Cash strapped council buys Mr Darcys shirt

[allmycats]

How can Calderdale Council justify spending £20,000 plus buying fees on a shirt when they are already in dire financial
state. ? Who the hell authorised this spend when they are making so many cuts. I do understand that various departments have separate budgets but common sense should apply. Oh stop, common sense and council spending don’t come in the same sentence.

According to the BBC Article

"They were paid for using money from financial donations to the museum."

“They were paid for using money from financial donations to the museum.”

Google designated funds. Donations to museums can’t be used to fix potholes.

Celeb obsessed population will visit in droves. Could pay off big time.
And yes, different funds.

They used money that was donated to the museum. It's not taxpayers' money and it's not money that could/would otherwise have been used for public services.

Maybe they were outbid on Harry’s pants

https://metro.co.uk/2024/03/07/stripper-sells-prince-harrys-boxers-200-000-20416156/amp/

I live in Calderdale. There is an awful lot of frothing here from people who don't get that the money was ring fenced for the museum only, and cannot be used to fill potholes, etc.

But apart from that, I cannot fathom who will be coming to an unremarkable museum in Halifax to look at Mr Darcy's shirt.

No I can't fathom it either, but - and this is the point - they will come. Probably in droves. Your tea-shops and bars will be overflowing with shirt-worshippers, and the frothers will be eating their hats...😂

I will keep a close eye on the situation! And will probably go and have a look myself. Haven't been to that museum for about six years. It is in a dreary edge of town area but I hope you are right and that Halifax is positively swamped by Darcy shirt obsessives 🙂

Ridiculous on so many levels. A waste of money by a cash strapped council.

Also, a modern artefact that’s chiefly of value for film/tv/costume enthusiasts needs to be in an appropriate museum. The V and A is the obvious one.

@Springdeclutter try reading the thread

Does Colin have links with Halifax or do they have a curator who is a fan, as they have the Kings Speech items too it seems . ;D

Actually sounds like quite an interesting museum to visit, if ever in Yorkshire.

It's a great little museum and I will make a trip to see Darcy's shirt!!

Bankfield Museum is in my home town and I personally will be paying homage to the shirt. It's a nice little museum, nice little costume collection and well worth a visit.

If you think someone is doing something so completely and inarguably stupid that it makes absolutely no sense, it is always worth taking a step back and asking yourself if you have perhaps misunderstood the situation, or you have been given inaccurate third hand information.

It is hard enough working in local government right now even without internet frothers talking about how stupid you are. Most of us live in the council areas we work in. We want them to be well run and nice to live in just as much as you do. You don't have to like everything that happens, but not immediately jumping to the very worst bad faith conclusion would be appreciated.

Shibden Hall, also in Halifax, is really well worth a visit too. It is the home of Anne Lister (Gentleman Jack).
And the Brontë parsonage museum is only about 10 miles away in Haworth and is fabulous.

Errr my answer is very like many others and you didn’t feel like making this remark on any others. My understanding of the thread is perfect, my answer is sensible. Your comment is rude and wrong

I'd say a very savvy move actually.
It's money that can't be spent on other services.
Calderdale has a good reputation for being an excellent location for film and TV. Shibden Hall is a short distance from the Bankfield Museum (Gentleman Jack) and the BM has a lot of specialist textile exhibitions.
This item would be just another exhibit in a big London museum but is a smart and thoughtful addition to this one. It married up the textile tradition of this museum with a modern trend of film and media in the valley.

If your understanding of the thread is “perfect”, why are you positing that buying the shirt was a waste of money when the money was literally ring-fenced for the museum?

You nearly had me there OP!

Thanks for that really interesting context, @Beamur .

Time will tell, but I bet you're right that it's a good investment.

People will absolutely come and see it.

I’m from a Northern town and I hate the attitude that only places like the V&A should have things like this. We’ll never level-up if everything ends up in London. There are loads of lovely little museums in the North and they are often underestimated (Bury Art Gallery has an amazing Turner painting just sitting there in its collection with no fanfare at all - I bloody love that).

Interesting point. Although these things are time sensitive one some levels. Our DC went on a school residential to Scarborough and one of the days out was to ‘Heartbeat country’. The show wasn’t being repeated on tv at the time and many of the parents didn’t know the prog and none of the children did.

Well obviously because it might be better to spend it on something less ephemeral/more educational/supporting a different tourism perspective

“Ephemeral”?

The Mr-Darcey-in-the-fountain scene is one of the most iconic TV moments of the last 50 years. Andrew Davies at a stroke moved period dramas from something fussy and old-hat to novel and sexy and it has spawned a thousand imitations and parodies. It comes up in the top ten TV moments every time C5 does one of those “Top 100” shows. It is categorically not ephemeral, and maybe read up on TV history before declaring it so.

And from a tourism perspective, have you visited Castle Howard recently? They’re still dining out now on Brideshead Revisited, which aired in 1981. Popular period dramas last in the British consciousness a lot longer than I think you’ve realised.