Another Farewell

Hi everyone- Rebecca here, with another farewell blog post. I’ll be finishing my Heritage Learning traineeship in two weeks, which has come around far too quickly. I’ll be spending my last bit of time here delivering school sessions to Reception/Key Stage 1 children (ages 4-7) and doing some training at Norwich Castle which will be lovely.

Since my last blog post we’ve had the very exciting news that the museum has been awarded £1.47million from the Heritage Lottery Fund to redevelop our workhouse exhibitions. We found out not long before Christmas, and as soon as the New Year came around the collections team were busy clearing all of our workhouse spaces, ready for the contractors who are now here. This is a great achievement for the museum and will look fabulous once finished, but it did present a bit of a challenge for the education department. We run sessions for Key Stage 2 and 3 which use the workhouse, so we had to do some thinking on our feet to alter sessions that had been booked in before we found out we’d been successful.

Exciting changes are afoot

At the end of January I took groups of Year 9s on an outside tour of the workhouse buildings, looking into some of the changes that were made as a result of the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act, which changed the site from a house of industry to a workhouse. Preparing for this session was really interesting as I hadn’t noticed some of the changes myself (such as the remnants of a dividing wall between the casuals’ ward and the unmarried mothers’ ward). We also looked at historical documents relating to people who were once in Gressenhall workhouse, and compared them to documents about people living outside the workhouse at the time. This allowed pupils to gain a better insight into what it was like to live in poverty in Victorian times, and possibly to re-evaluate their opinion of the workhouse.

The only remnants of the dividing wall- see if you can locate it next time you visit

Recently it was half-term, which for me meant an opportunity to catch up on some DIY! I constructed a ‘mobile market’ which will be used for Key Stage 1 children to be able to role-play in our Village Row shop. A larger bulk of my time, though, was spent making progress with our 1950s-themed dolls’ house (which will be used, funnily enough, in our 1950s room for a 1950s-themed session). In my last blog I showed you some of the furniture we have for the house, and now I have finally had time to do the wallpapering. This proved just as difficult as actual wallpapering due to the tiny tiny measurements! One centimetre out and I had to start again… But I got there in the end. Some finishing accessories (such as an ironing board and pictures to go on the walls) arrived today; I will be laying (paper) flooring next week and our Live Interpretation Officer, Rachel, will be making some soft furnishings- then it will finally be ready to be used! I’m really looking forward to seeing the finished product, but I hope you’ll agree that it’s already looking pretty good.

An ongoing labour of love

In previous blogs both Tabitha and I have mentioned that we’ve been taking part in a Foundation Course in Museum Learning run by GEM. The course lasted from October-December and saw us visiting various museums in London to meet their learning departments and see what sorts of education offers they have. The course was invaluable in terms of practical tips, getting a better understanding of museum theory, and making contact with other people in the sector. I would never have been able to go on the course without this traineeship so I’m very grateful for the opportunity.

At the end of the course we were asked to write an assignment, for which I evaluated our new Neolithic school event which I mentioned in my last blog. I, along with the rest of Gressenhall’s learning team, delivered the event to just over 1,000 children between September and November. My assignment looked at the effect of the new Key Stage 2 History curriculum, which features prehistory and does not feature the Victorians- previously a staple of Gressenhall’s education offer. Here we are very lucky to have a prehistory gallery and lots of outdoor space, so thankfully we have been able to adapt well to these changes in the curriculum and our Neolithic event is of a really high quality (if I do say so myself). For other museums who don’t have this luxury, the changes have been very concerning. But equally, sites that focus on prehistory have seen school visits increase massively. For more info see this BBC News article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-28461034

As of yet I don’t know what I’ll be moving on to when I finish here, but I do know that my traineeship has given me masses of training and practical experience that will be useful wherever I go. I’ve had an amazing time here and would like to thank Rachel, Katie, Jan and Anna for welcoming me into their team, as well as everyone else at Gressenhall (including visitors) who make this such a special place to work… And of course, to the HLF for creating the Skills for the Future programme!

