Duncan Edwards' name kept alive as museum reopens with new Munich Room
“I promised I would keep his name alive and that is what I have done.”
So says Rose Cook-Monk, founder of the Duncan Edwards Museum, which honours the legendary Manchester United footballer and has reopened this week after being forced to shut due the Covid lockdown.
The museum, which sits above a T-shirt printing business in Dudley’s Castle Street, is a historical tribute to Edwards, one of the Busby Babes, who died following the Munich Air Disaster on February 21, 1958.
“He was a master of the game,” said Rose, 51.
“He knew football and played the game when they were barely paid, because he loved it.
“When Bobby Charlton came to Dudley in 2016 to unveil a blue plaque honouring Duncan Edwards, he said he was the best footballer he ever played with.”
Visitors to the museum are taken back in time, first ascending the “stairway to heaven”.
This features the names of the Busby Babes, the young and gifted players, managed by Sir Matt Busby, who were tragically killed in the air disaster following a European Cup match in Belgrade, Yugoslavia.
The museum features a living room styled to the year 1936 when Duncan Edwards was born, a 1940s bedroom depicting the period when he was a boy and a 1950s classroom.
There is a section focussing on Edwards’ Army career, his playing career at Manchester United and a new area - The Munich Room - which explains what happened in the air crash and features a replica of a monument to the disaster situated in Munich.
“I have completely reconstructed the museum,” said Rose.
“It is full of facts about Duncan Edwards and the Black Country.
“As bad as lockdown was, it was advantageous as it enabled us to extend and create the Munich Room.”
On Monday the museum was reopened and the Munich Room unveiled by Paul Murphy, the grandson of Jimmy Murphy who served as understudy to Sir Matt Busby.
“Paul described the museum as a ‘hidden gem’ in Dudley,” said Rose who was friends with Duncan Edwards’ mother, Sarah, who died aged 93 in 2003.
“I am very, very proud of it.”
The Duncan Edwards Museum has been funded by fans of Manchester United who have also donated memorabilia.
Admission to the museum which is open weekdays from 10am to 4pm and Saturdays from 10am to 2pm, is free to enter, but donations are welcome.
