A reminiscence project for retired people …with a twist!
Whether you spent your working life making chronometers, inspecting stockings, in an office, bottling marmalade or looking after and making clothes for your children…If you enjoy sharing your stories and experiences, we would love you to take part.
Ballito stockings packet from the 1960s. Many people have memories of the Ballito factory in St Albans.
Over six two-hour sessions we’ll talk about things that were made in our district, and the hard graft that took place! We’ll have fun looking at objects and photographs. We may even meet up with a few old colleagues, and we are sure to make some new friends!
We are delighted that BUSKIN (Hilary Dawson & Sarah Mackay) will be working with us on this project. Buskin work with community groups of all ages, using active and dynamic techniques to bring memories and experiences to life.
Through the six weeks each person will make something relating to their own experiences, it could be made from a simple photograph, chunky metalwork or the daintiest of fabrics. These individual pieces will become part of a larger art work which will be displayed at the Museum of St Albans in celebration of all of your stories. There will be plenty of help and encouragement (if any is needed!). Materials and refreshments will be provided.
Our Shopping Reminiscence box, also available for loan
If you are free on Thursday mornings between February 3rd and March 17th 2011, and would like to be part of the group which will meet at the Museum on those dates, please let us know as soon as possible as spaces are limited. Please contact Elanor Cowland at the Museum of St Albans, tel: (01727)819580, or email: elanor.cowland@stalbans.gov.uk
Most people have a movie camera on their mobile phone. So….
During the second half of our Kubrick season, we would like you to make short films which we will feature in our exhibition and on our YouTube channel from Monday 23rd August until Sunday 5th September.
In true ‘X Factor’ style, our panel of expert judges and the public will vote for their favourite film made by a child or adult - Prizes go to those with the most votes.
Clapper board from the set of Stanley Kubrick's film 'The Shining', 1979. © Warner Bros Entertainment.
Details
Closing date for submission midnight, Thursday 19th August 2010.
There are 3 Categories - 12 & under, 13 to 18, 19 & over.
The films should be no more than 2 minutes long
These films will be displayed on the internet via our YouTube feed and in our gallery.
Email your films to museum@stalbans.gov.uk or send a link to your films already on YouTube to the same address. In the subject box please type Film Short.
Stanley Kubrick at work on the set of '2001: A Space Odyssey'. © Warner Bros. Entertainment.
Keep safe on the internet.
Avoid using real names and addresses
Please make sure you have permission from people featured in your film (parent/guardian for under 18s).
St Albans Museums reserve the right to exclude unsuitable films.
...and he's hidden some easter eggs around the place! Families who come to the Museum of St Albans between Friday 2nd and Sunday 18th April 2010 can search for the eggs, solve the clues and maybe even get a prize. You can also do some fun Easter colouring and have a look at some Easter cards which were posted over a hundred years ago! And don't forget, the Easter egg hunt, and admission to the Museum of St Albans, is FREE!
You can have a look at some Easter cards like this one at the museum over the Easter weekend. Some are over 100 years old!
Download an Easter Egg Hunt flyer:
See more old Easter Cards on our Facebook fan page (this link will open in a new window)
We are always working to make sure that there is plenty for children and families to do at St Albans Museums. Hopefully anyone who enjoyed the Christmas Cats trail will have a go at this one too, and it will give our regular visitors something new to do in the galleries. We will keep you posted throughout the year about new activities for adults and children at both our museums, and if you are a visitor who has some suggestions about how we can improve things for you, please do get in touch!
Steam train at St. Albans City Station.
The Museum of St Albans is holding an exhibition to commemorate and celebrate the ‘Lost Rails’ of Hertfordshire, a number of which are now being used as cycleways, footpaths and bridleways. This project focuses on the heritage of six of these branch lines: the Ayot Greenway, Alban Way, Nicky Line, Ebury Way, Cole Green Way and Buntingford Line.
London Road Station in 1867. This station was part of the Hatfield to St Albans branch of the Great Northern Railway line.
We would be interested in hearing from anyone who has memories of these routes, either when they were still railways or since they were closed. We are particularly interested in talking to people who worked on the lines, used them to get to work, lived alongside them, or recall any interesting incidents that occurred on them.
Postcard showing Hill End Asylum with the railway tracks leading towards the hospital in the left foreground, postmarked 1904.
If you would like to share your memories, or lend any photographs or other objects associated with these lines to the museum for the exhibition, please contact Rosalyn Goulding at the Museum of St Albans on 01727 819581 or ros.goulding@stalbans.gov.uk, or write to:
The Museum of St Albans, 9a Hatfield Road, St Albans, Herts, AL1 3RR.
