IN BRIEF
VINTAGE PRINTS AND
COSTUMES AT THE LADY
LEVER ART GALLERY
The elegance and glamour of the 1950s is captured in a
brand new exhibition at the Lady Lever Art Gallery.
Model Image: fashion and photos from the 1950s, is open from 20
October 2017 – 15 April 2018 and explores the life of one of the top
British models of the era, Liverpool-born June Duncan (1924-2014).
June’s modelling career was an exhilarating whirl of fashion shoots,
front covers and haute couture. The exhibition encapsulates June’s
rise from child actor to cover girl through stunning prints of her by
some of the most high-profile photographers of the decade, including
John French, Eugene Vernier, Hans Wild and Noel Mayne.
The exhibition also features effortlessly stylish 1950s evening dresses
and accessories from National Museums Liverpool’s collection.
Pauline Rushton, Senior Curator, said: “June was born in the
Liverpool suburb of Mossley Hill in 1924 and went on to appear
as a model in the most iconic fashion magazines, including Vogue,
Harper’s Bazaar, Vanity Fair and Tatler.
It has been a privilege to find out about June’s stellar rise from her
sister Barbara, who has so kindly shared June’s photographs and
memoirs with us. We’re excited to show the beautifully evocative
photographs that really capture the refined grace of the decade.
From her time as a child actor on stage at Liverpool’s Empire and
Playhouse theatres, to wartime service in the Women’s Royal Naval
Service (WRENS), to her days in Paris appearing in French Vogue
and modelling for haute couture houses including Christian Dior,
June summed up the experience perfectly herself. Looking back she
wrote, ‘Sometimes I look at myself in the mirror and wonder if I
dreamed those heady days at the peak of my career in the glamour
and fashion world of the 1950s.”
Visit www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/modelimage for more
information.
12 wirrallife.com
WIRRAL COMMUNITY
NARROWBOAT TRUST
RECEIVES QUEENS AWARD
Wirral Community Narrowboat Trust have been awarded
the Queen’s Award For Voluntary Service, considered to
be the MBE of volunteering.
Two representatives of the Trust were invited to a Garden Party at
Buckingham Palace in recognition of the achievement. Her Majesty’s
representative, Dame Lorna Muirhead, DCVO DBE, Lord-Lieutenant
of Merseyside, who was accompanied by the High Sheriff of Merseyside,
Stephen Burrows DL, also His Honour John H Roberts, DL. presented
the award to the volunteers at a special ceremony attended by two local
Mayors and Trust members. The Queen’s Award For Voluntary Service
recognises all of the hard work and time given by members and builds
upon the Trust’s previous achievements.
In 2014, Wirral Community Narrowboat Trust was the national winner
of the Canal and River Trust’s ‘Living Waterways Award’ for community
and volunteering. Previously in 2012, one of its boats was chosen to
carry the Paralympic Flame into and later from the National Waterways
Museum at Ellesmere Port.
Wirral Community Narrowboat Trust (WCNT) was first founded in
1984 as the Wirral Narrowboat Association and is an all-volunteer
registered charity which is now in its 33rd year. It aims to seek to
improve the quality of life for people who by virtue of age, infirmity,
physical disability, mental disorder or social factors are disadvantaged
or deprived. To make provision for the recreational, educational and
social needs of the said people. To provide an experience outside of the
normal environment; which is therapeutic and brings respite to Carers.
They also aim to deliver a Narrowboat service to a professional standard,
subscribing to a national Code of Conduct for community boats. All
volunteers are trained to NCBA requirements. Trips are provided
throughout the year on fully wheelchair friendly adapted narrowboats.
Its two Narrowboats have been entirely funded by the Trust, without
any grant or Lottery funding and built to our own specific requirements
to provide amenities suitable for the needs of disabled users with full
wheelchair access throughout each boat.