Friday 12/8/11

Hi everyone…… Adieu, and Sayonara

Six months in the life of Bridport Museum. So much to say, see, and much more to do…..

When I first applied for the position of marketing and fundraising assistant here at the museum, I didn’t know really what to expect from working here. Working here has been a great experience, not only in improving my skill basis for a future job, but also in getting to know the history of the area a bit more, and also getting to know the various staff and volunteers who come in each week.

Working with the different people at the Coach House - and also the wider members of the public at the Museum itself -, I have enjoyed each and every moment. I would like to thank the people who have been around to share cups of tea and coffee, and innumerable numbers of biscuits. Tea-breaks will never be quite the same again…….

This job has expanded my skills in marketing, fundraising, promoting events, and also collections handling. I have truly appreciated the opportunity, as well as thoroughly enjoying being creative. Designing crafts for the children’s events at the museum is a really positive thing, and I love to share in the enjoyment of children and their parents as they get ‘stuck in’ (in many cases, far too literally!) to their creations J

Emily, Bruce, Margaret, and Shannon, have all made this job really enjoyable. Thank you!! I know that I will be back to irritate most of you at some point, so this is a reminder to be wary……

At the end of these six months, I look forward to starting at university. I know that it will be a really enjoyable, interesting and positive experience. I am already fascinated by my course texts J

So this is good bye, although not farewell……..

Ursula Mahoney

Friday 15/7/11

Hi everyone – and for those of you who are fellow Harry Potter fans out there, FAAAABBBB day JJ

Work today has been fun. I spent some time this morning cutting out some more Roman Helmets; there is so much craft stuff in the Coach House it seems to be breeding!!

Another important piece of information for your diaries; we are trying to collect old CD’s so that we can get money for recycling them from an organisation called music Magpie. They give people money in exchange for unwanted and old CD’s. Pretty good deal if you ask me!!

This afternoon I spent my time continuing to do sport research. I am truly impressed by how much is beginning to appear out of the various box files we have here. I am going to need months to get all the snippets of information out of the documents and ephemera…….

Goodbye until Monday 25/7/11

Sayonara JJ

Thursday 14/7/11

Hi everyone – today was simple but fun J

I have spent most of my time creating and organizing the activities for the summer events. I had a bit of a laugh when I saw how the helmets looked when I had pushed bottle caps through in an attempt to make the roman helmets look 3D. They look like something out of Doctor Who!! J

For the rest of my time, I have spent the day cutting out more leaves for the roman laurel wreaths; the ready-made wreath looks pretty authentic, although it was made only yesterday and not over two thousand years ago……..

Its twenty to four and I am now really hungry, so I’m signing off for today……….

Sayonara....

Wednesday 13/7/11

Hi everyone – today has been really great again…….

I spent a lot of my time creating more crafts for the Roamin’ Like a Roman day in August. I am particularly proud of the laurel crown I made. I have also finished the design for one of the torc bracelets. It looks really shiny

This afternoon was even more fun………. Both Emily and I got a bit carried away designing peg dolls. Some of them look good, but I made one that has dreadlocks…………

Not the best look for a peg doll, I must admit…………

So all in all, another fun day at the Coach House!!

Sayonara JJ

Tuesday 12/7/11

Hi everyone – and yes, I predicted that I would not be able to write again until today. This is because the festival lasted late until Sunday night, so I came home on Monday…..

Work is good. I have spent a lot of time today creating more press releases for the summer events; the list of events is looking really good, so do look out for posters at the Arts Centre and museum, as well as promotions in the local newspapers!!

