...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...

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

Discovery Visits 2013

The Discovery Visits at Housesteads are beginning after Easter this year.

MEET A ROMAN SOLDIER

Explore Roman military life and discover how the building of Hadrian's Wall affected the local population in remarkably different ways. Meet Roman Officer Centurion Rufus Aelius Victor and discover what life was like on the frontier. Take on the role of a recruit and be taken through duties using drama and role play. Recruits will tour both inside the fort and the remains of the settlement beyond, using replica and real artefacts found near Hadrian’s Wall to find out about the lives of the soldiers and civilians who lived at Housesteads

When: By arrangement Tue & Wed Term-time April - September

Length: 1.5 hours

for more info and How to book
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/education/discovery-visits/housesteads-roman-fort/

Discovery Visits 2012

The Discovery Visit season for English Heritage is off to a fine start.  Despite the Winter closures we've had half a dozen groups already.  There have been a couple of changes, there's only myself delivering the workshop now and the 'Discovery Visit' is only available at Housesteads, there are now different arrangements for Chesters.  However your school can still book for

Meet a Roman Soldier - Housesteads

Explore Roman military life and discover how the building of Hadrian's Wall affected the local population in remarkably different ways. Meet Roman Officer Centurion Maximus and discover what life was like on the frontier. Take on the role of a recruit and be taken through duties using drama and role play. Recruits will tour both inside the fort and the remains of the settlement beyond, using replica and real artefacts found near Hadrian’s Wall to find out about the lives of the soldiers and civilians who lived at Housesteads

   http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/education/discovery-visits/housesteads-roman-fort/    

for details and how to book

For educational visits to Chesters Roman Fort, there is the option of working with me as an 'Approved Educational Provider'.  Contact English Heritage directly on the new Bookings Number 0870 333 0606
they will pass on my contact details and we can arrange your sessions
(please note: the prices quoted on the EH website do not apply to workshops arranged this way)

Rufus Aelius Victor, Evocatus

I'm getting more inquiries from schools looking for a 'Roman Army' session so here is a quick session plan for what I could do for your school.

 

I introduce myself as Rufus Aelius Victor, 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 either foam 'spears' or wooden swords to use when drilling the group.

A typical session could 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 Auxillary soldier.
• Dress the group in tunics, issue them with shields and weapons and drill them as recruit using Latin commands.

This session could be run either indoors (for example, in the school hall) or outdoors.  I know almost all of the Roman Sites in the North east and across Hadrian's Wall, so I could run this session as part of your visit.

If this brief description has stimulated your interest, why not drop me a line, either to  rlwsn@btinternet.com  or on 07960 125218.

Thanks,

Roy

New resource for Campaign! Make an Impact

 www.bl.uk/campaign

Earlier in the year I worked with schools in Cumbria on Campaign! Make an Impact.  As the project was funded by Hadrian's Wall Heritage, one of the tasks was create a resource to help Teachers' run their own project using the Frontiers of the Roman Empire as an inspiration.
I've just discovered that the resource is now available as downloadable pdf's on the web - see the Hadrian's Wall Country website (http://www.hadrians-wall.org/) click on the links below. 

It's really a toolkit to help you run your own project and details the two approaches I've used with schools over the last year or so.  It's broken down into 17 pieces to help with the downloading (listed below).  The section tell you all about what Campaign! is and how to do it, signposting you to resources on the British Library website.  This is followed by the all important Links to the Curriculum section.  Then we demonstrate how the British Library's model can be applied to a historical campaign, using resources for the 1870's Campaign to excavate Arbeia Roman Fort before houses were built on the site.  In Cumbria we used the Roman Archaeology to give us evidence of what life was like and flag the 'Citizenship Issues' that would affect people at the time.  This gave the students the bridge to learn about Campaigning and how things can be changed today.  The links are below, any thoughts or comments welcome and if you do use it with your students, please let me know,
thanks,
Roy

