Conservation skills and interpretation project
Heritage Celebration Days
Over the course of the project we have attended Knowsley Flower
Show twice to promote the wider project and to celebrate Knowsley's
rich and diverse heritage.
In 2008 we held the first of the two celebration days at the
Knowsley Flower Show to officially launch the project. We hired a
traditional marquee that hosted a variety of activities to enthuse
and inspire visitors about the history of the borough. Activities
included:
- Demonstrations of traditional building skills
- Free artist-run workshops with opportunities to have a go at
stone carving and making a medieval tile.
- A display of artifacts from Prescot Museum.
- Exhibition of Look to the Future: Celebrate Our Past
and the Restoration of Historic Landmarks, Crosses and
Milestones Project.
- Screenings of rare archive film of Knowsley.
- Living history displays.
Knowsley Flower Show 2009
Now in its 11th year, the flower show is well established
locally and further afield, with a deserved reputation as a good
family day out.
All the activities in the heritage marquee reflected the aims
and ambitions of the project and informed the local community how
they can get involved. The content very much reflected and built on
what was successful last year, with a range of activities for all
ages to enjoy. All activities were accessible and ‘hands on’ where
appropriate in order to achieve the highest level of public
engagement.
The content of the 20 x 40 ft traditional marquee included:
- A demonstration of decorative plaster work, complete with a
small scale mock up of a lath and plaster ceiling and wall.
- The chance to design and make your own piece of decorative
plaster.
- Brick making workshop and activity.
- Stained glass workshop.
- Thatching demonstration and exhibition.
- An archive film screening.
- Exhibition, listening post and film by Prescot Museum.
- Project display.
- Launch of the Knowsley Plaque Scheme.
The heritage marquee was busy throughout the day, and visitors
loved what was going on and were genuinely interested in everything
on offer.
As expected, the workshops were very popular and busy all day.
The stained glass, brick making and plaster work activities were
continually fully attended, and the demonstrations had an audience
throughout with lots of opportunities for members of public to
interact with professionals and ask questions.
Participants take part in stained glass, brick
making and thatching workshops during Knowsley's 2009 Flower
Show
The Knowsley Plaque Scheme was also launched at the Flower Show.
This is an opportunity for local people to nominate and then vote
for significant individuals, buildings or events that they wish to
have commemorated with a plaque. The Flower Show presented the
ideal opportunity - high profile and busy - to attract as much
attention and interest in this project as possible. The newly
published heritage walks books were also extremely popular, and
there was a lot of interest in the free guided walks.
The event was without doubt successful, and not purely in terms
of numbers. Visitors were genuinely interested in what we had on
offer and in finding out more about the project. Their enthusiasm
for local heritage was infectious and certainly bodes well for the
future of the project.