Heritage Open Days

Gardens: To visit or not to visit?

Gary Webb — Wed, 15 May 2013 09:30:00 GMT

Are you a gardener, or a non-gardener? Would you take a trip specifically to visit a garden? Or are you someone who always prefers to take the shortest route? If you’re one of the latter, or maybe you haven't really thought about visiting gardens, then I’d ask for one minute of your time. Please read on… One damp morning in a south Warwickshire garden I found myself strolling along…

TripAdvisor: Rate or Slate?

Ruth Webb — Wed, 08 May 2013 08:40:00 GMT

TripAdvisor. Love it? Hate it? Read it? Rant about it? Whatever you may feel about it, TripAdvisor is an incredibly popular review website and we need to learn how to use it to our advantage! Working in a service industry, there are many people who really do not like or rate TripAdvisor. It is something we can’t control and a site that often attracts negative write ups (I wonder…

“Mustard Special” - 40 years of Colman’s Mustard Shop & Museum

Mag Tan — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 08:00:00 GMT

Mustard. Like Marmite and liquorice, you either love it or you don’t! Few condiments are so strongly linked to a single family name as Colman’s Mustard. Let’s take a look at Norwich’s famous condiment and long-time Heritage Open Days attraction. On 15th February 1973, England’s only mustard shop opened in Bridewell Alley to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the founding of J & J Colman. It was…

Costume, china and conservation – a few projects

Zoe Potter — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 08:00:00 GMT

A phrase we hear quite often during spring time here at Petworth House goes along these lines… ‘I bet it’s nice to be open again, you must be very quiet over the winter’. Hmm. Quieter in terms of visitors compared to the summer months, maybe.* But in terms of our work, definitely not – in the best possible sense of course. So while I’d hate to ruin your…

Miss Squire’s Summer Sundays

Dinah Starkey — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 07:59:00 GMT

Heritage Open Days were a revelation to us all at Sevington. Sevington Victorian School consists of a tiny schoolroom and schoolhouse and it’s the kind of place guide books describe as a hidden treasure, which means it's tucked away in the back of beyond, and nobody has ever heard of it. In those days there wasn’t so much as a signpost to tell you…

What lies beneath?

Cat Jarman — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 08:00:00 GMT

Have you ever wondered what lies beneath the places you live, work, or visit? Here is an introduction to how you can find out more about the history and archaeology of your local area. What we know about the history of a place comes from a wide range of sources. Before archaeologists let their spades touch the ground, they start by finding out what is known about an area already,…

2012 Digested

Katja Condy — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 16:05:00 GMT

Restoration revisited: Chedham’s Yard

Ruth Webb — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 11:00:00 GMT

Were you an avid viewer of the BBC Restoration series? Ever wondered how the winning projects progressed? I’m lucky enough to live in walking distance of the 2006 Restoration Village winner, Chedham’s Yard. What better time to visit than over Heritage Open Days! Chedham’s Yard has been a well-kept secret for many years, tucked away behind homes and leafy gardens. It is a blacksmith and wheelwright…

Poetry and place

Russell Thompson — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 08:00:00 GMT

My name is Russell Thompson, and I work for the literature development organisation Apples and Snakes. We handle poets for a living. It's a dirty job, but somebody has to do it. As a big fan of Heritage Open Days, I was delighted to hear about the idea to encourage Heritage Open Days venues to host open-mic events featuring all kinds of arts forms - poetry included. If the…

Registration 2013 is OPEN!

Sarah Holloway — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 11:12:00 GMT

Ready, steady…REGISTER!

Sarah Holloway — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 11:17:00 GMT

Despite the recent snow spells some brave daffodils are nodding merrily outside so it must be time to unlock the gates to the Organiser Area and declare registration for 2013 officially OPEN! And this year there’s more to discover behind those gates… So what’s new? Here in the Heritage Open Days office we’ve been beavering away on building a new database to power the registration system. This…

An Open Mic at my Open Day?

Annabelle Thorpe — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 14:00:00 GMT

Heritage Open Days brings people together to share the places that matter to them. Hosting an open mic event (open days - open mic, you get it!) is another way of encouraging individuals and groups to join together to cast a light on their hidden heritage - and their hidden talents. Fancy getting involved? Taking place on the Saturday of Heritage Open Days, 14th September 2013, your Open Mic event could give everyone – from…

Volunteering opportunities

Sarah Holloway — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 07:58:00 GMT

Wanted: new kids on the blog!

Sarah Holloway — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 07:57:00 GMT

A peek behind the scenes

Annabelle Thorpe — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 12:35:00 GMT

So it's the 5th of March and registration is...um, not open actually! We had hoped to open earlier this year, but we're currently in the throes (or rather the lovely Sarah is currently in the throes) of grappling with a new registration system and database. Like all great works of art it's taking a little time to perfect, but we're sure that when we do launch, the new system will…

Opening doors through volunteering: a graduate’s perspective

Maggie Tan — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 08:00:00 GMT

If you fall into the 16-24 age bracket, you may be looking for some relevant work experience while studying. Whether you do a museum studies course or want to go into event management, have you thought of getting involved with one of the thousands of organisations and places that take part in Heritage Open Days? I’ve just finished an internship with the Norwich Heritage, Economic and Regeneration Trust (Norwich HEART),…

I’m a celebrity… get me there!

Ruth Webb — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 08:00:00 GMT

We all enjoy a day out to our local heritage attractions… as do some of our celebrity favourites! Have you seen a famous face at your Heritage Open Days venue? A familiar face Last year, we had the great pleasure of welcoming back the lovely Dame Judi Dench to Charlecote Park. Judi used to live in the village and knows the park well. Her most recent visit to…

The King and I? History, science and the individual in the past

Cat Jarman — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 08:00:00 GMT

At a live press conference just over a week ago, the world was told that the remains excavated from a Leicester car park in 2012 were indeed those of the 15th century king Richard III. Scientific analysis, the archaeologists declared, had proven this “beyond reasonable doubt”. Royal DNA The battle-scarred skeleton could be matched through DNA analysis to living descendants of Cecily Neville, Richard’s mother. This…

From fantasy to real: touring Tolkien’s Birmingham

Ben Goodwin — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 08:00:00 GMT

Unless you’ve spent the last few years living in a Smial, you will have noted that the works of J. R. R. Tolkien have been more apparent than ever thanks to Peter Jackson’s recent big screen adaptation of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. In the last few months, the release of the first part of The Hobbit trilogy saw Jackson return to Middle Earth, once again encouraging people…

In the pink or why 2013 holds rosy prospects for Heritage Open Days

Katja Condy — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 10:34:00 GMT

You stayed in the UK last year but are now determined to enjoy some sun this summer? Count yourself among the 42% who will spend less on their holidays this year? I don’t know about you but I may well be bang on trend. I’m going through the notes I jotted down at a recent conference. Bernard Donoghue of the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA) was…