The Hockey Museum (THM) re-launched its exhibition on Thursday 24 February at our home in 13 High Street, Woking.

Unveiling of the Olympic Quilts

The centrepiece of the evening was the unveiling of the amazing five-drop Olympic Hockey Quilts created by local artist Pat Deacon. The artwork captures all the Olympic medals won by British hockey teams since the sport was introduced into the Olympic Games in 1908. It is colourful, intricate and spectacular, and covers over a century of hockey’s international history. The quilts must be seen to be truly appreciated. They will be displayed at THM for the rest of the year before going on tour.

The Hockey Museum unveils its five-piece Olympic Quilts with a special, insightful talk by the artist, internationally renowned quilter Pat Deacon.

Additionally, we used the occasion to make two very significant presentations.

Honours cap presentation to Tony Nunn

For several years now the volunteers at THM have been compiling the definitive records of England and Great Britain’s (GB) results. The GB records were completed prior to the Tokyo Olympic Games and one result of this is that all GB players, going back to 1920 for the men and 1965 for the women, are now eligible to receive their international honours caps. GB honours caps have never previously been presented. The Tokyo-bound squads received their caps before departure and the women returned with bronze medals. THM is now engaged in finding the 581 players, or their descendants, who have played hockey for Great Britain.

Last Thursday one of these players, Tony Nunn, received his cap, dating from his appearances at the Helsinki Olympic Games in 1952. In his playing days Tony belonged to Hawks Hockey Club. They played on the Byfleet Cricket Club ground in Woking and he lived in Pyrford. It was an emotional presentation to the 94-year-old Olympian. His cap was presented to him by three-time Olympic hockey goalkeeper Simon Mason who also lives in Woking, so all in all a very local and very poignant presentation.

Hockey Olympian Tony Nunn (Helsinki 1952) receives his Great Britain honours cap at The Hockey Museum on the 24 February 2022.

Automaton presentation to David Wareham

The local theme was very much continued with a presentation to Woking-born David Wareham, formerly secretary of Woking Hockey Club. David, together with another local Mike Smith, was responsible for founding THM thirty years ago. David recently retired as a Trustee of the Museum. His presentation was a remarkable automaton that depicts the four phases of David’s working and hockey life revolving on a mechanised carousel: surveyor, stamp collector, hockey goalkeeper and hockey umpire. A true piece of art in its own right.

The Hockey Museum Founder Trustee David Wareham is presented with a unique automaton created by Gerald Dare to recognise 30 years service to the Museum.

After the presentations, guests were free to chat and explore the museum taking in the new exhibits and others which have been modified and enhanced. Upstairs there was a demonstration of our early digitisation progress with THM Archivist Marcus Wardle, and insight from our honours caps expert Elton Riches. Collections Officer Carli-Lyn Vermani conducted behind-the-scenes tours of the museum stores, wowing visitors with hidden gems and insight into the professional standards of the museum.

The evening made for real hockey history. Those who attended felt privileged and a little emotional to be present at such a uniquely memorable event.

Read the Woking News & Mail‘s coverage of our event by clicking the PDF icon to the right.

The Curatorial Team at the exhibition re-launch: Carli-Lyn Vermani (Collections Officer), Mike Smith (Curator), Shane Smith (Assistant Curator), Marcus Wardle (Archivist).