What Have We Been Up to & What Next?

The Cathedral of St John the Baptist, at night...

Our thanks go out to Paul Greener who gave a talk based on his MA thesis about the 1945 Norwich Plan to club members. It was not an area I was familiar with and it certainly opened my eyes to lots of issues, clues and 'what ifs' that will inform my thinking about our city's past and present. Anyway, the feedback I have received from members has been very positive, so thanks to Paul.

Next Tuesday (21st May), we'll be meeting as usual in Marzanos cafe before going to the library's Training Room. We have Gary Standley from the BBC Voices project coming to talk to us about the possibility of members making our own films about some of the historic sites we love within Norwich. After that, I would like to quickly run through the Club's aim so that members are all fully aware of what we're about. We can then do a little bit of history together - namely, by examining some old maps and photographs from the Norfolk Heritage Collection as sources of evidence. What do they tell us? Why were they made/taken? Who paid for them? We'll work in small groups to explore this together and then share some of our conclusions. 

FYI: the following week (28th May) we will be visiting the Cathedral of St John the Baptist - the Victorian Catholic cathedral. We will be meeting in Marzanos at the usual time, but if members would prefer to meet at the cathedral, we will be starting the tour there at 11:15 (meeting in the Narthex, welcome centre). The tour will be led by Jo Anderton, the cathedral's Education Officer, and there will be a small charge of £1.50 per person. 

PS Here's a piece I did about visiting St John's at night, a couple of years back - 

Museums at Night Twilight Tower Tours

~ Colin Howey, NCHC Chair ~

Picture Norfolk Talk - The Photography of William Henry Finch & Family

Club members: on Tuesday 19th March, Clare Everitt from Picture Norfolk will be introducing us to the work of nineteenth century Norfolk photographer, William Henry Finch and his family. As many of you will recall, Clare gave us a fascinating introduction to the Picture Norfolk collection earlier in the year (see Sarah's summary HERE). She is back due to popular request!

Please note: due to the popularity of our club we are now starting a waiting list. If you wish to be added to the Norwich Community History Club's waiting list, then please contact me on colin.howey@norfolk.gov.uk 

The Time Travel Challenge - Tuesday Feb 5th

Personally, I'd be tempted to go back to visit Norwich Castle

in, say, 1450 and talk to the prisoners who were carving figures

like this one... but I can't make my mind up!

Imagine you have a time machine and you have one return journey to go and visit Norwich at any point in its history: 

• What period/year would you travel back to?
• Where in the city would you go to?
• Why?

That is what we are going to discuss in groups at the next meeting of the History Club. 

I've 'played' this game before, and it's a really good way:
(a) To make you think about what really matters to you historically
(b) For us to get to know more about each others interests
(c) For us to interact and get to know each other better

It's not a test or a trial. In my experience, folk always end up having a good laugh doing this one. It also helps me plan a programme of activities that satisfies members interests. 

~ Colin Howey ~

Visiting Norwich Castle Museum

Club members listening to storyteller, Dave Tong, in Norwich

Castle Museum keep ground floor basement

I must admit, due to the weather conditions, I was a bit worried about the turnout for today's session. However, my worries were soon allayed as, once again, we had a fantastic response, with over twenty people coming along. 

Our visit to Norwich Castle Museum was really enjoyable. We split into two groups: one 'led' by me, the other, by my former museum colleague, and friend, Dave Tong. Knowing all too well that the two of us have voices like foghorns, we started on different levels in the keep and gave very different tours. I can't speak about the content in Dave's sessions, but, obviously, I'm pretty well placed to share a bit of my one. 

One of the things I covered were accounts of prisoners alleged crimes in the early 1300s. Using, as my main source, Barbara Hanawalt's 'Crime in Medieval East Anglia' (Norfolk Record Society, 1976), I shared some of the material from the Norfolk Gaol Delivery Rolls from this period. For instance, Gervaise de Swanton and his wife, Joan, were asleep in bed when a gang of burglars broke into their room. One of them - William of Mileham - was wielding a 'hatchet' (an axe). He went to strike Gervaise as he lay in bed. However, Gervaise must have somehow deflected the blow, for the record described how the hatchet got stuck in the (presumably, wooden) head of the bed. In the meantime, Joan, leapt out of bed and, knife in hand, stabbed William of Mileham in the head. He died instantly. She was subsequently arrested and taken to Norwich Castle Gaol to await trial. I asked the group what they thought the outcome of the trial was, and then shared the outcome with them. That's just one of several cases we examined.