Rebecca Hunt

Heritage Learning Trainee

A Gardener’s Goodbye

Hi everyone this is my final blog as a Trainee Heritage Gardener at Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse. I am leaving and going straight into a job which is great. Through doing this traineeship I have gained the necessary skills to be more employable which has lead to me having a choice of two jobs. So I am now joining a tree surgeon and am going to gain a level 2 NVQ in trees and timber and gain some tree related qualifications. I really enjoyed working in the woods at Holkham and learning about trees and shrubs throughout my traineeship that I think I will learn a lot from this new experience.

Making handmade plant supports was one of many new skills learned on training days.

My future goals are to continue to learn and train as I am still young. And to start my own business as a professional horticulturist/arboriculturist in a couple of years and work in people’s gardens.

The garden in the summer after our hard work, with the plant supports in their new home

It’s been a great twelve months, which I am very happy to have been given the opportunity to do.

The team posing with our newly made plant supports

Sonny Brown

Heritage Gardening Trainee

Ta ta from a terrific traineeship!

Hello all Tabitha here again! This is officially my last blog post before my traineeship comes to a close in March – boo hoo! – However I shall do my best to sum up events from my last blog, and hopefully what is still to come.

As I mentioned at the end of my last blog post, Ancient House was preparing for the big Thetford Lights On event on the 28th November. The museum opened its doors from 5pm until 9pm to welcome the whole town to an Edwardian Christmas! There were Edwardian fete style games, an RFC officer, a singing soldier, lavender bags to make, skittles, plus the chance for the public to handle museum objects. I was based in the kitchen making peppermint creams, which I think was popular for all ages! We also lit our open range and had a Christmas pudding and some mulled cider on the boil, where visitors could grind up spices to add to the mix.

The house really did feel alive, plus we added decorations of holly branches and Edwardian Christmas cards really did get me in the mood for Christmas! However after a couple of hours in a long skirt and high neck blouse, constantly checking if the range needed feeding (and every now and again relighting it) I soon felt a real sense of how easy we have it nowadays! We didn’t have anything cooking in the range, but it still took constant effort to keep it going while at the same time trying to prepare sweets – a very simple recipe! I have full respect for anyone of the past who wore a skirt or restrictive clothes and did half the things we do today. I do strongly believe that to experience something is to really understand it, and the experience of an Edwardian kitchen will stay with me forever.

The final big event before Christmas was an Edwardian Murder Mystery by Ancient House Teenage History Club. The plan was for three groups with ‘detective notes’ to visit each room to hear the stories of the characters, which the teenagers played fantastically! After spending the term previously preparing for the event, including three weeks working with storyteller Dave Tong, they really did brilliantly and were even prompting questions from the audience without fault. The suspects were all asked to have a final round of questioning in the hall, before the audience made a ballot of who they thought the murderer was – with the majority choosing wrong! The mystery was named a success by everyone, so I think another will definitely be in future plans.

The glamorous aftermath of sorting costumes and props with Melissa!

Last but by no means least, 11th of December saw the 90th Birthday of Ancient House! That evening in the Carnegie Rooms in Thetford was a grand affair to celebrate the occasion and fundraise for a new redisplay in the museum to tell the story of Maharajah Duleep Singh and his family. The room was filled with cocktail dresses, suits and spicy smells from the fantastic three course meal provided by Punjab, the UK’s oldest North Indian restaurant. It really was a fantastic evening, and marked the start great ninetieth year to come for the museum and all involved – plus many years to come!

Lovely piece in the newspaper too, although didn’t realise I was going to be in it!

Then all of a sudden it was 2015!
After a lovely Christmas and New Year the museum was back into the swing of things, and I was back into my traineeship with my first new experience being… the Strangers Hall deep clean!

Before I started many people were saying comments such as ‘wrap up warm’, ‘wear layers’ and ‘don’t forget extra socks!’, but after a morning on training on Friday 9th and meeting the other members of staff and volunteers involved I was very excited – and not too cold! Although I could only give one day to the clean it really was great experience of how much work needs go into keeping a historic building up to date and as clean as possible. Despite the known problems all historic museums must have to constantly battle with, we completed more than I thought was possible in just one day. I was in Lady Paine’s bedroom which involved the four poster bed spread needing to be stripped and packed for freezing! The day really highlighted to me how much prior organisation and planning is essential to a feat like the deep clean. Everyone ensured there were the correct stations of tables and equipment set up, and people prepped for their rooms and working together. I hope it goes just as smoothly for the rest of the deep clean, good luck all involved!

