I have thoroughly enjoyed this week – two Takeover Day sessions, a training day on Medieval and Post-Medieval Ceramics and I got to make miniature laurel wreath headdresses for teddy bears!! I love my job!!
The first Takeover Day session was at Oasis Academy Brightstowe and our Roman Merchandising Project. Yes I had to be at the school for 8:30am - but so did everyone else. The students really engaged with the idea of the project and enjoyed creating their designs for a range of different products. I liked chatting to the students and asking them about the parts of Kings Weston Roman Villa which had inspired them.
© Bristol Museums, Galleries & Archives
The second Takeover Day session of the week was part of our second project for Kids In Museums with the very enthusiastic Duke of Edinburgh Group from Henbury School who became Curators and Conservators of Kings Weston Roman Villa. Kate and I started the session by introducing ourselves and the history of the Villa. Kate then took them on a tour and I told them about Roman food as well as answering some curious questions about the villa...
© www.bbc.co.uk Q: “Did they have gladiator fights and bear baiting over there?”
Points to dining room
A: “The Romans did have entertainment during dinner but I don’t think they had gladiator fights or bear baiting."
Points to dining room
A: “The Romans did have entertainment during dinner but I don’t think they had gladiator fights or bear baiting."
© Bristol Museums, Galleries & Archives Q: “Is it a swimming pool?”
Points to hypocaust (heating) system
A: “Not really.”
© Bristol Museums, Galleries & Archives Q: “Are people buried under here?”
Points to dining room floor
A: “They didn't find anyone when the Villa was excavated.”
I had a lot of fun working with the Duke of Edinburgh Group because their enthusiasm for the history of the Villa and for the tasks knew no bounds!! I am sooo looking forward to the next session with them!!
© Bristol Museums, Galleries & Archives The training day on Medieval and Post-Medieval Ceramics was very handily based at Bristol Museum & Art Gallery and was run by Mike Ponsford and Kate Iles. Mike is the leading expert on the Medieval and Post-Medieval ceramics held by the museum. He was the Museum’s Curator of Field Archaeology before retiring and is now back working with the museum as a Monument Fellow. Mike is, simply put, an absolute fount of information about Medieval and Post-Medieval ceramics and was more than happy to answer any and all questions asked – which I did. A lot.
Now to explain how I got to make miniature laurel wreath headdresses for teddy bears…
… Over Christmas and New Year the museum is offering half-price family tickets for Roman Empire: Power & People if you bring along your teddy dressed up in a toga. Of course this is not an easy thing to do so Gail decided to make a ‘How to…’ video. So I got to make laurel wreath headdresses for teddy bears for the ‘How to…’ video and photographs to promote the offer.
© Bristol Museums, Galleries & Archives
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