As part of our work on the County Council’s archive, my colleague Helen and I have spent the last couple of years cataloguing social care and education records relating to the safeguarding of children. We are delighted to report that our work has been featured in the National Archives’ latest annual review – here is what it says: Continue reading
Image from the Journal showing church towers from left to right: St. Mary de Lode, Cathedral, St. John’s, St. Nicholas, St. Michael, St. Mary de Grace and St. Mary de Crypt, 13 April 1724, page 631
I came across an interesting fact whilst reading 1,339 facts to make your jaw drop, published in 2013: ‘In the 1720s, the Gloucester Journal apologised for ‘present scarcity of news’ and offered its readers a selection of poems instead.’ Continue reading
Building news – all about the Artists
The artists have been busy throughout the year researching, meeting with volunteers, visitors and staff, preparing and finally making. The mosaic panels and the textile panels are now complete and are here for visitors to come and see. If you are visiting the new Heritage Hub, have a look at the artwork and see how heritage can be presented in very different and beautiful ways. Continue reading
Earlier this year, we were pleased to receive a large deposit of over 500 minute books, documenting the business of South Gloucestershire Council, mainly for the period 2005-2009. This was the latest addition to our existing holdings for South Gloucestershire Council, and all predecessor authorities for this region, dating from the 1890s up to 2009.
Some say that your school days are the best days of your life. I suppose that from the point of view of not having many of life’s worries, they could be right.
But having said that, when I was at school, there were plenty of things to worry about. Such as- would I get to “be” the footballer John Barnes whilst having a kick about during lunch time? (Mainly yes, as everyone else wanted to “be” Gary Lineker or Chris Waddle.)
There were so many other worries too – what was the best way to get out of the pointless cross country PE “lesson”?; who was responsible for nicking my pencil sharpener?; could I swipe an intriguingly named Hedgehog flavour crisp from Daniel during break time without him seeing?; how much Space Dust popping candy could fit in my mouth before it spat and foamed out uncontrollably?; could I make it back home in time to see the next episode of ChuckleVision on TV? And the biggest worry of all – how much of a telling off would I get from my mum after I’d fallen in the brook that ran by the school’s perimeter whilst attempting to jump over it on the way home?
However, a few hundred years ago, there was no such thing as school or education for children. Children were set to work or to simply survive in the city’s disease ridden slums. They had plenty of worries far more serious than crisps and pencil sharpeners, one of which was just trying to stay alive. Continue reading
Our last post announced our History Festival events over the coming week, but there’s much more happening involving the Hub and its heritage partners over the rest of the Festival. At 14.30 on Friday 7th September Dr John Chandler, a Trustee of the County History Trust, delivers his talk Before the Spa at the Heritage Hub, looking at Cheltenham‘s development from Anglo-Saxon times until the 18th Century. The event is fully booked though, so please don’t attend it if you don’t already have a ticket.
Gloucester’s first royal charter, from the time of Henry II (c.1155)
The Archives cares for a range of royal charters relating to Gloucester, and these will be on view at Blackfriars Scriptorium between 10.00 and 14.00 on Saturday 8th. You can also attend an illustrated talk about them in the Buttery at Blackfriars at 11.30 that day. Again the exhibition and talk are free, but pre-booking is required, quoting reference CV15. Continue reading
Yes, Heritage time is firmly upon us again, beginning this Saturday (25th August) with Gloucester Retro Day. We’ll have a stall providing information about the Heritage Hub in Kings Walk, and we’ll be joined by members of the Fielding & Platt Heritage Group with a display about the Company, and by Gloucestershire Society for Industrial Archaeology with a Lister’s display. We’ll be there 10.00-16.00, so do come and say hello.
Retro Day 2017: Members of the Fielding & Platt Heritage Group meet some famous faces
