As we gather for the third in our series of quarterly Climate Chats at St Barbe Museum + Art Gallery, we’re turning our focus to the everyday choices that shape a more sustainable future. This session explores how our lifestyles – what we buy, how we travel, what we eat and the habits we form – can become powerful tools for positive environmental change. 🧳🛍️🥖
It’s an opportunity to share ideas, challenge assumptions and discover practical steps that make a real difference. We’re delighted to continue this growing conversation with our community and look forward to an inspiring evening together.
🗓️ Thursday 11 June
🕣 Doors open 6pm, talk starts 6:30pm
🎟️ Tickets: £8 – Limited to 50 guests
ℹ️ Book your space via our website (link in bio)
📍 St Barbe Museum + Art Gallery
Our speakers are
Richard Lewis: Sustainable transport
Lindsay Andrews: Ringwood Repair Cafe and Hampshire Waste Prevention Champion
Energy Saving Trust – speaker TBC
Moderated by Charlotte Baker, Environmental communications consultant
Each speaker will share a short, informal talk about their work and how they’re tackling environmental challenges on the ground. Then it’s your turn – ask questions, share thoughts and join the conversation in a Q&A inspired by the format of BBC’s Question Time… with passion and respect
Welcoming, informal evenings where big environmental topics are brought down to earth with real voices, real stories and real conversation. 🌿
#Environment #Sustainability #Climate #ClimateChat #Earth
To celebrate International Museum Day this year with the theme “Museums Uniting a Divided World” we take a look back to our selection to be part of in the worldwide project The Herds last year. The Herds is a groundbreaking public art and climate initiative designed to inspire action and renew our bond with the natural world.
We looked at the endangered species living in our area with some young people talked about the challenges they faced and created our own Oyster Catchers and Nightjars.
Museums help rebuild connections across generations, communities and borders. They create environments where stories, objects and people come together, offering opportunities for reflection, exchange and shared understanding.
#internationalmuseumday #history #heritage #visitmuseum #theherds
Are you in the planning of some half term fun?
We have got a few spaces left on our Clay Sculptures workshop?
Book your place now via our website (link in bio)!
🗓️ Tuesday 26 May
🕣 10am-12noon
🎟️ £8, Limited places
ℹ️ Ages 8+, Adult supervision required for under 13 years
Learn the basics of sculpting using air dry clay and then take inspiration from the sculptures in our Open exhibition to make your own. Please bring along a small box to carry your clay creations home in.
This workshop is for children aged 8 years and over due to the more detailed and creative techniques involved.
#HalfTerm #KidsActivities #Workshop #ChildrenWorkshop #ClaySculptures
Do you know a young person who would like to exhibit their painting in St Barbe? They can!
Enter the Young Artists Open with their masterpiece – any subject, no bigger than A3 and to be wall mounted on card – complete an entry form (from the website or at our welcome desk) and they may win a prize!
Categories are Under 7 | 7-11 | 12-17 – someone in the two younger groups will win a fabulous selection of art materials and 12-17 winner will get £75!
The prizes are given as a tribute to Ted Marsh, first Chairman of Lymington Museum Trust, who started the project for a museum and art gallery in Lymington. These are generously provided by Mr Gordon Young.
We have extended the deadline to Monday 18 May at 2pm. Look forward to seeing the wonderful creativity!
images from Open 2025 exhibition
#youngartist #gallery #openexhibition
We don’t usually use donkeys 🫏 anymore for traveling but donkeys are still often on our roads. Please be careful when driving through the New Forest and respect wildlife.
📷 A donkey pulling a carriage carrying Mrs Jeffrey of Valley View, Sway, 1939. Valley View, was used as a holiday house by Jeffrey family who lived in Southampton, and moved to Sway in 1940 when the bombing started
📷 A donkey cart at Ferndene Farm, Bashley, James Rooke in middle
📷 A woman with a donkey and trap, Norleywood early 1900s
📷 Children with a donkey cart, labelled ‘Reg Powell, Cousin Alice, Katie, Harold, Maggie’
📷 Mrs Speed and companion with a donkey and cart, probably at Woodside near Creek Cottage, Lymington. circa 1890s
What is your favourite place to spot donkeys in the New Forest?
