Now that I am coming to the end of my time working for the North Herts Museum Service I thought it would be a good opportunity to share with you what is my favourite object in storage at Burymead.
I have chosen a selection of ‘Home Cookery’ magazines which date from 1911-1919. My reasons for choosing these are simply because I enjoy cooking myself and found it interesting to see the recipes people were using 100+ years ago.
In the 1911 publication I particularly enjoyed the ‘Invalid Recipes’ which include Bovril Toast, Bovril Custard and Boiled Custard. I wonder which of those you would find most appealing? Personally I am not sure which I would prefer!
The second publication I have chosen is from the war period and is dated October 1915. The focus of this issue is on the cheap cuts of meat which can be found, and how to plan a week’s meals in advance. This includes substituting meat for other food stuffs including oatmeal and breadcrumbs to bulk out a meal.
Finally I would like to thank everyone at the North Herts Museum Service for being so welcoming and giving me the opportunity to see the objects in storage. I look forward to visiting the new museum in 2015.
Wonderful news – we have heard that the Council has been successful in its Stage 2 Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) bid towards the new North Herts Museum. We will receive a grant of £914,400 from the HLF, to fund the fit-out of the new museum, ensuring that it tells the story of the District through bright modern displays.
View of the entrance to the new North Herts. Museum
Downstairs there will be an introductory gallery telling the history of the District in a chronological manner, from prehistory to the 21st century. There will also be an air-conditioned temporary exhibition gallery on the ground floor, where we will be able to display high-quality works borrowed from other museums. The galleries upstairs will be themed, looking at how we have lived and worked in North Hertfordshire over the years. Some favourite items from the old museums will be re-displayed, as well as many pieces we have never before been able to display. Thanks to the HLF, the new museum will have state-of-the-art display cases and lighting. Some of the grant will go towards materials to help the cleaning and packing of the hundreds of museum objects that the team – of staff, interns and volunteers – is currently processing, and there is also funding for a part-time Audience Development post for the first year of operation. This is excellent news, and we are extremely grateful to the HLF for all their support.
I returned last week from a British Council funded trip to India. The purpose of the trip was to build links with Museums in India, and most specifically those working with the Sikh Community.
The first stop was Hyderabad, where I was asked to give a talk on Sikhism in Britain at the Salar Jung Museum. The Museum comprised the personal collection of the Nizam of Hyderabad, and is of a comparable size to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. The collections were far reaching, including works by Constable and the Veiled Rebecca by Giovanni. During the rest of my time in Hyderabad, I was the guest of the Sikh community and was taken to 3 Gurdwaras, historic Sikh sites and even a Sikh wedding, by members of the Hyderabad History Society, the Sikh Heritage Foundation and the architect of two of the Gurdwaras.
After a free day, exploring the Hindu temples of Warangal, I moved on to Delhi to meet the Curator of the Crafts Museum in Delhi, where we discussed video links between schools and museums in the UK and India. The Museum was an outdoor one, with buildings and craft demonstrations brought from all over India. I was able to meet some colleagues from around the world as visiting at the same time were delegates from “Strategic Transformations, Museums in the 21st Century”, a major conference being held in Kolkotta.
I then moved by overnight train to Ludhiana in the Punjab, to meet the Curator of the Punjab Musuem of Rural Life, on the Punjab Agricultural University Campus. This museum was a fascinating record of a rapidly disappearing traditional rural lifestyle. Again we discussed possible future projects, for which this museum was ideal.
I then travelled to Amritsar, where the Golden Temple was every bit as beautiful and serene as I had expected it to be. I had a speaking engagement at the Guru Nanak Dev University, where I was made very welcome, and learnt about the new museum being planned on the Campus, as well as the work of the faculty in trying to locate Sikh artefacts worldwide, and the creations of a “master catalogue” as well as rescuing items from dubious or misguided conservation efforts (such as laminating 16th century documents!).
The final part of my trip was very kindly arranged by the university as well as the Guru Nank College in Chandigarh, and was a visit to Anandphur to see the stunning, purpose built Sikh “Virasat e Khalsa” heritage centre, as well as to a Nihang Sikh Gurdwara, where I got to meet the dignified and generous blue clad, warrior Sikhs.
Throughout the trip I was truly humbled by the incredible hospitality shown to me, which will stay with me forever. This trip has given me insights and contacts which will certainly be useful in future work with communities of North Hertfordshire and beyond.
