Frank Buckland’s British step on a World concept

Buckland’s lost museum Economic fish culture 0071

Frank Buckland’s ‘Museum of Economic Fish Culture’ suffered great damage during the first World War and much of what was left after the war was destroyed by the ‘Board of Survey’.

Loaned exhibits, which remained intact, went back to their owners and the rest went on permanent loan to the Scottish Fisheries Museum.

I mention Frank here because he is a good example of high human ‘effort’ and one that I like. Like Darwin and Da Vinci, Frank Buckland followed his insight at a time when others were following the tracks of an established trail. UK readers might imagine him as a Victorian version of David Attenborough who published his version of The Blue Planet 1, 2 and more, on paper – writings full of enthusiasm and energy to make his understandings sparkle in the minds of his fellow beings.

Through history, many individuals keep going against the odds and many die in relative obscurity having spirited what might seem to be only a small and close group of immediate friends. But there is nothing that leads me to believe that the more widespread a thought, the better it is.

Frank Buckland turned thought to print and published “Land and Water”. This enabled him to share globally.  When digitized, these thoughts will be shared with countless millions of people – safe from paper mites but never from post editors.

Today, with the ease of publishing ‘keyboard to cloud, texts spread almost instantly but fade far faster whilst going further afield. Tomorrow, maybe neural upload, cloud to brain?

It is amazing to think of the effort that some people put into life and Frank Buckland was one of those fun humans that was keen on doing so many things. He was a visionary because he flexed his curiosity as you would a muscle. He would eat new foods, seek out new people, open minds, think that extra light year and might have made a good captain of the ‘Starship Enterprise’.

This ‘openess’ of spirit plays a vital role in the way society develops and those with closed minds can severely damage their own health and more importantly, the health of all other lifeforms.

My research on Frank Buckland led to an exhibition opened by the Lord Mayor in Birmingham Central Library. Exhibits in the exhibition from the first Museum of Economic Fish Culture were returned to Arlington Mill Museum, World of Water Museum and Bibury Trout Farm but here’s a collection of images from that exhibition:

Buckland Collection Card. Handwritten exhibit card. Description English: A handwritten card from the Museum's old card catalogue. Information about each exhibit in Buckland's Collection was created, classified, and sorted by hand. Date: 1874 - 75. Source: Courtesy of the Library of World of Water. Images from the History of the Museum of Economic Fish Culture. Also showcased in the blog: Frank Buckland. WoW Prints & Photos..
Catalogue card No. 68 from Divisional Register re. exhibit ‘Cast of Group of 13 Trout maliciously poisoned at Horticultural Gardens 1870.’
Plaster Cast of Group of 13 Trout maliciously poisoned at Horticultural Gardens 1870.

Exhibition sponsor: ISTEL
Exhibition sponsor:  IBM (Birmingham)
Exhibition sponsor: Canon UK

Storytelling Hut design

Trad Rural Elf ArchitectureThere’s a magical showcase of traditional Elf Land Features nestling into a secret garden near you. It’s secret, so you may never find it, but the little people who built its features probably did part of their apprenticeship here at the HoBB.

We design habitats that the whole family (and elves) can enjoy. These can double-up as tool sheds, meditation dens, or as a low flying Pan once suggested, a story house for your Wendy Darling

The Elf features you can experience at the HoBB Gardens, are just about big enough for Little People, making them great places to entertain Peter Pan rather than Peter Griffin.

So when you feel the moment’s right
and there’s ‘magic in the air’,
create a secret garden place
and show an elf you care.

More feature examples …

Trad Rural Elf Architecture

See also:

Scale Models at the HoBB

       Elfland scenery