It’s already here! The halfway mark of my traineeship with Heritage Lincolnshire has been, and gone, and it has absolutely flown by. But, not to sound cringey, time does fly when you’re having fun. So here is a quick update on some of the things I’ve been doing since my last blog entry in May.
Towards the end of June and throughout July I have been working on the Conservation Management Plan for Greyfriars, Lincoln. Working on such a comprehensive heritage document has been a great experience and has taught me so much about the policies and maintenance of historic buildings. As I learn more about conservation, I have found that being given the opportunities to work on actual documents that will make an impact on the final project has been a really rewarding way to put what I’ve learnt into practice. The same can be said of when I helped with a statement of significance for the old M&S building in Boston town centre, where I gained an understanding of what aspects of a building and its history determine its level of significance. It also gave me a chance to flex my research muscles and dive into the surprisingly rich history of M&S, who knew!
Earlier this month I was asked to apply for listed building consent for one of our buildings. Though I had never done anything like this before, I thoroughly enjoyed stepping up to the task. I had to look at the materials that would be used to ensure that they were complimentary to the historic fabric, and I had to consider whether there was any impact on the building’s significance or the wider area.
I recently scripted a short piece about local Lincolnshire fishing superstitions and dialect as told by an 1880’s fisherman’s wife. Digital Heritage Engagement Trainee Kate and I went to the Grimsby Fishing Heritage centre to film it in their recreation Victorian terraced house yard, which really added to the atmosphere we were looking for. The video will be shown as part of the Boston Townscape Heritage Bytes Festival on the 31st July, so make sure you all have your popcorn ready! I have also created an accompanying poster to further explore other aspects of Lincolnshire traditions such as sayings and phrases that are only heard in the fenlands or local medicinal uses for fenland plants. It’s been fascinating to have the chance to get involved in the festival, particularly because of its hybrid format (content will be released both online and performed on the ground in Boston town centre).
I further built on my new film career by helping to film a series of videos based on St Benedict’s Church at Scrivelsby and the Dymoke family. One video was about Duty & Legacy and the servant’s boards and another on Devotion & Power. The final one was about the architecture and fittings of the church and I, in true Countryfile fashion, was the presentor.
In the past week I have been exploring the different application processes for the major funding bodies, such as the Architectural Heritage Fund and the National Lottery Heritage Fund. I have been given the chance to contribute to a funding application by writing about the history and significance of the building in question. Being directly involved has proved really useful in grasping how the whole process works and how much is needed to support the application.
So as you can see I’ve been able to do all sorts of things and cover lots of aspects of the heritage working world and even though it’s sad that there are only three months left, if they’re anything like the first three months I can’t wait to get on and see what new projects may be in store!