Working at the Coach House has been really great over the last month or so. I love being creative as much as possible, so I really appreciate organizing and creating the activities….. Thank you Emily!! J

Here is the timetable of the summer events we will be hosting at the museum during the holidays. They are available for all ages, and each day lasts from 10am until 5pm, so there is plenty of time to get stuck in J

Wednesday 27th July	Peg doll crafts, plus peg doll trail
Wednesday 3rd August	Jurassic Coastin’- dig for fossils and make one of your own. Dinosaur activities – finger puppets, and a dinosaur trail around the museum
Wednesday 10th August	Archaeological Finds Day (archaeologists will be on hand to identify objects you have dug up!), plus a finds trail around the museum
Wednesday 17th August	Roamin’ Like a Roman - make your own Roman helmet and golden torc!!
Wednesday 24th August	‘Summer’ crafts – a sea side trail around the museum, plus a sand bucket game
Wednesday 31st August	Mad as a Hatter! Make a hat ready for the hat festival!

I’m also looking forward to continuing the sport research. It is looking really promising, as Emily and I have gone through a lot of old document files and there is so much local history in them, that it could take years to fully dissect all the stories about matches and trophies that have been won for Bridport and local villages. I was particularly impressed by research showing that Bridport Bowls club had members who had made it to national competitions!

Bye for now – I’m off to create golden torc bracelets!!

Sayonara J

Thursday 30/6/11

Hi everyone – today has been really funny and crazy JJ

This morning Emily went off to the local craft scrap yard, and she came back with two huge plastic bags full of craft goodies…….. She found a lot of really interesting bits and bobs, which will be really useful for the craft days!!

Myself, I did some more on the murder mystery story. I also spent some time cutting out more Roman Helmets for the Roman Day later in the summer holidays.

Sorry for the extreme briefness of this post – I have run out of time, and need to catch my bus…..

See you tomorrow JJ

Sayonara

Wednesday 29/6/11

Hi everyone – today has been fun again. I spent part of my morning creating a flapper hat for a craft day later in the summer. I also spent some more time writing part of the final scene of my murder mystery story………. I can’t think of a witty end yet, but if I sleep on that thought, something might come to me JJ

I am really looking forward to tomorrow, as I am going to be able to create even more crafts, which will be wacky and wonderful. I hope that we have as much success during the summer events as we did with the pirate week and pirate craft day……. It was so much fun to interact with the children and parents who came in, and it was nice that they also went around the museum and took notice of their local history.

This afternoon I spent sometime with one of our volunteers, helping her to research some information on floods in Bridport in the last fifty years. Some of the pictures in the files are incredible; they show just how powerful the local rivers are when rainfall increases by even a little bit…… I was particularly amazed by a photo of a flood in Burton Bradstock, however. It showed a car that had been completely submerged, so that you could only see the bike supports on the roof!

Bye for now – I’m off to fold some more paper hats JJ

Sayonara J

Tuesday 28/6/11

Hi everyone – sorry that I did not write on Monday. I was busy starting to create more crafts for the summer holiday programme we are going to organise. There is soooooo much going on. It’s crazy around here at the moment. It is really, truly great to have so much to do……. I am a workaholic, and I love it JJ

On another note, Tess of the D’Urbervilles was a great success on last Sunday. We had a lot of people there, enjoying the pimms and the picnics, and the fantastic sunny evening. I love picnics, but sadly not Hardy….. It is too much doom and gloom for my taste J……

On Friday’s post I said that there would be a Peg Doll day on this Wednesday; it was a mistake, and in fact it will now be held next month on the 27^th. My apologies if this has confused anyone who intended to come! J

Adieu until tomorrow

Sayonara JJ

Friday 24/6/11

Hi everyone – sorry about the lack of conversation this week. I have just been busy creating more activities for the summer holidays. I can’t complain that I have been bored, which is a good thing J. I am looking forward to the next couple of weeks, when the first of the activity days will be occurring. There is a Peg Doll Day on next Wednesday starting at 10am and finishing at 5pm. Please come along and take part in the activities – they promise to be truly great fun JJ

I am really pleased to be doing so much creative work here at the museum. Not only am I writing this murder mystery story, but I am creating all the different activities, and it is really nice to expand my skills and experiences in working with children and adults in a semi-professional capacity. I know that when my six-months here are up, that I will be sad to say good buy……… I know that I will obviously come back, but still, it won’t be the same J

Sayonara until next Monday JJ

Tuesday 21/6/11

Hi everyone – today has been another really positive day!! JJ I have really enjoyed pushing my murder mystery story further; in fact, we are now possibly within sight of the finishing line!! I have just written the part in which the murderer has been arrested by the police, so now all that is really left for me to write is the revelation of how she did it……. I am really looking forward to seeing this idea become reality, at some point in the future. In a galaxy, far, far, away…………….

