Behind the scenes

So, advocacy and museums. Something we hear about from the moment we step over the hallowed thresholds of Museums Studies courses. Museums people tend to be in their jobs because they love what they do and will willingly go on (often at some length) about it if given the merest suggestion of interest. What we aren’t always wonderful at it telling the right people the right things in the right way at the right moment. Not necessarily the easiest job in the world, so I was pleased to see that the Museums Association is running a campaign to promote advocacy skills in museums at the moment called ‘love museums’. Good title and nice logo too. Unfortunately there is only one training event in Scotland and I can’t go (happy to send someone else… don’t all shout at once) however, this is a timely piece of work, especially for us here in East Lothian where cultural matters are high up the agenda - how do we make our point whilst we have such a great opportunity to do so, and crucially how do we get to stay up the agenda once the current high levels of interest wane (answers on a postcard…) We have lots of ideas and have been trying some of them out, but always need fresh thoughts if anyone out there has any thoughts…

Ok, so some of my resolutions are nothing to so with the subject matter of this blog and relate to important matters such as cake, wine and ‘spontaneous’ purchases (less of) and keeping in touch with friends (more of). Other resolutions are of a more professional tone, and I am keeping one of them RIGHT NOW by blogging. I resolve to blog more, and to persuade (nag, blackmail or otherwise pressurise) other colleagues to do the same. I am not going to make any rash promises about once a week (cats chance in hell), or even once a fortnight (still deeply unlikely), but I will do it.

So onto the meat of the offering, some predictions for the future…stare with me into my virtual crystal ball and see what 2010 is going to hold for East Lothian Museums. One thing is certain, we will be very busy and there is unlikely to be a dull moment. We are lucky - culture and heritage are live issues in East Lothian and there are lots of people taking an active positive interest in what we do and can do (from commenting on this blog, to volunteering with us). No sitting around in dusty stores for us!

We are working hard on the museum interpretation plans for the John Gray Centre in Haddington. In fact at time of writing the contract for the building work is about to be awarded! Tender documents are close to being finalised for the redevelopment of the interior of Dunbar Town House. The tender has been issued for the interpretation contract for Musselburgh Museum, and we are very much looking forward to seeing what ideas come back. Aside from big developments like these the Service will continue to work to provide a stimulating, fun, informative and accessible experience for as many visitors as possible at all of our venues - I don’t want Prestongrange Museum or John Muir’s Birthplace forgotten. Bookmark our websites and visit soon to see events and exhibitions programmes. Become a friend of ours on Facebook or visit us on Flickr, check us out on YouTube. We are everywhere (sort of like Big Brother, be far far less scary and intimidating)!

So, until next time…

 And it’s not even a trick title! Arun Manilal Gandhi is the fifth grandson of Mohandas Gandhi. As part of Black History Month 2009, Arun Gandhi is visiting the Brunton on 12th October and delivering a talk on his views on non-violence. It’s bound to be fascinating. Details on how to get your free tickets can be found here.

At Prestongrange, we have a few events for Black History Month too. Sheila has a talk and tour on the Wedderburn Brothers on 8th Oct at 7pm, free tickets are available from the museum. 

On the 18th of October we have ‘Welcome: East Lothian Multi-Cultural Day’ from 12-3pm. It’s going to be amazing - just a few of the highlights are: a French Puppet show, Seeds of Thought Poetry Group, Live Music, Burns Recitals, Indian Dancers, and local artist workshops! We’ll also have stalls on Fairtrade, Edinburgh and Lothians Racial Equality Council, Family History and much more. Full details of all events can be found in the Black History Month programme for East Lothian.

 Apart from all that, we’re also coming to the end of another summer season. Dunbar Town House has remained busy with the exhibition Harvest of the Sea generating a wealth of paper fish! It is planned that the Town House will be closed next season for the refurbishment so make your last visits to the ‘old’ town house now!

A Museum for Musselburgh is coming along - you may have noticed the shop front on the High Street with all the lovely old photographs in the window. It will become a museum next year, run by Musselburgh Museum Committee.

Apart from all that, the other big news is that we’re now on Facebook! Become a fan and share your comments please!

Or share your comments with us on here, we’re awfully pleased to hear from you, whatever you’ve got to say. It’s something to keep us occupied over those long winter months… 

Hi I’m Jenny a volunteer here and my time here is now over *cries*. So now its time for reflection (feel free to skip to the end). Here I’ve learnt a lot of things - the most important being that bacon sandwiches are yummy – and seen a lot of strange sights i.e. a stuffed badger with a broken tail. But what have I actually done here, except drink all the diluting?

For starters I created a database documenting the objects loaned out to the public, which was about as hard as climbing Mount Olympus with a toothpick due to my appalling IT skills!

Then I tried to organise as many loan boxes as possible and I had an uncanny knack for choosing the ones that required the most work on them brilliant!!!

And finally in this compilation of some of the things I have done I sorted out the stock for the shop at Prestongrange which was fun (there was this little Badger which was the cutest thing I’ve ever seen - and judging by what I have seen in my life that doesn’t mean much :D). The hard part was documenting the quantity of each item as I only realised I had to do that after I had sorted the stock into the appropriate boxes and put them away which was frustrating to say the least.

So in conclusion to this glimpse at my life here I learnt a lot and have gained more experience which is what was my goal and so in the words of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy “so long and thanks for all the fish”.

I know I risk sounding like an over excited teenager (and yes that was a little while ago) but you really really need to see our amazing new online database. So, once you have finished reading this, click on www.elmscollections.org and marvel at the world Kye has created. Not only will the whole of the collection eventually be online (and this will take a while so bear with us) but you can become a registered user and post comments, information, stories, your thoughts, whatever you’d like to say really. Please also comment - tell us what you think of the database.  

