The Chief Wireless Operator on the Titanic, Jack Phillips, came from Farncombe and learned Morse Code at Godalming Post Office. He stayed at his post as the ship sank, sending the SOS messages which brought the Carpathia to rescue the survivors of the tragedy. Jack’s last radio message was sent just 2 minutes before the Titanic sank and he was lost with the ship.

Jack was a significant local person and a key figure in a historical event of international fame. He is remembered in the beautiful Arts and Crafts Phillips Memorial in Godalming, on a plaque in Farncombe Church and in a specially commissioned portrait and framed photograph on display in the Museum

Jack Phillips and the Titanic Workshops

• The visit typically begins with a short introductory talk (15 minutes) giving a overview of the Museum and the life of Jack Phillips.

• You can then choose which workshops will best suit your class from the list below. We generally allow 40 minutes per workshop.

• If you would like to see an example visit timetable or need more information please contact the Curator here.

Luggage Detective

Examine “left luggage” and identify and interpret clues, to discover to whom the luggage belonged. Create your own traveller on the Titanic – what would they have in their luggage and why?

Polar and the Titanic Pig

Find out more about life on board the Titanic through the stories of two special passengers - Polar, a toy bear who belonged to 9-year-old Douglas Spedden and a pig musical box which belonged to Edith Russell. Use the beautifully illustrated book "Polar, the Titanic Bear", props and memories to explore the luxuries of first class travel and the drawbacks of wearing a hobble skirt

Post Office Memorial Craft

Decode the symbolism of the ornate Arts and Crafts style frame of the Post Office Memorial to Jack Philips and use metal foil and embossing technique to create your own small memorial to take home or display in school

Town Walk

See Jack’s school and the Post Office where he learned Morse Code, as well as the Phillips Memorial.

Talented artist, designer, writer and horticulturalist, Gertrude Jekyll was definitely ahead of her time. Explore original resources at the museum or in school to find out about this significant local person.

Study Gertrude Jekyll and you will be covering many areas of the KS 1 curriculum beside History, including: Impressionists and Arts and Crafts artists in Art; fairy stories and traditional tales in Literacy; growing plants in Science and designing gardens in DT. Local schools have planted Jekyll borders in their school allotments and gardens and created art and craftwork inspired by Miss Jekyll. The ideas are endless, thanks to Gertrude!

Gertrude Jekyll Workshops

• All visits will begin with a short introduction to the life and work of Gertrude Jekyll. Subject to availability, a costumed interpreter can lead the session.

• You can then choose the workshops from the list below that will best suit your class.

• Please allow around 60 minutes per workshop.

Artist Gardener

• Miss Jekyll shows some of her drawings, paintings and garden designs and explains how she uses colour.

• Make a model snail (inspired by one Miss Jekyll made for the Queen).

• OR plant cress in an activity designed by Gertrude Jekyll herself for her book “Children and Gardens”

• Look at Miss Jekyll's pictures and craft work and make your own sketches.

Puss in Boots

• Miss Jekyll introduces you to her cat Thomas and to his portrait in the character of Puss in Boots.

• Using freeze frame techniques, step into the picture and create characters for the next scene in the story.

• Bring the picture to life with drama, costume and lots of imagination.

• Examine Miss Jekyll's sketches to see how she worked up her ideas for this picture and develop your own animal hero.

Old West Surrey

• How did people in the cottages and farms of Victorian Surrey light and heat their homes, cook and eat? What tools did they use to earn their living? What did they do with their leisure time? How does this compare with our lives today?

Town Walk : Gertude Jekyll’s Godalming

• Discover the sleepy Godalming Gertrude Jekyll remembered before the coming of the railway, and the bustling Victorian town she described in Old West Surrey.

Godalming Museum was founded in 1921 to tell the story of the town and surrounding villages. There are more than twenty thousand objects in the museum collection - maps, documents, photographs, film, books, paintings, prints and drawings, and memories, as well as artefacts, all illustrating how the local area has developed and the lives of its inhabitants changed, over the centuries.

The Story of Godalming Workshop

• A half hour introduction to Godalming's Geology, Archaeology and Local History, beginning in the Cretaceous and ending up in the 20th century and touching on the lives of famous characters associated with the local area.

• This can be delivered as an object handling session as part of a museum visit or in school with a smaller group, or as a PowerPoint presentation to a larger group.

Town Walk

• Beginning at the Pepperpot, the ancient heart of Godalming and the hub of its old market place, this walk takes in the Rivers Ock and Wey, the mills, evidence for the tanning and woollen industries, the Parish Church and the Phillips Memorial Cloister. It looks at the local architecture, the timber framed Tudor and red brick Georgian, houses and the surviving coaching inns on the High Street.

• This walk can be adapted to suit particular areas of interest and lengthened or shortened according to the time available. The standard walk takes around 1 hour.