To celebrate signing the lease and taking possession of the Longshed the Trustees organised a grand opening with the Town Mayor (Clare Perkins) cutting a ribbon and declaring the building open.
It was anticipated that over the day visitor numbers would be in the order of 60 or 70, to everybody’s delight over 250 people came along to take part in the activities and to look around.
It was obvious to all that there was a lot of work to do to make the building usable as no services had been installed under the works contract nor were offices or stores. Many visitors answered the call for donations to help fund the necessary fit out works.
Our half-length replica of the Sutton Hoo burial ship “Sae Wylfing” was on display with our Anglo-Saxon re-enactors as was our banner showing the outline of the burial ship. A full-size replica of the Ghost Ship is to be constructed in the Longshed once the fit-out work is completed. Trustees and associates were on hand throughout the day to explain our ambitions and the key objectives of WRT.
