...Romans at Kings Cross!

I've been digging out some images recently and since I haven't posted for almost a year, it seemed an obvious thing to do...

...post some images!

Yes it is Kings Cross Station!

Here we are, in Londinium, me and Nigel, our job, to help the Tyne Valley Community Rail Partnership persuade commuters that they would rather be in Hadrian's Wall Country!

Doesn't time fly...

Almost a year since my last post - must do better!!  I have been tweeting - @RAeliusVictor - so there have been updates and I do exist on Facebook, as Roy - Heritage Educator (same as Twitter  @RAeliusVictor).

Right off to find some photos to upload - watch this space!!!

Admire the view from Hadrian’s Wall in 360

A little while ago a photographer from the Telegraph asked me if I could stand still for a minute or two.

Well it wasn't easy but this little film was the result - Enjoy!

Meet a Roman Soldier...

...talk about blowing your own trumpet...

This little video was produced by the Haltwhistle Film Project during The Deja Crew visit to Cambo First School.

...now on Facebook!

After being persuaded to sign on to Facebook, I have now managed to upload a video!

Some while ago The Deja Crew worked with Cambo First School, the post for April 2015 has a link to a video made by the Haltwhistle Film Project about that visit.

https://www.facebook.com/RAeliusVictor/ will take you to a short film just about me - enjoy!

Nexct challenge, put it on YouTube...

Where's Rufus over the Summer?

During August I'll be at the following public events as Rufus Aelius Victor, Evocatus (or veteran soldier)  looking for new recruits to join up and see the Roman Empire!

Tuesday 2 August - I'm at Senhouse Roman Museum Maryport, as part of their Roman Festival
Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 August - The Romans Return at Hardwick Country Park, near Sedgefield
Wednesday 10 August - Walby Farm Park
Friday 26 to Monday 29 - I'll be a part of the Tall Ships visit to Blyth in Northumberland

Come along and join in the fun!!

still famous...

Over a year since my last post - must do better!!
Here we are on You Tube again, this time courtesy of English Heritage at Housesteads

...and thanks to Stoneraise Primary School too!  Well Done Everyone!

...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

Rufus Minimus...

I've been quite busy over April and May, so I thought I should get some help...
(if you follow me on Twitter, you may have met him before)

Rufus keeping the Empire safe...

Rufus off duty....

...cleaning my caligae...

and keeping out of out of the rain!

Rufus follows me everywhere and he does seem rather fond of Twitter, so if you want to see more of him, keep a eye out there - follow @RAeliusVictor,

He'll also be here, I'm intending to round up what I've been up to over the last few weeks.

Thanks

Discovery Visits are running at Housesteads

April is the start of the Discovery Visits at Housesteads, Victor the Veteran will be there tomorrow for the first 'Meet a Roman Soldier' workshop.  I'll be running them all Summer, if you want more details use this link - Meet a Roman Soldier - it takes you to the EH page, you will need to book these workshops through English Heritage, the booking information is on the right of the page.
I know it says "meet with Roman Officer Centurion Maximus", but he's been posted elsewhere!

Rufus Aelius Victor with some recent voluntari

I am listed with English Heritage as an "Approved Educational Provider", so I can offer this workshop at other sites, but the arrangements are different, please contact me for details.

Roy
mob:  07960 125218  (please leave a message, Romans' can't always answer the phone!)
e-mail:  rlwsn@btinternet.com

some of the faces of Victor the Veteran...

Well people asked so here they are,

...the Prefect likes everything his own way...

I've always had difficulty looking fierce with a wobbly helmet...

...you're not getting in here...

...or here...

It's an exciting life in the Auxilia!

...sometimes too exciting!

I don't often wear the lorica and helmet while working with school groups, some of the younger children can be a bit wary of 'that scary Roman!'  and besides they would rather try the armour and look at me wear it.

What does Victor the Veteran do?

I'm often asked what's in a workshop, so here is a quick description of a basic 'Victor the Veteran' session.  I have to stress that I can and do deliver loads of other things, but as many primary schools want their children to 'Meet a Roman Soldier' here's what we could fit into an hour or a hour and a half.

I base the workshop on the idea of meeting a Roman Soldier, who will recruit the children in to the Army.  I am in costume and describe myself as an Evocatus or Veteran Soldier back in the Army after 25 years service. I try to work as interactivity as possible, with plenty of movement, almost all of my equipment and armour is replica and can be handled by the children, I have tunics for the children to wear and wooden shields and foam 'spears' to use when drilling the group.

