...15 mins of fame...

Well four minutes and twelve seconds of fame...
Last Summer The Deja Crew got together with a Northumberland school to run a day of living history and we were lucky enough to have the Haltwhistle Film Project along to make a film!
That film is now on YouTube!



enjoy...

Discovery Visits with English Heritage

It's Easter again, Spring is here.  Over the Summer and Autumn Terms, I'm running Discovery Visits for English Heritage at Housesteads Roman Fort

MEET A REAL LIFE ROMAN SOLDIER (KS2-3): Discover what life was like for a Roman soldier stationed at Housesteads and meet Roman Veteran, Rufus Aelius Victor. Students will also be given the opportunity to ask Rufus questions, dress in costume, train as a recruit in an auxiliary unit, explore the site and handle both real and replica Roman artefacts. Duration: 1 1/2 Hours

For Housesteads please contact English Heritage first through their website or contact the Bookings Team.

I can also appear at any English Heritage site along Hadrian's Wall, as a member of their Approved Educational Provider scheme (AEP), so if your school or group is visiting Corbridge, Chesters or Birdoswald and you would like to meet 'Victor the Veteran' please get in touch.

Thanks,
Roy
rlwsn@btinternet.com
07960 125218

...a Tale of the Frontier.

Tales of the Frontier is a research project by Durham University. Hadrian's Wall and the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site make up a huge linear monument moving through many different landscapes and communities as it crosses the region from coast to coast.
The aim is to discover how people view the momument today (and compare this to past ideas), to explore how it has influenced the communities and landscapes it passes through and to understand how the Wall came to be the prominent World Heritage Site it is today.
The website reports the research so far -

Late last year Iwas invited to join the consultations developing a new set of leaflets.  Rather than creating 'yet another walk' along the wall, the Booklet and 8 leaflets hope to inspire people to engage rather than pass through, providing locations to 'stand and stare'.  They are available on-line through the Tales of the Frontier website - Wall Stories; leaflets and booklet

working on the Railway.

"North East Railways in World War One"

Website and Learning Resource.

...was launched yesterday at the Head of Steam Museum in Darlington.  The museum is the home of the Ken Hoole Study Centre, which cares for (among loads of other things) copies of the Staff Magazine of the North Eastern Railway from the early years of the 20th Century.  There are also handwritten ledgers containing the employment records of Drivers, Signallers, Shunters and others who worked for the NER.  Many of these employees joined the 'NER Servants' Pension Society'.  These pension records are in the Archive.

Volunteers have spent the last 10 months combing through the Staff magazines for mentions of those who served and for those who lost their lives during the First World War.  The result is a searchable database that went live yesterday.





Alongside this I have written a Resource for Teachers and helped create a Loans Box.


The aim is that KS3 Pupils will be able to investigate and discover the different experiences that North Eastern Railway employees had during World War One. This inquiry based approach uses a variety of original sources to answer the questions

1.  How did World War One affect people working for the Northeastern Railway?
2.  How different were people's experiences of World War One?

By using the resource the students will have the opportunity;

• To be able to interpret a variety of original sources
• In using this evidence to synthesise a ‘story’ about an individual
• Make inferences using this evidence
• Make suggestions about other sources for further research.

There are 3 parts to the resource,

• main teachers notes - [4.55MB, pdf document],
• profile sheets - [5.75MB, pdf document],
• PowerPoint presentation  - [3MB]

You will find them at the Head of Steam's Learning Zone  scroll down to find the download links.  The Teachers Notes provide background and suggestions on how to use the 20 Profile Sheets.  These have souces detailing the experiences of those joined up and were killed, workers who served and returned to work for the NER, others who were not allowed to join the Forces and women who filled the jobs vacated by men who went to fight.

If you want to know more, please get in touch with myself or with
Sarah Gouldsbrough, Learning and Access Officer at the Head of Steam, Darlington

Telephone: 01325 734128
Fax: 01325 287746
Email: sarah.gouldsbrough@darlington.gov.uk

Fugit Inreparabile Tempus....

...as Virgil said "it escapes, irretrevable time".  It certainly does, it's getting close to a year since the last post.

In that time I've run a Heritage Club, written a First World War Railway resource, made a video, worked with loads of new people and old friends and 'Victor the Veteran' is still recruiting along the length of Hadrain's Wall.

I will add posts about some of these over the next few weeks (honest!)

Got to rush, I'm off to the Head of Steam, Darlington for the launch of;

"Railway Workers in World War One"

I'll take Rufus and Railway Ron, so keep an eye on Twitter @RAeliusVictor and @HeadofSteamMus
all the best,
Roy