TAKE a peek into the past at Tavistock's best known secret... Tavistock Museum is above Court Gate, the historic gateway into Tavistock Abbey. Tucked away, most people know it exists but many do not know where. Yet it is still extremely popular — receiving more than 3,000 visitors each year. For the fourth year running at its Court Gate base, the museum has once again opened its doors to the public. The community museum is located within a group of public buildings including the Town Hall, police station and guildhall, built using mining royalties garnered by the Bedford Estate, Within the building there are two rooms, one of which is a community room in which exhibits change every year. The other room houses permanent exhibits. The rooms have been named in recognition of the contributions made to the museum by two enthusiasts — the late Robin Fenner, a former mayor of Tavistock, and Sue Davies, a long-serving secretary of the museum. The Fenner Gallery houses permanent displays on the area's history, and the Davies room is used for community exhibitions. Within the Fenner room there are information boards telling how Tavistock became a stannary town, explaining what 'stannary' means, how the stannary functioned and tin working. There are also boards on the Drake family, re-living the history of the name and where the Drakes lived, and which portray Sir Francis Drake's circumnavigation of the globe. Every year, the Fenner room hosts brand new information boards— this year it features the history of the Duke of Bedford Cottages. Hanging on a wall near the entrance are preserved artefacts — small pickaxes, rock drill bits, a four handled skip and a mining trolley, both from East Quither mine, a riddle and stamping irons. These are from the 19th century mining boom which started in the 1790s and lasted until the late 1890s, when it collapsed due to the availability of cheaper copper from South America and inexpensive aluminum tin from Malaya. But the main attraction in the room is the vast amount of information on Tavistock Abbey. In 2005 the museum obtained an 'Awards for All' grant which allowed a DVD player and screen to be purchased. It shows a ten minute DVD of the abbey remains made by Denham Production, with a voiceover from Chris Denham. It explains what has now happened to the abbey, where it dates from and what happened after the dissolution of the monasteries by King Henry VIII in 1539. On the other side of the building, in the Davies Room, there is an exhibition on '100 years of Scouting and Guiding in West Devon'. Many local troops have been involved in putting together this celebration of Baden-Powell's great contribution to the lives of so many young people. The museum moved into court Gate during the summer of 2003 and has been open to the public since. The museum works in partnership with Tavistock Town Council, who as the owners of the building remain responsible for its maintenance, and the Tavistock and District Local History Society, who provide the stewarding and run the museum on a day to day basis. Stewarding is voluntary and stewards are normally members of the history society. Currently there are approximately 20 volunteers who assist with stewarding, whose duties include asking visitors to sign the visitor's book, directing visitors, publications sales and general assistance. The museum is open approximately 125 days from Easter until the end of October and receives more than 3,000 visitors each year, from Tavistock, West Devon as well as other parts of the UK and a few from overseas. Rod Martin, secretary of the history society, said: 'We hope for lots of visitors this year and we hope to make a positive contribution to visitors to the town. 'We have exhibitions for people to see and enjoy. We also give a brief mention that the museum is one of 17 attractions within the Cornwall Mining Heritage area, and Tavistock being the most easterly of the attractions we are effectively the gate to the Cornwall Mining Heritage sites.' He expressed thanks to Devon County Council which has financially supported the museum for three years. Anyone who would like to find out more the museum or volunteering opportunities should call 01822 612546 or visit the museum from Tuesday to Sunday between 11am and 3pm from April until October. The museum is happy to open out of hours for pre-arranged visits as well as guided town walks to suit groups visiting the area. There is no admission charge but donations are asked to help cover the cost of insurance.