Our Trustees

Sir Ferrers Vyvyan

Chair of the Board of Trustees

Sir Ferrers Vyvyan is the Chair of the Board of Trustees. Sir Vyvyan owns and maintains the traditional family-run estate at Trelowarren. The historic house is situated near to the Helford River on the eastern side of the Lizard Peninsula.

Sir Vyvyan was elected as Cornwall’s High Sheriff in 2008, as well as being a former Chairman of the Royal Institution of Cornwall. He has recently completed two terms of office as a Trustee of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and is also a Deputy Lieutenant. Previously, he was awarded a Postgraduate Diploma in the Conservation of Garden and Historic Landscapes, by the Architectural Association.

Henrietta Boex

Director of Cultural Services, Falmouth Town Council

Henrietta describes her life as a series of tacks across the great sea of life and so at forty she went off to Plymouth School of Architecture to study Architectural Studies with Heritage Studies, rejoicing in the fact that she was the only person ever to get this qualification from that organisation. This led to project management consultancy, which led to Porthcurno Telegraph Museum where she helped deliver their new £3m museum redevelopment project.

Her current job at Falmouth Art Gallery is her dream job and brings together the many strands of her interesting and varied life.

Ian Wall

Director at Royal Cornwall Museum

Ian has worked in museums and visitor attractions for nearly 30 years. Initially he worked as Director at the archaeological site museum at Creswell Crags, where he was responsible for leading the organisation through a major capital redevelopment, and reorganisation securing the site’s future as a potential World Heritage site. In January 2014, Ian took up the post of Director at the Royal Cornwall Museum.

Prior to Ian’s professional career in museums, he graduated from the University of Sheffield in 1986 where he studied Prehistory and Archaeology. Like many archaeologists during the 1980s, he worked on the Manpower Services Commission training scheme, supervising the excavation of various archaeological sites in Derbyshire. It was here that Ian developed a passion for public archaeology and heritage management. He subsequently undertook Museum Studies at Leicester University while working full time at Creswell.

Richard Doughty

Director National Maritime Museum Cornwall

Richard is a museum and gallery professional working in the arts and cultural sector with experience in Local Government, National Museums and Independent Charitable sectors. He has over thirty-five years’ experience managing and marketing museums, planning and delivering cultural events and developing the exhibition and educational programming.

He developed and secured funding of a major conservation project to save the Cutty Sark from collapse, working for the Cutty Sark Trust in 2001. He assembled and briefed a multi-disciplinary team of experts in conservation, engineering and architecture to devise a scheme, that would not only ensure the physical survival of the ship but would also re-invigorate Cutty Sark as one of London’s leading visitor landmarks. Following the opening of the ship by HM The Queen in April 2012, Richard joined the Executive Management team at Royal Museums Greenwich.

Under Richard’s directorship, the historic clipper ship Cutty Sark underwent a £55 million conservation project, including a complete re-presentation and interpretation of the vessel. As a consequence, visitor numbers increased from 120,000 to 325,000 per annum with an annual turnover of £3.8 million.

In October 2014, Richard took up the post of Director at the National Maritime Museum Cornwall.

Colin Vallance

Heritage and Environment Director, South West Lakes Trust – Managing Director, Wheal Martyn Trust

Colin has worked for South West Lakes Trust since 2000, initially within hospitality. In 2007, he graduated through the Trust’s Supervisory and Management Development Programme. In 2010, Colin was appointed as General Manager of Wheal Martyn Museum following its merger with the Trust.

In the first two years, he worked hard to re-engage Wheal Martyn with key stakeholders and re-energize the volunteer and paid workforce, increasing visitor numbers, turning its trading subsidiary into profitability, and successfully raising funds to employ curatorial and education staff and commissioned a Conservation Management Plan for the site.

Now, as Managing Director of Wheal Martyn, he leads a small and dynamic team working to realise the potential of the museum. As Heritage and Environment Director for South West Lakes Trust he leads the Countryside team, managing conservation of the environment and built heritage, grounds maintenance and forestry at nearly 50 lakes across Devon, Cornwall and West Somerset as well as maximising car park revenue and developing the Trust’s angling business.

Louise Connell

Director of Penlee House Gallery and Museum

Louise completed her Post Graduate Diploma in Art Gallery & Museum Studies at Manchester University in the early 1990s and worked briefly at Norwich Castle Museum and Warrington Art Gallery before becoming Keeper of Social History at the Harris in Preston. She later worked as Curator at the Galleries of Justice in Nottingham and for a short period as Senior Manager at Bolton Museums and Art Gallery.

After relocating to Cornwall, Louise was appointed Director of Falmouth Art Gallery in 2011 and, in 2013, Director of Penlee House Gallery & Museum in Penzance. Penlee has played a lead role in the development of the Cornwall Museums Partnership since its inception in 2012 and is the Lead Partner in the Cornwall Museums’ Major Partner Museum consortium.

Libby Buckley

Director of Leach Pottery

Libby Buckley is the Director of the Leach Pottery. Previously, she worked as the Director of the Telegraph Museum for five years, and oversaw the recent and highly successful £3.2 million redevelopment of the museum. This led to the museum going on to win South West Cornwall Tourism’s 2014/2015 Gold Award for Museum and Industrial Attraction of the Year.

Libby has an MA Honours in Classical Civilisation from Glasgow University, and an MA in Museum Studies from the University of Leicester and has over fifteen years of experience in the arts and heritage sector. She previously worked at the British Postal Museum and Archive, and the British Museum in London, the Caribbean’s Turks and Caicos National Museum.

She also set up and chaired the Cornwall Museum Group, which provides opportunities for museum staff and volunteers to get together and exchange ideas as well as apply for joint funding.

Chloe Rickard

Communications Manager at Cool Earth

Chloe’s career in communications began at Kneehigh, the international touring theatre company based in the UK. At Kneehigh, she was part of a team that developed a locative story walk app, Kneehigh Rambles, and also worked on a digital education resource for the company, which became the Kneehigh Cookbook.

More recently Chloe has swapped the stage for the rainforest and is currently working with Cool Earth, the charity that works alongside indigenous villages to halt rainforest destruction. It is a digital-first charity that prides itself on innovative communications. Chloe is developing their communications strategy and using digital opportunities to reach and engage new and current donors.