On a sadder note Kye and Angus are going to finish up at the end of the month and they will be sorely missed here in Dunbar (and elsewhere in East Lothian too). I have a horrible feeling that we will discover just how much we need them on 1st July, just a few hours too late. Thanks both for all the hard work over the last few years, it has been great having you!

And no, for once this isn’t Sarah (stalwart blogger), nor is it Pete as it says above, it is Kate. 

 Big news from the Museums Service…Kate is now back from maternity leave as our Principal Museums Officer! We are therefore nearly back to full strength now, although we still have a post vacant for our Assistant Museums Officer.

We will also be recruiting for seasonal Museum Assistants soon so we’ll have a whole new selection of faces. And we have a few new eager volunteers (more are always welcome!). I will endeavor to get at least one other person to write a blog. That’s my aim for the next year!

Holocaust Memorial Day

Did you know it’s Holocaust Memorial Day on the 27th of January? The theme for this year is ‘Stand Up to Hatred’. We’ve worked with Knox Academy to put photographs online of the models a Second year History class made to do with the Holocaust.

  P6 and P6/7 at King’s Meadow Primary in Haddington are also hosting an assembly on the day as part of a wider project. The pupils will be working with an artist and writer to create an exhibition which will be shown at Prestongrange Museum later in the year as part of the Slave Trade Exhibition.

February beckons…

February is Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender History Month. We’ve put together a programme of activities for the month, which you’re more than welcome to come along to. In fact, we’d love it if you came along because as it’s the first year the Council have marked LGBT History Month we’re not sure what kind of turn out we’ll get! You can come along to the concert by Edinburgh Gay Men’s Chorus, or join OurStory Scotland for a fun afternoon of storytelling around a ‘camp’ fire. 

 Anyway, as part of this, I am trying to identify either people or places in East Lothian which have a connection to the LGBT community. Any suggestions? (Just to beat you to it…Rhona Cameron.)

It’s time to open window number 10 on your advent calendar….

Oh look, it’s a bell! The bell from Haddington’s grammar school, which closed in 1879,  to be more exact. Ding-dong merrily on high.

Thanks to everyone who left comments on my last blog. It’s great to know there are people out there who read this!

So back to museum news….as part of the development of the John Gray Centre, a few of us visited Callendar House in Falkirk on Monday. It contains a Museum and Archives and we discussed with Peter Stott, Head of Heritage and Learning, and Elspeth Reid, Archivist, the benefits and pitfalls of having two services within the one building. The working kitchen within Callendar House is amazing and we were given the opportunity to taste some old-fashioned Christmas Pudding! We also visited the Print Maker’s shop, which was based on Johnston and Son’s shop from Falkirk Town Centre - now Johnston Press who produce East Lothian News!

North Berwick High School held a Slave Trade exhibition in their library, supported by the Museums Service, over the first week in December. Georgina Brownlee, from the school’s History Department, organised the exhibition with her classes. The exhibition included objects, panels and images from the recent ‘Ports, Prisoners and Pirates’ exhibition at John Muir’s Birthplace alongside pupil’s work. Pupils wore ‘Happy to Help’ sashes at breaks and lunchtimes to answer visitor’s questions and a comments book reflected the enthusiasm of the school towards the topic. The pupils created a wonderful display. Photos should be available soon on Flickr!

And finally, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from all at the Museums Service. Speak to you again in 2009!

The Options Appraisals and Business Plans for Musselburgh and North Berwick have now been released for public viewing. They look at the best options for re-opening the museum in North Berwick and establishing a new museum in Musselburgh. The consultants, Jura, submitted the reports to East Lothian Councillors who have now asked for costings for the various proposals as suggested in the Business Plans.

It will be interesting to hear the public’s views on the various options. I’m a relative newcomer to the whole situation and so I missed the consultation stage but it seems that Jura got the views of a range of different people and have included these throughout their reports. There is still the opportunity for people to get involved so if you’re like me and missed out, then you can respond to these reports by getting in touch!

I’m leaving. After nearly fourteen years it’s surprisingly hard to write those words without a twinge of regret. Museums have been my passion and working in East Lothian has been the largest chunk of my professional life. I will miss the place, the people, the collections, the things we have done and the exciting things we are planning to do. How could I not?

I’m leaving on a jet plane. Although I do know when I’ll be back again - in August, when I fly back to the UK to accompany the rest of my family back to New Zealand. And though I hate to leave, it’s also exciting: new job, new opportunities. One thing I have learned in my time here is that you have to grab oportunities when they present themselves - they may not recur. But as ever by doing one thing you close off the opportunity to do other things with the same resources of time or money. There’s no point worrying about what might have happened if other choices had been made. To quote CS Lewis in the Magician’s Nephew (and it’s not often that the Narnia books get quoted!):

Make your choice, adventurous stranger;
Strike the bell and bide the danger,
Or wonder, till it drives you mad,
What would have followed if you had

Still, I’ll be able to keep in touch. East Lothian will be just a hyperlink away. Unlike Charn.

Also on Saturday, we held our Big Draw 2007, in which artst Jacquelyn Rixon led families in creating their own masterpieces using vegetable juices made from local vegetables, and using vegetables such as carrots as painting brushes! Participants created a large communal piece of art as well as smaller individual pieces of art. To form the link with Prestongrange, with its history of ceramics, our budding artists were encouraged to make cabbage leaf prints in clay. Similar cabbage leaf plates were made by the old pottery of Belfield’s in Prestonpans (see the thumbnail picture of one such plate in our collection); will the cabbage leaf plates created at this year’s Big Draw be the collectors items of the future?