SECTION                                                                        FILE SIZE
Campaign - What and Why .pdf.........................................241kb
Campaign - How to do it.pdf..............................................328kb
1 CMAI - a short guide for schools.pdf...............................375kb
2 CMAI - teachers handbook.pdf.......................................580kb
3 CMAI - student handbook.pdf.......................................4.5Mb
4 KS2 Curriculum Links.pdf................................................33kb
4a KS3 Curriculum Links.pdf..............................................40kb
5 Looking at Historical campaigns grid.doc...........................17kb
5a linking old and new campaigns.doc..................................17kb
6 Arbeia - Historical Campaign Resource.pdf....................8.5Mb
6a Arbeia - Project Plan.doc................................................32kb
6b Arbiea - case study Home Educated children.doc.............50kb
7 Roman Archaeology - Project Plan.doc.............................26kb
7a Roman Archaeology - Tullie House visit booklet.doc........23kb
7b Roman Archaeoogy - case study - Ivegill.doc..............8.94Mb
8 Finding more information.doc............................................22kb

8a Who to contact for more information.doc.........................15kb

25th July - Yak Yak on the Wall

Towards the end of July the YakYak group from Tullie House walked the Hadrian's Wall Trail.  Yak Yak is Tullie's group for 14 to 19 year olds (see http://www.tulliehouse.co.uk/yak-yak ).   They began at Bowness-on-Solway and by the time they reached Once Brewed they had been joined by  BMuse, a similar group from the British Museum.  Here they had a day free from walking to visit Vindolanda and then to join me and Gaius the Potter (Graham Taylor from Potted History) for a  afternoon of Roman Army Activities.

The courtyard outside the Youth Hostel rang to shouts of "Poro!" and "sin-dex-sin-dex" as they drilled, they tried the armour and weapons and discovered a little about the soldiers that garrisoned the places they explored on their trek.  Graham Taylor from Potted History ran a pottery workshop where they group made mini altars to be fired and delivered later.  

A few days later the group successfully completed the journey to Segedunum, you can read all about it on their Blog   (visit http://www.yakyakonthewall.wordpress.com/ )

Cockfield Primary School - 1 July 2011

The end of Summer Term provided an opportunity to work with one of the schools that had visited Whitley Castle as part of the Epic Epiacum event last year.  The current Year 3/4 class had just finished the Romans as a topic and wanted a workshop to reinforce their learning.  We made giant timelines, handled real and replica artifacts, imagined what life was like for the local tribespeople, the Brigantes, before the Romans came, we looked at how life would change and finally dressed up as Roman Soldiers discovered what it was like to drilled as new recruits.
It's good to begin to develop relationships with schools in this way and I'm intending to develop more workshops for schools, so watch this space...

Change of Name

The Tyne Team is no more....
...long live The Deja Crew!!!
Due to a number of issues, similarity to a TV Archaeology programme and a group of management consultants in Allendale we have decided to change our name to The Deja Crew.  We are doing the same things - Living History and costumed interpretation. 
Check us out at www.thedejacrew.com 

Rounding up 2010 - The Eagles Have Landed

Hello,

A New Year and time to tidy up last year and begin anew.

September and October saw the TYNE TEAM working on 'The Eagles Have Landed' a schools and community event programme to complement the touring exhibition of the same name. http://www.culture24.org.uk/history+%26+heritage/time/roman/ART308897897 for more info and where the exhibition is now.

We ran a 2 day public event at Segedunum (4/5th September), and a more in depth schools project involving Burnside Business and Enterprise College in Wallsend, then we followed the exhibition over to the other side of the Hadrian's Wall World Heritage Site at Maryport. We ran another 2 day public event at Senhouse Roman Museum and on the . We wanted to highlight the impact of the sudden appearance of the sophisticated and intimidating Roman Legions would have had on the locals.

Talk about Culture Shock!

Each of our characters took a view on this, from the soldiers extolling the virtues of the Army and recruiting with the promise of an easy life and wages, to the local craftspeople who may have seen new business opportunities and those who would have viewed all this with suspicion and fear. After all what did the Romans ever do for us?