At the end, Dave - being a professional story teller - kindly agreed to share a story with us about an old and wily man who gave some powerful officials in a (fictional) castle good reason to consider carefully what they wish for. He received well deserved applause for his tale. Afterwards, Club members I spoke with said how much they had enjoyed the experience. 

We would like to thank the Norfolk Museums & Archaeological Service (particularly, Colly Mudie from the Education department) for facilitating our visit and for making us feel so welcome. Thank you NMAS for enabling access to our group!

Here is some of the feedback members gave in our comments book as we enjoyed a cuppa afterwards:

"Really enjoyed it! Very interesting and nice for me to keep learning more knowledge"
"Always learning new things and meeting new people"
"Fascinating! Very enjoyable and a I learnt a lot."
"Informative, exciting, different day. Good storytelling from Dave 'Ding Dong' Tong."

Ding Dong Tong! I haven't heard that one before, but his name seems to ring a bell. If anyone else who attended wants to leave any further feedback please feel free to do so - either, via the comments section below (all comments are moderated) or via my email: colin.howey@norfolk.gov.uk)

Thanks!
Colin

Norwich Castle Museum Visit - Tuesday 15th January.

Please click on image in order to enlarge

Next Tuesday, the Norwich Community History Club will be visiting Norwich Castle Museum. If you wish to attend you have two options. Either:

1. Meet, as usual, in Marzanos cafe in the Norwich Forum at 10:30 (we have tables booked, to the right of the cafe counter). We will then walk up to the castle, departing c10:50-10:55am
2. Meet near the Castle Museum entrance at c11:10 and wait for the other club members to arrive

Once inside, we will split into two groups. Historian and professional storyteller, Dave Tong, has very kindly agreed to assist me by leading a group around the castle keep. I will lead the other exploration of the keep, looking at the 'hidden' history of this fascinating building (including medieval graffiti and a selection of medieval prisoners' cases). 

If you are interested in joining us, please do come along. 

Best Wishes,

Colin

A Wycliffite Bible

At our last meeting, as well as discussing Reginald Dack Baker's scrapbooks, we also had a good look at the wonderful hand-written and illuminated bible that once belonged to Anne Boleyn's uncle (dated, early 1400s). I think that Club members felt a sense of privilege to be so close-up to such a rare and ancient survivor. I explained a bit about the background to this, the first English translation of the bible, and some of the consequences this had for the wider late medieval/Early Modern Society.

As a Club, we are certainly very fortunate to have access to such amazing historical material, due to our partnership with the Norfolk Museum & Information Service. In addition to viewing this, Community Librarian, Clare Agate, also took members to view some of the Norfolk Heritage Collection that is held at the Millennium Library.

Overall, once again, the feedback was really positive:

"Very interesting - wonderful to look at the archives and the bible."
"Getting more interesting week by week."

Our First Meeting of 2013...

Our first meeting of the New Year will take place on Tuesday 8th January, meeting at 10:30am in Marzano's cafe, located on the ground floor of the Forum (we gather at the reserved tables to the right of the serving counter). Once we have socialised etc we will be going up to the library's 'Training Room' to have a further look at the wonderful Norfolk Heritage Collection (their Wycliffite bible, that once belonged to Queen Anne Boleyn's uncle, is just one 'jewel' in this amazing archive). 

Please do join us!

PS Please note: Dave Tong would like to apologise to NCHC members for not being able to come and tell us some stories at our last gathering before Christmas. Unfortunately, a close family member was taken ill on the day and he left his house without his mobile. I am glad to report that his relative is currently in a stable condition. 

Christmas Tales and Historians Questions - Tuesday 8th January

We always meet at 10:30 in the Marzanos cafe, located in the Norwich Forum. Tables are reserved for our us to the right of the serving area. After half-an-hour socialising and talking history around our tables we, either, go to the 'Training Room' on the top floor of the library, or we go out and explore the city's many historic treasures. 

