Once upon a time, there was this Guy...

Three posts in with this new blog it’s probably time for an introduction to the braincells behind the keyboard of this little adventurous adventure. So…

Started the way I meant to go on. Cute. And eating.

WHO AM I?

I’m David, which is my story and I’m sticking to it. On a good day I’m an adult human male and, after studying History and Archaeology at the University of York, have been pursuing a career in the museums sector for a shade over ten years. Luckily working in museums has often felt like being paid to pursue my own hobbies and has involved many sublime/surreal experiences – just a few being;

  • Playing Santa's Elf (several times, several museums)
  • Ploughing with horses
  • Teaching Girl Guides how to cook Carrot Cookies
  • Feeling like Willy Wonka giving tours of a store holding one million objects and showing off a world of pure... collection storage
  • Tap-dancing in First World War centenary concerts
  • Holding the goat down to take his eyedrops

WHAT DO I DO?               

Starting out in collections volunteering and front of house roles, in agricultural museums and stately homes (one job required wellies – guess which), I’ve worked up into curatorial and latterly management positions. I lead something of a peripatetic existence, having moved between jobs all around the north of England and am presently working in the Scottish Highlands. Though generally working in project management these days I still prefer to describe myself as a Curator because working with collections and exhibitions/public engagement will always remain my first love in the museum trade.

WHY DO I DO IT?

Social history - how we used to live and how we got where we are today - is endlessly fascinating and I love being able touch artefacts from the past, understand them and the people who used them, and then work out how best to tell the public about them in the most exciting way possible. That's a posh way of saying I'm full of curiosity and love playing with old stuff.

HIGHLIGHT?

Professionally 
Project managing the rebuilding of Ravenglass Railway Museum in Cumbria – nobody’s let me build a museum before and thankfully it turned out well enough that I’m being allowed to do it again in Glencoe (well, once we’ve secured a lot of project funding of course)

Personally
Hiding around a corner and seeing the reaction of visitors to pigs we'd been happily feeding Polos to a few minutes before; 'My word, those pigs have really fresh breath - they must very be well-looked after!'

OR

Leading a U3A focus group so passionate and engaged with their local area I had to specify that overthrowing the Council was beyond my project remit. Have never seen pensioners look so disappointed.

LOWLIGHT?

The museums sector can be unforgiving and unstable – museum work is hard to get into and even after a decade of progress can feel hard to stay in. I’ve been very fortunate to have done relatively well owing to a mixture of graft, luck (don’t underestimate the role of luck!) and a very patient family who supported me through the early period of volunteering and applying for the first jobs, which seemed like forever...

Start tractor: check.
Put fuel in tractor before setting off: erm...

HOBBIES?

  • Just finished restoring the family 1952 grey Fergie tractor to road-legal condition. It’s only taken thirty years ‘cos you can’t rush these things…
  • Performing and directing amateur theatre, the highlight being either playing Disciple ‘Doubting’ Thomas opposite Ferdinand Kingsley’s Jesus in the York Theatre Royal ‘Mystery Plays’, 2012, or muppeteering Trekkie Monster in ‘Avenue Q’ in Chester-le-Street, 2014. 
  • Amateur playwright - lucky enough to have had two published so far – ‘9 Months B.C.’  and ‘Dungeons and Puffins’  - at the time of writing another three are in various states of slooooooow drafting/re-drafting.
  • Collect 1920s Hornby O gauge tinplate toy trains, which we exhibit/play with whenever possible. Sadly curtailed in 2020 owing to Covid though a Christmas appearance on the carpet is highly likely.
The internet is for...

WHY BLOG?

I’m taking advantage of pandemic-induced working from home and the Christmas break to digitise and catalogue 50+ years of family photographs which, through habit, I’m running on quasi-museum standard lines (ish) and thought it might be jolly to share some experiences as I go. Those and and any other random musings on museums and random heritage sector stuff that crosses my mind. Brace yourself...


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