Wiltshire’s Heritage and Arts Services will be displaying their work and running some workshops in the Atrium 17 – 21 February.

On Monday the Local Studies service will be present and running a workshop called ‘How old is that photograph?’ Bring along your old photographs and talk to our team to help you date and identify your family portraits and other photos.  Workshops will be held  11 am - 1pm and 2pm - 4pm

On Tuesday come and talk to members of the county archive service about how to research your family tree or find out about the history of your house, village or town, come and see a small selection of archives and images with a war-time theme up close and view historic cinefilms of Wiltshire.

On Wednesday there will be a Conservation Advice Surgery: not sure how to store those family photo’s? Do you have some antique books you would like to keep safe? Bring in your collections from 12:00 until 15:00 and we can give you advice on how to look after your photographs, books, papers or works of art on paper. There will also be the opportunity to get up close to some museum objects, and to see how a conservator works.

On Thursday the Archaeology Service will be joined by the Wiltshire Buildings Record. Come and talk to us about how we protect and preserve Wiltshire’s historic landscape and see examples of our work.

On Friday, come and meet the arts development officers from 10am to 4pm and find out about the numerous arts project and initiatives across the county. During lunchtime, a variety of musical and dance performances and character appearances from some of our projects will take place. You can also pick up information about cultural programmes across the county.

A new Chippenham creative writing group is taking place here at WSHC

• for adults, led by a professional writer
• all genres - novels, short stories, poetry, play writing, new media
• using historical artefacts and documents as inspiration

When: Saturday Mornings 2014 10am-1pm
1 March 22 March 5 April 12 April 10 May
17 May 7 June 14 June

Cost: £20 for 8 x 3 hour sessions, plus expert mentoring

For more information T: 01249 705531 or E: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
http://danceandtheatrewiltshire.net/NowInThen-WritersGroup
To book, T: 01249 705500 or E: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

I am sure regular users of the History Centre will be sad to learn of the death from cancer on 23 December 2013 of our colleague and dear friend, Robert Pearson.

Robert has been connected with the archive service for over 10 years, beginning as a volunteer at Trowbridge, then starting paid work in October 2003 as a part-time records assistant helping the public with enquiries. He developed a particular interest in and expertise in police and military records, as well as assisting in a private capacity in helping to compile the Church of England Clergy Database.

In 2008 he gained a post-graduate qualification in Archive Administration through distance learning with the University College Wales, at Aberystwyth, and in the same year he began a one day a week secondment as an archivist. In 2011 he became full-time project archivist for the Radnor project, cataloguing the papers of the Earls of Radnor of Longford Castle, although illness forced him to reduce his hours in 2012. It is planned to finish the catalogue in 2014, which Robert would have been very pleased to see. (If anyone has any queries about this project, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)

Robert was a kind, generous and exceptionally positive person who bore his illness with enormous courage and good humour. He will be very much missed.

Robert’s family have asked for donations to Shaftesbury Hospital or Cancer research UK, rather than flowers. He will be having a woodland burial in Dorset later this month.
Claire Skinner

Our Conservator Mervin has been in the spotlight with the old Wiltshire word 'ganderflanking' after recent interviews on BBC Radio. Find out about the new campaign to bring it out from obscurity at... Ganderflanking With Eminem

One of the animated films created by local school children for the SEEME project was screened in London on Saturday. It had been shortlisted in a national competition for young film-makers the Kids for Kids film festival. The film was called First Impressions and animated audio clips of local black elders interviewed for the SEEME black history archive. In the film, they reflect on their first impressions of the UK.

The young people from Holbrook Primary school illustrated the accounts by creating animations using a graphics tablet, even turning the speakers into animated characters. Project co-ordinator Rose Young, Headteacher of Holbrook Primary school, Mr Whitewick and one of the students involved in the filming made the journey to London’s Southbank for the screening and awards ceremony. Whilst our film didn’t win an award, we were delighted to be shortlisted in a year of stiff competition and to be commended by the organisers for a “beautiful, reflective piece of film-making”.

The Holbrook students thoroughly enjoyed making the film, working with the film maker Jamie McDine and meeting members of the local black community. They said:

“Using the technology was exciting.  We saw our own pictures come to life on the screen”.

“Some of the stories were shocking so our film is important.  It will make people think about how they treat other people” 

You can see the film and those made by students at Clarendon Academy and Matravers School on this website http://www.wshc.org.uk/animations.html