Christmas Tales...
For our final session before our Christmas break (we'll resume on Tuesday 8th January), Dave Tong (historian and professional storyteller) returns to regale our members with his fantastic Christmas tales. As ever, I'm sure he will be engaging, entertaining and informative. 

Historians Questions...
However, before we get to that, next Tuesday's session will see a change of approach from our recent talk orientated ones. Archive specialist, Liz Budd, is going to join us to answer our questions about how we would go about researching people, places, industries etc. What are the sources, and how can you access them? That kind of thing. This more interactive and informal session will also allow us to find out about each others interests, and we will be doing more of this format into the future...

Doing Different...
... Talking of which: yesterday, I had a conversation with BBC Producer, Gary Standley, about the possibility of club members getting involved with making some films about local historical places that mean something to them. We're resolved to make this happen, so, with that in mind, Gary will be coming to talk to us about this in the New Year. This is a great example of the way that we, in the Norwich Community History Club, "do different". 

Easy to reach history...
There is another point I'd like to make, and which I will repeat from time to time: our club is about making people feel comfortable and welcome (that's one of the reasons we always start by meeting in the Marzanos cafe). Part of this, is about facilitating access. Access doesn't just happen, there has to be an active will to make it work. For this reason, if anyone who attends doesn't understand something we've discussed, or wants to make a point, but is too intimidated by 'the crowd' to do so, please do feel able to come and talk to me. It might also be that you there are other barriers you are experiencing. If so, please discuss this with me. I will make myself available after our gathering for this purpose. We come in all 'shapes and sizes', and I aspire for our club to reflect that. (Oh, and by the way, I would once have been completely intimidated myself about joining a "HISTORY CLUB", assuming, as I would have, that they would be too posh and think themselves too clever for the likes of me - I had an inferiority complex masked by an aggressive mask back then!)

Also, we tend to think about access as purely about overcoming barriers, however, it is a far more positive process than that. For instance, not only do people with different experiences and backgrounds often ask different questions, they often ask seemingly simple questions that folk who are more formally 'schooled'/immersed don't think to ask. For instance, my friend, Jacques Kalume (a Congolese refugee - and an erudite and highly intelligent man), has stumped me on a number of occasions, such as when he asked me why the Duke of Edinburgh is not called a king (can anyone help us with that one?). In a wider sense, he also made a group, where I was tutor,really think about the value of our local historic heritage, when - amazed at the age of Norwich Cathedral - he explained that it was a wonder to him and his community that such a building could survive so long, as in the Democratic Republic of Congo a terrible civil war means that - to use Jacques' words at the time - "everything is smashed." In this context, the survival of archives, buildings etc should be savoured, celebrated and appreciated much more than we tend to do. 

Another example of this, is the way that people with dyslexia - perhaps because of the 'dyslexic gift' around their visual pattern recognition - seem to be really good at identifying, often seemingly incoherent, medieval graffiti. Indeed, his (then undiagnosed) dyslexia enabled Dave Tong to be excellent at reading old historic records when he was studying for his BA and MA in history at UEA...

Please click on image in order to enlarge:
An example of pre-modern handwriting from early
1600s, transcribed from the Norwich Mayor's Court Records:
"... Margaret Caly on Witson Tuesday [...] often tymes clapped her hand on
her backside and badd him [an official called, Christopher Gyles] kiss there"

I think you get my point - diversity is not just a positive exchange in itself, in our context, it also improves our thinking as historians. 

Finally...
On some other projects I'm involved with, other members like to get involved by, for instance, contributing to the project's blog. If you wish to write something to go on here, or post a photo perhaps - whatever - please let me know (I can make you a contributor, so you can post on here, just as I am doing now). You don't even have to be online to do so. I'm happy to transcribe what you've written, or scan images, on your behalf. Over time, I'm sure we'll develop a Social Media team of volunteers to make this more participatory and multi-voiced platform.  

See you next Tuesday!

~ Colin ~

Norwich Before 1066 - Tues 11th Dec

Sophie in the limelight!

