MEETING NOTESNORTH WEST MEMBERS

IWM NORTH 20 JANUARY 2014

1. Introduction Charlotte Smith, Head of Learning, IWM North

2. PRESENTATIONS

There were a series of short presentations updating on national, regional and local projects. See PDF copies of presentations. http://ftp.iwm.org.uk Login: centenary Password: TQfz1L0j 

a. Update on Operation War Diary & Lives of the First World WarMelanie Donnelly, Project Manager, Lives, IWM

b. Update from The Arts and Humanities Research Council Gary Grubb, Associate Director of Programmes, AHRC

c. Update on First World War Centenary Programme and PartnershipJosie Gale, Centenary Programme Museum Liaison Officer for English Regions, IWM

d. Update from IWM North Catherine Mailhac, Learning & Events Manager (First World War Centenary) Rowena Hamilton, Exhibitions Manager, IWM North

e. Update on the Civic Arts Centre project RecruitmentGayle Knight, Creative Director, Civic Arts Centre

3. ROUND TABLE DISCUSSIONS

This was a chance for everyone to update and talk to others working on similar areas. Conversations on the tables varied depending on numbers and what they groups wanted to talk about. Some people were keen to update people on their projects, others wanted to discuss particular issues.

a. PARTNERSHIP WORKING

DiscussionWe discussed a bit about what our organisations are planning for the centenary and then discussed some of the benefits and negatives of partnership working.

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Benefits: In Cumbria, it will mean that there is less competition. Larger organisations can help smaller organisations. In terms of the Centenary Partnership, it provides useful resources. The Centenary Partnership is “like a golden ticket into a whole world of information.” Partnership working means you share your audiences. It was felt that in terms of sharing project information, the meetings at IWM North

have been useful. Being honest and open is more beneficial!

Negatives: In Cumbria, the organisations don’t have capacity to project manage a partnership

so the coordinator (Jules) has been externally funded. Communications take a lot of time. In Cumbria, some organisations have been wary of the partnership and agreeing to

things which more traditionalist Trustees might not approve of. One of the group is trying to work with primary schools but they are concerned

about how long they can sustain a FWW focus.

Would like: More networking opportunities. Collaborative marketing (drawing programmes together). List of attendees to these meetings with e-mails!

Project updates Cumbria:- Producing an overview exhibition which will tour and each venue can add whatever

their speciality is. There won’t be any objects as part of the exhibition but there will be cases for each venue if they want to add their own objects or borrowed objects.

- They are not planning to work together on another touring exhibition during the centenary.

- This is the first time the group has worked together in this way – if it works well, it could be a template for the future.

Salford:- Local primary schools will be adopting a war memorial.- Salford Council’s role is to support other organisations.- They are using social media to pull resources.

Llangollen Railway:- Target audience for their projects are ex-railway staff.- They will be contacting the Benevolent Fund about their projects. They might talk

with other museums about them providing an exhibition for the site.

b. RESEARCHING CONTENT

Discussion Where to find material relating to ethnic minorities in FWW – the event on 1

February linked to Whose Remembrance? was highlighted.

Where to find material linked to changing local landscapes e.g. Heaton Park – suggestions included photos from the period, maps and plans, and possible records at Archives +

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Where to find material linked to Conscientious Objectors -Cyril Pearce has created a database of registered COs. Archives + contains some CO Tribunal records from Cheshire.

Asking for volunteers to help with research. Possible incentives include home working or being flexible as to which days they volunteer and emphasising the importance of researching archive material to make it appealing.

Some members of the public cannot or do not wish to use online sources. Discussion about publishing some elements of research as a book.

Project updates Charlotte (facilitator) – Researcher for the FWW Special Exhibition at IWM North,

which opens on 5 April 2014.

Nicky – Archives +. - Preparing to open the new facilities at Manchester Central Library. Online

development of a Manchester Archives Flickr stream and blog called GM1914, which features contributions from archives across Greater Manchester.

Amanda – Garston Historical Society (South Liverpool)- Researching the names on the local war memorial. Investigating the history of a

ship linked to the area during the FWW.

Janey – Researcher for the Red Rose Forest. - Project at Heaton Park to look at changes in the landscape during the FWW e.g.

digging practice trenches, building accommodation, etc.

Cath – Co-ordinating FWWC activities in Oldham. - Keen to include stories linked to Indian communities in the area, as well as draw out

local stories from SWW veterans

Stephen – Museum of Lancashire.- Developing two displays – one linked to the National Army Museum which focuses

on the outbreak of the war and the role of the 20th Hussars. The other exhibition will look at the role of the postal service in the FWW and how lines of communication were kept open between the home front and the front lines.

