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The running of the museum would not be possible without the time and skills generously given by our board of trustees.
Joy Reynolds, co-Chair
Joy Reynolds has lived in Blandford since 1976 and first sat as a trustee shortly after the museum was set up by John and Sue Tapper in the late 1970s, serving as Chair of the Trust Board between January 2021 and May 2025. She has been very involved in the Stour Valley Project and its offshoot, the Stour Valley Sampler group. As well as her interest in local history and genealogy, she also is a keen craftswoman, which has fostered her interest in the roles of women in the past. Now retired, Joy spent most of her career in NHS research and management, with a particular focus on public health and public involvement.
Melanie Wyles, co-Chair
Melanie moved to North Dorset in 2017, having lived in Australia for 10 years, and joined the Trust Board in 2022. She previously worked in Social Housing in Kent for a District Council, and is now semi-retired though still working part time for the NHS. Since moving to North Dorset she has been involved with the Museum first as a volunteer steward and then as a member of the social team organising events the Stour Valley Project and its offshoot, the Stour Valley Sampler group. Melanie has always been very interested in history particularly the medieval. She likes to explore these interests and use her craft and artist skills to tell stories. She is a poet who self-published a book of poetry in 2018 and belongs to local writing groups.
Heather Packwood, Treasurer and Membership Secretary
Heather Packwood has lived in Blandford since 2021. She moved from Guildford where she was a Trustee and Treasurer of a charity providing a bridge between those who wanted to give and those in need in the local community. When she moved to Blandford she wanted to continue to be involved in the community and quickly linked up with the museum where her admin skills could be used. She also volunteers in the Community Larder at Nourish. Now retired, Heather spent most of her career as a Software Developer, initially in a University setting and later working for a company producing software for the manufacturing industry.
Gina Hartwell, Hon. Secretary
Nicci Brown
Nicci has lived in Blandford since 1994, and from 2000 to 2011 was the local reporter for the Western Gazette, having worked in and with local newspapers since the 1970s in Lancashire, Herefordshire, Hampshire and Dorset. From 2012 to 2022 she was editor of the town’s community magazine Forum Focus.
Nicci’s participation in a number of organisations, including the Disability Action Group (DAG), Blandford Environmental Trust (BET) and Tourist Information Centre (TIC), gives her a wide appreciation of volunteering locally. Since 2002 she been a member and latterly secretary of the Blandford & District Civic Society, which has now come under the Museum’s umbrella as the Civic Society Group.
She looks forward to the involvement of other Museum members in group activities and projects.
Shaun Christopher
Shaun joined the museum as a volunteer in May 2023, and subsequently agreed to become a trustee as the Stewards’ representative.
Although born and bred in Poole, Shaun has strong family links to the Blandford area, his father and paternal grandparents living in Charlton Marshall, and his mother, maternal grandfather and 4 generations earlier all living in and around East Street.
Before retiring, Shaun worked in IT for Barclays bank for 32 years, and is happy to bring his invaluable “techie” skills to the museum. He is also a volunteer for the Swanage railway, and in his spare time – not that there seems to be much – he enjoy working on his classic cars, two Sunbeams and a Renault.
Teresa Cooper
Teresa (Terry) moved from London with her parents at the age of four and grew up in Winterborne Whitechurch, attending that primary school followed by Blandford Grammar School which became part of the comprehensive school in 1967. Married in 1975 to Jeremy Cooper, whose family own the Down House Estate farm, she worked with him helping to run the estate which includes The Inside Park, a touring caravan and camping site which they started in l986. Tourism has become a key interest to Terry which is why she became involved with setting up what is now known as The Blandford Fashion Museum working with Betty Penny and her friends to achieve her dream. From that she learned something about what is needed in the running of a museum, together with experience of the tourist industry and some retail knowledge, so happily agreed when asked to join the Trustees of the Blandford Town Museum.
Linda Johnson
Linda became a trustee in 2021, having visited the museum on several occasions and feeling that she would like to play a role in supporting it. Her varied interests have always included learning about the past and especially the history of Blandford. She is a keen horsewoman and Chair of the Bryanston Riding for the disabled, where she is also a coach. Linda also volunteers at the Blandford Tourist Information Centre once a week.
“My hobbies are gardening, jewellery making and I also paint. This is mainly in acrylics though I enjoy pastel painting if doing portraits. I am always keen to try new methods of art working.”