The session will be;

• Introduce myself and talk briefly about the people living in the area before the Romans, question and answer as to why they might want to join the Army.
• I recruit them and check if they are fit for duty (with as much movement as the space will allow).
• Using a couple of volunteers show the dress and equipment of a Legionary and Auxiliary soldier.
• Dress the group in tunics, issue them with shields and weapons and drill them as recruits using Latin commands.
• Replicas to handle, including armour.

It's informative, fun and usually generates loads of questions from the children.  I can run this workshop almost anywhere, from a large classroom, school hall or playground to a site as part of a visit.

There is movement, plenty of language, both English and Latin and it is visual.  This way I can engage children with different learning styles.

I have a collection of replica objects, all with a bit of a story and all can be handled by the children.

If this interests you, please get in touch, I'm sure I can adapt it to your needs. 

Roy Lawson
rlwsn@btinternet.com
07960 125218

Who Am I?

The new season is upon us and I've been asked a couple of times about my background and how I ended up 'dressing up as a Roman' for a living. Where did Victor the veteran come from?
 The following paragraph briefly answers some of the these questions.

Roy is a qualified teacher, who after many years spent in the Pennines and Lake District working in Residential Outdoor Centres, enabling children and adults to explore the wonders of the landscape through outdoor and adventure activities, now concentrates on interpreting these landscapes and their stories of the past.

After completing a Masters degree in Heritage, Education and Interpretation (Newcastle 2002), Roy became Community and Education Advisor for the Hadrian's Wall World Heritage Site (2001-2005). Between 2007 and 2009 Roy was involved with the re-development of the GNM:Hancock in Newcastle as Learning Officer.

Roy is now freelance, developing and delivering projects to both children and adults, using Museums and Archaeology to explain the Past and our Shared Heritage. By using objects, museums and sites we can bring these these stories to life, giving them meaning and relevance to people alive now.

Roy has worked with all manner of groups and individuals, from Nursery to University of the Third Age, Company Directors, those with disability and special needs, Community Outreach and Community Groups.

Roy has delivered projects for national organisations, including the British Library's CAMPAIGN Make an Impact! , which used historical documents to help young people to campaign for change.

All of this has involved creating Teaching Resources, Handling Collections and bespoke Learning Experiences for people of all ages and abilities.

Roy has been involved in Touching the Wall and it's predecessors since 2002 and over the years has worked with English Heritage, Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums, Hadrian's Wall Trust , Northumberland National Park, Bede's World and the Darlington Railway Museum among others.

Roy Lawson

mobile: 07960 125218

e-mail: rlwsn@btinternet.com

blog: http://roy-at-work.blogspot.co.uk

Images from Discovery Visits

Both Chesters and Housesteads have Facebook pages - occasionally there are images of the Discovery Visits.
This one is of a Testudo at Housesteads and this one in from today's Voluntarii at Chesters 
Enjoy...

Comments from a Discovery Visit at Housesteads

I've delivered quite a few "Meet a Roman Soldier"  Discovery Visits at Housesteads this term.  This primary school from County Durham were so enthusiastic and the Teacher had such nice things to say, that I just had to share.

Thanks very much for the kind words.

Thank you so much for a lovely day at Housesteads. My class thoroughly enjoyed such an informative and exciting opportunity to learn how to be a Roman soldier. It was educational and fun and pitched at just the right level for an excitable group of 7-year olds. I don't think they even noticed that it was raining all day! Your knowledge and enthusiasm made Housesteads come alive for the children and I know that the parents who came with me were as impressed as I was at the high level of subject knowledge and the Latin drill commands too.

We all had a great day and I will certainly try to organise this again next year (hopefully in better weather!)

Recruitment and Reward - September 2013

 -a selection of short diversions for adults and families...

...that's how the blurb described the two days I was involved in!
Slightly different venues, Vallum Farm on the 14th September and Walby Farm Park on Saturday 21st September.  Both are part of the Hadrian's Wall World Heriatge Site, the entrance to Vallum Farm being at Milecastle 18 and Walby Farm is between Milecastle 62, found in excavations in 1999, and milecastle 63.  There's not much to see, but if you try hard you can make out the impression left by the Vallum.

A small select team from The Deja Crew, Shamus the Storyteller, Muriel the Herbalist and Victor the Veteran, where there...

Not quite out usual backdrop, this was indoors at Walby.

Shamus in his Den.

But Muriel made it seem like a home from home...

As you might suspect,
it was a little different at the Farm Park...

There were still plenty of voluntarii wanting to sign up for 25 years in the Auxilary!

and finally, if you fancy a giggle - where did Walby get this image from?  It's almost as old as me!!