Greetings!

Greetings!

Welcome to the first entry on the blog.  I'm Jules, Manager of Cumbria's Museum of Military Life and have set up this blog to engage with folk in the outside world.  Yes, the outside world...something which is all upsidedown and back-to-front at the moment!  So I thought that as we all have to adapt to less toilet rolls in the shops and copious amounts of daytime telly, a little light relief may make someone smile.

So it's day one.  Why the photo of me with several mannequins (or could they be ex-members of staff??) taken outside the Museum? Well, these old timers were taken away by our wonderful volunteer John who is going to use them for archery target practise.  We did think these could help us through this on-going crisis but there comes a time when you have to say goodbye to these gorgeous dummies.  That time is now.  Like many Museums we have had to 'make do and mend' using and reusing items to help with displays.  In 2014 we moved in to Alma Block within Carlisle Castle, helped with a generous grant from HLF.  This enabled us to upgrade.  Somehow these crafty mannequins got hidden away in our attic space, so on a recent tidying spree they were destined to become archery fodder.  There comes a time...

 Would like to introduce you, dear reader, to our wonderful Museum which is run by our equally wonderful staff team.  From drums to medals, uniforms to weapons the Museum is packed with objects, archives, photos and most importantly stories.  We are lucky to have the support of many veterans and visitors who add to the illustrious history which we are custodians of. So hang on in there.  Over the next few day/weeks/months (delete as appropriate) I'll be chatting to you about what is happening and pulling out some of our stories, helped by Angela, Matt and Nick who are all part of the Museum team.

 Stay safe folks and keep smiling!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Socially Distanced Alternative?

Image
Matchlock Musket or Brown Bess?  As debate rages whether the Prime Minister will reduce social distancing from 2m to 1m tomorrow, I think we may have the answer for our visitors. Like many other businesses, we at the Museum have a range of posters and floor stickers in production, hazard tape at the ready and a socially 2m safe layout in the pipeline. Or  perhaps we should consider alterna tives to ensure people don't get too close... Let me introduce you to the Brown Bess, o r 'British (Long) Land Pattern Musket' to give it  it's proper name,  used between 1722  and 1838. There are plenty of variations to this flintlock weapon, but at a metre and a half long, it is well on its way to being a useful tool in social distancing. Although the len gth of the Brown Bess did decrease during its long and illustrious history. The Brown Bess was the standard musket of the British military, used in battles such as Culloden and Waterloo. It was the first mass-produced weapon for th
Read more

Anti-Bacterial wipes for the Medieval Castle?

Image
As part of preparations for opening the Museum staff volunteered to go round the Castle to check out preparations for opening tomorrow.  Not everywhere on the site can be open (medieval castles are not known for social distancing) but one area that could prove interesting will be the dungeons in the Keep. These rooms are all the more fascinating as they are home to the infamous 'licking stones.' I was once asked by a friend to help with her infant class on a visit to the Castle. Obviously, they got all the spiel spiced with kiddie-friendly humour and when we entered to dungeons, I built up the tension and relayed the Jacobite 'licking stone' story. 'Errr' many of the kids commented when I shared the licking stone story 'that's horrible!' which why it was more surprising when one of the wee kids said to me 'Miss, miss. I've just licked the stones!' Joy, oh joy. Not sure that was on any risk assessment. Now I am not actively encouraging vis
Read more

Once a Guide, Always a Guide...

Image
T onight is another night out in the garden camping. Tonight we are having a Ranger Guide campout with all the girls either camping in their garden or inside their house. We have arranged a call at 7pm and may even burst into song with a virtual campfire. We have all arranged to photograph the evidence of our group sleep out and post it in our WhatsApp group. Luckily the weather is good and it is set to be a warm night so we shouldn't have many mishaps. We were due to go camping as a unit in July but this is unlikely to happen. It is good to encourage the girls to enjoy the great outdoors and camping is an excellent way to introduce them to this primitive way of living outside. I have camped since I was a Guide enjoying weekends, weeks and even longer camps all across the Country from Cornwall to Scotland, Yorkshire to Norfolk. Obviously the weather is a factor in making camp a wonderful experience but it is good to teach the girls that you can still have a great time in the wind a
Read more