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!