As well as the deep clean I have been able to attend a Share Museums East training session last week at Mildenhall & District Museum. The day was focusing on Stone Age to Iron Age, broadening our ideas of activities and sessions on the topic. It was a great day, and as it is a topic being tackled by more and more schools I felt the day really expanded my knowledge of the era. It was also fantastic as always to exchange ideas for delivery through sharing and talking with other museum staff and volunteers – something I regard highly for any topic or subject.

                          Some ideas on big paper is always good!

 

#MuseumSelfie  Couldn’t help myself but chat to a friendly Roman about the great redisplays in the Mildenhall & District Museum currently underway!

So that’s a brief sum up of what’s happened so far since my last post here. However there is one other rather big feat that I am attempting for the first time with fantastic support and encouragement from Ancient House; A Sleepover in the Museum!

As part of the GEM Museum Learning course I am part of we were asked to produce a work based assignment, and I perhaps rather ambitiously decided to organise a unique experience of a Sleepover in the Museum – and it will be the first time this has happened! Out of work I am a Girlguiding UK leader in training, and have been involved in guiding all my life (I was taken on the first guide camp at the ripe age of a few months!). I feel that Girlguiding UK as a whole is a rather ‘untapped market’ as people in business might say, and the organisation could be part of a fantastic partnership with local museums and heritage sites. Therefore I have decided to target the exclusive offer only to Guide groups to try and bridge this gap, and also to draw on some of my out-of-work knowledge in Guiding.

Please share this poster if you know any Guide leaders who might be interested!

Guides will be able to explore the museum after dark and discover the museum stores and cellar usually closed to the public. Activities also include a torch-lit tour, making your own ‘mini-museum’, handling real historical artefacts, meeting characters from when the house was new, and discovering the role of an Archaeologist and making an intriguing dessert called Palaeontologist Pudding!

Despite the fact that starting in late November to organise an event of this scale before mid-February, and be written into a case study appearing impossible at certain times, it is going successfully and I can’t lie that I am incredibly excited for when the evening comes next month. Part of deciding to organise such a large assignment was because of the experience I will gain from the administration side of creating this event, which is an area I wished to improve on and already feel more confident in certain areas of this. Moreover I feel incredibly privileged to be able and actually allowed to hold an event like this, and I can’t thank Oliver, Melissa, and all the Ancient House staff for being so helpful and supportive in this huge feat!

So that’s it, my ramblings have come to an end, and I have loved every single second of it! Despite trying not to sound too cliché, I can honestly say that the last year has been one of the best experiences of my life. I’ve done amazing things and met extraordinary people, and learnt an incredible amount about museums, learning, history, and – again cliché – myself. I will never forget the astounding opportunities I have been offered during my traineeship, as well as the freedom and trust to push myself into new things. I really will miss Ancient House, the Fenland Lives & Land Project, NMS and everyone I’ve had the privilege of meeting and learning from during my time. My mind is certain that the museum life is the life for me – who would have thought that of the little girl running around dressed as King Arthur thirteen years ago!

A highlight for me has to be Curator Oliver Bone giving a short talk at the 90th Birthday meal on the recipe for success in a museum. A main ingredient Oliver concluded with was love, which I completely understand. During my traineeship I really have met brilliant people and been part of amazing things, and these have come from love – peoples love for history, for wonderful objects, for constant curiosity, for learning, for friendship, and so many more things I could mention.
Thank you for everything, signing out!

Tabitha Runacres
Heritage Learning Trainee
Ancient House Museum, and the Fenland Lives & Land Project.

What is in the racking?

Over the last nine months I have done many things that makes the answer to the question ‘how was work today?’ sound very interesting. I have fork-lifted a mammoth tusk. I have frozen an Anglo Saxon manikin. I have cleaned a Bishop’s Throne and written a trail about dragons.

The weird and wonderful has become the everyday so perhaps I should spell out what I do here over in the Norfolk Collections Centre and why I think it is important. My job title is Collections Management trainee, and although you may think that it’s not hard to manage a load of inanimate objects, it is harder than it sounds.