I have two important dates to remind you all about.

The first is for all the Friends of Bridport Museum. This Sunday, The New Hardy Players are performing ‘Tess of the D’Urbervilles’ on the Millennium Green. The first 100 tickets will secure a place in the WI hall if weather conditions turn inclement. Please come down to the Coach House and book some tickets JJ

The second is the Charter Fair, which is set to occur on Saturday 2^nd of July. I have not been to this before, and I am looking forward to seeing what it has to offer. It looks really fun, especially the dramatic reenactments.

For now, we must say adieu……….

Sayonara JJ

Monday 20/6/11

Hi everyone – fantastic weekend at the Bridport Food Festival event. Saturday was really good fun. I know we had a lot of people who came to look at our stall, and at the photo board we had brought along too. I really enjoyed also going around and looking at what everyone else had to offer; I particularly liked the cider stalls……… I am sure I had five-too-many tasters JJ at the end of my shift, of course!! I am certain that next year I will also attend the hog-roast at the ‘Ropemakers’ pub on the Friday…… I LOVE spit-roasted pig. I am sure there is no better way to eat an animal of that size (I am drooling as I write this……..)

This morning was fun – I helped Margaret out by returning the stock we took on Saturday to the museum shop; I know some people may not find basic jobs interesting, but I really appreciate the different work experiences…. It is important to see all the aspects of a job so that you can be prepared for whatever comes next in the best possible way…… Some of the items we have in our shop are really incredible….. I particularly like the hand-made books, because they are so colourful, and the patterns on some of them are really intricate.

The murder mystery story is also progressing well. This morning I have gone through the story so far, and I have tried to find a way to make it more streamlined, easier to logically follow, so that it flows better when read. I think that it is getting more sinister by the word, if not the letter, now. I am nervous to even read the words, as if they are going to jump out and attack me!!!!!!!!!!!!

‘Don’t worry, be happy’ – bye for now

Sayonara JJ

Friday 17/6/11

Hi everyone

Sorry that I haven’t spoken all week, I have simply been very busy shortening and tidying up my murder mystery story. It has got a bit too long, so I needed to simplify the plot line a bit. It is looking really good, though, and I am looking forward to finishing it once I know how each of the characters will influence the story…… Agatha Christie would be proud!! JJ

On another note, the museum has a stall tomorrow at the Food Festival event down on Asker's Meadow, by Morrison’s. Come along and enjoy the day; I just hope that it doesn’t rain, though….. I don’t want to have to wear welly’s, as it could end up like Glastonbury….

Sorry about the shortness of this blog post. I have to go buy my dinner J

Sayonara until Monday JJ

Monday 13/6/11

Hi everyone

Today has been fun – I have made a lot of progress with my murder mystery story; there has been another gruesome murder……. And it looks like there is some suspicious forgery occurring too. The plot is really getting thick and murky!! JJ

I also went through parts of our collections, and found some interesting sport related items, which I photographed and then added to my sports research…. I am really looking forward to hopefully seeing a sports exhibition next year… I am also really looking forward to the 2012 Olympics; although I doubt that I’ll be able to watch it anywhere apart from on the TV!!

Here is another call to all of you who may have forgotten that there is an event on tomorrow as part of the Bridport Festival. Down at the Salt House in West Bay, Maya Pieris is giving you a talk on the history of the afternoon tea. There is also the offer of a cream tea, if you fancy coming along JJJ

Sorry about the shortness of today’s post – I am a bit pushed for time, as there is always soooooo much to do!!

