Chatting Behind the Lines - Curator's tales and musings

As I cycled to the Castle this morning, I was greeted by a sweet smell floating across the park. A large inhale... yes, it was probably the nearby McVitie's factory cooking biscuits. We often get visitors at the Museum who ask what the smell is. We pop outside the building, take a deep breath and reply 'custard creams today' before explaining about McVitie's. Still known locally as Carrs, the factory stands on a major road junction near a large Sainsbury's supermarket, which probably sells many of the range of biscuits produced in the factory. It is one of the oldest and biggest biscuit factories in the world, opening in 1831. Started by Jonathon Dodgson Carr, a baker, who built a flour mill, bread and biscuit bakery before gaining a Royal Warrant for his biscuits in 1841. By 1881, Carr was employing 222 men, 36 women and 53 boys at his factory. Not bad for the son of a Kendal grocer. McVitie's is still a major employer in the city, with staff producing 250,000 ...

Today would have been the first day of Wimbledon. Like many other sporting events, it has been cancelled due to coronavirus. I shall miss my daily fix of the Championships, watching matches whilst eating my tea, or listening on the radio whilst driving. Not that I am a tennis player. I once went on a tennis course during the school holidays, but I am no Johanna Konta. More ball girl on one of the outside courts. But I do love to watch Wimbles and have even been lucky enough to head down to SW19 to watch a few shots. I have never applied for tickets, but have been part of the daily queue to gain entrance to the ground. All part of the tennis experience. I first went to Wimbledon with the school. I loved the whole atmosphere, was fixated with the speed of the game and power of the serve. I took some photos of Roscoe Tanner (showing my age here), squeezed onto the centre court to glimpse Virgina Wade, and saw Bjorn Borg in the car park. Yep, I was mixing with the stars.  Fast forward ...

It is exciting to think that next week the Museum will reopen to visitors. The staff are keen to get back into Alma, and to some sort of normality. Of course, things are not going to be the same for quite a while and we will have to get used to operating differently. Our 'new normal.' This week we all return to Alma. We have volunteered to undertake a deep clean of the building before we open our doors on 4 July. Jaycloths at the ready and mops poised for action, we have a cleaning schedule to rival no other. Although the Museum has been closed for the past three months, we will work our way from top to bottom to ensure we can provide a safe and hygienic environment for both staff and visitors. Part of my furloughed time has been performing statutory duties for the Museum. This has included writing a comprehensive risk assessment for reopening to the public. No stone unturned, from a regular daily cleaning schedule to comprehensive signage to ensure social distancing, I have co...

As I watch the rain lash against my window, I realised that today I would have been working in the City Centre for Armed Forces Day. As a Museum with a military collection, we actively participate in this event every year to say 'thank you' to our Armed Forces and promote awareness of our collection. The City Centre event is often a long day on your feet chatting to the public and other stall holders. We are allocated our own tent enabling us to advocate the Museum, get out some of our collections and promote our varied and inclusive programme. We often include a family friendly activity (trying on helmets, taking part in a quiz etc) too to help engage all ages. Last year we worked closely with the Carlisle branch of the Regimental Association on AFD supporting the veterans on a very hot and tiring day. We are obviously one of many organisations attending this event. Servicemen from RAF Spadeadam showcase lots of big bits of equipment, representatives from the Cadets are eviden...

I had to take the tall child to school this afternoon. A short trip to hand in her text books, all wrapped up in a carrier bag emblazoned with her name and form, which had to be deposited in a specific location in the school hall. Preventative measures in these difficult times. We arrived at school in the rain, to be greeted by a few school buses waiting to collect the current students to take them home. The school car park was full as the school is also being used as a pharmacy distribution centre, but I managed to squeeze the car in between the parking bays. N popped into school to drop off her books as I watched the rain run down the windscreen.  Looking at the school buildings, it made me realise t his is probably the last time N will be in school (maybe for a socially distanced results day). This is the end of her school life, brought to an abrupt close by the coronavirus pandemic. It seems a long time ago since the little 4 year old, dressed in an oversized sweatshirt with bo...

It's still Armed Forces week and today we celebrate our veteran community. The Museum has a good rapport with local veterans which has strengthened over the years. Last year we worked with veterans who had served in Afghanistan who helped us put together an exhibition to share their stories. We have hosted veteran groups, provided talks, done guided tours and have gone to their meetings. We are proud to be involved with the veteran community. In 2018, as part of our Lest We Forget project funding, we used  HLF money to start a veterans lunch club. We held a one-off Christmas meal the year before, but we wanted to provide a relaxing, welcoming venue for veterans to meet like-minded folk. Although it started cautiously, we have developed this into a format that works. There is a small charge to cover costs, we have a dedicated team of volunteers that run the event, we hold the lunches on the same Monday each month. Except December. Now December is a different ball game. The Christmas...

It is Armed Forces week. And today is Reserves day. 'Reservists give up their spare time to serve in the Reserve Forces, balancing their civilian life with a military career to ensure that should their country require them, they would be ready to serve as part of the military. The Reserve Forces make up approximately one sixth of our Armed Forces personnel and as such are integral to protecting the nation’s security at home and overseas, particularly providing capability in specialist areas such as medical and cyber.'  Excerpt from the Armed Forces Day Website The Reserves are often called on in times of need, from the local floods to the coronavirus pandemic and have been a great support when working with veterans in the local community.  We are lucky to have a good working relationship with C Company, 4th Battalion, The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment. Based in Workington, they can also be found in Burma Block on the corner of the Castle site in Carlisle.  As a Museum, it ...

                                             One of my volunteer roles is as a Trustee of the Royal Military Police Museum. Today would have been our summer Trustee meeting so it seems appropriate dedicating this blog post to the fantastic team at the RMP Museum. Based at Southwick Park in Hampshire, the Museum is close to my heart as it showcases the history of the Corps in which my dad served. For his 80th birthday, I took him on a visit and he was treated to a personal guided tour by the curator, Richard and his assistant, Matthew. Dad loved it, reminiscing about Army life and even recognising some of the equipment which was on display in the Museum. A few years ago the Museum Director asked if I would become a Trustee, a piece of news I excitedly shared with dad. He was really supportive, and it was that enthusiasm and the personal connection with th...

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 ...