#Donkey #NewForest #ᴛʙᴛ #ThrowbackThursday #LocalHistory
🌸Lymington Open Gardens:
Sunday 24 May, 2-6pm 🌸
Did you get your tickets and programme yet?
It’s both available to purchase at our front desk and the early bird price does still apply! 🎟️
St Barbe Museum + Art Gallery will be open all day, including the café, offering the chance to enjoy the 2026 Open Exhibition, explore local history and relax with refreshments. ☕️🍰
#OpenGardens #Coffee #Cake #OpenExhibition #ComeIn
📢 Our coffee shop @oldschoolcafe_lymington is looking for an enthusiastic, friendly individual with an eye for details. If you’re on top of it, a fast learner with fantastic customer service skills, we are looking forward to hearing from you.
ℹ️ 15-20h/week
Weekdays and Weekends availability
✉️ Please bring your CV in or send it to
Tim Palmer: [email protected]
#JobVacancies #Hiring #CoffeeShopAssistant #ApplyNow #JoinTheTeam
The last week of Witch/Craft already started.
Have a look what our visitors think about it!
Don’t miss it and please leave us a comment in our visitors book.📖
🕣 We are open Monday to Saturday, 10am - 4pm and looking forward to seeing you!
#WitchCraft #TapestryArt #Photography #ArtGallery #Magical
Lymington Open Gardens, Sunday 24 May, 2-6pm 🌸
Our programme and the early bird tickets are available now!
Stanwell House Hotel is kindly supporting this year’s event with three specially created Open Gardens cocktails — the Lymington Bloom, New Forest Spritz and St Barbe Garden Cup. 🍹
Each cocktail is £13, with proceeds (after costs) donated to the Museum. They will be served in the hotel’s walled garden from 12-8pm on Sunday 24 May. 🌼
#OpenGarden #Cocktail #Gardens #Parks #Lymington
This week we found literally a #ThrowbackThursday in our collection. This photograph is captioned 'Builders larking about'!
📷 John Powell, great grandfather of donor David, came to Milton from Southampton in 1890 and started brickwork at Barton-on-Sea, then became a builder.
His son Rick took over. David’s grandmother Rickman came from Bashley. Rick’s brother John (Jack) started his own building business.
#ᴛʙᴛ #LocalHistory #Builders #GreatEnergy
The next St Barbe’s Heritage Talk is ready to book:
'New Forest – A Wildlife Year'
🗓️ Wednesday 20 May
🕣 Doors Open 7pm | Talk starts 7.30pm
🎟️ £6 in advance
📍 Sway Village Hall, SO41 6BB
Speaker Marcus Ward, professional wildlife guide and co-director of Wild New Forest Guided Tours
Marcus takes you on a journey through the changing seasons of the New Forest, highlighting the key species, habitats, and natural events that make this landscape so special. From the first signs of spring through to the depths of winter, Marcus will share insights, stories and memorable wildlife encounters from across the year. 🍂
Marcus is a professional wildlife guide and co-director of Wild New Forest Guided Tours, with a particular passion for Hawfinches and conservation work within the New Forest. With years of experience leading guided walks and wildlife experiences, he specialises in helping people connect with nature while promoting the importance of protecting this unique landscape. 🍃
#NewForest #Heritage #Wildlife #Nature #Talk
We also have a Tea + Memories in Sway 📸
Come and join our free pop up exhibition showcasing photos of Sway from the last 100 years. Drop in to the Community Hub at Youth Centre to share a hot drink and your memories of village life, people and places.
🗓️ Friday 8 May
🕣 10am - 12noon
🆓 Drop in, free entry
📍 Sway Youth Centre, Station Road, Sway, Lymington, SO41 6BA
#TeaAndMemories #Archive #LocalHistory #FreeExhibition #Sway