This exhibition, postponed from 2009, is now being held from September 2010 at the Museum of St Albans as part of a Heritage Lottery Funded Project and in partnership with Groundwork Hertfordshire.
- Visit Groundwork Hertfordshire's website (this link will open in a new window)
- Learn more about the work of the Heritage Lottery Fund (this link will open in a new window)
After a very snowy start to the year we're hoping that things are starting to get back to normal now (although the forecasts suggest we might not have seen the last of the snow for this year yet...). One of the things we're really excited about for the new year is the return of our Reminiscence Coffee Mornings. We did run a series of 6 of these coffee mornings at the start of last year and they were a great success so it is really great to have got this up and running again.
Our Shopping Reminiscence box, also available for loan
Reminiscence is often a lot of fun - for the museums staff as well as members of the public! - and even young children love to do it. It can also be a good opportunity for parents of all ages to share their memories with their children and tell them what it was like when they were their age.
Ballito stockings packet from the 1960s. Many people have memories of the Ballito factory in St Albans.
The coffee mornings are purposely relaxed and informal and give anyone who wants to the opportunity to come into the museum, relax with a cup of tea and a biscuit and handle objects and photographs from the 1930s, 40s, 50s, and 60s. If you would like to bring your own objects and pictures to show people and talk about, that would be wonderful.
Children at Abbey Primary School, St Albans , c.1955
You can click below if you would like to download the flyer with details of dates and themes for the first six coffee mornings we have planned. These details are also availble on our Diary page.
This week we are finally able to announce that our new Fleetville book is on sale now! The research for this project started back in 2008 and so everyone is thrilled to finally be able to see the finished product, especially its joint authors who have been working away behind the scenes on this project for so long. The book looks at the history of Fleetville from the eighteenth century when the road to Hatfield was built right up to the present day.
Hatfield Road, St Albans in 1903.
Fleetville is a bustling and diverse area that has experienced rapid change in the post-war years, but still retains its sense of community. The book has been a team effort which was lead by three museum researchers but also incorporates the reminiscences of a number of Fleetville’s inhabitants, both past and present, to tell the story of how the area has changed and developed.
Flooding under the Sutton Road railway bridge in June 1910
Many businesses which have come and gone over the years, including the Ballito stocking factory, Nicholson's Coats, Sander's Orchid Nursery, the Campfield Press and Marconi Instruments Ltd.
'Going to work...at Ballito' leaflet to attract women to work at the Ballito hoisery factory in Fleetville
It also covers other aspects of local life, from religion to schools and shops.
The St Albans Islamic Centre, 141 Hatfield Road in 1999.
As well as telling the history of this part of St Albans, it also includes a heritage trail that you can follow around Fleetville and perhaps see a new side to some familiar sights. If you're interested in buying a copy - and perhaps a couple of extras for Christmas presents! - the book is currently available at the Museum of St Albans but we are hoping it will soon be stocked at Verulamium Museum and St Albans Tourist Information Centre.
Iraq - A New Face. Number 5 in a series of 15 portraits of Kurdish/Iraqi people by Ben Hodson & Ian Rowlands.
Just a reminder that there is going to be a photography workshop going on this Saturday 7th November at the Museum of St Albans. It will be led by Ben Hodson and Ian Rowlands, the photographers who curated our current temporary exhibition Iraq - The Forgotten Story. Many of their photographs appear in the exhibition and on Saturday they will be sharing their knowledge and experience of photographing other cultures. This workshop is for photographers of all abilities - you don't have to be a professional with a fancy camera! Come along and pick up some tips on improving your photographs.
Iraq - A New Face. Number 10 in a series of 15 portraits of Kurdish/Iraqi people by Ben Hodson & Ian Rowlands.
The workshop will run from 11:00am - 4:00pm and is a bargain at £4.00 for the day, or £3.50 for Friends of St Albans Museums. For more details or to book your place pop in to the Museum of St Albans on Hatfield Road or call on (01727) 819340.
You can also find details about this event on Facebook
Our new exhibition at the Museum of St Albans has just opened and will run until January 31st 2010. As always, entry to all exhibitions at the Museum of St Albans on Hatfield Road is free.
The exhibition is called Iraq - The Forgotten Story and features work by several Kurdish/Northern Iraqi artists. It has been curated by Ben Hodson & Ian Rowlands on behalf of A Thin Place, in partnership with the Preemptive Love Coalition. The gallery looks great and the exhibition has been really well recieved, judging by our exhibition comment book.
You can find out more about this exhibition and the project partners on our website.
