HODs RSS FeedCategory - Interpretation
Showing blog posts in the category: Interpretation.
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Bats in the belfry!
Posted by Chana James on 9th May 2012 | 0 Comments
Actually that’s a bit of a myth: bats are unlikely to roost in belfries as they can be quite draughty (and noisy). Bats like it a bit warmer and prefer nooks and crannies in the main part of the church where they can huddle together rather than a belfry or tower. So, churches do play a vital role in the survival of bats, which are an endangered species.
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Creating a heritage trail
Posted by Tim Prevett on 23rd April 2012 | 0 Comments
A useful thing (among many) that Heritage Open Days can bring out is linking buildings and creating trails of heritage. This is done either by the history hungry punter selecting their desired scope of places to visit over Heritage Open Days, or by local organisers putting together their heritage links for people to enjoy.
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Making a plain building speak
Posted by Tim Prevett on 20th March 2012 | 2 Comments
The great thing about Heritage Open Days is that it gives people a chance to look at buildings they wouldn't normally pay any attention to. Because they don't look very interesting. At least not at the first glance. It's however these unassuming places that often hoard the most riveting stories. Not convinced? Well, let me illustrate my point by telling you about some massive, rather dull looking walls whose fading dark shades turned out to be more significant than they initially seemed.
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Children are the future
Posted by Zoe Potter on 20th February 2012 | 0 Comments
Yes, that old cliché. Children are the visitors of the future, the supporters of the future, the members of the future and even the heritage open days organisers of the future. So it’s worthwhile coming up with some creative ways to help them engage with heritage, and I don’t mean by using standard colouring or quiz sheets.
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Linking buildings, creating clusters – together we’re stronger
Posted by Lucie Thacker on 30th January 2012 | 0 Comments
Heritage Open Days visitors really appreciate any ideas for other places to explore and there are loads of ways to make connections. Here are a few ideas based on our experience.
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Making collections accessible to visually impaired visitors
Posted by Ben Goodwin on 23rd January 2012 | 1 Comment
Catering for differently abled people within arts and heritage venues is essential and rewarding but it can pose a challenge. At the Barber Institute of Fine Arts in Birmingham where I work, we are grateful for the support of our volunteers who have helped us improve our accessibility for those with visual impairment.
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Lifting the lid on disability history
Posted by Esther Gill on 16th January 2012 | 0 Comments
For many disabled people, the everyday experiences of their historical peers are rarely reflected in the stories that are told through local museums, heritage sites and events such as Heritage Open Days. In the past, and still today, disabled people were often educated separately at special schools and sometimes worked and spent their leisure time outside the mainstream. Their stories are not illuminated in our histories and generally remain hidden. I think that Heritage Open Days offers an exciting opportunity to change this, exploring an area of history that is not well known, linking with new audiences, and creating new events.
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Localism and Heritage Open Days
Posted by Ben Goodwin on 3rd November 2011 | 1 Comment
Localism does what it says on the tin; it prioritises the local. It supports local production and consumption of goods, local control of government and promotion of local history, local cultures and local identity.
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Working with themes
Posted by Tim Prevett on 27th October 2011 | 0 Comments
So you've opened a building over Heritage Open Days, people enjoyed your tour, but what next? Have you ever thought working with themes? Believe it or not, it's something quite obvious - just there waiting to be discovered, explored and told.
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‘Tis already the season at Petworth House
Posted by Zoe Potter on 20th October 2011 | 1 Comment
With many National Trust houses preparing to close for winter conservation work, have you ever wondered what else the National Trust gets up to over the winter? Well, the contents of Petworth House will soon be covered by individual, handmade dust sheets, but the same cannot be said for the rest of the property. With more winter events than ever we are entering one of our busiest times of year, read on to discover the highlights of our winter event calendar, the surprising preparations that are taking place and what to expect from the National Trust over the coming months…