Bye for now!!

Sayonara JJ

Friday 10/6/11

Hi everyone

Today has been really good fun……….. I spent all my time writing more of the murder mystery story. If yesterday I said that everything was gruesome and gory, then today has by distinction trumped that…………. A failed murder attempt and a sinister break in!! JJ The plot is truly thickening…….

The research into local sports is also going well; next week I will have a number of items lined up to research further. So it’s all pistons go here at the mo J

See you on Monday – have a great and relaxing weekend

Sayonara JJ

Thursday 9/6/11

Hi everyone

Today has been simple but fun – I have spent most of my time writing more scenes for the murder mystery story……. I can tell you that the next big event will be a failed murder!! This is a strictly contraband leak, so enjoy it JJ

I also did some research into the history of football rattles. We have a couple in our collections, so I thought they would make a nice side story to the sport exhibition next year…… I’m beginning to wonder how many sports there are locally; I seem to be finding small teams popping up all over the place!! Most of them are interlinked, as I previously mentioned; the Rugby team is also the Football team and so on……..

The count-down to next weeks Food Festival is getting shorter - come along, please and enjoy the various events…… They all promise to be fantastic; I’m particularly looking forward to the Cider tasting on Wednesday (I think?), and then the BBQ on Sunday – I LOVE hog roast!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I will see you all tomorrow – sleep tight zzzzzzzz JJ

Sayonara……

Wednesday 8/6/11

Hi everyone

Today has been fun – I have spent most of my time continuing to write the murder mystery story. I am onto Act 2, and the plot is thickening and becoming increasingly gruesome and gory!!

I also have to make another announcement: for those of you who already know about the Bridport Food Festival, you may also know that the museum is hosting a culinary trail from Monday 13^th to Saturday 18^th, as part of the events taking place during that week. It promises to be really fun and interesting, so please, please come along!! JJ

I also have spent sometime today with beginning to find items for the sport’s exhibition next season….. I am hoping to get a number of interesting items from our collections, and perhaps then do some further research into particular items….

Bye for now – I’m going home to cook lunch!!

Sayonara JJ

Tuesday 7/6/11

Hi, and sorry – I didn’t keep my promise last week. It was incredibly crazy over at the museum all week…. According to the volunteer news that Bruce put together, last week was the best so far this season!!!!!! Pirate week did bring in a lot of children and families; Wednesday last week, as the craft day, saw over a hundred and fifty people in, and I loved creating hats and eye-patches and parrots with all the kids. It was a really successful week, and I am grateful that I had the opportunity to do some more artistic and creative things….. I hope that it could be repeated again next year, because I am sure it would have a similar level of success!

I thought it would be nice if I gave you some basic statistics on our success last week:

· Total visitors were 711 – by far the biggest weekly number so far this year

· Donations were £130 and shop takings £213 – both by a large margin the best of the season

Today has been fun, as usual. I have been getting back into writing the murder mystery story; I can certainly say it is going to be gruesome, the first murder having been committed by as yet an unknown fiend!! I am really finding it a joy to be creative like this – it is going to be really satisfying to find out how this actually ends, because I have no idea how it will!! JJJ

I also need to put out another prompt about the talk at the Salt House next Wednesday; come along and listen to Maya Pieris give you a talk on the history of the afternoon tea, and be served one too!! J

We had a number of different volunteers over here at the Coach House today; it is nice to see regular faces at work. I do hope, nonetheless, that we get a lot of new volunteers coming in. We are always grateful for people to help out however they can!! J

On another note, I can’t wait for the Bridport Food Festival which is now less than a week away: 12th - 18th June (add link to web page), and it is going to be fantastic fun!! In Hitchin, where I used to live, we never really had this much going on, and there was never the enthusiastic and zany environment either!! JJ

I need to sign off now – I’m off to buy some Rosemary!!

Sayonara JJJJ

Tuesday 1/6/11

Hi everyone…..

