National Museums Liverpool Blog - Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Opening events at the Museum of Liverpool © Mark McNulty

On Thursday 19 July it will be the ‘new kid on the dock’s first birthday and we’d like to invite all the other birthday boys and girls who were born that day to celebrate with us. It doesn’t matter how old you are, one or 101, if it’s your birthday on 19 July then we’d love to hear from you.

Please get in touch using this contact form if you are available in the afternoon on Thursday 19 July and can take part in our special events. We will need some sort of proof that it’s your birthday on 19 July. Or if you can’t be with us on the day then you can leave a birthday message in the comments on this blog post.

Ben Forshaw tells us more about what he’s been up to during his work placement:

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On my fourth day at NML, along with Jacob from the same school as myself, we learnt about illegal importing at the Seized! gallery. We also helped set up a presentation about the smuggling of endangered animals for school children.

Before the school arrived, Sarah Han from the education team gave us a tour of the gallery. I was very surprised to learn that people managed to import substances such as cannabis, by swallowing bags of the drug and excreting them, and that unlikely objects such as garden gnomes and cricket bats have been used to bring prohibited materials into the country. We learnt about the smuggling of items by fake brands eg, Polystation rather than Playstation. Despite it being evident that a Polystation is fake (some items appeared more genuine than others), people still bought them, not knowing the danger they posed. I was horrified to learn that a young child bought a fake Nintendo DS and, as a consequence of how it was made, died through being electrocuted. And while items like fake football kits cannot cause harm, the clear lack of authenticity in most cases suggest that child labour was used to create the clothing. This is why the Customs Officers are so important, as they, for our benefit, try to ensure that the importing of prohibited goods is prevented.

The school session was with a Year 4 class from Knotty Ash Primary School. Sarah focused on the importing of objects that were made by the skin or features of animals believed to be endangered. Certain people know that these animals are endangered and as a result of this want to have an item made by a part of that animal to appear unique. The most popular animals for this appeared to be the tusks of an elephant and the skin of a crocodile. One woman even made a handbag out of the full body of a crocodile, much to the disgust of the 8-9 year old children watching the presentation. At the end, everyone was given permission to touch a stool made from an elephant’s foot, and this proved very popular with the children as they expressed great excitement at its rough surface. It became evident very early on in the session they were a very enthusiastic class and eager to get what they knew across. 

Jacob and I would like to thank Sarah for a really helpful and worthwhile morning. We think that you should take a look at Seized! for yourself.

Jacob Cook, as part of his work experience at NML, visits World Museum and reports on what he saw:

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Today I revisited the World Museum in Liverpool for the first time in a while. I got there just after opening time expecting an empty museum, however that was not the case, the place was filled with junior school classes who must have been on their end of year trip.

These pupils seemed to enjoy every minute of the experience. They were excited, very curious about the exhibits and left no stone unturned (there are actual prehistoric stones that are available to handle) whilst dragging their teachers from one floor to the other. I thought it was great that their age group (8-11) are still as into the museum as me and my class were at that age.

One exhibit that I enjoyed was the Egyptian gallery, it’s not quite what I remembered but it’s just as (if not more) enjoyable. The well crafted design of the room was filled with everything from descriptions of the mythology of the time to mummified corpses. Once I left this area I was shocked at how long I spent inside. Another highlight was the Bug House. Not only was there giant insect models strategically placed in the design (including a giant spider which had one kid genuinely scared) but an abundance of specimens to get an up close look at (living or dead).
 
When it comes to this particular museum it’s difficult to pick a favourite aspect. It all comes together to create an experience, whether it’s the dinosaurs and the natural world, the ancient world or current world cultures, space and time, no matter how many visits it never bores. I’m sure they will be putting on new exhibits soon but even if you can’t make them or you miss them, I highly recommend the old exhibits; they got them right the first time.
 

Our work experience student Ben Forshaw gives his verdict on the Museum of Liverpool

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Today, as part of my two week work experience at NML, I spent my time at the Museum of Liverpool. I felt the trip to the museum today was one I enjoyed thoroughly, and it educated me on much of Liverpool’s history. I showed particular interest in this specific museum due to the current football displays there. As a great fan of football and a player of the sport myself, I could relate to these displays in many ways - especially the presentation of the rivalry between Liverpool and Everton.

Despite my main reason in going to the museum being to check out the football demonstration, I also took great interest in looking at the city’s history. This was the feature of the museum I found most interesting, simply because I found facts about things such as the exporting from Liverpool back in the 1800s and 1900s so intriguing. I learnt that the city became a city in 1880 and that over 13,000 people from the city died during the World War 1; it appealed to me because I admittedly do not know much about our city’s history.

Another matter that caught my attention was the possible building of the “Cathedral of Dreams” many years ago. It was fascinating to understand that had that cathedral been built, it would have been the world’s second largest cathedral. Just imagine how good a monument like that would have been to have in our city! A building such as that one would have been brilliant to have in addition to other attractions in Liverpool such as the Echo Arena, Anglican Cathedral and now the Museum of Liverpool. I would definitely recommend that you all take a look at the Cathedral of Dreams in the museum, as I certainly found it breathtaking!

All in all, my experience this morning was one I would very much like to revisit some time soon, especially as there were more aspects to the museum I could have checked out had I had more time there. Another particular event I would recommend you all taking a look at was the 15 minute long film about Liverpool Football Club and Everton Football Club’s history since they were formed. I suppose my views may be slightly bitter on the subject, however I found it quite amusing watching Everton fans have to watch Liverpool persistently outdo them throughout their history.

From Curator of Port History Ben Whittaker:

While working in our museum stores I came across this beautiful silver model of the SS Great Eastern which was presented to Sir James W Paton on behalf of his employees at Paton, Calvert & Co Ltd. It was given to celebrate the company's Golden Jubilee in 1937.  Sir James had a personal connection to the Great Eastern - his father Captain Walter Paton captained the ship, and Sir James was born on the ship in the mid-Atlantic on the 15th January, 1863.

This is just one of thousands of objects in the reserve collections of the Merseyside Maritime Museum.  Like most museums we only have the space to display a small fraction of our collections at any one time. A recent redevelopment at the Maritime Museum saw storage space converted to a new community space for the International Slavery Museum.  Maritime Museum curatorial staff had to pack up a large collection of objects so they could be moved to a new offsite storage space. It's my job along with Assistant Curator Michelle Walsh to gradually unpack these objects, check their condition, photograph them and locate them in new racking and shelving.  It's quite a long process as there are over 2,500 objects in 400 boxes! This is the work of curatorial staff that the public don't see, keep an eye out for future blogs about the interesting and unusual objects we are unpacking and re-storing.   

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.