The weird and wonderful normally appears at the beginning of the week when reaching up and lifting down some of the mystery pallets off the racking. In fact that is the most exciting time, when we are about to look at something new and are unsure of what we may find.

So far some of the delights have been our saint statues from various Norwich churches. We also have a Bishop’s Throne from Norwich Cathedral, we have beadle staffs from the processions of Norwich mayors, fire places, cookers, mangles, swords, various pieces of furniture, medieval chests and ‘Spike’ our funeral monument.

So we have our objects down from the racking, what is there to do next? Well we do a thorough check of each object, have a look at its unique number and see what sort of condition it is in. We then have a look at its record on our database. We will add detail to that record to make sure that it has a correct location and that we document any work we do on it such as cleaning. Perhaps most important though is taking a photo and adding that to the record, so if someone searches for it they know exactly what it looks like without having to forklift it down again.

Going through this process also means me and my colleague Sophie Towne get an in-depth knowledge of the objects we work on. What they are, where they have come from and what they might have been used for.

We then re-pack the objects so that they are nice and safe to go back up onto the racking. Now why do we do all of this? The reason is simple: access.

With every object we look at, clean, photograph and update on the database, our knowledge improves. This means we can then pass that knowledge onto the people who are interested, our visitors. The people who truly own the collection.

So far during this project we have been open on two event days at Gressenhall for tours of the store, which have been very popular. We have also run activities over October half-term, giving a new audience the chance to explore what we have behind the scenes. We are also currently planning to be open for February half-term.

Why do I like working here? Why do people want to come and look round the store? Both are easy questions to answer.

It’s ‘cause old stuff is interesting.

Josh Giles
Collections Management Trainee

Coming to an end at Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse

Hi, my name’s Sonny and I am a Heritage Gardening Trainee at Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse, as some of you may know from my previous blog. I’ve been here since February 20th 2014 so now coming up to the last 3 months of my traineeship, which has gone by pretty quickly.

I spend two days a week at Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse where me and Sam have been working really hard on the farmhouse garden, and the garden has been flowering and flowering and flowering which is great to see.

I’ve been at Holkham on placement for the second half of my traineeship, which I have really enjoyed. I have had lots of opportunities in the woodland, crosscutting wood and also got to fell some trees, which were all great fun. I also went on a tree marking and pruning course at Holkham where I learned about continuous cover forestry and why it’s so important to manage our woodland for the future prosperity of the Woodland. I’ve also been working in the walled garden where we got to work on the vegetable garden. I also got the opportunity to pick fresh vegetables from the garden, wash and prep them for Lord and Lady Coke and for hunting parties at the weekend.

I have done several more courses since my last blog from chipper and brush cutter training to hedge laying courses at Gressenhall, which were a great learning experience.

It’s been a good 9 months and I have gained many of the skills and qualifications I will need to get a job in the heritage garden setting when I finish my traineeship in February.

Sonny Brown
Heritage Gardening Trainee

Are weddings any different today, than those in Medieval times?

My job role in the last six months has changed significantly. I have gone from organising various events to researching the current wedding market. My focus in this blog is to look at the ‘traditional wedding’ through the ages, and explore the differences to the modern day wedding.

Medieval Weddings

During the middle ages, there was a rise in marriage laws. In 1076 The Council of Westminster enforced the law that meant a priest must bless a marriage therefore contracts and legal documents started to be drawn up, similar to today’s marriage contracts and licenses.

The finest silks with gold or silver embroidery would be worn, brightly colored fabrics were popular and men would wear their finest court attire. Jewelry, furs and elaborate belts adorned every noble body.

White is now the symbol of purity, and most wedding dresses made in this hue. In the middle ages this wasn’t so. Bride’s would wear blue most often, as blue was the symbol of purity. If her gown were not blue, she would wear something else blue, like a ribbon in her hair. This is where today’s tradition of “something blue” comes from.

Today’s tiered wedding cakes actually stemmed from the middle Ages. Guests would bring little cakes and stack them on top of one another. The bride and groom would then try to kiss over the top of the cakes without knocking them to the ground.

Guests included inhabitants of the residence, other nobles and distant relatives and unlike today, Invitations were not sent out.