Fiona – Manchester Metropolitan University. - Preparing a HLF bid to develop a project with local schools on the theme of

Conscientious Objectors in Manchester. This could include tours, film, blogs, performance and public events as well as building on and contributing to academic research.

John – Manchester and Lancashire Family History Society. - Developing a website listing names featured on war memorials in Greater

Manchester. Research into the list of absent voters in Salford in 1919. Research on the Manchester Pals, which could feed into Lives of the First World War. The Society also plans to run courses to help members of the public to trace their family history.

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c. EXHIBITIONSDiscussions How could smaller orgs like libraries and local history groups find out which other

comparable organisations have artefacts that might relate to their projects? Using the members only news pages of 1914.org would be a good way to make requests.

Some smaller venues expressed concern about security issues.

Enthusiasm for exploring IWM’s resources both on 1914.org and the film and sound archives for legitimate, authoritative ways to diversify content.

How to bring all the myriad FWW documents to life given the relative scarcity of 3d objects (an issue we all shared!) – Discussions about narration, animation, graphics etc.

d. COMMUNICATIONSDiscussions There was discussion around how to package up NW specific communication and

promotion eg. NW e-news, and boiler plates for press releases etc. In discussion is a separate meeting to be held at IWM North to focus on brand, cross promotion and internal info sharing.

Requests for contacting IWM London press team to make connections with specific exhibitions - actioned. New items fed into the Centenary partnership via 1914.org will be set up by IWM Centenary team.

Capacity issues for some Press Officers to engage with Centenary meetings and content.

Enthusiasm for digital learning journey / log book idea being developed Greater Manchester FWWC Programmes network .Other areas looking to explore similar ideas.

e. DigitalDiscussions

LOTFWW Community pages - how to use them to support local projects, local museums etc

Community road shows – to make sure that meta data gathered is useable, consistent, accurate etc

Exhibitions  - how we might be able to develop a LOTFWW showcase that other organisations could display/link to their own exhibitions

f. FAMILIESDiscussions How do we introduce children to a topic which is potentially upsetting and how to

find a way into the subject that suits your venue and audience. Suggestions were:

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- It may be beneficial to consider suitable real personal stories (perhaps a range showing different perspectives) which can be connected to important themes or events, rather than dealing with figures such as how many people died in certain battle.

- Consider the role of animals, or what life was like on the homefront or how people stayed in touch during a time of war.

- Consider working with themes which have broader relevance (and appeal) such as food, music, communication, team work.

If your core audience is young people visiting without their parents (11-18yrs), how can we attract multigenerational groups to events/projects/activities?

- Think about what unites families. If your remit is concerned with serving those living in a specific location t may be something that is relevant to local history.

- You could consider offering the younger members of family groups the chance to share what they learn with older family members (invert the typical roles of younger family member learning from adults).

How can we create informal learning opportunities for families who have a focus on supporting their children’s formal learning?

- Find out what elements of the First World War are covered on the national curriculum and schools in your area. Use real artefacts or replica objects where possible; something that is an enhancement to what they are likely to cover at school.

The FWWC Partnership offers some digital resources (and even a downloadable exhibition) which may help add historical context to some of your activities.

If you have a local regimental museum or other relevant group you may consider working with them.

g. YOUNG PEOPLEDiscussions

Potential to pool resources – costumes, props across different projects Engaging young people in other activities across the partnership, e.g.

performances, shows

Project Updates:

Ian Mcguiness, East Lancashire Concert Band - The group have £6k from Arts Council England to commission a new piece of music commemorating the Acrington Pals. There will be an event, involving young people. The aim is to present an entertainment which might have taken place in 1914, with an upbeat, lighthearted approach. Thinking about the way the ordinary people of Ackrington on the threshold of doing extraordinary things. .

Alice Rowbottom, Rowbot Street- Delivery of Pal focussed drama and film project with young people in

Nelson, Salford and Preston, including creation of the film resource for schools.

h. SCHOOLSDiscussions

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It was asked if there could there be a webpage dedicated to events taking place in the North West where members of the partnership could post details of what they are doing and upcoming events? Whilst there is no capacity at IWM to provide this, this need can be met by 1914.org which is searchable by region, so organisations are encouraged to post their events and news here and to use this to search the North West.

Project Updates Victoria Howarth from IWM North. FOFWW project and its strands

Sarah Vasey, Culture Liverpool- ‘Giants’ performance returning in July (week after schools finish) on the theme of

‘Recruitment’- The Museum of Liverpool will have an exhibition on the role of black soldiers in the

First World War.- The Schools Service, and Libraries Service in partnership with John Moores

University are planning and will deliver training for teachers on how to use the website being launched this month and how to upload their own materials. A resource pack is being developed of background information.

