The huge and sudden snow falls on the night of Friday 25th January left the Museum completely snow-bound on the following Saturday. Volunteer Stewards arriving early in the morning could not get the main gates open with over 10″ snow blocking the entire entranceway. The main car park and all public walkways over the 20 acre site was sheet-ice underneath the snow, making access very treacherous. We could not safely open under these conditions and we had no choice but to keep the Museum closed. We dug our way to the Main Offices, changed the public telephone message, contacted York Visitor Information Centre, BBC Radio York, Minster FM and put a message on Twitter. We also put sign-boards along the road to the Museum. The following day saw the snow retreat although the sheet-ice remained, and on the following night flood waters entered our main offices to a height of 8″, but we opened as promised on Monday and remain open to the public as normal. No exhibitions or artefacts have been damaged.
Sorry to anyone who made a wasted journey and thanks for your understanding and support.
The Museum/Memorial is a registered charity run mainly by volunteers, and I would like to thank those who helped us through an extremely tough time.
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