Skills for the Future update

For this blog update I've recruited two of our Skills for the Future trainees to give you their opinion on the heritage skills course. It'll give you a great idea of what's happening here at the Museum, and what we're offering in terms of courses. For more information on Skills for the Future check out Skills for the Future PDF and Upcoming Posts.

Hannah and Becky hard at work!

'We are Becky and Hannah, two students on a three month heritage skills taster course here at MEAL. The course is funded through the HLF and started in July and there are 6 of us on the course in total. We thought we’d give a quick update on the first two months of our course and show you some of the photos of the activities we have been involved with.

Becky getting a helping hand from the basketry trainer

We have been able to sample a large variety of traditional skills such as Blacksmithing, Bodging (carving traditional wooden tools and implements), working with willow/basketry, traditional printing and working with heavy horses including the wonderful Suffolk Punches. As well as learning the basics of these skills we have been able to demonstrate some of them to the public visiting the museum.

Two of the gorgeous horses Hannah and Becky were lucky enough to work with 

We have also been involved with estate work including livestock management, nature conservation and clearance,  building an eco-friendly children’s play area and making scarecrows.

Fellow trainee Luke helping to put up the Scarecrows

We also learnt how to organise a museum event - the Steam and Crafts weekend, which went really well............and we are fortunate enough to have been taught to drive a Steam engine!

Fantastic Steam engine! Riding one of these is a rare opportunity

In the next couple of weeks we are going to Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse in Norfolk (who are also running the training programme) to learn more about ploughing with Suffolk punches and other interesting things.

We are really enjoying learning the different traditional skills that have shaped the culture of our country and keeping them alive for future generations. Over the next few weeks we will be thinking about how we will take this forward as part of our future careers. We’d certainly encourage other people to get involved with the Skills for the Future programme at MEAL or Gressenhall – there will be another 3 Month taster course at MEAL starting next summer and there are a number of internships available at both museums.'

Working outdoors, learning traditional skills

Hannah all geared up for Blacksmithing

The Clay oven the trainees made, produced some tasty jacket potatoes!

Steam team harvest 2011

With all that's been happening here recently, we almost didn't get the chance to show you how our Steam Team harvest went! The weather halted original plans to harvest at the end of July and almost scuppered the new date which was set for the 7th August.

Smiling in the sunshine

Luckily for the Steam team their journey from 'seed to slice' could still be realised after some sunshine in their favour, and they were able to successfully harvest a 'fine, even wheat crop.' A hard grained bread wheat was chosen to produce a good grain yield and useful straw of normal length, which was harvested using a reaper-binder from the 1930's pulled by a David Brown tractor from 1953.

The crop

David Brown tractor with reaper binder

The journey doesn't stop here though, and we will keep you informed on plans to thresh the crop using a Ransomes threshing drum which will be powered by out 'Empress of Britain' Burrell steam traction engine. The final stage will be milling the wheat grain using Alton Watermill, a quern (a hand turned millstone), or a small portable mill. 

And of course this effort will have its rewards with the result being wholemeal flour to bake that perfect loaf of bread!

Thanks to Roger Barnes for providing additional information on the entire process.

Steam and Crafts Weekend 2011

We had such an exciting weekend that it's taken us this long to recover and sit down long enough to write about how much fun we had! Our Steam and Crafts never fails to interest our visitors and we see people coming back year after year to watch craft demonstrations and view a selection of commercial vehicles and vintage tractors in steam on our site.

One of our fantastic engines

This year saw a record number of craftspeople demonstrating and selling at the weekend with over 20 stalls set our offering a range of crafts with jewellery, lace-making, rag-rug making, spinning, weaving and natural dyeing just a few examples of what was on offer.

Some interesting baskets

We also ran our Steam driver training scheme, which saw the trainees given the opportunity to learn how to operate an engine, our popular scheme gives many the chance to live out childhood dreams, and we saw many happy smiling faces driving round our site.

