Frinton museum exhibition celebrates women's achievements

The display at the Frinton and Walton Heritage Trust Museum celebrates the impact of women in fitness, horticulture, sport, politics, conservation and science through interactive experiences.

Women featured include Eileen Fowler, a leading figure in the 1930s keep fit movement, Thorpe Hall park and gardens creator Lady Evelyn Byng, amateur golfer and 1930s French and Belgian Open winner Kathleen Garnham, Essex suffragette activists Lilian Hicks and her daughter Amy Bull and conservationist Pam Garrad.

Also included is Professor Bonnie Ann Wallace, a biophysicist at Birkbeck College University of London and current Frinton resident.

Professor Wallace said: "I feel very honoured and proud to be associated with this project at the Heritage Trust and it is so pleasing to have local women from many walks of life highlighted in this way."

Professor Wallace’s career in protein structural biology has earned her widespread recognition, including the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Khorana Prize in 2020.

Her research into sodium channels – proteins that control the flow of sodium ions through cell membranes – has contributed to understanding their role in brain and muscle function, as well as their link to motor neuron disease (MND).

Professor Wallace and her team recently identified the binding site for riluzole, the only drug currently approved in Europe and the UK for treating MND.

She said: "I hope that by our showing how the drug binds into the channels it will enable researchers and pharmaceutical companies to design new and better treatments for this devastating disease.

"I especially hope that children visiting the museum will find it a fun time which might inspire them to become the scientists of the future so they can experience the joy that I have had in my career from this profession."

The museum, located on Pole Barn Lane, will next open to visitors over the Easter weekend.

Admission is free, though donations for upkeep and maintenance are welcome.