Posts by date: May 2014

Guest post by Ben Jones: The Spence Watson Archive Project

I started meeting with people from Bensham Grove Community Centre in Gateshead whilst undergoing research for my PhD. Through conversations with Shirley Brown, Chair of Bensham Grove and local historian I became fascinated by the history of the building in… Read more

The Training Ship “Wellesley” at North Shields 1868-1914

Recently I curated an exhibition about the Training Ship Wellesley for Segedunum Roman Fort and Museum, School Ship on the Tyne – The Training Ship Wellesley at North Shields 1868 – 1914. The exhibition was timed to mark the centenary… Read more

JMW Turner : The Thames Near Walton Bridges, 1805

Fresh, vivid, spontaneous – this is one of Turner’s most attractive oil sketches, I think. He’s responding to the visual sensations of this spot on the River Thames – the colours and shapes of the landscape, and the light flooding… Read more

Bazaar or just bizarre?

Bazaars have long been used by organisations as a way of raising money for good causes. The main event would usually consist of a variety of stalls selling donated items. Bazaars could be meticulously organised affairs and detailed programmes were… Read more

Fabulous Fans – Part One

For the past five months I have been exploring, documenting and re-packing the fan collection at Discovery Museum, and as part of the project I was asked to produce a ‘top ten’ list. Unwrapping each of the 157 fans was… Read more