The annual report for 2012 was presented to and accepted by the trustees of Tenby Museum and Art Gallery at their annual general meeting held last month.

Mark Lewis, collections manager, reported that 2012 commenced with the official opening of the newly redesigned and refurbished Story of Tenby Gallery.

This refurbishment had been a long hard process, but the results were, and continue to be, worth the effort. Refurbishments since that time have occurred throughout the museum.

The stairwell (once the Maritime Gallery) has been redesigned as a Local History Gallery celebrating important anniversaries in the locality as well as housing more permanent displays on piracy (Beware! Pirates!), Dylan Thomas, Roald Dahl and the recently conserved Sedan Chair.

The Maritime Gallery has been relocated to the gallery adjacent to the Story of Tenby Gallery with new bilingual panels.

The Antiquarian's Study has been reduced in size and refurbished and a display on Robert Recorde and a Cabinet of Curiosities featuring unusual objects from the museum's collection have been additionally installed in this area. Alterations have been made and additional displays added to the Story of Tenby Gallery, including a Cap-a-Pie suit of armour which previously stood in a bedroom on St. Catherine's Island, and to the Wilfred Harrison art gallery.

In the Lower Gallery (geology/prehistory), hands-on interactive displays, funded by CyMAL (Welsh Museums Archives Libraries) and the Friends of Tenby Museum, have been added to make the gallery more family friendly and educational in a fun way. Additional funding is being sought to install further hands-on displays in the Story of Tenby Gallery.

The museum is grateful to the Welsh Federation of Museums and the Friends of Tenby Museum for their continued support of projects.

Mark continued his report with details of the various art exhibitions held in 2012 that began with the A level art exhibition entitled Pembrokeshire's Best: A Celebration of Secondary School Art, which featured six Pembrokeshire schools and was supported by Valero.

The rest of 2012 saw exhibitions in various medium: Guy Manning (paintings); Adam Buick (ceramics); Grahame Hurd Wood (paintings); Monica Groves (paintings); Steve Robinson (glass); John Uzzell Edwards (paintings); Philip Sutton (paintings); Mark Raggett (paintings) and works from the museum's collection by the 19th century artist Charles Norris which coincided with the publication of the fully illustrated book Charles Norris in Pembrokeshire.

Mark personally thanked all the staff, volunteers and trustees at the museum, including Trish Allingham, Martin Baldwin, Sue Baldwin, Lesley Davidson, Glenys Pattison Dick, John Harries, Helen Hills, Mary Lewis, Bethany Markham, Helen McKenna, Thelma Mort, Alex Powell, Nettie Powell, Kiran Reeve, Kathy Talbot, Mike Talbot, Caroline Thomas, Huw Thomas, Kevin Thomas, Neil Westerman, Brian Wickland, Julian White and Elisabeth Yorke.

Michael Williams, chair of trustees, thanked Mark and singled out the work he is doing with trustee Chris Sierwald.

Sue Baldwin, honorary librarian, reported on one of the major events of the year, the Robert Recorde Book Launch and Conference. This was very successful, with delegates travelling from all over Wales to attend.

Sue also reported on the successful talks and lectures programme held in 2012. Michael Williams, chair of trustees, thanked Sue for the wonderful job she does.

Kathy Talbot, the honorary curator, reported on a very successful year, with visitor numbers at the museum increasing by 10 per cent over 2011.

Kathy also reported on the change of opening hours during the winter months when the museum changed from Monday to Friday opening to Tuesday to Saturday opening, thus providing an opportunity for weekend visits to the museum.

As well as thanking all the staff, volunteers and trustees, Kathy singled out for special thanks, Sue Baldwin, Mike Brew, Mark Lewis and Neil Westerman.

In conclusion, Kathy stated; "The strength of the museum lies not only in its collections but more importantly in the staff, volunteers and Friends organisation.

"The latter providing essential underlying and matched funding for items such as 'hands-on' materials, televisions and other purchases.

"All undertake a wide range of work and responsibilities, dealing with a never ending range of projects and problems that are part of running a modern day museum, art gallery and visitor attraction.

"My thanks are due to them all for the support and commitment they have shown over this and preceding years."

Michael Williams, the chair of Trustees, thanked Kathy for all the work she had done for the museum.

The trustees of Tenby Museum and Art Gallery unanimously accepted the report.

If you would like to know more, a copy of the full report is available for reference at Tenby Library.