Joanne Milroy writes: "I have been away on holiday but the day before I set off I was brushing my teeth to the sound of the Today programme on a Friday morning when a news item popped up about about a newly-discovered piece of archive film featuring the Cheltenham born composer Gustav Holst. Apparently Holst was an eccentric figure, and the radio item reported how once he was chased away by a local farmer after he spent the day on the top of a nearby Gloucestershire hill top practising his trombone. The farmer apparently complained how the noise worried his cow.
I was just thinking, while still brushing my teeth, whether the said hill top might be Crickley, when the Chair of the Holst Birthplace Trust was introduced. It turned out to be none other than Marjorie Imlah, well known among many Crickley-ites from the mid 1980s-early 1990s vintage, as the manager of the GLOSCAT Crickley "Project".
Richard Savage and others will have to fill you in on the "project" work. I was never quite sure of the purpose- although I do recall expeditions transporting vast quantities of finds and scrunging material either from the hill to the 'Project' or from the 'Project' back to the hill. I can't even remember where the Project was located although I seem to recall it was near Travis Perkins, the builders merchants where we often used to go for advance weekend mending and renovation kit. I think Waitrose has now nicely sanitised this part of Cheltenham now.
I seem to remember JP had various touching terms of endearment for the project and various personalities connected with it. The Project did spawn the yellow peril bus and there was a lovely lady called Liz, who was Marjorie's deputy and often drove the bus around the district to schools and other destinations to spread the Word about Crickley.
Perhaps Richard and Phil can provide more detail?"
Showing posts with label Imlah. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Imlah. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Friday, November 28, 2008
Is that a Mobile Exhibition I see before me ...
A 1990 view of that part of Ullenwood where in earlier years football was often played, by this time, gradually turning into a caravan and car park. On high magnification I think I can just make out the words "Crickley Hill Trust" on the side of the big yellow bus. For an interesting account of its activities see this piece by Marjorie Imlah which I posted a few weeks ago.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Remember the Crickley Hill mobile exhibition of archaeology?
I found this piece from Marjorie Imlah:
"At the time of writing, the Crickley Hill Mobile Exhibition is well into its fourth year of operation, having been invited into at least 70 schools in Gloucestershire and many more beyond the county boundaries, as far afield as Hampshire, Sussex, and Kent. It has also been visited by many thousands of members of the public. The bright yellow singledecker bus, flagship of the Crickley Hill Trust, is now a fairly familiar sight around Gloucester and Cheltenham.
But how did it all start, and when? In 1982, two of the Trust’s most generous benefactors, anxious to publicize and promote the findings from the excavations, joined forces to provide a 30ft long, 45-seater coach of 1972 vintage and to arrange for it to be converted into a mobile exhibition centre. The coach, currently valued at £3000, is still serviced and maintained at a minimal cost by Warners of Tewkesbury. The value of their generous support is immeasurable, particularly as age and wear and tear begin to take their toll. The occasional breakdowns always occur at the most inconvenient moment and can bring the programme to a halt.
Westbury Homes heads a long list of companies and organizations whose support and sponsorship helped to build and furnish the initial exhibition (planned and designed by Philip Dixon, Patricia Borne, and Richard Savage), and to launch it in the spring of 1983. During those early months, it visited Nottingham University, and even the august forecourt of the British Museum. It was driven in those pioneering days by enthusiastic volunteers, but the Crickley Hill Trustees soon realised that, to be effective, the exhibition had to be driven and manned by a permanent, full-time staff. An application was therefore submitted to the Manpower Services Commission in the summer of 1983 for funding to employ five staff under the Community Programme. They would be responsible for three areas of work, the major one being the promotion and presentation of a unique mobile display of general archaeological methods and techniques and specific information based on seventeen seasons of excavation on Crickley Hill.
In January 1984, the exhibition was completely refurbished and updated to its present state. The walls and display panels on the coach were covered with maps, diagrams, photographs, and plans; on the shelves were placed scale models showing the development of many of the communities that lived on the Hill, from 4000 BC to the Dark Ages (the Dark Age dwellings are to be investigated during the summer of 1986). An invaluable dimension was added to the exhibition by the inclusion of a comprehensive selection of artefacts, ranging from Stone Age axe heads and Iron Age flints and pottery to skulls and modern animal bones.
Schools are the major clients for the mobile exhibition and experience has shown that the junior school age group is the most receptive, offering at times a most rewarding enthusiasm and thirst for knowledge.
In practical terms, the coach is manned at all times by two staff (both of whom need to be able to drive, but who do not have to hold a Public Service Vehicle Licence as the vehicle is not allowed to carry passengers). An advance planning meeting is essential to place a proper value on the forthcoming visit and provide an opportunity to plan a timetable, prepare worksheets, brief staff, and check coach parking facilities. On the day of the visit children and adults are invited to 'board the bus' in groups of no more than 10-12, and to stay there on an initial visit for 20-30 minutes in order to have a first look and gain a first impression. They are encouraged to return a second time to have a longer look, to draw or paint some favourite object or scene, to prepare a model, to answer a quiz, to complete a worksheet, or just to question the guide/organizer. While this is going on, the second member of the exhibition team is usually busy in a classroom with the other members of the group, encouraging them to handle and work with the artefacts. A classroom can be used for associated activities, both group and individual; such as a child trying to understand stratigraphy, a group painting a mural of an Iron Age village, creating papier mâché skulls or stone age weapons, flint knapping, or even trying to build a basic pottery kiln. The potential for creativity from such an educational resource as the Mobile Exhibition is considerable. Some of the 'thank you' letters from the schools reflect an interest and enthusiasm which is, in itself, rewarding.
