Pictures in the Landscape returns

This week, as well as being the Derbyshire schools half-term holiday, the Discovery Days festival is being celebrated across the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site. When we were asked to join in, we wanted to find a way to use the museum collections in a different setting.  We don’t have many objects that relate to the mills themselves but we do have some wonderful images of the local area.

Cromford, taken from the Bridge. Watercolour by William Day, 1789.

 

Cromford has been attracting visitors since the 1700s, when artists came to paint the landscape and tourists came to admire the industrial innovations taking place at the mills. The images in the museum collection span the period from then until the 20th century, with the landscape reproduced in paintings, drawings, engravings and photographs.

Engraving, published by Rock and Co, 1852

This is also a revival of a project that first took place in Dovedale in 2010 as part of the Derbyshire Literature Festival. This time round, we found 16 images of Cromford to reproduce and they have been hung along the short section of the canal from Cromford Wharf to Leawood Pumphouse, a route which is easily accessible and much used by local residents, day visitors and tourists.

Pictures in the Landscape: Cromford, 22-30 October 2016

We hope everyone will enjoy seeing some historic views of Cromford along the canal during Discovery Days – and, if they haven’t been before, take the opportunity to visit Cromford Mills and High Peak Junction at either end to make it a real day of discovery.

Buxton Museum and Art Gallery would like to thank our friends at Derbyshire Countryside Service, the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site and Cromford Mills for their help with all our Discovery Days events.

All things weird and wonderful

Last weekend we changed some displays in the project space so we could show off some of the fantastic items from the Randolph Douglas collection. This was acquired by Derbyshire County Council in 1984 with help from the PRISM (preservation of industrial and scientific material) fund. The scheme is administered by Arts Council England to encourage collecting and conserving items that tell the story of the development of science, technology, industry and related fields.

The new display in the project space at Buxton Museum

Randolph Douglas has already been written about by my colleague Ben Jones in a previous blog here, and we know from questions we are asked that he is a popular subject with our visitors. He’s particularly well-known among magicians and also for the museum he ran in Castleton, called the House of Wonders.

Randolph Douglas took the stage name Randini. Here he is on a postcard signed Jan 1914.

 

Douglas was born in 1895 at Greenhill in north-east Derbyshire, the son of a silversmith. He was fascinated by Houdini from a young age, purchasing locks and a straitjacket as a young boy, and meeting the escapologist when he was still a teenager. Their friendship quickly evolved beyond that of star and fan into mutual admiration. Douglas even inspired Houdini’s famous upside-down escape from a straitjacket during one of the escapologists visits to the Douglas family home at Endcliffe in Sheffield.

Douglas and Houdini outside the Empire Theatre in Sheffield, 1920

 

After being discharged from the army on medical grounds in 1916, Douglas used his experience as a steelworker and amateur locksmith to focus on making models. He also amassed a large collection of ethnographic and geological specimens, locks and chains, and local curiosities. He and his wife Hetty moved to the village of Castleton and turned half of their house into a museum to display his collection. The House of Wonders opened at Easter 1926 and visitors paid a small charge to be shown around by torchlight. After Douglas died in 1956, Hetty continued to run the museum until her death in 1978.

Poster advertising the House of Wonders c.1930

On display this summer you can see items including handaxes from the Pacific islands, a case of patented locks and keys from the 19th century, beautifully decorated Chinese card markers and water pipes, a copy of the Lord’s Prayer small enough to pass through the eye of a needle, a smuggler’s dictionary with a secret cavity and a Saxon spearhead found at Matlock. Truly wonder-full!

 

End of an Era – Stripping out the Wonders of the Peak

“You’ve got to break some eggs to make an omelette”

That’s how the old saying goes, but still I must admit to having mixed feelings as I watch the strip out of the old Wonders of the Peak gallery. On one hand it’s an incredibly exciting time as the fake walls and ceilings are removed – but it’s still sad to see the old displays being dismantled.

I won’t go over old ground in explaining how and why we’ve decided to make these changes – they’ve already been summed in some of our previous posts.

https://collectionsinthelandscape.wordpress.com/2014/06/10/design-ideas-for-the-new-gallery/

https://collectionsinthelandscape.wordpress.com/2013/08/13/wonders-of-the-peak-gallery/

The low, winding tunnels of the old gallery are actually constructed within two large rooms. More and more of the original space is being opened up each and every day. We’ve been keeping a photo diary of the progress. My intention is to publish a series of slideshows at the end of the project – to show the changes that have taken place from certain viewpoints.

Just for you, here is a sneak peek of the story so far.

Recent visitors to the museum will have discovered the Buxton Bear has moved to the Project Space. Here’s a reminder of where he used to be, and what it looks like now. The stalagmites and stalactites have also been removed. Not many people realise they were real cave formations.

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These next images show the old Georgian Room, and what you can see from the same viewpoint today.

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The Roman Displays were perhaps some of the most iconic in the old gallery. Here’s a view of the roman altars looking towards the fire exit.

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And above it all, hidden for over 25 years, THIS ceiling.