Next week we have Sophie Cabot, an archaeologist working for HEART, coming to speak to us about Norwich before 1066. Although there are occasional mentions of Norwich in documents, such as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, archaeology has played a vital part in helping us to picture the development of the city during this pre-Norman period.  Sophie is an excellent speaker and really knows her stuff, so come along, ask questions and enjoy. 

As ever, we will be meeting in Marzanos cafe (ground floor, Norwich Forum) at 10:30am (tables are reserved for our group, to the right of the service area). At around 11am we will go up to the Training Room in the Millennium Library to hear Sophie's talk. I'm excited to hear what she has to say!

Please note: our comments section is now live. You don't have to be signed up to Blogger to leave a comment; just click on the 'No Comments/Comments' link below each post, and select 'Anonymous'. All comments are moderated, but will be added to the blog. We'd love to have feedback/thoughts/responses from you. 

Week2: Maps, Chats, Muddles & Puddles

Dr. Carole Hill, talking to Club members about
Francis Blomefield's county history

Another great turnout for this, the second meeting of our new history club. I want to thank every one who made the effort to join us on what was a wet and windy day. 

From now on we will always meet for the first half an hour or so in Marzanos cafe, in the Norwich Forum. We sat around our respective tables and folk seemed to be chatting away nicely. Not wanting to over-direct things, I left people to just catch up and socialise (meeting and mixing is an important part of this Club). I also took the opportunity to invite people to leave feedback about last weeks presentation by historian and storyteller, Dave Tong. Here are a couple of excerpts from that exercise:

"Dave was rubbish..." Only kidding! Here's the real feedback:

"Dave was brilliant - more than living up to his storyteller reputation. Knowledgable and very interesting."

"Excellent, really enjoyed it. Interesting and funny."

I think we should get Mr. Tong back at some point - in fact, I'm meeting with him tomorrow and will attempt to bribe him to return with the irresistible offer of baked beans on toast at the All Saints Cafe (no expense spared at this Club!). 

Back to today: having supped and socialised, we went up to the library's meeting room, where the Community Librarian, Clare Agate, awaited. As she took small groups into the strong room to view a little of the amazing Norfolk Heritage Collection (see video in previous post), those remaining looked at a large copy of the first map of Norwich (Cuningham's 1558 map); the two Norwich volumes of Francis Blomefield's 'History of Norfolk..." (1805) and a late nineteenth century copy of the Eastern Daily Press (reporting floods in the city). 

Clare had expected me to talk authoritatively about the Cuningham map; however, I started by muddling Chapelfield with Cowholme, whereupon Sophie (from HEART), quite rightfully sensing my 'upside-down-ness' (ie my ineptitude!), stepped in and talked us through some of the salient features, answering questions from the group (I meekly shut up - it's a strength to be aware of one's limitations... that's what I tell myself, anyway).  

Dr. Carole Hill then very kindly talked about the uses and limitations of Blomefield's seminal 'History', from the perspective of the historian. Although it is important to be aware of Blomefield's biases, errors and omissions, he had access to a lot of records that no longer exist - and that makes his work a very useful resource indeed. Although the 'Essay towards a Topographical History of the County of Norfolk' (draws breath... gasp!), is now available online (see HERE), you can't beat connecting with the real books, in all their musty authenticity. 

Finally, we looked at some contemporary coverage of the 'great flood' in Norwich, as recorded in the EDP of November 1878. This event happened before the more famous flood of 1912, after which the river Wensum was widened in order to help prevent further inundations. Hundreds of people were made homeless as a result of the rising waters. This is well out of living memory now, but reading the account in the paper made it feel vividly real. 

~ Colin Howey ~

A Norfolk Heritage Treasure Trove!

The early Fifteenth century Wycliffite bible.
Please click on image in order to enlarge

I'm still buzzing from the amazing success of our first meeting, yesterday! Whilst Dave's session was excellent and well received, the two of us - both used to belting out at volume - agreed that Marzanos cafe was a real challenge to a speaker in terms of background noise. Fret not though, anonymous reader, for we have worked out a solution...

The Club will continue to meet at Marzanos at 10:30 on Tuesdays, however, I propose that we meet at there for the first half an hour, and then move on: either, to the Training Room in the Millennium Library (very kindly offered in partnership to us by the Norfolk Library & Information Service!), or to any sites we are visiting. 