It may be argued that the Exhibition is only as good as the staff who operate it. Their motivation and commitment to a job which can make great demands on them have been essential ingredients in the success of the project to date. One of the prime objectives of the Crickley Hill Archaeological Trust is to ‘advance the education of the public in archaeology...’. The Mobile Exhibition and its team have endeavoured to carry out that aim and will continue to do so while the yellow bus still rolls."
Whatever happened to the bus, I wonder?
"At the time of writing, the Crickley Hill Mobile Exhibition is well into its fourth year of operation, having been invited into at least 70 schools in Gloucestershire and many more beyond the county boundaries, as far afield as Hampshire, Sussex, and Kent. It has also been visited by many thousands of members of the public. The bright yellow singledecker bus, flagship of the Crickley Hill Trust, is now a fairly familiar sight around Gloucester and Cheltenham.
But how did it all start, and when? In 1982, two of the Trust’s most generous benefactors, anxious to publicize and promote the findings from the excavations, joined forces to provide a 30ft long, 45-seater coach of 1972 vintage and to arrange for it to be converted into a mobile exhibition centre. The coach, currently valued at £3000, is still serviced and maintained at a minimal cost by Warners of Tewkesbury. The value of their generous support is immeasurable, particularly as age and wear and tear begin to take their toll. The occasional breakdowns always occur at the most inconvenient moment and can bring the programme to a halt.
Westbury Homes heads a long list of companies and organizations whose support and sponsorship helped to build and furnish the initial exhibition (planned and designed by Philip Dixon, Patricia Borne, and Richard Savage), and to launch it in the spring of 1983. During those early months, it visited Nottingham University, and even the august forecourt of the British Museum. It was driven in those pioneering days by enthusiastic volunteers, but the Crickley Hill Trustees soon realised that, to be effective, the exhibition had to be driven and manned by a permanent, full-time staff. An application was therefore submitted to the Manpower Services Commission in the summer of 1983 for funding to employ five staff under the Community Programme. They would be responsible for three areas of work, the major one being the promotion and presentation of a unique mobile display of general archaeological methods and techniques and specific information based on seventeen seasons of excavation on Crickley Hill.
In January 1984, the exhibition was completely refurbished and updated to its present state. The walls and display panels on the coach were covered with maps, diagrams, photographs, and plans; on the shelves were placed scale models showing the development of many of the communities that lived on the Hill, from 4000 BC to the Dark Ages (the Dark Age dwellings are to be investigated during the summer of 1986). An invaluable dimension was added to the exhibition by the inclusion of a comprehensive selection of artefacts, ranging from Stone Age axe heads and Iron Age flints and pottery to skulls and modern animal bones.
Schools are the major clients for the mobile exhibition and experience has shown that the junior school age group is the most receptive, offering at times a most rewarding enthusiasm and thirst for knowledge.
In practical terms, the coach is manned at all times by two staff (both of whom need to be able to drive, but who do not have to hold a Public Service Vehicle Licence as the vehicle is not allowed to carry passengers). An advance planning meeting is essential to place a proper value on the forthcoming visit and provide an opportunity to plan a timetable, prepare worksheets, brief staff, and check coach parking facilities. On the day of the visit children and adults are invited to 'board the bus' in groups of no more than 10-12, and to stay there on an initial visit for 20-30 minutes in order to have a first look and gain a first impression. They are encouraged to return a second time to have a longer look, to draw or paint some favourite object or scene, to prepare a model, to answer a quiz, to complete a worksheet, or just to question the guide/organizer. While this is going on, the second member of the exhibition team is usually busy in a classroom with the other members of the group, encouraging them to handle and work with the artefacts. A classroom can be used for associated activities, both group and individual; such as a child trying to understand stratigraphy, a group painting a mural of an Iron Age village, creating papier mâché skulls or stone age weapons, flint knapping, or even trying to build a basic pottery kiln. The potential for creativity from such an educational resource as the Mobile Exhibition is considerable. Some of the 'thank you' letters from the schools reflect an interest and enthusiasm which is, in itself, rewarding.
It may be argued that the Exhibition is only as good as the staff who operate it. Their motivation and commitment to a job which can make great demands on them have been essential ingredients in the success of the project to date. One of the prime objectives of the Crickley Hill Archaeological Trust is to ‘advance the education of the public in archaeology...’. The Mobile Exhibition and its team have endeavoured to carry out that aim and will continue to do so while the yellow bus still rolls."
Whatever happened to the bus, I wonder?
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