- Our Heritage Work -
The Royal Bogglington Hollow Museum is dedicated to preserving the Unique Heritage of Britain's Villages
About the Sleepy Hedgehog Society
and the Royal Bogglington Hollow Museum
--------The Sleepy Hedgehog Society was a peculiar gathering of eccentric English Scholars and Field Agents from the 1950s, devoted to observing and documenting the mysteries and odd goings-on of the village of Bogglington Hollow with quiet care, sensible suspicion and an awful lot of pondering, tea and biscuits.--------
A Brief History of the Society
The Sleepy Hedgehog Society's original title was The Hedgerow Observational League, Cryptozoological & Society of Phenomenological Study and General Nocturnal Documentation.The members (all scholars of note) felt terribly important. But it was very rarely said out loud. When it was, members had to glance at the covers of their field notes to remember it.Meetings were held in meadows or woodlands at night - gas lanterns low, notebooks and tea-filled thermoses at hand. Members wore thick woollen nightcaps for warmth - and to show they were on Frightfully Official Business and not to be disturbed.The nightcaps, however, worked far too well.At the crack of dawn, the scholars were often found fast asleep in amongst the hedgerows, heads resting in their notebooks, their nightcaps bundled into pillows.The villagers, not unkindly, called them "Those Sleepy Hedgehogs."
It suited them. They were prickly when woken or interrupted and had a habit of curling up in an armchair or under the hedgerows whenever their thoughts grew too heavy.The scholars were, at first, utterly against it. “Hedgehogs, indeed.”Until one evening, during a welcoming speech before Sir Humphrey Thistlethorp’s lecture on The Art of Sneakery, Montgomery Winston (Society Treasurer) stood up, cleared his throat and declared, “Welcome to the Sleepy Hedgehog Socie—oh.”And so, the name stuck.
About the Royal Bogglington Hollow Museum
The Royal Bogglington Hollow Museum is a small but determined archival institution nestled within the ivy-draped remnants of Weadel Manor—once the headquarters of the Sleepy Hedgehog Society and ancestral home of Lord and Lady Forbes-Bogglington.Founded to preserve the quiet oddities and everyday goings-on of the village and surrounding hedgerows, the Museum holds records dating back to 1734—most of which were found behind bookcases, beneath stairwells, or tucked into tea and biscuit tins. Some reappeared out of the blue, in the most extraordinary fashion.Our restoration efforts are ongoing.We specialise in discovering long-lost Society files, documenting peculiar goings-on that were once considered perfectly ordinary, making tea during difficult cataloguing tasks and restoring worse-for-wear reports, field notes and meeting minutes.The Museum is open to quiet visitors, gentle researchers, and those who prefer unsolved mysteries with footnotes.Please do not lean on the filing cabinets (they rattle terribly when nervous) and kindly ignore the archives when they rearrange themselves.
Head Curators
Professor T. Woodbridge – Head of the Antique Biscuit & Tea Tin of Historical Importance Department; Curator of Complaints. A long-serving academic of the Royal Bogglington Hollow Museum, Professor Woodbridge is widely regarded as a leading expert in:- the historical significance of tea caddies- the strain on the nerves caused by poorly or incorrectly brewed tea. His precise handwriting is also a sight to behold and he has quite a knack for filing a formal complaint with aplomb, patience and politeness.Professor W. Winthrop – Ancient Maps of Questionable Reliability Department - In charge of overseeing the Museum's extensive map collection, many of which are either incorrect, muddled or partial to changing things to avoid taking the blame. A quietly meticulous fellow, Professor Winthrop often spends hours on end having words with a particularly defiant drawing of the Bone Idle Allotments. It has also been rumoured that several hallways in the museum were mapped incorrectly under his supervision. This, he insists most adamantly, was part of a cartographic experiment.L. Hamilton White - Head of the Sleepy Hedgehog Society Department. Specialising in artefacts of a peculiar nature and in charge of the ongoing cataloguing and restoration of the Sleepy Hedgehog Society Archives - an undertaking taken extremely seriously, even with the never ending interruptions from ghosts, aggravating post and pestering garden gnomes.The Royal Mullweed 22 - The Royal Bogglington Hollow Museum's Resident Haunted Typewriter & Archivist of Unwanted Documents.Manufactured in 1922 and assigned to the museum in 1975, Mullweed has refused to sit peacefully on a shelf due to his utter dislike of "this so-called modern way of doing things" and an ongoing argument with the (unconfirmed) ghost of a magnifying glass.
Essential Staff
The following staff ensure everything carries on without going completely to pot.'Pattering' Pete McDouglas - Senior Custodian of Structural Creaks & Boiler Room OdditiesMrs Mildred Twig - Specialist in Dust Containment & Unsettling SmudgesFlorence Hetty - Canteen Head Cook & Emergency Teacup Rationing OfficerHilda Crabtree - Front Desk Operations & Guardian of the Visitor LedgerMrs Agatha Penwick Head of Visitor Coat Peg Allocation
Museum Opening Hours
• Tuesdays, before the fog lifts.
• Thursdays, after the biscuit and tea tins have been filled.
• Most Sundays, unless the jam cupboard is locked again.Closed briefly during:
• Filing Cabinet huffs.
• Garden Gnome rehearsals.
• Days when the archives feel a little out of sorts.
• When the ghost from the History of the Sconological Institute Department’s pantry is wafting about in a woebegone manner.Museum Shop Opening Hours
The Museum shop may be open:
• When the key decides to make an appearance.