First, a huge apology…

I have not spoken in ages, although this is due to the fact that I have been busy creating activities for the Pirate Craft Day tomorrow at the museum. I really hope that we get a lot of children in to enjoy the activities and games!!

On another note, the talk by Maya Pieris is coming up soon on Wednesday 15^th starting at 2:30 pm at the Salt House in West Bay. The talk will be on the History of Afternoon Tea, and there will of course be an afternoon tea served after the talk ends. Please come along, and enjoy a fascinating talk by a local historian!! J

Concerning myself, I am still pursuing research into sport in the community. I am considering doing a comparison between sport then, and sport now to mirror the present exhibition in the museum showing Bridport in 1911.I think it is important to see how times have changed, and also to see how people now place an emphasis on sport compared with people a hundred years ago…….

There seems to be a focus on football, swimming – both in public pools and the sea - and cricket. Along with these more active sports, bowls and golf also appear to have been popular among many local people in the last century. In particular connection with golf, the Gundry family has a close affinity. The sport itself first appeared in 1891 when the Bridport and West Dorset Golf Club was created. Joseph Peakes Fox Gundry was the founder and president of the club, according to the only remaining records of those early years.

Emily and I were over at the museum this afternoon, setting up everything ahead of tomorrow; I am sure we made many, many people laugh including the volunteers at the front desk. Attaching the flag above the entrance way was particularly funny to watch!!!!!............. Please come along tomorrow, as we hope to entertain many children and families!! JJJ

Bye for now, and I promise to start writing more regularly again!!

P:S - sorry this blog is a day late.......

Sayonara JJ

Monday 23/5/11

Hi everyone – sorry that I haven’t spoken to you in ages, I have just been REALLY busy creating pirate activities for the pirate week over half-term……… I enjoy creating art-type things, and it is a nice change from simply doing research to making something completely creatively. We have also had, over the past week as well, a young work experience student; he has been doing a project of his own, whilst helping out with other general jobs the volunteers have been doing…..

On another note, the Spring Tide Festival over the past weekend was a smashing success!! We took in a good amount of money, as well as raising public awareness of the museum. Saturday was particularly good fun, with all the different food and drink stalls available!!...........

I will speak more tomorrow!!

Sayonara!!

Monday 16/5/11

Hi everyone!!

Today has been really fun – I was over this morning at the museum, doing the first shift. I enjoy doing them, because I get to talk to so many different people!! Emily came over towards the end, and spent time with me organising nails and screws into different groups and piles……………… Why oh why does she make me do things like this? What did I do wrong in my past life? Tread on someone’s toes perhaps?

Enough of me ranting – I am off to walk my dog, which I love doing!!

Sayonara

Wednesday 11/5/11

Hi everyone

Today has been again straightforward – I spent part of my morning writing some more for the murder mystery event. I am really enjoying just writing creatively, and finding new ways to promote the museum and also the work that goes on here at the Coach House. I was particularly interested in some of the items I was cataloguing today. I took a photo of a memorial plaque which was designed to commemorate the effort of soldiers from what appears to be Canada in WW1. I was interested most of all in the figure who was depicted on the front, as he looked like a man from the First Nations, instead of a white soldier.

The connection between Bridport and sea trade with Canada (the Yukon) interests me a lot, as I am going on to study History and American Studies at university, and I would be very interested in studying abroad, most likely (considering the root of this conversation) in Canada, probably around Vancouver in British Columbia.

See you next week – I’m for a couple of days!!

Bye Bye!!

Tuesday 10/5/11

Hi everyone – sorry about not having said anything since the end of last week; yesterday was a bit mad here, as the museum flooded during the heavy rains of last week. Come Monday morning, the entire corridor and carpet of the Spinning Yarns gallery were sopping wet. The gallery itself is still ‘roped’ off, no pun intended there!!

