So much to see at busy museum

So some believe those who work in them have an easy life.

After all, once the paintings and artefacts are on display, what else can staff do beside leisurely wander around the corridors.

Well actually, quite a lot! And to prove it, Bolton Museum, Art Gallery and Aquarium opened its doors this week to give the public a peek behind the scenes.

And they were so successful, museum chiefs have decided to make "backstage" access a perk for those people who become a "Friend" of the museum.

A spokesman said: "Everybody seemed to really enjoy themselves and they discovered so much about the work that we do here.

"We were very pleased that just over a quarter of those who came were interested in becoming a Friend of the museum. Five of the 42 people who turned up joined on the night."

Bolton Evening News journalist David Crookes went along to see the action for himself. AQUARIUM

One of the more popular areas of the museum is the aquarium where freshwater fish from across the globe are on view.

But one thing you may not know is that Bolton is the country's second most important centre for fish breeding with only Chester Zoo ranking higher.

Its status is so internationally recognised, it has been trusted with some of the rarest fish in the world.

And in some cases, Bolton has a large proportion of the population of some of the world's most endangered fish including the Pinstripe Damba from Madagascar.

Under the watchful eye of aquarium technician Pete Liptrott the fish are kept in identical conditions to those found in their normal non-tanked habitat.

Mr Liptrott's job is to ensure the temperature, lighting and surroundings of each tank is perfect.

And it comes as a result of an enormous amount of research, using contacts from around the world.

A deep knowledge of genetics is also required. Mr Liptrott explained: "We keep a stud book when we inbreed fish populations to ensure we are retaining the finest genes.

"This is especially important with rarer breeds."

He added: "With work like this money is not important. You need passion. I see this job as being a great privilege." NATURAL HISTORY

Zoology

The usually unseen storage rooms of the museum's zoology department resemble an animal morgue.

There are drawers full of bird skins stuffed with cotton wool and mounted animals are littered around the room in transparent plastic bags.

To the casual observer there seems little point in keeping dead animals but each specimen, according to Kathryn Berry, the keeper of natural history (zoology), is of vital importance to research.

The bird skins are beautifully preserved and carefully labelled with the animal's name and the area in which each one was found.

They are regularly checked for insect damage and stored away in drawers to protect them from light.

Mrs Berry said: "When we are given an animal we weigh and measure it and then hand it to our taxidermist to be skinned.

"Each specimen has to last forever. The key word is bio-diversity. When a site is earmarked for preservation they will come to us to find out which animals have been found on that site in the past.

"And the more damage that is done to the environment, the more crucial these skins will be. They are never put on display."

Natural history conservator Geoff Yates has preserved hundreds of animals and insects.

He said: "Sometimes they can be so damaged that we are only able to keep their skulls or bits or bone. We try to save as much of an animal as we can because there is so much that be learned from studying them."

The zoology department has a wide variety of animals including bats. There is also a huge range of insects.

Mrs Berry added: "No matter how common something is we still need them. We have drawers full of Blue Tits and Kingfishers and animals dating back to the 1800s. Every one of them is important." Human history

Humans have proved themselves to be the most adaptable and creative of all life on earth.

And the upshot of that is Bolton's museum staff have their work cut out trying to collect and preserve the various bits and pieces mankind has produced.

Bolton has a large archeology and Egyptian collection, and like an old car, repairs become inevitable.

Louise Window, is the human history conservator, and with occasional help from 16-year-old Rivington and Blackrod pupil Jennifer Hamblett, she spends hours restoring artefacts to their former glory.

One of her current projects is repairing a set of beautiful 18th Century tiles which are slightly faded and chipped but she regularly deals with items which are more than 500 years old.

Ms Window said: "It's lifetime job. There is so much work that needs to be done but so little time to do it.

"But it's wonderfully involving task and so very interesting." Botany

One thing many people visiting the museum will rarely see is its collection of moss.

Some of the moss dates back to the 1920s but they are so fragile and light-sensitive they are are usually kept tucked away in the dark.

Patricia Francis, keeper of natural history (botany), has spent years overseeing the herbarium collection.

And she revealed that some of the most interesting tit-bits of information can be gained not from the plants but the paper on which they are sometimes mounted.

She said: "Paper was very scarce at the turn of the century and nothing went to waste. One mounted by Edward Jacob was placed on paper which listed the prices of military equipment and would probably we just as valuable in itself."

But she said the botany department was often overlooked. "The main ones in the area are in Manchester and Liverpool. You wouldn't really expect us to compete against these cities." ART

The recent return of the Art Gallery's most prized possession --Thomas Moran's painting 'Nearing Camp, Evening on the Upper Colorado River' -- has received much attention in recent weeks.

But the £6 million work-of-art is just one of hundreds of paintings held in Bolton.

In fact, there are so many that many are kept in storage away from the public and are brought out on a rotational basis.

People such as Lucy Whetstone, the gallery's keeper of art, spend hours deciding when to put out the paintings, how long to keep them on display and how to show them off to perfection.

She said: "We were loaned George Innes' painting 'Delaware Water Gap' from the National Gallery which we have put on display next to the Moran picture. They complement each other so well since they are both depictions of different parts of America."

Some items, such as the water colour paintings need to be carefully handled and are only on display for a few weeks each year.

They are light sensitive and highly valuable.

Ms Whetstone added: "We have paintings from the 17th Century straight through to the 20th Century but there are so many we can't possibly show them all.

"I think people think we hide some of them but we don't. We just don't have enough space but they are always available to view if people make an appointment to see a specific one."

An interesting "hidden" selection is a collection of marble drawings created to look exactly like the precious stone.

Ms Whetstone said: "When the people at the Trafford Centre were trying to create the fake marble flooring, a few came down here to see our collection of marble.

"It's not unusual for us to get a wide spectrum of visitors. We regularly attract people from across the world." BOLTON Museum, Art Gallery and Aquarium has continually bucked the national trend by repeatedly attracting a record number of visitors.

Last year 14 per cent more people went to shows and exhibitions at the aquarium, art gallery and museums than during the previous year.

That equated to an extra 30,000 visitors walking through its doors last year bringing the grand total to 140,479.

Most of these extra visitors went to the aquarium which increased visitor numbers by 18,000. The museum and art gallery attracted an extra 10,000 people.

The figures flew in the face of the situation at the rest of Britain's museums. The majority of them are fighting a fierce battle just to keep numbers stable.