- ‘War in Merseyside’ – looking at local memorials and the names on them. Carrying out research to find out why people signed up for the war. Engaging communities and encouraging them to adopt a memorial and maintain it. Trying to build a sense of community.

Claire Morris, Redrose Forest- In the early stages of looking for heritage projects linked to the natural environment

in this area. Working with Manchester City Council and in early discussions about an environment project at Heaton Park which was a Command Depot with training trenches in the First World War. One suggestion they are looking at is to plant trees in a trench layout to give people the sense of being enclosed as they walk through the system and to develop a trail through the tree ‘trenches’.

Ian Smith, the House of Images- Have set up a website for schools to display their school magazines (1910-1920).

Focus on girls schools 1910-1920. www.worldwar1schoolarchives.org. This is available to schools nationwide. There is a cost implication which means that many of the schools currently on the site are independent of private schools like Stoneyhurst College, and Bury Grammar School. The aim is to encourage schools to seek funding to allow them to post their magazines on this website.

Sonja Bernhard, the University of Manchester- Will again be running a series of 11 lectures for 6th Form students involving a

number of different subjects including, but not exclusively, history. Attendance in the past has been mixed partly because students have been able to attend the lectures unaccompanied by teaching staff from their schools. This may change this year and students may need to be accompanied by a teacher to improve attendance rates. Plans are for the ‘star’ lecture to be filmed and then be available on the University’s website. It may be that the lecture series is available as an audio lecture on the website – matters surrounding copyright issues will need to be addressed if this is to take place.

- Also planning a Year 9 event in March – something on war memorials.

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Louise Sutherland, the People’s History Museum- New exhibition opening May 2014 – ‘Land Fit For Heroes’ – on working class

patriotism, women in the war and the role of the unions.- Already offer Living History – Conscientious Objectors. Want to work with other

groups to develop new content for Living History sessions.

Lois Gyves, English Heritage- Working with teachers on how to use local heritage. The starting point is the built

heritage and this will lead into looking at people and the impact of the war. The project is based in 8 regions nationally and 12 schools in each region are recruited in the first year with 6 schools recruited per year in following years. Manchester needs to recruit 6 more schools. Each school needs to identify a lead teacher who will work with the Local Heritage Education Manager they are assigned. The role of the Local Heritage Education Manager is to help schools research local examples of heritage and take advantage of local opportunities. The aim is for the learning to be embedded in the curriculum rather than for this to be a one-off event. The Department of Education is providing funding for English Heritage to be able to pay teaching staff cover so that the schools can send teachers to the training events – seen as an important factor in the success of the project. Schools are being encouraged to produce short films to capture the learning process as the schools carry out their own research projects and the learning evidenced in the curriculum. The plan is for these films to be available for general distribution through an English heritage Youtube area.

Alice Rowbottom, Rowbot Street- Working with Nelson, Preston and Salford.- Holding a film screening at IWM North.- Holding free workshops for schools (5 to 10 per area) aimed at early secondary and

producing scaled down FWW costumes to fit early secondary pupils. Willing for these to be available to any interested party particularly after January 2015 when the project concludes.

i. Events Discussions

Several groups are exploring ideas for projection on buildings. There were some thoughts that there might be funding for this through certain councils. Quays Culture is considering buying their own high quality outdoor projector as are likely to be reusing it in the future, another organisation had experience of using a standard projector through an open window on to a building for a one off event.

Many people talked about the high level of interest building up about events which was positive on one side, but was also described as a ‘worrying amount of momentum’ in terms of capacity to deliver events, manage expectaions and juggle the different groups wanting to be involved.

Some discussion around FWWC fatigue, and the difficulties of predicting how the public will engage with the Centenary until 2018.

It was felt that some organisations were just becoming aware of the Centenary and were putting pressure on others to deliver more activity than there was capacity to deliver. There were also some issues of trying to hone down activities to give continuity and not spread delivery too thinly.

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Brief discussion around the health and safety issues presented by organising large scale events, particularly for organisations with little experience of this.

In terms of dates – for some there were issues when hoping to work with schools as some key anniversaries were in August/ early September. We discussed the technical issues around sharing dates – some areas are using Google Calendar, Greater Manchester have a spreadsheet on the shared project management Basecamp. The events calendar/news forum on 1914.org could be a way of checking classes

We touched on ways in which events, project and exhibition content can link through to the Lives of the First World War www.livesofthefirstworldwar.org using a Community Page to link individuals together.

