The 2004 exhibition at the Ventnor Heritage Museum, entitled "Focus on Niton", opens on Saturday 15 May until 30 October 2004. The exhibition will be officially opened by the Island MP, Andrew Turner. The district comprises Upper Niton which includes the village, and Lower Niton, a very different place of large country houses and quiet coves set on a dramatic coastline, today delightfully peaceful, but in the past the haunt of smugglers. With old photographs, postcards, personal memories, auction catalogues, and extracts from newspapers and guidebooks we have tried to capture the atmosphere of times past in this unique landscape. A separate display, "Along the High Street", re-kindles memories of a time when dozens of small shops attended to our every need in Ventnor. Old advertisements, artistic bill-heads and photographs of busy shopping streets contribute to the presentation. Another new display is "Then and Now" - 19 aspects of Ventnor have been chosen for you to compare. Everything changes, sometimes almost unnoticed, other times major developments alter a locality considerably. Last year's exhibition, "From Cottage Door to Castle Gate", continues and draws on the Museum's collection of auction catalogues and photographs for various properties in the Ventnor area (which includes Bonchurch, Chale, Godshill, Luccombe, Niton, St Lawrence, Whitwell and Wroxall). Everything from a pair of cottages and a shop which cost £150 in 1919 to the imposing country houses of Bonchurch and the Undercliff. There is a seperate display on Steephill Castle. Ventnor Heritage Museum is a registered Museum (no 1166) and a registered Charity (no 286848) and is run entirely by the Ventnor and District Local History Society and staffed by volunteers. This year's exhibition has been sponsored by Mrs Phyl Chaundy, a recent Niton resident and Museum supporter. The Museum has an archive section with many hundreds of items referring to Ventnor and the surrounding area. We also produce over 30 publications on the history of Ventnor and it's environs and a video "Ventnor - No Finer Place". The Museum building itself was built in 1905 as Sharpe's furniture shop which continued until the 1970s when it became a car showroom. The Ventnor and District Local History Society was founded in 1980 and bought the premises in 1987. If you have any connections to Ventnor and district please come and visit us! Ventnor Heritage Museum 11 Spring Hill Ventnor Isle of Wight PO38 1PE Telephone: 01983 855407 Times of opening until 30th October 2004: Mon 10am-12.30pm Tues 10am-12.30pm, 2pm-4.30 Weds 10am-12.30pm Thurs 10am-12.30pm, 2pm-4.30 Fri 10am-12.30pm, 2pm-4.30 Sat 10am-12.30pm Sun closed During the winter months, when the exhibition itself is closed, we are still open for enquiries on Saturday mornings. We can be contacted by post at the address above, or by e-mail (ventnorheritage@aol.com). Please do not expect an immediate response as there is not someone in the office every day. I look forward to seeing some of your names in our visitors' book! Janet Griffin Trustee