The noble wedding was rarely one filled with love – It was an arranged marriage. Peasants were a little different however, as they would often marry for love.

Elizabethan Weddings

A lot of the customs from the middle ages were still upheld during Elizabethan times. Religion still played a major role in weddings, and a priest would normally conduct ceremonies in a church. The cost of the wedding fell to the bride’s father, however in small villages; neighbours may prepare food for the feast, sort of like a potluck dinner.

Flowers played a bigger part. The bridesmaids would be in charge of making bouquets for guests, and to make the wedding garland, which was rosemary and roses. The bride would carry her garland until after the ceremony, where she would then place it on her head.

Victorian Weddings

Queen Victoria is often given credit for making the white wedding gown popular since she herself wore white to her wedding; however there have been many royal and non-royal brides after her that did not wear white.

Flowers became more and more important in a wedding; the church or chapel would be decorated with them. Men would wear a flower in the lapel of their frock coat or morning coat. In the country, a bride would walk to the chapel on a carpet of flower blossoms.

Wartime weddings

Romance continued to flourish even during wartime. The possibility of separation and the dangers of war caused many young lovers to ‘throw caution to the wind’.
It was often a hurried affair and not done in the style and manner that was previously possible. Before 1939, most couples would have opted for a traditional style wedding with a chapel or church ceremony, accompanying bridesmaids and guests, and a reception to follow. However, with the outbreak of war, there was no time for elaborate plans, so weddings were organised with less formality.

Instead of the traditional wedding dress most bridal outfits were made up of utility clothes. They were of simple design and made with the least amount of material possible and, since they could be worn again, made effective use of the clothing coupons.

Although many weddings that took place during the war could not follow all traditions, they were however, a source of pride and celebration as friends and family united to provide all the essentials. Help was given with the outfits and other aspects of the organisation. Enthusiastic amateurs took the photos, and neighbours and relatives contributed precious food rations to the wedding breakfast and ingredients for the cake.

I think it is clear to see that not much has really changed from even has far back at medieval times. Trends may come and go but the principal that weddings are a chance for families and friends to celebrate a couple’s love seems to never alter.

 

Miriam Burroughs

Skills For The Future Public Events Trainee

Lady Mary’s secret weapon for a porcelain complexion

This week’s blog comes from Sophie Towne and explores another exciting object found in the Collections Centre:

You are a refined and well-mannered lady quietly sewing by the fireside contemplating the latest family scandal, but you find your face is turning a rather un-dignified shade of pink because of the heat of the fire. So what do you need? A fire screen of course!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have many fire screens within Norfolk Museums Service and several excellent examples live at the Norfolk Museums Collection Centre. These objects are the quintessential showcase piece for domestic history. They are beautiful objects and it’s not hard to imagine the gentle lady of the house reclining in front of the fire with the screen to protect her delicate skin.
These objects are at once practical and decorative. They range from simple wicker screens to sumptuous embroidered spectacles. They sit proudly but quietly in every country house. So when you watch Downton Abbey next week take a moment to observe the surroundings of Lady Mary and Lord Grantham, I guarantee you’ll see a fire screen silently surveying the drama.
It is easy to picture a young lady taking an afternoon nap in the bedroom scene from Strangers’ Hall seen in the postcard below. Here the fire screen provides decoration but is also functional. In fact, we have this exact fire screen at The Norfolk Museums Collection Centre.

The screen is a cross stitched image of a finely dressed gentleman relaxing during a hunt, his rifle is propped against the bank and he and his dog share a moment of calm. The screen is mounted on an adjustable mahogany stand and it is positioned to face the viewer of the postcard. It is the cherry on top of an ornate room.

We also have the fireplace seen in the postcard of Strangers’ Hall so we can almost recreate part of the postcard here at The Norfolk Museums Collection Centre. Even this useful object is embellished with floral and foliage motifs intertwined with ribbons swirling across the metal.

Although the bed dominates the room, the fireplace and fire screen are essential and important requirements for the space. They may not be as big a showstopper as the elaborate bed but Lady Mary couldn’t live without the fireplace or the fire screen.

