A-Z of Services

Wrexham Museum Diary - September - November 2009

John Exhibitions

Wednesday 23rd September 2009

Just got some pictures of original Wilkinson cannon in Corfu. Look out for them on our website.

Bersham Cannon spotted in Corfu by an observant Welshman, Mr Noel Hulmston.

Thursday 24th September

Sent to Caernarfon to learn how to network. Ideal for those parties where you know no-one.

Friday 25th September

Working on a face to face visitor survey. How do you ask someone their ethnic background?

Saturday 26th September

Visited Nantclwyd y Dre house in Ruthin. Worth a detour and it has a secret garden as well!

Monday 28th September

Seeking out images for our fundraising campaign. Got to impress the not easily impressed.

Tuesday 29th September

Packed out at the eisteddfod meeting. All the local crachach were there!

Wednesday 30th September

Dear Playford Packaging, please donate us some more card for our children’s activities! Thank you.

Thursday 1st October

Another talk on the Mold Cape and a £35 donation to the museum kitty.

Friday 2nd October

Run through the plans for the new galleries with our new Education Officer.

Saturday 3rd October

Visited the new Wedgewood Museum to pick up some tips and to see if Sir Watkin (from Ruabon) gets a mention.

Monday 5th October

Meeting with the timeline illustrator. Will anyone know when Owain Glyn Dŵr got married?

Tuesday 6th October

We created an archaeology event for children in an hour. Now we just have to deliver it.

Sarah, the community archaeologist, and participants at the Dig’n’Discover archaeology workshop for children.

Wednesday 7th October

Challenge for the day – thinking up a Welsh language event you can deliver when you are only a learner.

Thursday 8th October

BBC Wales want a decision by 2pm. What Wrexham Lager artefacts will we have on display in 2010?

Stained glass window inside the old Wrexham Lager brewery.

Friday 9th October

Research trip to Capworth Colliery, near Wakefield. Get to don overalls and helmet and go down a drift mine with the colliery manager.

Monday 12th October

Head-splitting session going through the new designs for the main gallery. More questions than answers at this stage.

Tuesday 13th October

Two weeks till half term. Will anyone come to our events. Write press releases, put up more posters and add our details to the Big Draw website.

Monday 19th October

Tried to persuade Steve to use Dennis Ruabon tiles as flooring. He agrees to put the idea to the architects.

Tuesday 20th October

Quick trip up to Erddig to find out what kind of uniform a Victorian footman wore.

Wednesday 21st October

Briefing work experience students on how to set up a holiday activity. Take 3.

Thursday 22nd October

I must be into double figures now with press releases! If the Leader aren’t sick of me yet, they soon will be.

Friday 23rd October

Finally finished the research for Fashionable Times – one of the roadshow activities. Hope Dai can get the drawings done before too long!

Saturday 24th October

The rush is on at Bersham before the coal mining exhibition closes.

Sunday 25th October

Research at Erddig. If only we could get all their visitors to come into Wrexham!!

Monday 26th October

Great work experience lad here at the moment. He reviewed our website. The front page got a big thumbs down.

Tuesday 27th October

Children making model aeroplanes to celebrate the first flight across the English Channel. Luckily Bleriot’s plane could fly, unlike theirs.

Wednesday 27th October

Where is everyone this half term? Perhaps a rain dance is required.

Artwork by Zara Zeetee to inspire children at the Superbeings workshop; held to mark 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species.

Thursday 29th October

Call down to Bersham. It’s packed out as last chance to see the coal mining exhibition.

Saturday 31st October

Llangollen History Fair. Victorian thaumatropes go down a treat with younger visitors! So simple, yet impressive.

Monday 2nd November

BBC on the phone. Can we help with their plans to do a piece on Wrexham Lager Brewery? Of course, we can.

Tuesday 3rd November

Finally get to see where I’ll be working when the builders take over the museum. One less problem to worry about.

Wednesday 4th November

Dismantling the coal mining exhibition. It’s sad to see how quickly we took it down after the months it took to prepare.

John Exhibitions and David Visitor Services carefully roll up the miners’ banner ready to return it to its box.

Thursday 5th November

Meet at a local film studio to see how well young people can present great films… even on pretty dull topics.

Friday 6th November

Local artist brings in the early sketches for the family timeline activity for the roadshow. Crunch issue – what did the first houses in Wrexham look like?

Holt Castle – just after its haircut! I know it’s still Wales’s smallest castle, but in its prime…

Monday 9th November

The Big Shift begins. Ever tried moving a Powell engine – they have a mind of their own and they are very heavy.

How many people does it take to shift a Powell Bros engine? Three and downhill even more!!

Securing the extremely rare Powell’s motorbike in place for its trip to the museum collections store.

Tuesday 10th November

Working on designs for the timeline interactive in the new displays. The challenge – not making it too difficult, nor too easy.

Early idea for an interactive timeline activity.
© Wrexham Heritage Services

Wednesday 11th November

Armistice Day – Stand for two minutes silence watching people walk past the museum oblivious to the sound of the siren. No change from previous years.

Thursday 12th November

Cancel the trip to the gym. Spent the day shifting a massive diorama built so well that it could have doubled as an air-raid shelter.

Friday 13th November

Oral history training session – they have some brilliant little recording devices nowadays.

Monday 16th November

Looking for a Welsh poet alive about 1405 and preferably local! One found so far, but there may be more.

Tuesday 17th November

Meeting with Karen Education to bash out some ideas for the films for the Hippodrome. Will our local schools rise to the challenge?

Wednesday 18th November

Both the National Museum and Oriel Ynys Mon got in touch today. Our Tomb Builders exhibition is going to Anglesey after all.

Thursday 19th November

Mr Santosuosso gave the ok to lend his mementoes to the Welsh Folk Museum. What a character he is!

Antonio Santosuosso, local contributor to the Italians in Wales exhibition, featured in the Wrexham Evening Leader.

Karen Education

Week beginning 28th September

Three weeks into my new job, welcomed over 100 students from Glyndwr University to Bersham Heritage Centre and in particular to John Wilkinson.

Week beginning 5th October

A group of cubs visited Bersham Heritage Centre to do some work towards their Local Knowledge Badge.

Received some excellent letters from Cefn Mawr School following their visit to the museum to take part in a World War 2 workshop. It is always good to get feed-back.

Children from Cefn Mawr work the museum’s Second World War allotment.

Week beginning 9th November

On Friday welcomed some pupils from Y Canol to the museum to look at ‘How we used to dress’. We looked at different fabrics and pictures of children from the past.