Saturday Service at the Heritage Hub

About this time last year, a decision was taken to resume the Saturday opening of Gloucestershire Archives. It felt such a positive step, after many frustrating months of total closure, due to the pandemic, followed by various versions of user restrictions during the week, as we crawled back to normality. However, even in pre-Covid times, we knew that our Saturday service needed further scrutiny. Who was our intended audience? What type of service was required? Was something different needed to appeal to customers specifically at the weekend? We had always thought that by opening at the weekend, people who weren’t able to visit during the week due to work or other personal commitments would have the opportunity to undertake research. This notion sounds perfectly acceptable on paper but in practice, it wasn’t happening. 

Consequently, a decision to open again on Saturdays, post Covid, could not be taken lightly. We had to justify staff’s time in terms of planning events and being on-site to present them plus have proof that this was a service truly required by the public. Was it truly worthwhile?

#ArchivePeople: Heritage Careers Focus Day

Are you interested in a career in the heritage sector? On Saturday 3^rd June we are hosting our first ever Heritage Career Focus Day at Gloucestershire Heritage Hub! Find out more and book your place here: https://www.heritagehub.org.uk/events/heritage-focus-day/

This event is aimed at people wanting a career in Heritage and is an excellent opportunity to see what archivists, conservators, museum curators, librarians, archaeologists and other heritage based professionals do on a day to day basis.

I am an archivist here at Gloucestershire Archives and I always find it interesting to lean the different story on how people first got involved in archives or heritage. So I asked some of my fellow Archivists to share their story.

Gloucestershire Archives accessions, January-March 2023

This blog provides some details of the accessions received and processed at Gloucestershire Archives during the first quarter of 2023. These can be from any place, person or organisation in Gloucestershire and South Gloucestershire.

During the first three months of this year we added 342 new accessions to our online catalogue. That includes numerous books and other publications, which are part of our Local History Collection.

Gloucestershire Archives accessions, July-December 2022

Happy New Year from all at Gloucestershire Archives and our Heritage Hub partners.

This blog details accessions received at Gloucestershire Archives during the second half of 2022. These can be from any place, person or organisation in Gloucestershire and South Gloucestershire.

In that time we added 226 new accessions onto our online catalogue. This includes oral reminiscence recordings with members of different communities in Gloucester; documents concerning the death of Queen Elizabeth II and the Proclamation of King Charles III; research papers of local historians; Gloucester Rugby Football Club matchday programmes; cinema and theatre programmes; short films and other material concerning the Kindertransport hostel in Gloucester; records of the Ducarel family of Newland House; and Witts family papers, including correspondence and papers relating to the army and estate and finance, 20th century.

Innovations in Gloucester

On Friday September 9^th why not attend part or all of our History Festival/Voices Gloucester event, Innovations in Gloucester, in the Dunrossil Centre at Gloucestershire Heritage Hub?

It’s all free, although donations to Voices Gloucester are welcomed.  Bring a picnic to enjoy in the Hub’s community garden.  The building is fully accessible.  There is some on-site parking (£3) – we’re also close to NCP car parks.   For further details and to book a place see https://voicesgloucester.org.uk/events/innovations-in-gloucester/.     

Dog dribble, Spaghetti Bolognese and a council minute book: pure beauty?

Isn’t it funny how some people find certain things attractive, yet to somebody else, the exact same thing doesn’t do anything for them. Beauty, as the saying goes, is in the eye of the beholder.

For example, some people would look at a growling, floppy-jowled, saliva-dripping bulldog flashing fangs as sharp as razorblades and would think it’s as cute as a new-born kitten.

But there are some people who would run away extremely fast because they believe they’ve just come across an evil beast from the deepest pit of doom.

I shall let you guess which category I fall into, but here’s a clue: I’m not a fan of dog dribble.

The #ArchivePeople of Gloucestershire Heritage Hub

For day 26 of #Archive30 we are getting to know some of the amazing #ArchivePeople at Gloucestershire Heritage Hub. Learn more about some of our staff and volunteers below!

#Archive30: Travels throughout Gloucestershire by bus, train or walking boots!

This small notebook might not look like much on the outside, but it is perfect for #ArchiveDestination! This travel diary records the writers “impressions of events, mostly of places I have been to, & things that have happened there” as he travels via bus and train and enjoys walks around the area. Including a trip to Stroud Valley on 17 April 1954!

Gloucester’s Bishops Court records unlocked, Or All human life is there…, by Judy Kimber

On the 5th December 1628 George Beard made his way to Gloucester from his home in Whaddon. A dispute had arisen concerning the will of his friend John Copp and he was going to give his testimony at the Bishop’s Court. There he was asked how old he was and he told them that he was 90.  Yes, 90! Just think about that for a minute. He had lived through the reigns of six monarchs from Henry VIII to Charles 1. He was alive when the Spanish Armada threatened England. He was in his sixties when Guy Fawkes and his gang had tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament. And now he was mentally and physically fit enough to give evidence in court. So much for the notion that no-one lived past sixty in “olden times”.

An example of a Bishop’s Court case book (GDR/168)

The Story of one woman, throughout the census

The census can be a great tool for tracking your family history through the years. Our January Passport to the Past event focused on what the census could tell us about one women. The full event is available on our YouTube channel here!