Project Updates Sarah Curran, Sale Waterside / Trafford Council. - Developing projects around Blue Plaques and Victoria Cross recipients. Also

working on international connections, developing events with France. 

Steve Williams, Chorley Pals Memorial & Chorley Remembers. - There will be an exhibition. On the 6 Aug there will be a walk from the Drill Hall to

the boundary with Preston including serving soldiers and reenactors in period uniform, this will include the dedication of a new memorial. They will continue activity after 2014, including marking the key anniversary of Somme on 1 July 2016.

Peter Donnelly, Kings Own Royal Regiment Museum, Lancaster. - There will be an exhibition, talks at the museum and events across the district. They

will explore the story of the Lancaster Pals. There will be a service to commemorate the service held in 1914 for the new recruits to the Pals. They are working with cadets, the Civic Society, military heritage organisations, schools.

Kerry Fletcher, Middlewich Town Council. - They started work in October – so far they have 41 schools, clubs and organisations

taking part. Key event dates in 2014 include 14-15 June, 20-21 September. On the 27 September there will be a Music Hall event to be followed a week later by a Community Weekend on 4-5 October. This will happen over 2 days in 7 locations and include reenactors, music hall, Churches Together and clubs. Successful strands of activity will be developed and integrated in to Centenary activity over the next 4 years. Activities include developing web pages, creating a permanent archive, digitisation, changes to the memorial and fundraising. There will be links with Cheshire East Council who are co-ordinating timelines across the region. They are connecting to other organisations eg venues for exhibitions and family research support from societies. There is a modern day memorial being designed by high school pupils. Churches are joining together for a peace event in 2018.

Helen Osbourne, Halton Borough Council Library Service. - Links to Cheshire Great War Stories project, hosting a travelling kiosk looking at

individual war heroes – including 2 Victoria Cross recipients in Halton. There will be Community Roadshows, work with volunteers, and activities in connection to their own artefacts and memorabilia. They will be launching with a tea dance in the summer to raise the profile of the project.

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Lynda Jackson, Museum of Wigan Life. - They are linking to libraries etc through the Council. Their exhibition focuses on

what Wigan was like 1914. Other work includes Archiving, digitisation, digital projections and tweeting FWW diaries. The local art group is working on a FWW exhibition.

Laura, Quays Culture.- They are planning a large scale outdoor event on the evening of Saturday 2 August.

Bringing together theatre, music, dance and film. A new score is being written which will be performed by the 'Only Boys Allowed' choir, alongside a choir of 500 people brought from choirs across Greater Manchester. There will be large projections around the area. Discussions with IWM North and The Lowry re activities happening on Quays during the daytime.

Peter Eyre, Cumbria Archives and Local Studies Service. - They are leading a county wide project which brings together a wide range of

activities. There is a network of approx. 50 people involved. Topics include the Home Front and the role of women. There will be touring and online exhibitions, an exhibition in the Town Hall, a workshop for schools, a volunteer project and oral histories. There will be a performance in Kendal Parish Church. There are some issues linked to the boundary changes of 1973.

Matt Baker, Theatre in the Quarter. - They have Arts Council England funding to engage communities in unusual spaces.

They work with Cheshire East, West and Chester. They have 2 projects – ‘Over by Christmas’ is a choral project with 20minute performances at railways stations in Cheshire, capturing the early optimism of 1914. Connections with Arriva Trains, Manchester Victoria etc. There will be something specific for each station. Lots of community involvement. ‘Silent Night’ is a professional performance exploring truce and lives on the home front. It originally toured in 2008, and a new tour is being scheduled for 2014 taking in community centres and other venues.

Amanda Taylor, St James War Memorial Project, Liverpool.- For the last 5 years, Amanda has been researching the names of about 50 men on

the stolen memorial from the church. They are making use of the DIY exhibition on 1914.org. There will be a FWW Family History Day in July linking: local history groups doing specific activity around Toxteth; local charities e.g. Liverpool Pals Memorial Fund; Museum of Liverpool; Liverpool John Moores digital archives. There will be costumes and an enlistment booth. They are developing more schools programmes in the next year. In discussion with Heritage Lottery Fund. W

- Working closely with Karen O’Rourke at Liverpool Museums to lead the Liverpool FWW Researchers Committee – using a website/ facebook and twitter to help coordinate/communicate activity happening across Liverpool . Also coffee mornings, an 0845 phone number, and opportunity to chat with library staff.

Catherine Mailhac, IWM North- Reactions14 season of creative interventions and events, and a series of weekend

talks. See PDF of presentation for more information.

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