Well it's been great to come in from work to find a thread has been started on behalf of the museum project. (Thanks Gillian)
Given the amount of questions this may take some time. As I'm sure we all know, this subject is vast and complex so please excuse the brevity of explanation given here.

Firstly, I would like to explain why I chose to use the word Museum. During all the months of research and development last year, I must have gone through dozens of variations as to the title for the project. British Folklore - Study/Resource Centre, Institute, Foundation, etc etc. Some thought the word museum, conjured up visions of dusty exhibits, while others thought a Study or Resource Centre didn't show a level of seriousness and was too one dimensional given the amount of potential the project had. And so it went on. Finally the classic definition of the word seemed the most appropriate, given how I envisioned the project to eventually be - "a permanent institution in the service of society and of its development, open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits the tangible and intangible (folk) heritage of humanity and its environment, for the purposes of education, study, and enjoyment ..."

I have always seen the primary focus of the museum as being it's collection of artefacts, photographs, films, oral histories, manuscripts and assorted ephemera, being drawn from the study of the events themselves as they exist and have existed. (more about what these 'events' will be later). This would form the main body of the archive which would be made available to the public for study and research. The way in which these things would be displayed was exciting to me as it would be to anyone who has visited a well designed museum and been given another insight into material which they had perhaps overlooked before. Bear in mind that the bulk of visitors to the space may not have come into contact with much of the material displayed. The secondary focus would be the way in which I hope to engage the actual makers involved in various forms of folk art, from straw makers, well dressers, barge painters and then contemporary artists making work which deal with folkloric themes.

The project will most certainly deal with the Folk Culture of the English, Irish, Scots and Welsh. Given the amounts of similarities and cross overs between certain customs this made sense. (And for all I know the museum may end up in Wales or Scotland for instance). Yes the scale is vast and this brings us to the question that was raised of boundaries. I see this project being something that will grow and mature in time. The National Media Museum in Bradford began as one man's collection. It was deeply personal and as a collection flawed in terms of the range of things represented but over the years it grew in content and scale. No museum will ever be able to present a perfectly formed collection, covering every facet of British Folk Culture. Initially, of course there will be yawning gaps and the selection of items and information displayed will inevitably be intensely personal. As more people come on board the displays will change, broaden and mature.

Having spoken to many small museum directors, it was decided to try and get the museum privately funded at the start. Everyone told the same story regarding public money. The amount of red tape involved, the degree of intervention and standardisation, ranging from the levels of light that should be deployed within the museum to the size and font that the information cards have to be and so on and so on. Once the museum is up and running though and a period of time has elapsed, then funds from the public sector can be chased. Luckily, many private funding bodies have not been affected quite as badly as you might think. They still have the same amounts of money to give out each year and I was told that due to the unique nature of this venture, I stood a good chance of receiving funds. Whether or not this is true remains to be seen, but I'm hopeful. The funding will be three phase; 1. Acquisition of items for the collection and purchase of a suitable building. (A good time to buy with housing prices being at an all time low). 2. Fitting the building out, building work etc. 3. A 5 year sustainability plan. Of course there are cross overs between these three but far too boring to go into here!

I should point out now that I am under NO illusion as to the amount of work involved here. It is huge! That is why I have enlisted the help of various professionals. I am very lucky in that, due to the industry I work in, I have been fortunate enough to have been put in touch with a wide range of Santa's Helpers, as I call them. Two professional fundraisers are working on all the funding applications. A worker at the Charity commission has helped to draw up the endless polices that are needed. A friend who lectures at Bradford University is putting me in touch with MECCSA (Media, Communications and Cultural Studies Association), with the aim of working on various Knowledge Transfer programmes to help with archiving. The museum will soon be a registered Community Interest Company, with a Secretary and Treasurer. A Teacher friend is working on the Outreach programme which will go ahead next year when the caravan has stopped being used on the tour. Hackney Council, where I live, have asked if I can do some talks at local schools as they realise that none of their current teaching modules contain any reference to seasonal customs and traditions. (This happened after they visited the caravan when it was recently parked outside Tate Modern). I could go on but I'm tired (as you can imagine!) and it's late. All these things are running alongside my commercial work and organising the tour. And no, I don't have a life and yes, I need all the help I can get!

Many people have said here that they care passionately about these subjects, well so do I. I do not see myself as appropriating them for selfish ends as has been suggested. I see the museum as filling a gap within the cultural landscape of this country and as a means for people from all walks of life to gain knowledge of and a deeper understanding of our unique Folk Culture.