No rent is charged, MMF receive a significant rate relief, and the company pay the residue.