National Museums Liverpool Blog - Friday, June 29, 2012

Earlier this year I met with Theatre in the Rough at the Merseyside Maritime Museum. They are a charity which promote new writing for the stage by young people aged 13-25 from across Merseyside.

The group were developing a series of plays about Titanic and Liverpool, and the Maritime History department were approached by their artistic director -acclaimed Liverpool playwright Chris Fittock. We provided support for the group including a Titanic presentation for these budding new writers, drawing upon the themes from our exhibition Titanic & Liverpool: the untold story.

You can see the result of their work at Theatre in the Rough’s 5 day festival which takes place 3 -7 July at Old Christ Church, Waterloo, Liverpool. The locally curated event features drama, live music and an exhibition and is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and Arts Council England. For further information please see their website.

We were delighted to have been a supporter for Theatre in the Rough and wish them well for their festival. Don’t forget that you can still see our exhibition Titanic & Liverpool: the untold story which is currently running at the Merseyside Maritime Museum until 2013. You can also follow the museum on facebook and our twitter.

Ben Whittaker, Curator of Port History reports:

A punt with pilots approaching the Edmund Gardner c1960s. Collection no MDHB/EG/7/11/14

We had some great feedback recently from a family who went on one of the Edmund Gardner pilot ships tours:

"We all enjoyed the tour very much, please pass on my thanks to the guys who took us round, they made the whole experience great fun and very interesting. We spent the weekend at the dock and visited many of the attractions but we all agree that the Edmund Gardner was very much the highlight of the weekend."

It's great to know that visitors are enjoying the tours, and our volunteer tour guides are doing a fantastic job in bringing the history of the ship alive.  Tours are still running every Thursday and Saturday until the end of September, to book a place ring 0151 478 4788.

Please note that the ship has uneven surfaces, steep stairways and low steps, meaning it is not fully accessible and unable to accommodate wheelchair users, pushchairs or prams. Please wear appropriate sensible footwear for a safe and enjoyable visit.

Another blog from our volunteer Jamie McFadden, who's been busily researching past Liverpool Olympians for us.

It’s safe to say that Liverpool born Max Woosnam was definitely an all round sportsman. Amongst his sporting achievements are two Olympic medals, winning doubles at Wimbledon, making a century at Lord’s Cricket Ground, captaining the British Davis Cup team, captaining Manchester City Football Club, compiling a 147 break in Snooker AND playing as captain for the national football team!

Even with such an extensive sporting CV, Woosnam only ever competed in one Olympic Games in 1920 in Antwerp. Competing as a tennis player, he won a Gold medal in the Men’s Doubles and Silver in the Mixed Doubles.

After fighting in the First World War, Max divided his sporting attention. During the football season, he spent time playing for Chelsea FC, moving on to compete in tennis tournaments when the season was over. During this time, he won both singles and doubles titles in the Cambridge University tournament and entered Wimbledon for the first time.

Max Woosnam died in 1965.

Visit the Museum of Liverpool's Wondrous Place gallery to learn more about sport in the city. 

Our wonderful volunteer Jamie McFadden has been blogging again. This time, he's on the trail of Liverpool's footballing Olympian.

Red or blue? It was gold for Arthur Berry…

Born in 1888, Arthur Berry was destined to be one of Liverpool’s most successful footballers, but not necessarily at Anfield or Goodison Park! Arthur’s stage was at the 1908 and 1912 Olympics. The first Olympics that Arthur Berry competed in were, like the 2012 Games, held in London. Playing alongside some of his previous team mates, he was part of the Gold medal winning football team.

Unlike some other medal winners, Arthur was able to replicate his success when he travelled to Stockholm, Sweden in 1912. Great Britain’s football team again won Gold, making Arthur the most successful Liverpool Olympian of all time! As well as playing for the Gold medal winning England squad, Arthur also went on to play for Liverpool, Everton, Fulham and Wrexham.

Whilst taking part in the 1908 Olympics, Berry was studying for a degree at Oxford University.  When he ended his playing career in 1914, he went on to become a barrister, later serving as Chairman and Director at Liverpool Football Club.

Arthur Berry passed away in 1956.

Visit the Museum of Liverpool's Wondrous Place gallery to learn more about sport in the city. 

Left to right: Sam Vaux, Marketing Officer (Museum of Liverpool) with colleagues Tracey McGeagh, Director of Marketing and Communications, Janet Dugdale, Director of Museum of Liverpool, Lucy Cattell, Media Officer (Museum of Liverpool) with the Tourism Marketing Initiative of the Year award presented by PR & Marketing Manager Linda Kelly from sponsors SK Events & PR. Image (c) Ant Clausen

More than 400 guests joined the celebrations to recognise quality and excellence during a black tie ceremony hosted by local TV personality Terri Dwyer at the BT Convention Centre.

It was a glittering evening organised by the Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership with singing from Rare Liverpool, a dramatic opening of jaw dropping acrobatics from the Airborn Academy and The Beatles’ greatest hits from a local tribute band.

The first award we won was for the coveted Tourism Marketing Initiative of the Year Award for the Museum of Liverpool opening campaign. The second success of the night was winning the Tourism Event of the Year award for the Museum of Liverpool People’s Opening and finally NML Trading won the award for Excellence in Business Tourism. It was a huge team effort so congratulations to everyone!