The schools project involved working closely with all of Year 7 from Burnside College, we ran drama and storytelling workshops, explored the identity of those who may have lived near Segedunum and created a ceramic 'sculpture' which will follow the exhibition to Tullie House in the Spring. Watch out for the 'Teacher's Pack' based on our work.

Advanced Learning Centre - History. June/July 2010 at Segedunum

Based at Segedunum Roman Fort in Wallsend the Advanced Learning Centre is now in it's fourth year. For six weeks in June and July around 25 children each week ,gave up 6 of their Saturday mornings to find out more about History and Archaeology. We studied maps, aerial photographs, took part in a simulated 'dig', recorded finds and explored the ancient techniques of dying and weaving under the expert hands of 'Textiles through Time' - Ruth Hicken.
By using archaeology we developed new skills and hopefully inspired curiosity in the children, most of whom will start secondary school in September.
"Thanks very much - that was so much fun"

The Advanced Learning Centre is part of the North Tyneside Councils, Gifted and Talented provision.

Epic Epiacum

May saw a new venture to a new fort - Epiacum. Known locally as Whitley Castle, the fort lies on a hillside a few miles north of Alston, Cumbria and the site could well be described as the North of England's best-kept Roman secret. There have been just two recorded excavations, about 1810 a part of the bath house was exposed and in 1957/8 a trench was dug across the northern ramparts.

From the 18th to the 21st May 2010 over 200 primary school children visited the site. The living history event was organised by the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in partnership with Elaine and John Edgar, the owners of Castle Nook Farm and the land where Epiacum sits.

Firstly the children 'travelled back in time' using a train from the South Tynedale Railway. After a sort walk from the halt at Kirkhaugh up to the fort the children took part in a series of activities investigating the people who have been involved in landscape around Epiacum through the years. They discovered what life was like for the Roman soldiers stationed in the fort. Paul Mercer from the North Pennines Heritage Trust explained the lifestyle of the Miner/Farmer from the 18th Century. Archaeologist, Paul Frodsham and Naturalist, Heather McCarty brought the landscape up to date.

For Elaine Edgar of Castle Nook Farm, the event was the realisation of her dream of turning her farmland steeped in history into an education and visitor centre. She said: “This will be the first time we’ve had school groups visiting the Roman fort and bastle house. We’ve still got a long way to go, but the AONB Partnership events have got everything off to a terrific start.”

"Days like these stay with children forever and can inspire a lifelong interest.” Fiona Knox, Education Officer with the North Pennines AONB Partnership

It's a New Year

Hello,
it's a New Year so a new skill - blogging. The aim of this blog is to let people know what I do for a living.
I'm a Freelance Heritage Educator, at least that's what I tell the Taxman, but it's quite difficult to describe what I do. Basically I try to link Museum and Archaeological sites and collections to adults and children. I do costumed interpretation. I devise and deliver workshops and series of workshops, aiming to

• explore the past
• discover what the significance is
• and learn how this is important today

I've worked with English Heritage, Tyne and Wear Museums, North Tyneside's Gifted and Talented Summer Schools, Find Yout Talent, Northumberland National Park and the Head of Steam (Darlington Railway Museum) among others. Over the couse of last year I've

• dressed as a Roman Soldier to lead Discovery Visits at Housesteads, Chesters and Corbridge
• been involved in Burnside College's Wall to Wall project, investigating identity and heritage [ www.wall-to-wall.org ]
• ran a Summer School where primary age children made film - Segedunum, it's the Fort that Counts - and found out about life in Roman times
• was Victor the Beneficarius in Touching the Wall - a living history event run by the Tyne Team [ www.tyneteam.co.uk ]
• ran an Advanced Learning Centre for North Tyneside's Gifted and Talented programme. Over 6 weeks Year 6 children discovered Archaeology and experimented with textiles and made their own pottery.
• turned Medieval for a day, interpreting Harbottle Castle in Northumberland.

I hope this has given you a feel for the things I do, if you want to know more or have a project I could help with, drop me a line at rlwsn@btinternet.com

Over the coming weeks I'll add the things I'm involved with at the moment.

Thanks,

Roy