Calling History Researchers!

Joy Bullivant,of the Time Walk project, is thinking of setting up a social group for historians. I’ve posted the details and Joy’s email address below, so if you might be interested in having a coffee and a chat with some fellow historical researchers drop her an email!

“Calling History Researchers

 Are you a Local Historian living in Sheffield? Do your relatives and friends back away when you try to tell them about some new document you have found? Are you left sometimes wondering whether it’s something wrong with you or maybe there are others with the same problem? Do you go to a strange Archive and wish you’d known about it beforehand when the Archivist fixes you with a fierce stare because you have omitted some vital piece of procedure? If someone doesn’t answer your enquiry is it because you have somehow offended, or because that person has a tendency to travel a lot, and they will get back to you?

 Would you like to share your triumphs frustrations and puzzles with like-minded individuals for a coffee and a natter? Contact me and if I get enough interest we will set up a regular meetup. My idea initially is just a social meet up but obviously its up to who comes along as to where, when, and how we do things. I meet a lot of great amateur historians who find even within local history groups they are left with no one talk to. So what if you have been searching for a Saxon horse shoe mentioned in a document for 10 years? You will get a sympathetic ear and even possibly someone who knows another avenue to explore.”

 Contact Joy Bullivant at 1duckweed@live.co.uk.

 

New Local Heritage Engagement Network.

The SCHF received an email from Paul Brayford of the Council for British Archaeology last week, on a new local heritage engagement network project that has been set up to protect and promote local heritage. I’ve added the details of the project below, including how to contact them if you are interested. I’m sure that they would welcome as many groups as possible joining, even if you are not specifically an archaeology focused group.

Local Heritage Engagement Network

The Local Heritage Engagement Network (LHEN) is an exciting new community engagement project for England and Wales, led by the CBA, and funded by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.

The project will support local groups across the UK to get more involved in looking after and protecting the historic environment on their doorsteps.

Your involvement in this scheme allows your local historical environment to be protected and is vital for its success. The Local Heritage Engagement Network supports exciting new forms of community engagement in England and Wales. This new initiative is raising awareness of ongoing cuts to local archaeological services and how this may impact on your local area.

The project is working with a number of key partners, including the Federation of Archaeological Managers and Employers (FAME), the Association of Local Government Archaeological Officers UK (ALGAO), the Institute for Archaeologists (IfA) and Civic Voice.

Make your voice heard

If you are concerned about a local issue, one way to make your voice heard is to write to your local Member of Parliament. An easy way to contact your MP is through the Write To Them website.

Another effective way to raise awareness of local issues is through the local press. Locality have recently produced some useful tips on how to work with the local press, including an information pack with template press releases and other guidance.

Over the next four years a toolkit of resources and guidance and a programme of training and workshops will be developed to support the Network.

How can you get involved?

The Local Heritage Coordinator for the project will be speaking to groups across the country about the work they are doing and liaising with the different project partners.To find out how to join the Local Heritage Engagement Network please get in touch at lhen@archaeologyuk.org.

We are keen to hear from any groups who are already involved in promoting, protecting and looking after archaeological sites in their local areas, and to be informed of any immediate issues affecting historic environment service provision in your local area.

You can follow the project on Twitter @lhen_cba and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/cba.lhen.

Project aims

The main aims of the project are to:

•   Develop a new Local Heritage Engagement Network for local groups to support communities involved in protecting and speaking up for local heritage
•   Develop and promote a tool kit of information and best practice guidance for groups who want to get more involved in speaking up for heritage and archaeology services in their local area
•   Support and facilitate more effective communication between different groups and organisations who are working to protect the historic environment in a variety of ways across England and Wales for maximum impact
•   Raise awareness of local Historic Environment Records (HERs) and their vital role in ensuring that the historic environment is properly considered and protected as part of the planning process
•   Raise awareness of the potential impact of ongoing funding cuts to local authority heritage services for the historic environment and support groups who want to get more involved in debates about heritage services in their local areas

SCHF Agenda, Saturday 3 May.

The agenda for the upcoming SCHF forum meeting has been finalised! Joining us in the Carpenter Room at the Central Library will be Sam Smith from the South Yorkshire Through Time Project, Anita Hamlin from Museums Sheffield, Liz Godfrey from Heritage Open Days, Jo Pye from the Sheffield General Cemetery Trust, Victoria Beauchamp from the WEA and Brian Holmshaw from the Regather Cooperative. We will, of course, be hosted by the Hunter Society and will be led on a walk around Georgian Sheffield by Ruth Morgan.