Getting the hang of the steam roller

Visitors had an opportunity to experience everything the Museum has on offer, as well as try out some of the crafts themselves with a helping hand from our demonstrators. We have a fantastic relationship with Suffolk mental health partnership who had a stall at the weekend, and we got to see a real insight into how art can be used to express peoples feelings and opinions on the subject. 

We had lots of visitors through the door, and spent the weekend asking about our leisure courses and what we could offer to you. If you missed out, but would be interested in giving us your opinion, we have an online survey Click here to take survey

Summer Holiday Activities at the Museum of East Anglian Life

So it's that time of year again, the kids are off school and you're desperately trying to keep them entertained. Thankfully MEAL comes to the rescue at this time of year, so whether you're looking for a day trip, or considering investing in a Season ticket. The Museum has plenty to offer.

Seed workshop

Wednesday 10th August- Seed workshop

Friday 12th August- Suffolk Rusk and Butter Making

Wednesday 17th August- Pond Dipping in the Mill pond

Friday 19th August- Seed workshop

Wednesday 24th August- Bird day

Friday 26th August- Pond Dipping in the Mill pond

Wednesday 31st August- Seed workshop

Friday 2nd September- Bird day

Pond dipping

Summer holiday activities are just £1 per activity user with normal museum entry, so not only do you have a fun activity, but also a day at the Museum. We have historical buildings each of which contain childrens activities and play areas, an outdoor play area and lots of animals. 

Meeting one of our small animals

In addition to our special Summer holiday Activities we also have other family events happening over the next few months.

Saturday 13th- 14th August- Steam and Crafts Weekend

Sunday 28th August- Printing for All

Saturday 3rd September- Traditional Music Day (in association with EATMT)

Thursday 27th October- Big Read and Big Draw in the Big Barn

Saturday 5th November- Bonfire Night Celebrations

Bonfire night

Blacksmithing

As our Skills for the Future courses continue, so do the traditional skills and crafts that our group of six 3 month trainees get to try out. This week they headed down to the Smithy, on their first day mastering the basic techniques, as well as finishing the day having created a poker.

Day two and they had to engage their creative side, and let the ideas flow as they were set the task of designing and making something that could be sold in the Museum shop.

With creations such as a picture frame, a sun shaped wall hanging, an egg cup and an ash shovel being made its clear that there's some excellent teaching and fast learning going on. Our trainees are always so incredibly eager to learn, and its fantastic to see these real traditional heritage skills being taught on site to the benefit of not only those learning, but to everyone who visits us who can watch a live demonstration.

Steam and Crafts 2011

Our annual Steam and Crafts weekend is coming up in just 10 days time, it's the 5th year of this fantastic event so we're sharing some picture memories as well as this years information to give you an idea of what's coming up.

Just one example of the beautiful engines that you will be able to see in steam at the weekend

The event also includes a selection of Commercial Vehicles and Vintage Tractors owned by enthusiasts from the area. We are particularly pleased to welcome members of the Ferguson club who are celebrating their 25^th anniversary this year, as well as our regulars from the local David Brown Club who will be demonstrating their machines throughout the weekend.

David Brown tractor club

This year we will have over 20 craftspeople from around East Anglia who will be demonstrating a variety of crafts and techniques, where possible we will be encouraging our visitors to give it a go, and perhaps spark your interest in one of our crafts.

Handmade crafts that will make you smile

And beautiful jewellery for even the most fashion conscious of craft lovers 

And we really do believe in the hands on approach here at the Museum Training Officer Paul Palmer says, “this year we will be promoting our Traditional Skills and Leisure courses, which will be open to all visitors and age groups. On the weekend we have Natural Dyeing and Water Colour painting work shops, as well as the traction engine driving. This is just a few of the opportunities we have on offer for 2011”. 

Very cute!

So there you have it, we've been having fun for 4 years and we're pretty certain that this year will be no different, in fact if anything its going to be bigger and better than before with a larger selection of Steam powered vehicles and more crafts being demonstrated than ever before. More than anything its the perfect event for any age of steam enthusiasts, or for anybody that enjoys traditional crafts.