Sophie Towne

Collections Management Trainee

Autumn Activities

It hardly feels like autumn, what with the great weather we’ve had for most of September and October. It hardly feels as though I’ve been a Skills For the Future trainee for over a year now; it has passed so quickly. Now we are well into our seasonal work and are back hedge laying and picking apples for the upcoming ‘Apple Day’ event, and the leaves are beginning to turn their golden yellows, reds and browns I am reminded of all that I’ve done over the last twelve months and the experiences I have had. It’s been a heck of a ride!

I’ve picked up a range of new skills in practical conservation such as fen and meadow cutting, reed bed restoration work, coppice work and fencing; not to mention the opportunities to get experience with different tools and machinery, and also some great individual projects like beekeeping and species’ monitoring work around the farm. The work I was able to do what the ‘nature watch’ cameras during the nesting season will be especially remembered by me; being able to watch our resident Barn Owl pair successfully raise a brood was a real treat- this year hasn’t really felt like ‘work’ at all!!

Right now the focus is on preparation for ‘Apple Day’. I have been getting the materials ready for a demonstration of traditional hedge laying and will be preparing a hedge in the Orchard for the event this weekend. In addition, we have been out picking apples from the many old and indigenous varieties we have at the site. These have been carefully boxed and displayed in the Roots Building down on the farm, ahead of the event on Sunday where they’ll be shown to our local experts in attendance; who’ll try to name any unknown varieties before the apples are taken for use in ‘scrumping’. This is where the apples are crushed in presses to make juice for sale during the day. Everyone will get the chance to taste the produce from our trees including some very old varieties that have originated in the county.

Apple Day has fond memories for me. Last year was my first, and also the first time I’d ever attempted hedge laying. This year I will have had a whole season behind me in which I’ve (hopefully!) improved somewhat in the art. I hope to be able to demonstrate each stage in the process, from cutting and clearing a section ready for laying, through making the correct cut in the chosen stem to be laid (known as a ‘pleacher’), and also the structural work such as preparing posts and ‘heatherings’; long, decorative stems of hazel that are woven between each post and act to bind the structure together.

It’s shaping up to be another great day. I have a busy week ahead of me to get everything ready whilst I’m still on work placements and keeping up with my NPTC diploma coursework. I hope the glorious autumn weather returns in time for Sunday and we have plenty of visitors to make the day even better than last year!

Daniel Johnson
Landscape Conservation Trainee
Skills For the Future

Hello from the education department at Gressenhall!

We’re now well into the new school year and we have begun delivering a major new school event about the Neolithic period. The team has spent a lot of the summer holidays developing sessions for the event: a ‘special things’ session, a farming session, a hunting session and a shelter session. We will have a turn at delivering each of the sessions- so far I have delivered Special Things (which includes an object-finding and handling session in our First Farmers Gallery, plus making a clay pot) and Shelter (where children find out about Neolithic homes, and have a go at making their own shelter). It has been a really useful experience to see how a session is developed and then to run and evaluate it. It’s also interesting to be in the same position as the rest of the team- usually everyone else has delivered a session lots of times whilst I’m new to everything. This time it was new to all of us!

Another new school event will be starting shortly- the new primary curriculum requires children to learn about life within living memory, and in response to this we will be offering a 1950s event for Key Stage 1 children. I have been researching life in the 1950s, getting toys and television footage (including a truly terrifying Gerry Anderson show called Torchy the Battery Boy- look it up if you’ve never seen it!), and most importantly sourcing items for the 1950s-themed doll’s house which we’ll be using to illustrate what a home would have looked like during this period. I never had a doll’s house as a child, so a fascinating (and slightly bizarre) new miniature world has been opened up to me!

Some of the growing collection of doll’s house furniture, complete with cat and mouse

In addition to preparing for our new events, I have once again been helping to run our Early Years group, Muddy Museum Café. Our most recent session was about tractors, so we set up a tractor training run (with the children role-playing as tractors) in our farmhouse garden. They then painted and decorated cardboard tractors, which had been lovingly made by me and our Live Interpretation Officer, Rachel. (Who knew it could take almost a whole day to glue together cereal boxes and loo rolls!?)

