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Protest over plans to move leather museum

Bob Hockenhull
BBC Midlands Today
Eleanor Lawson
BBC News, West Midlands
BBC A group of protestors stand outside the Walsall Leather Museum, a redbrick building with a tree and bushes outside. The protestors carry various campaign signs and banners, including 'Don't Sell Our Museum' and 'Serving Hell for Leather'BBC
Protesters are against the proposed closure of the current Walsall Leather Museum building and plans to relocate the museum

Protesters held a demonstration on Saturday against plans to close the Walsall Leather Museum and relocate it to another part of the town.

Walsall Council claimed the attraction was not getting enough visitors and it was considering moving the museum to a location in the town centre.

However, protesters have told the BBC that the museum's current building was vastly important.

They also said the council's plans were too vague and they feared many of the exhibits would end up in storage if the current museum closed.

Google A large red brick building with black framed windows and the words The Leather Museum in black lettering on the walls. There is a glass fronted building in the foreground and people walking past.Google
The museum has been a staple of the town, which has a long history with the leather trade, since 1988

Walsall Council will discuss the plans on Wednesday, but has not yet revealed what would happen to the current building if the museum were to move.

Lauren Broxton, who organised the demonstration, told the BBC: "The building is the museum, it's as important as the collections, it's as much of the experience, because of it being that authentic 1800s leather factory and I just don't think that you can recreate that anywhere else."

A woman with black hair pulled into the bun looks at the camera as she talks. Behind her are groups of protestors with campaign signs, standing in Walsall town centre. She wears a black scarf, and black and white striped coat.
"The building is the museum, it's as important as the collections," Lauren Broxton said

People came from as far as Northamptonshire to oppose the proposed move.

Harriet Wheeler, a leather worker, said: "I make boots for a living from leather and I have a background in leather fashion. So in solidarity, I'm here today to support stopping the closure of this museum as a valuable resource."

A local artist at the demonstration told the BBC: "I've got such fond memories from going as a child with my school and I just remember the smell - it was like stepping back in time."

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