Sutton Hoo, I realised that what I liked most about history wasn’t just digging it up but researching what we found and then sharing that with our visitors. If we found a shoe, for example, I wanted to know how it got there. Who did it belong to and why did they lose it? Was it an everyday shoe or just for special occasions? I could then use this information to help bring the site alive. After leaving York, I went on to complete my Masters in Gallery Studies at the University of Essex. My first job was in the tourist village of Goathland in the North York Moors, setting up an exhibition about the TV series Heartbeat. I then had a chance to move to the Science Museum in London, quite a step- change from rural Yorkshire! After a few years, I had the opportunity to work in the USA with the Institute for Learning Innovation. They research how people learn outside of formal education and I helped organise a national conference for people from zoos, parks and similar organisations about how people learn science outside of school. Back in England, I got a job working on HMS Warrior at the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, only a cannonball’s throw from the Mary Rose! Warrior was launched in 1861, the same year my great-great-grandmother had been born. I used a photo of her along with family photos right down to my own daughter to help draw the connection from 1861 to today’s visitors. After five years with Warrior, I then stepped into primary education and did my teacher training qualifications. Both my parents were teachers so I think perhaps it was inevitable that I would try it in the end, and it also fitted well around having children of my own. I did enjoy it, and the diverse skills I’d learnt studying archaeology really helped, but I did eventually


return to my first love of history and archaeology – which is when I came to the Royal Victoria Chapel.


The Royal Victoria Military Hospital was commissioned by Queen Victoria, who laid the foundation stone in May 1856. The hospital opened in 1863 and was a quarter of a mile long. It could accommodate thousands of sick and wounded soldiers, and it looked after service personnel during both World Wars. After World War Two, fortunately, such a large hospital was no longer needed, and the building started to fall into disrepair. It was finally demolished in 1966, except the Chapel which you can still visit today.


My role here is Heritage and Education Officer, which can involve anything from setting up exhibitions, commissioning special story-teller performances and working alongside our lovely team of volunteers. I also work with local schools on projects to help bring stories to life of the people who lived, worked, and were treated here. One project that really stays with me was in 2016, the 100th Anniversary of the Battle of the Somme, a particularly hard battle fought during World War One. Some of the casualties were brought here to be treated and so we worked with Wildern School to research some of the servicemen buried in our cemetery to see if they were involved in that battle.


Make The Future Yours! Issue 3


21


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40