• When Mrs Twig says it’s perfectly fine to do so.
• When the cupboard isn’t overflowing with unsent newsletters.Please note:
The Museum shop will not open if the marmalade is leaking, the till is grumbling or if the hedgehogs use the wrapping drawer as a reading nook.Tea & Biscuit Break Policy
Visitors may be offered tea if:
• The kettle has just boiled
• You don’t ask too many questions
• You look like you’d be kind to a confused ghost
Please note: Biscuit availability fluctuates wildly.Asking Questions in the Museum
Questions are permitted but not always answered.
Answers may arrive weeks later in the form of:
• A whisper through the air vent
• A post-it note tucked behind a painting
• A garden gnome pointing very firmly at nothing in particularPlease proceed with quiet curiosity.
Our Restoration Efforts
The Sleepy Hedgehog Society was a gathering of eccentric British scholars and field, meadow and hedgerow agents from the 1950s, devoted to observing and documenting the peculiar goings-on in the village of Bogglington Hollow with care, suitable suspicion and umpteen cups of tea and biscuits.In 1959 or so, quite suddenly and for reasons nobody can fathom, the Society simply... whittled away. Their filing cabinets and trunks were left to huddle, alone and forgotten in a gloomy corner where nobody had stepped foot near for decades on end…Then, on a foggy Tuesday morning earlier this year, the trunks and filing cabinets were delivered here! To the Royal Bogglington Hollow Museum. Nobody had heard of the archives being found, never mind authorising their transfer.With them was a note, written in tea: 'When the world becomes far too serious, the Hedgehog Field and Meadow Agents and the Theatrical Garden Gnomes will return to investigate, document and make sure the ghosties don't get up to too much mischief. So do keep an eye out.'We were all so over the moon (we still are) we didn't know what to do with ourselves... except drink tea, of course! And rather a lot of it!Having lost for so long, the Society archives arrived in a frightful state - creased, nibbled, mouldy, tatty, soggy or barely in one piece.We are doing our utmost to restore, comfort and catalogue them all. So, from time to time, we hold a Limited Edition - Special Restoration Funding Drive to help with the enormous task (and considerable funds, time and emergency tea supplies required) of making them presentable.(Restoration efforts for the last archive discovery were kindly supported by our Special Restoration Funding Drive supporters. We thank all of them most sincerely indeed and promise to keep the mould, rusting and tea-stains to a minimum)
Items To (Cautiously) Add to Your Personal Archives
A Terribly Odd State of Affairs - Item One... Or Thereabouts
Sleepy Hedgehog Society -
Museum Archive - General ReleaseA gently peculiar artefact of meeting minutes, haunted notes and garden gnome reports. Delicately restored & best read with tea and a firm grip on one's biscuit.Royal Bogglington Hollow Museum Catalogue Ref: 2533B-FN1
ISBN: 978-0-6455656-1-4
Please Note: Reading order is entirely optional
Numbers were assigned by Mullweed during a thunderstorm
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undergoing restoration
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A Terribly Odd State of Affairs
Item Two… or...Possibly Item One Misfiled
Sleepy Hedgehog Society
The strange events in the English village of Bogglington Hollow.
Artefact partially restored. Paper currently damp with hints of mildew.
Numerous reports continue to argue among themselves.
Field notes smell faintly of rosemary... and regret over days lost.
Estimated cataloguing: When deemed stable.
Updates will be filed through the Museum & Society Newsletter.
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The Bogglington Hollow Chronicle
Sleepy Hedgehog Society
Somewhat restored. A little too odd to approach with our present dusting brush.
Estimated cataloguing: When pages stop being so stubborn.
Updates will be filed via the Museum & Society Newsletter.
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coming soon
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The Curator’s Diary
Fragments from the Archive: Quiet Mysteries and Somewhat Alarming Crumbs
Royal Bogglington Hollow Museum
Estimated cataloguing: July or August…
or perhaps in December, after the Christmas Party.
This edition is expected to arrive as a new-fangled eBook first, with a printed version possibly following... if the eBook doesn't mind sharing the limelight.
Updates will also be filed through the Museum & Society Newsletter.
A Small Note on Production & Peculiarities
All reproductions are printed and posted by a trusted external press, allowing the curators to focus on restoration, biscuit preservation and tea-assisted discoveries.Minor irregularities (such as tiny trimming shifts, arriving with muddy boots) are not uncommon and are considered part of the artefact’s original condition.
We'll get back to you in a jiffy!
In the meantime, please do have a potter about.
Museum & Society Newsletter
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You are now on
Henry & Pittance's Postage List
Curator’s Office
Correspondence is most welcome.
For questions, sightings, gentle corrections or offers of jam, please direct your message through the form below.All letters will be filed in the order they are received (unless startled by an apparition or tea and biscuit emergency).
Sleepy Hedgehog Society
A Terribly Odd State of Affairs
Item One... Or Thereabouts
Within this museum reproduction:
– Meeting minutes of great importance
– Reports of toast peculiarities, marmalade concerns and postal oddities
– Field Reports from the Garden Gnome Theatrical & Documentation Department
– Scribbled margin notes by Society Members and those who were no longer with us, but determined not to be left out.This edition has been faithfully reproduced - complete with aged paper stock, stamps, tea stains, filing errors and signs of gentle wear.Filed and restored by: the Royal Bogglington Hollow Museum.
Published for archival purposes.
Some pages may reshuffle.
Peculiarities are to be expected.