Visits to UK museums, in 2005, topped the 100 million mark, and currently, seven of the top ten UK tourist attractions are museums. Only Blackpool Pleasure Beach nudges the British Museum out of the top spot.
The National Museum of Photography, Film and Television in Bradford held its first ever fund-raising dinner and auction last week, bringing in more than �30,000 for museum funds.
Money where your mouth is
Diners were given the hard sell from Head of Film Programming, Tony Earnshaw: "I'd like those people out there with deep pockets and big wallets not just to rattle their jewellery but to pawn it in and give us the money they make on it."
 Hambleton Council are very committed with their World of James Herriott museum |
And the NMPFT is not alone - a national survey by the Art Fund has shown that 96% of UK museums think that inadequate core funding is a barrier to collecting.
Art Fund director David Barrie warned: "The real worry is that the whole collecting habit will die out in this country and that our museums and galleries will become fossilised and caught like flies in amber."
But the Yorkshire and Lincolnshire region seems to be breaking the mould of museum decline, with museums reporting an upturn in visitors.
The World of James Herriot in Thirsk, which celebrates the creator of "All Creatures Great and Small", is expanding over the winter.
It pulls in 45,000 visitors a year and is supported by a subsidy from Hambleton District council.
David Shields, Head of Tourism said: "The subsidy from the council is worthwhile because the businesses locally have really got together behind the Herriot brand and caused the tourism industry in the district to grow and grow."
Euro-funding
 Museums are places of fun learning again |
Over in Hull, the council has boosted visitor numbers to the city's nine museums to 430,000 a year without putting an added strain on council tax payers' pockets.
They pulled in cash from Europe, from the Heritage Lottery fund and charitable trusts.
City Council leader Cllr Carl Minns said: "In the past museums and culture have been treated as something peripheral by some councils, but for what they provide in education, in bringing in tourists and in creating jobs, they are central to what modern councils are trying to achieve."
And to prove that Yorkshire's museums are far from fossilised, this week Sheffield's Weston Park Museum is reopening after three years rebuilding and a a �19m revamp, thanks to a large Lottery grant.
The Politics Show
Let us know what you think.
Join the Politics Show team on Sunday 15 October 2006 at 12:00 BST on BBC One.
Disclaimer: The BBC may edit your comments and cannot guarantee that all emails will be published.
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
