BEAMINSTER Museum asked 130 schools in the region to visit its living history exhibition Beaminster Ablaze! but not one took up the offer.

The Beaminster Ablaze exhibition was specially extended to cover the beginning of the school term. In the musuem's October newsletter a spokesman said: "Since it covered many topics required by the curriculum - poverty, town fires, intolerance etc - we expected much interest from schools.

"We invited 130 schools in the region to visit us and offered to open the museum at their convenience. There were no takers!

"We have much to learn, schools are not inclined to go on visits in the first week of term. They are needed towards the end of term when a visit makes a refreshing change. We must think again.

"It is a problem providing exactly what schools and their curriculum require. Some museums that have cracked the problem have a very busy schools visits programme."

Despite the disappointing response from schools the museum has had a very successful year with 2,600 visitors - more than ever before.

"This has been the most successful of our museum's short history. We had more exhibitions, more visitors and more complimentary comments than ever before."

The museum team is not one to rest on its laurels and having analysed the breakdown of those visitors they know that to be effective they must keep putting their efforts into exhibitions.

There were 2,000 visitors in the nine weeks the special exhibitions were held and the remaining 15 weeks without any exhibitions saw only 300 visitors, with an average of three per session.

Now that the museum's open season is over there is plenty of work for the cataloguing group of Pat Hewitt, Daphne Warner, Mary Payne, Celia Smith and Deborah Chorlton to do. The basic catalogue is nearly complete but now they face the major task of preparing indexes and transferring all the records to computer files.

Anyone who wants to help should contact Deborah Chorlton via the museum or on 01308 862555. Volunteers are also needed for winter DIY jobs and those wishing to help can ring Murray Rose on 01308 862880.

Also anyone wanting to become a steward should go along to a special meeting to review the year at the museum on October 31 at 2.30pm. Stewards and volunteers are being asked to attend with their comments, or complaints and any photographs they may have to share.

Other events planned are a Christmas coffee morning and bring and buy on November 28 with the added attraction of Marjorie Harborough's Christmas version of her 17th century marmalade and a Christmas concert with West Dorset Gallery Quire on December 21.

The meeting room is available for hire and can be booked by ringing Mary Treacher on 01308 862154.