Behind the scenes in 2022

Cataloguing our collections and commissioning the fitting out of the museum

The installation of the roller-racking in the Les Casey Archive Room (LCAR) and the start of discussions with our designers, Qwerk, in January 2022 focussed our attention on the need to continue cataloguing our collections of artefacts, documents and photos.

In particular Qwerk asked for photos and dimensions of our artefacts, including the collection of paintings, currently in store at Sandridgegate, St Albans, to guide their proposals for cabinets and wall displays.  David and Janet Keen have catalogued the paintings and a large representative sample of artefacts, in the form which will be required when – in due course – we seek accreditation as a museum.  The paintings, mounted photos, and a selection of artefacts have already been moved from Sandridgegaate to the roller-racking.

On-going detailed discussions with Qwerk culminated with the Trustees’ approval of layout designs in October and the start of manufacturing of the component units at Qwerk’s workshops in November.  Installation within the museum began in early December.

Meanwhile, Rosemary Ross and Kitty Moores have continued work on indexing documents and photos held in the local history room at Park Hall.  With the help of volunteers, work started in the autumn to transfer documents from the various files and boxes to archive ring-binder boxes.  These are being moved to a dedicated part of the roller-racking.  This work will be followed by the transfer of the large collection of photo-prints from old filing cabinets to archive ring-binders.

 

During the conversion of the Sports Hall to the Eric Morecambe Centre, the Society paid for the installation of a wall between the museum space and archive room. This had previously been the creche for the Sports Hall.
D Keen
Meanwhile, the SADC contractors were at work in the 'museum space' and archive room beyond- 2021
D Keen
The entrancw to the museum taking shape in April 2021
D Keen
Janet Keen working to sort artefacts in the storeroom at Sandridgegate. Only the right-had side of this room is available to the Society
D Keen
'I need a box from the bottom of the pile' - 2020
R Ross, 2019
Piles of old 'Baby boxes' at Sandridgegate and the archive boxes in which they will be stored in the LCAR - 2022.
D Keen
The first pictures to be installed in the roller-racking in February 2022.
D Keen
D Keen
During lock-down, we did a lot of cataloguing at home, continuing the process of creating a digital Index which started in 2010.
R Ross, June 2020
Delivering a carload back to Park Hall, summer 2020. We were allowed occasional access to Park Hall.
R Ross, July 2020
Archives in colourful ring-binders on the shelves in the Local History Room at Park Hall, April 2022
R Ross
Pallets of archive boxes arrived from PEL - at the back of the EMC in April 2022
D Keen
175 archive ring-binders were unloaded at the back of the EMC, and had to be carried in small batches to the museum for temporary storage - April 2022
D Keen
The new archive boxes were still stacked in the museum in September 2022
Volunteers packing documents into archive ring-binders at Park Hall - November 2022
R Ross November 2022
Moving a bookcase from Park Hall to the LCAR - October 2022.
R Ross
Museum library stored on the bookcases, November 2022
R Ross December 2022
Qwerk display cases in the National Gallery - Rubens exhibition Summer 2022
D Keen
D Keen
We have watched Qwerk at work on our cabinets in their workshop - November 2022
D Keen
... and starting to Install wall-cladding on site - early December 2022
D Keen

No Comments

Start the ball rolling by posting a comment on this page!

Add a comment about this page

Your email address will not be published.