Hopefully we’ll be able to visit the Upper Chapel, fingers crossed!

I’ve set out a copy of the agenda below so you can have a look at the speaker timings, please come along for as much of the day as you can. We are always ready to welcome new members, and those of you who have perhaps not been in a while. It is free to attend the forum meeting, and there is no need to reserve places, so please do come along and find out about what heritage activities are going on in Sheffield.

SCHF Agenda, Carpenter Room, Central Library, 3^rd May 2014.

10am –10.15 – arrival.

10.15am – 10.45 am – Ruth Morgan, Hunter Society

10.45am – 11.45 – Walk around town accompanied by Ruth. It’s recommended you wear suitable shoes and bring a waterproof! Please be aware that the Carpenter Room will have to be locked when we are not in it, so I am afraid people cannot use it to wait in.

11.45 – 12 – Sam Smith, South Yorkshire Through Time Project.

12 noon – 1pm – LUNCH. Please bring your own picnic/packed lunch.

1pm-1.20pm – Liz Godfrey,  Open Heritage Day.

1.20pm-1.40pm – Anita Hamlin, Museums Sheffield.

1.40pm-2pm – Jo Pye, Sheffield General Cemetery Trust.

2pm-2.10pm – BREAK.

2.10pm – 2.30pm – Victoria Beauchamp, WEA.

2.30pm-2.50pm – Brian Holmshaw, Regather.

2.50pm-3.00pm – AOB

 

The Yorkshire Co-operative Resource Centre is Open.

Principle Five, the Yorkshire Co-operative Resource Centre, is now open to the public in Aizlewood’s Mill. The resource centre, named after the fifth of the seven co-op principles (education and training for all), is acting as an information hub for the Yorkshire region. Aizlewood’s Mill itself is a co-operatively owned building and home to the Sheffield Co-operative Development Group.

The resource centre contains a lending library, featuring a wide selection of books and pamphlets on the history of the Co-operative movement, along with current editions of Co-operative News, to keep members and users informed about the movement. The centre also contains the libraries of many Co-operative Societies from the East of England, so it is a vital archive for historians of the movement.

Membership is open to all individuals and organisations. For more details or to book a visit please contact Steve Thompson on 01142589412 or email steve@Sheffield.coop.

 

Time Walk Needs you!

Joy Bullivant, coordinator of the Sheffield Time Walk project, is looking for heritage groups to contribute to the Time Walks blog.

To contribute a post to the blog, all you need to do is write a short description of your project or an area of historic interest you have enjoyed recently and add some photos to illustrate it. It can then be uploaded for everyone else to enjoy! Please click on the link to have a look at the posts other groups have produced, to give you some inspiration.

For more information you can check the Time Walk facebook page or the website, which has an extremely useful heritage events calendar. You can also email timewalkproject@gmail.com.

 

Save Creevela Works!

The Walkley History blog, run as part of the Walkley Ways, Walkley Wars community heritage project, have highlighted a planning application to demolish Creevela Works, one of Walkley’s oldest buildings, and replace it with four town houses.

Creevela Works is a barn associated with Primrose House, a substantial farmhouse opposite the Works on Parsonage Crescent. Archaeologist Jim Rylatt has estimated the barn to be from the 18th century, however, there is a possibility that it could be even older than that.

Walkley History have been asking people to write to the council to object to the demolition of this historic building and the proposed buildings to replace it. Full details of the history of the barn are on the Walkey History blog, along with the link to the planning application and all the associated documents. Please do spend some time registering your objections with the council if you are able to, before the deadline. It would be a terrible shame to lose one of the remaining pieces of Sheffield’s pre-industrial past, all for a development that is clearly unwanted by those living near Creevela Works itself.

News from Friends of Gillfield Wood.

Congratulations to the Friends of Gillfield Wood on the recent successful completion of their HLF project! Sally Goldsmith sent the SCHF the news report below, so do have a look at their blog and website to find out about the research they have undertaken for their project.

“We now have, as well as a downloadable or pickup-able leaflet about the Story of Gillfield Wood, a full 37 page history gleaned from our archaeological survey and archive research. Trespassers, yeoman farmers, lead smelters, scootering suffragettes, besom makers – they’re all here!

