The summer sun has arrived and with it comes Te Arawhata’s busiest period of the year. Le Quesnoy seems to have burst into life recently, and June has provided a noticeable uptick in the number of visitors to the Museum and events around the town.
This month we have welcomed eight group visits, three of which were school groups, and hundreds of individual visitors from all over the world. A highlight for me was a visit from Valenciennes’ Association of Retired Agricultural Workers, where almost 60 local visitors filled the Museum with enthusiasm and questions, before later that same week we welcomed a group of local schoolchildren through Te Arawhata with a tour focussed on the experiences of the children who lived through the German occupation. Both groups engaged deeply with the Museum and it was touching to see their emotional responses to this incredible story.
Epsom Girls’ Grammar School also paid us a visit as part of their history tour of Europe. It’s always wonderful to welcome a Kiwi school group through the Museum.
I was also delighted to welcome not one but two interns to the team this month – Romain Dremaux, a local Quercitain in the equivalent of Year 11 for two weeks’ work experience, and Sam Rea-Rankin, a Kiwi studying at Sciences-Po Paris who will spend summer in Le Quesnoy. Thank you, Romain, for your contributions to Te Arawhata, and welcome, Sam – the whole team is excited to have you on board.
Clearly, June has been a busy month, and behind the scenes it has been even busier as we prepare for the opening of our new temporary exhibition – Ça Roule – Remembering the New Zealand Cyclist Corps. This exhibition will be the first to open since I took over as Museum Manager, and I am thrilled that we are able to shed light on this little-known part of New Zealand’s World War One story. I am also particularly proud to be able to share the generous donation of a cycling jersey from Cycling New Zealand, which was designed for the New Zealand U23 Team’s participation in the famous Flanders one day classic Gent-Wevelgem in 2018. The names of the 708 members of the NZ Cyclist Corps are included on the back of the jersey, making it a moving memorial to the members of this unheralded unit.
The Te Arawhata high season has only just begun, and will continue to roll with events across summer. I hope to see you soon at our special place on the Western Front!