Today has nonetheless been straightforward – the museum was open today, but the Spinning Yarns gallery was blocked off for safety reasons. It also needed time to dry out a bit before it gets suctioned by the carpet cleaners. I have spent my afternoon cataloguing some more items for our records; I am really surprised by some of the items I am finding at the moment. The children’s toys are really detailed, and some of the boxes that contain them have the most wonderful painted scenes on them!!

I am signing off for today - home await’s!!

Sayonara!!

Friday 6/5/11

Hi everyone – yeah it’s the weekend. I am looking forward to this one, as I don’t have that much on this Saturday apart from my volunteer shift. I might try and persuade my parents to go out and leave me with the numbers for all the take away services in Bridport and Dorchester, as well as their credit cards, and then see how large a bill I can manage to ring up in one evening; I love a challenge!!!!!!!!!!!

Today was normal at the museum and at the coach house; we had a good number of people come in who were interested in researching their family histories, which was really nice. I think it is important for local people to recognise that we have the resources to allow them to do this, instead of them having to go up to Dorchester where they may not find what they were actually looking for!

See you on Monday!!

Thursday 5/5/11

Hi everyone – today has been straightforward which was again nice. I added some information to a press release that will go out to local newspapers and other publications, so that we can promote upcoming events that the Museum is either hosting or taking part in. I am always impressed by how much is going on in Bridport – in particular I am looking forward to the Food Festival, which is on Saturday the 18^th of June, so I have a little while yet!!

Also another prompt for those of you who don’t know about it, the Spring Tide Festival is going to be held on Hive Beach at Burton Bradstock from the 21^st to the 22^nd of May, so put it into your diaries!!

Bye for now – I am going home to relax (or to spend another couple of hours cutting up bits of tree, which ever comes first!!)

Sayonara!!

Wednesday 4/5/11

Hi everyone – today has been fun and straightforward. I wrote some more for the murder mystery event that may take place. I’m looking forward to seeing what I have been working on come to life even more; I love writing spooky stories!!

During the coffee morning today the conversation centred around – no surprises here, perhaps?! – The Royal Wedding. I know that it will be a topic of conversation for weeks to come….. Although some people think that the whole event was a waste of time and money. I did enjoy watching Will and Kate get married, but I do think the whole event was a waste of good mugs!!

See you tomorrow!!

Bye bye

Tuesday 3/5/11

Hi everyone – so, who watched Will and Kate get married? I thought it was one of the few occasions when I was truly impressed by the royalty; also the wedding was beautiful, if a bit grand.

On another note, don’t forget to come to the Spring Tide Festival on the 21 and 22 of May. It promises to be another great event to see and enjoy. I hope I can make it at some point over that weekend…..

Today was straightforward, which is nice after a break. I appreciate having a rhythm to get back into with my work; I really hate days when nothing is straightforward and everything is crazier than life without Ben and Jerry’s Half-Baked Ice Cream……………

There are definitely some things in life that no one should be forced to live without!!

See you tomorrow!!

Sayonara!!

Wednesday 20/4/11

Hi everyone!!

Today has been quiet – most people, quite understandably, have been down at the beach, enjoying the sun and surf……………. I love my job, I just really wish the hours were different…………

On another note, I did some interesting research into Sea Swimming today; I didn’t realise how much actually went on down at West Bay, and how much continues to happen there. The race for the Black Buoy sounds downright lethal, but really good fun at the same time!! I can’t even imagine swimming up to 1,225 metres out to a point that I can’t find in the middle of the sea!!

See you tomorrow!!

Tuesday 19/4/11

Hi everyone!!

Today has been straightforward – I came in this morning and went over to the museum to do the morning shift there; it was understandably very quiet as most people were down on a beach somewhere, enjoying the sun…….. I am really looking forward to the Easter break, as I am going to go down to Burton Bradstock or West Bay and spend my time swimming in the sea………

I spent most of my afternoon cataloguing some more items, as well as progressing with the murder mystery story idea; Emily and I found some interesting information online, as well as tips on how to organise an event!! Things are looking up!!

Sorry about the shortness of today’s post – couldn’t think of anything more to say….

Sayonara!!