If you would like to see how we got on over the last year, do look at our blog – www.storyofgillfieldwood.wordpress.com where you can download and read this full story.

Or go to website www.friendsofgillfieldwood.com where you can also download the leaflet – and if you’re really keen the full archaeological survey report with everything we found.”

Sally Goldsmith

Friends of Gillfield Wood

Next SCHF Forum Meeting, 3 May.

At long last we have confirmed the time and place for our next forum meeting! We are kindly being hosted by the Hunter Archaeological Society at the Carpenter Room in the Central Library, on Saturday 3 May, between 10am and 3pm. Ruth Morgan, from the Hunter Society, will also be doing a city walk with us between 10.45 and 11.45 where we will take in the sights of Georgian Sheffield and (hopefully!) visit the Upper Chapel. Just in case Spring has not fully sprung, please make sure that you wear suitable shoes for walking and bring coats/waterproofs…

I’m also looking for about 3 – 4 more people to give a presentation on the day about their project or a project that they hope to undertake. These would only need to be about 15 minutes long, so please do drop me a line at schf@sheffield.ac.uk if you haven’t spoken before or would like to give us an update on what your group is doing. It would be much appreciated!

Congratulations to the Cooper Gallery!

Congratulations to the Cooper Gallery for winning a Heritage Lottery Fund development grant to support a project working towards improving their facilities!

The Cooper Gallery, Barnsley.

The gallery are now looking for public feedback for their project ‘Cooper Gallery: Creating Connections’

Lynne Dunning, the Arts, Museums and Archives Manager sent this information and request for help:

The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has given initial support of £46,600 towards the development of an exciting project which could transform the Cooper Gallery.

The Cooper Gallery: Creating Connections project seeks to increase the number of visitors by attracting new audiences to the venue and enabling more people to engage with its heritage and fascinating stories. The gallery celebrates its centenary this year and currently attracts in the region of 60,000 visitors annually. The HLF development grant has been awarded to help the Cooper Gallery progress plans to apply for a further grant to deliver the project.

The project plans to

• extend the gallery spaces to allow more of the collection of historic works of art to be displayed
• make the gallery more interactive and fun for families and provide facilities for schools to engage with the heritage
• alter the building’s layout to restore the original entrance and improve the outdoor public space at the rear
• improve artwork storage facilities and conserve works of art for display
• provide opportunities for more people to get involved through volunteering

The project is a partnership between the Cooper Gallery Trustees (a Registered Charity) and Barnsley Council.

Specialists have been contracted to develop the plans including architects (GHM Partnership) and exhibition designers (PLB Ltd). Extensive consultation is also being undertaken with a wide range of stakeholders to develop an Activity Plan.

Public consultation is now taking place in the Cooper Gallery on the plans. We hope you can pop in and take a look and let us know what you think – the plans will be on display from Monday 24^th February –  Wednesday 5^th March.

The Round 2 bid will be submitted in June 2014 with a decision expected in September 2014. Work would begin on site in early 2015. The project is intended to be a lasting legacy to mark the Centenary. However, the Gallery is also celebrating the Centenary throughout 2014 with a series of events and activities:

• A Cooper 100 brand identity has been developed to be used on marketing material throughout the year
• The logo will feature in one of the Town Hall flower beds this summer
• An exhibition, Cooper 100, will feature 100 paintings from the permanent collection. The extraordinary variety of the collection in style, genre and period will cover the walls of the Fox Wing gallery in a feast for the eyes
• A celebration event on 31 July at the gallery and the launch of the Cooper 100 campaign

It all sounds very exciting, and hope some SCHF members will pop along and give some feedback on their plans.

http://www.cooper-gallery.com/

Jamboree and Forum Meeting.

A big thank you to everyone who attended the SCHF forum meeting at the Heritage Jamboree last Friday! We had an absolutely splendid turnout of around 40 people, and we added many new members to our mailing list. Kim Marwood and her team did a fantastic job of organising the whole day and providing an interesting set of workshops and talks to attend.
Another big thank you and round of applause should go to Sally Rogers, Penny Rea, Jennie Beard and Christine Handley for coming to speak to us about the progress their projects have been making. From sphagnum moss during the First World War to the first photograph of a family group in Sheffield, their presentations reflected the range of research being undertaken by our members, and shows the large numbers of volunteers who are happy and willing to give up their time to make them a success.

The time and date of the next meeting are being decided, so keep your eyes peeled for more information!