Thus, next Tuesday (27th November), we will assemble in the cafe, enjoy a drink and socialise a bit, before going up to the Training Room. Waiting for us there, will be the wonderful Clare Agate (Community Librarian), who is going to show us some of the fascinating historical materials held therein (see, for instance, the illuminated bible, above). We are hoping to be able to take small groups into the 'strong room' where the c500,000 Norfolk-related books, photographs, postcards are kept. In the meantime, I will talk about some of the items which will be out on display in the Training Room. If she is able to make it along, my friend, Dr. Carole Hill (author of, 'Women and Religion in Late Medieval Norwich', published 2010), will also be available to talk about some of the work. Trust me, you won't regret making the effort to see this for yourselves. As a little taster, I will share a video I recently made (as part of a series of short films, called, 'Why We Love Our Library'):



Come along next Tuesday and get in touch with history!

Week 1: A Really Encouraging Start!

Please click on image in order to enlarge

Summary...
As you can see from the photo (above) we had a fantastic turn-out for our first Club meeting yesterday! Massive thanks to everyone who made the effort to make the journey on what was, initially, a grey, drizzly day. 

The gathering (kindly hosted by Marzanos cafe in the Norwich Forum - thanks to all the staff for facilitating this!), began with me introducing myself and outlining my ideas about how the group might develop. It would have been very easy for folk attending to passively listen to me and Dave (our speaker), but as encouraging people to socialise with other 'history nuts' is part of our ethos, people worked in small groups, sharing then writing down their reasons for attending and initial ideas about how the Club might develop (this has been really useful feedback for me, by the way!). 

Dave then gave a fascinating, engaging and often funny presentation about the nature of civic order and disorder in Early Modern (Tudor/Stuart: 1500-1600s: 16th/17th centuries) Norwich. Being a professional storyteller, he also interspersed this with some entertaining short stories, that he set in the context of the times.   

Feedback...
I have received some really positive feedback about the session from those present. Here is an example:
"I was thoroughly entertained, educated and enthused by today" - Simon.

Next...
We're currently working on the content of next Tuesday's session and I'll be posting something here about that very soon. 

Welcome...

Medieval graffiti in St Peter Mancroft church, Norwich.
Please click on image in order to enlarge

We're starting a new club - the Norwich Community History Club - where people can meet together in a friendly, inclusive and informal setting (Marzanos cafe in the Forum) to learn more about history (focusing primarily - but not exclusively! - on local history). This club is open to all, but I will be actively recruiting those who experience barriers, being deemed to be 'hard to reach'/hardly reached (it's always the organisations that fail to do the 'reaching' in my experience!).  

The sort of thing we might end up doing as the group evolves, includes:

• Listening to/learning from guest speakers
• Sharing books/broadcasts we have enjoyed
• Skill sharing - raising and answering questions; sharing 'in-house' knowledge
• Visiting historic buildings in the city (and beyond)
• Initiating our own history projects
• Developing an Info Bank of available historic resources
• Developing a blog (this one!)
• Socialising/meeting new people brought together through common interests
• Encouraging and supporting each other on our learning journey

For our first meeting (Tuesday 20th November, 10:30-12:00 - members/guests will meet every Tuesday at that time/place thereafter) I have invited my friend, and former museum colleague, Dave Tong, to come and talk to us about a subject he has genuine expertise in - namely, folk who lived outside the 'rules' around Norwich market in the Tudor/Stuart period (1500-1600s). He has entitled this one, 'Playing Games and Being Shamed on Norwich Market Place.' Dave is a lively and entertaining speaker (as you would expect from someone who is, both, an historian and a professional story teller). Come along, then, and get a 'flavour' of life on the margins in Tudor/Stuart Norwich. 

Finally, if you have a particular area of expertise that you would be happy to donate to our club, or access to resources that we would benefit from, that would be VERY welcome indeed. If this voluntary organisation is to develop in the way I hope it will, your contributions will be a key part of our growth and I look forward to your support. 

For further information, please contact Colin Howey on:
colin.howey@norfolk.gov.uk