Tourism Event of the Year and Excellence in Business Tourism awards are eligible to represent the Liverpool City Region at VisitEngland’s Awards for Excellence – so watch this space!

Introducing Jamie McFadden, who's been helping us out in the Press Office this week, and researching a very interesting talk that's coming up tomorrow at the Museum of Liverpool.

The King’s Regiment has been involved in conflicts and battles around the world since the 1700s. Over the years, members of the Regiment have collected ‘Trophies of War’ and the further back in time we go, the more extravagant these trophies become.

National Museums Liverpool has a long-term loan of collections from the King’s Regiment that are currently exhibited in the City Soldiers gallery at the Museum of Liverpool. Some of the items in the collection date back to conflicts hundreds of years ago between British and American forces in an attempt to protect British overseas colonies.

On Thursday, Social History curator Karen O’Rourke will be discussing the ‘trophies’ collected by an early Colonel, Arent Schuyler DePeyster. DePeyster is described by some as ‘one of the most skilled British chiefs engaged in Native American diplomacy during the Revolutionary era’. During the 17 year-long garrison in America, DePeyster spent time gaining the trust of the Native American chiefs. This strong relationship enabled him to persuade the Native’s to fight on the side of the British. A skilled treaty maker, he spent years working with tribes to stop them trading with and fighting for the Americans.

Colonel John Caldwell of the King's Regiment, was a key negotiator between British Forces and Natives.

However DePeyster, known to the natives as ‘The Father’, wasn’t the only person to gain the trust of the tribal chiefs. Lieutenant Colonel John Caldwell was another member of the King’s Regiment, who was a key negotiator between the British forces and Natives. Caldwell, son of Baron Caldwell of Fermanagh, spent so much time with the tribal people, that it is believed that he adapted to their lifestyle. In one painting on display at the Museum of Liverpool, Caldwell is seen attending an inter-nation council in Wakeetomike, wearing tribal dress. It is said that his father wrote to DePeyster expressing concern at his son’s erratic behaviour.

During Thursday’s talk at the Museum of Liverpool, Karen O’Rourke will be discussing the relations between British and American forces and how they used the native tribes to fight their battles. The DePeyster collection at the Museum of Liverpool features items that were extremely valuable to the Native Americans and that were given to DePeyster in return for small invaluable items, such as beads. The tribes, who based a lot of their actions on the instructions of the spirits, gave DePeyster stone carved tobacco pipes, which they used to contact the spirits and also quillwork chokers that were worn by the tribal people to suggest importance. This world famous collection can be seen in the City Soldiers gallery of the Museum of Liverpool.

‘Peace pipe or war hatchet? The DePeyster collection’ will be held in the Museum of Liverpool’s City Soldiers gallery on the first floor of the Museum of Liverpool at 3pm on Thursday 14th June.

Exhibited as part of the Heroes project, students from year 9 were inspired to produce portraits of historical and contemporary Black role models, from actors such as Morgan Freeman and Denzil Washington to politicians such as Barrack Obama and Malcolm X.
Researching their subject matter meant understanding the contributions of Black and Minority Ethnic people to society.

The Heroes project was devised by Caroline Ihiekwe, Equality and Diversity Advisor at the Criminal Records Bureau in partnership with Childwall College and the International Slavery museum. She said, "Heroes seeks to raise the self-esteem of pupils. The project sends a message to young people of all backgrounds that they can and should aspire to achieve great things. The chance for these young people to exhibit their work at the International Slavery Museum is brilliant because visitors from all over the world will see what they have achieved."

Our staff from the aquarium don't just work at World Museum, they also head out into the city - and sometimes to the River Mersey - to help spread the word about the importance of looking after our marine life.

This week Alyster Chapman, an Education Demonstrator at the aquarium, is looking forward to celebrating World Oceans Day...

On Friday 8 June, the aquarium team will be heading down to Liverpool One with some of our more outgoing animals to celebrate World Oceans Day.  Come down and find us for the chance to get up close to our rock pool animals and even touch some of them! 

The ocean-loving people from The University of Liverpool, The Marine Conservation Society and The Wildlife Trust will also be on hand, just to name a few. There will be arts and crafts, face-painting and a heap of activities that are all free and great for kids. 

People all over the world get together every year for this international event to highlight and celebrate our oceans. Not only are our oceans full of amazing creatures, they are vital for life itself. 

Life started from the oceans and the majority of the oxygen we breathe comes from algae in the oceans. The weather and climate is regulated by our oceans and although I work in an aquarium, my favourite food and the most nutritious of foods come from our oceans.

Visitors get a closer look at a starfish in the World Museum's aquarium.

This event will be full of passionate and knowledgeable people so if there is anything you want to know about our watery world, or if you want to help protect our oceans, this will be the place to find out and ask. 

And if this event has only just wet your ocean-exploring appetite, why not make a visit to the World Museum aquarium afterwards and see a variety of home grown and far flung aquatic animals - for free!

For more information about World Oceans Day visit the Liverpool World Oceans Day website or get involved on their Facebook page.