NATIONAL WOOL MUSEUM

Introduction 

The National Wool Museum is an Australian tourist site built in 1988 by Geelong Regional Commission. This art center is devoted to the wool industry at international, national and state level (Chambers and Faggetter, 1992, p.558). In the past, this museum had only three galleries, the Geelong Woll Exchange, and the offices for wool buyers. In connection to the above information, there are various tourists’ sites that play vital roles in the community (Ford and Smith, 2011, p. 84). Indeed, this report will offer a comprehensive understanding and explanation about the significance of the National Wool Museum through demonstrating its significance toward the visitors as well as the Australian community. 

Background Information about the National Wool Museum

In the history view, the National Wool Museum is traced back from the 19^th century where woolen industries in Wales were focused on various activities including weaving and spinning wool. To be specific, the Teifi Valley is recognized as the head office of west Wales woolen organization, and for this reason, it is nicknamed Huddersfield of Wales (Ford, 2011, p.57). In 1976, the above firm was transformed to Welsh Woollen Industry Museum, and in 2004 it was reopened as the National Wool Museum (Ford and Smith, 2011, p. 85). This site acts as historical machinery, and it reminds people about the textiles commercial woolen mill known as the Melin Teifi. 

The National Wool Museum is confined in historical bluestone wool store that is situated near Geelong port. At some point, this museum was known as the National Wool Centre, and after being launched during a ceremony presided by HRH Queen Elizabeth and from this point, it is generally known as the National Wool Museum. Numerous changes have been made on the National Wool Museum since its establishment (Ford, 2011, p.57). For instance, the Australian administration has launched a Research and Collection Centre containing room meant for offering hands-on learning practices. (Chambers and Faggetter, 1992, p.549). This tourist attraction site plays a vital role in presenting the Australian heritage since it denotes the significant activities that helped this country to grow and develop.  

Description of Things that I Saw as well as the Personal Thoughts about National Wool Museum

By visiting the National Wool Museum, I have come across various things, which helps me to familiarize with more details about this site. For instance, I came across the National Flat Textile Collection containing various things including historical machinery and woolen mill within the museum. (Norman, 2009, p.294). In a like manner, I familiarized with the procedure of wool making starting from fleecing to fabrication, hence, understanding the traditional guidelines used by manufacturers to manufacture woolen products. I also saw the displays of goods woven with woolen including the knitted socks, blankets, shawl, shirts, woolen stockings, and bedclothes among other things (Sneddon et al., 2012, p.46). During this tour, I was impressed by the knowledgeable and enthusiastic volunteers who guided me through the entire site and offer an explanation about various contents present in this site.  

There are many things that I have realized through visiting the National Wool Museum. In the first place, I think that Australian are doing all the way possible to retain their traditions. For instance, the aspect of establishing a wool-based museum helps to educate people about processes followed to obtain woolen products (Norman, 2009, p.298). Still, I have understood that National Wool Museum is an educative site for enabling people to learn about the way wool harvested from different parts of sheep’s body is used to make varied products with distinctive qualities (Ford, 2011, p.56). Furthermore, this site plays a role of enlightening people how they can manually card, spin and weave wool to make different fabric products. 

Relevant Information about the National Wool Museum

Several factors facilitate adequate understanding of the implication of the National Wool Museum towards the community and visitors. For instance, this museum is meant to enlighten visitors that ancient Australian had a great love for livestock farming and that is why they have gone to an extent for creating an attraction site dealing with wool (Norman, 2009, p.297). Moreover, the National Wool Museum is closely linked to the Australian culture. To illustrate, this site is a traditional hub for the largest city in Victoria since it accumulates, share and form stories about the Australian region and community (Sneddon et al., 2012, p.45). As a result, this site contains temporary programs and exhibition comprising lifelong learning, entertainment and hands-on exploration for the individuals of all ages. 

On the hand, the National Wool Museum also gives a comprehensive understanding of Australian history. For instance, this tourist site shows that Australia is comprised of communities that used to practice sheep farming as well as being involved in the manufacture of textile products (Sneddon et al., 2012, p.42). Besides, this museum also hints that the people residing in Victoria lay more emphasis on livestock rearing; hence, they earn their daily bread through selling products such as mutton and wool. Lastly, the National Wool Museum help people to understand the history of Australian wool industry by offering a detailed explanation about sheep farming as well as wool production (Ford and Smith, 2011, p. 84). Indeed, this museum is an educative site to the visitors and future generations who need to learn about sheep farming and wool processing. 

In conclusion, the National Wool Museum is an Australian tourist attraction site established by Geelong Regional Commission in 1988. To be specific, this center is focused on offering visitors as well as the natives with a comprehensive understanding of sheep farming and wool processing. In particular, this site enables foreigners to understand the majority of individuals residing in Australia are sheep farmers and they also take part in various practices such as weaving clothes among other products made of wool. Also, this site is meant to sustain Australian culture of keeping sheep through educating foreigners and future generation about their traditional practice of rearing sheep and making different products using wool.  

References

Ford, B. and Smith, N., 2011. The development of a significance-based lighting framework at the National Museum of Australia. AICCM Bulletin, 32(1), pp.80-86.

Ford, B., 2011. Non-destructive micro fade testing at the National Museum of Australia. AICCM Bulletin, 32(1), pp.54-64.

Norman, B., 2009. Principles for an intergovernmental agreement for coastal planning and climate change in Australia. Habitat International, 33(3), pp.293-299.

Sneddon, J.N., Lee, J.A. and Soutar, G.N., 2012. Exploring consumer beliefs about wool apparel in the USA and Australia. Journal of the Textile Institute, 103(1), pp.40-47.

Chambers, W. and Faggetter, R., 1992. Australia’s Museum Powerhouse, Exhibits Review, pp. 548-559.