The fleet of tractors ready to be decorated

The farmhouse garden converted into a tractor training run

 

 

 

 

 

I recently shadowed our Visitor Services Trainee, Lydia, to get an idea of the multitude of different tasks carried out by our Front of House team. I realised just how hard the team works to keep the museum looking lovely and clean, and making sure that all of our visitors are having a good time.

I’ve also had the opportunity to attend training sessions which will be very valuable for my professional development. As Tabitha, another Learning Trainee, mentioned in her blog, we and the other SftF trainees attended an Understanding Museums course; one of the convenors being Gressenhall’s first curator. In two short days Bridget and her colleague Nicola were able to give us a great insight into the heritage sector, including the history of museums, how to use objects and stories in museums, governance, ethics and much more. Coming from a different sector I found this course really helpful and it was something I probably wouldn’t have been able to do without my traineeship.

For the remainder of my time here I’ll be doing lots more training, including Forest Schools Level 1, Paediatric First Aid, becoming an Arts Award adviser and several sessions by SHARE Museums East, who put on free training for museum staff and volunteers in the East of England. However the main bulk of my training over the next three months will be a foundation course run by the Group for Education in Museums, giving me specialised training in museum learning. I believe there are still a couple of places left on the course if anyone is interested.

One of the great things about doing a traineeship at Gressenhall is the opportunity to work with different departments, to get as broad an experience as possible. Over the summer holidays I was able to work with the Events team to deliver informal learning sessions such as Art Attack!, a themed art session which took place every day of the holidays. I also helped with one of our biggest public events, Village at War, which took place at the end of August and saw thousands of visitors coming to commemorate both the First and Second World Wars. One of the highlights of the two-day event was a flypast by a Lancaster. I was in role at the event as a 1940s shopkeeper, handing out rations of sweets to the under-18s and selling Spitfire badges to raise money for the Battle of Britain Memorial Fund. Many thanks to everyone who bought a badge! I’ll be joining the Events team again soon for our Hallowe’en event on the 30th and 31st October. More details about the event are on the main page of Gressenhall’s website– do come along!

Selling Spitfire badges at Village at War

How many miles of wire netting does it take to control the wild rabbits of Australia?

This is one of many questions I never thought I’d have the answer to, but just so you know it turns out it’s 7,500 miles of netting.

I discovered this fact quite by chance whilst researching the Boulton and Paul P10 aircraft wing, which is housed at the Norfolk Collections Centre.

The P10 aircraft wing made by Boulton and Paul

As part of my traineeship I designed the pop-up banners (6 foot tall information posters which can be folded away when not in use) which we use at the Norfolk Collections Centre during tours. It was during my research of our ‘star objects’ that I stumbled upon this glorious tit-bit about the Norwich-based aircraft and general manufacturer Boulton and Paul Ltd, the constructors of the P10 aircraft.

Boulton and Paul did not just produce aircrafts during the 20^th century, they also made miles and miles of wire netting and were known internationally for the quality and efficiency of their Norwich workshops. At the time when the P10 aircraft was created in 1919, the galvanized wire netting department could produce up to 400 miles of netting per week. Thus, the company was chosen as the supplier of netting to Australia in order to ease their, apparently substantial, rabbit problem.

One of the Boulton and Paul Ltd wire netting workshops in Norwich c.1929

I am now almost 6 months into my traineeship at the Norfolk Collections Centre and I have discovered and experienced more than I ever thought possible, the rabbit netting anecdote being one of the more hilarious finds during my banner research. Creating the banners was a really rewarding experience. I produced and edited the text after considerable research on our ‘star objects’ and tracked down and chose the images to be included in the designs to complement the artefacts and put them into context. I worked closely with our designer and had the final say on layout.

Eventually, after much hard work and battles with high resolution images my vision was realised. We were able to showcase the banners on their maiden voyage for Heritage Open Day on 14^th September 2014 when we opened the Norfolk Collections Centre for our timed tours. It was a real thrill to see the banners in all their 6 foot magnificence with the text and images I worked on sitting proudly beside their respective objects for visitors to enjoy.

The final display! The Boulton and Paul P10 aircraft wing alongside its banner ready for Heritage Open Day

In the next 6 months I am certain I will be exploring many more aspects of collections management and discovering many more unusual facts along the way.

 

Sophie Towne

Collections Management Trainee