Visit us in the Project Space to find out more about the new gallery design or our exciting digital plans. The new gallery, Wonders of the Peak: A Journey through Time and Place, is currently scheduled for a ‘soft opening’ in April 2017, so make a note in next year’s diary and come along to see the exhibits!

 

 

Time to Take Two

Last weekend Take Two opened, a new exhibition displaying paintings and drawings from the Derbyshire County Council collection. This show explores relationships between some of the pictures at the museum, by looking at two works by the same artist or images of the same view by two different artists.

Buxton Montage by Zoe Badger (2010), winner of the Derbyshire Open Friends Purchase Prize

I joined the team at Buxton Museum and Art Gallery this summer and have spent the last 6 weeks planning the exhibition. I’ve been helped on this journey by brilliant art student and artist in the making Rachel Hesketh, who has assisted with everything and anything including locating pictures in the store, choosing works for display, researching information about artists and taking photographs. The exhibition hang was a real team effort as we carried paintings from store to gallery, agonised over the lay out and resized labels.

Part of the Old Bath, Matlock Bath by Mary Mitford (c.1770)

One of the remits for Take Two was that the work was ‘made in Derbyshire’ and it has been wonderful to have the opportunity to show some paintings that won’t have been seen for a while alongside some more recent acquisitions. Also on display are two works by Sheffield artist, Eddy Dreadnought, completed as part of his residency at Tarmac Lafarge’s Tunstead Quarry in summer 2014, which complement some of the industrial paintings from the museum collection.

The Peak by Gwen A Tarbuck (2000), winner of the Derbyshire Open Friends Purchase Prize

Look out for a few other treasures including a copy of Ebenezer Rhodes’ Peak Scenery, or the Derbyshire Tourist (1818-1823) – illustrated by F L Chantrey, whose engraving of Castle Rock is also on show – and husband and wife artistic duo, Samuel and Ann Rayner, whose lithograph and engraving on Ashford Black Marble are displayed side by side.

Matlock Bath, engraving on Ashford Black Marble by Ann Rayner (c1840)

I hope this exhibition inspires you to get out and about around Derbyshire and the Peak District, and look forward to sharing more with you soon. Take Two is showing at Buxton Museum and Art Gallery until Saturday 7 November 2015.

Done the app? Well, now see the objects!

We’ve recently reclaimed a small area of the Museum foyer to display some of our lovely Buxton objects. Many of these feature in our Buxton Waters app, but we’ve also managed to squeeze in some additional objects too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On display there are souvenir programmes for the Well Dressing Festivals, prints and ceramics, a miniature of Martha Norton and an array of Buxton Water bottles.

We’ve also put some of our favourite Buxton pictures up, including David Russell’s Exterior of Buxton Museum and Art Gallery and a watercolour of the Thermal Baths from c. 1850s.

What Does the Derbyshire Landscape Mean to You?

Regular visitors to the museum or its digital incarnations may remember the launch of White Peak Dark Peak on Friday 13 December, blogged about by Ben shortly afterwards. He was kind enough to photograph me sampling the buffet!

The exhibition examines some of the places we’ll be exploring through Collections in the Landscape, using objects, paintings and photographs to contrast the ‘soft curves of the White Peak’ with the ‘gritty angles of the Dark Peak’.

Visitors to the exhibition are also asked a question – What does the Derbyshire landscape mean to you? We’re encouraging people to let us know through social media (#WPDP) but also in the gallery itself.

The whiteboard in White Peak Dark Peak has allowed visitors to express themselves.

For this week’s post I’ve taken it upon myself to analyse some of the comments – exploring the moving, interesting, and often imaginative responses left behind by visitors. Already there are some strong themes emerging. Get ready for the top 5 so far!

5. Flora & Fauna

No surprise in this strong entry. The living landscape of Derbyshire has clearly made an impression on those who visit it. Mammals, birds, insects and flowers all get a mention! A casual walk around Miller’s Dale in late Spring/Early Summer rewards the visitor with hundreds of pink Common Spotted Orchids.

 

Space, air, butterflys, orchids, hares…a fox…

4. History

I can safely say that the museum team are very relieved to see this feature in the top 5! The messages left convey the sense of special places, where time has stood still or that, despite changes, the past is all around us. Take a stroll up to Arbor Low to feel this deep connection to the landscape’s ancient past.

Where the past still lives

3. Weather

How very British, our visitors simply couldn’t help but comment on the weather. The rain and wind seem to feature quite a lot…I can’t imagine why. If you do catch yourself in the area in poor weather I can only recommend you visit us at Buxton Museum & Art Gallery as a perfect way to spend a wet afternoon.

wet

2. The Physical Landscape

In at number 2 – the geology and geography of the region. From rolling hills and deep dales to dark moors and peat bogs, visitors have enjoyed describing the physical features of Derbyshire. The top of Mam Tor, near Castleton, is a great place to contrast the landscapes of the White Peak to the south and the Dark Peak to the north.

Long rambles through dales and over moors

1. A Beautiful Place

Topping our list – it’s the sheer beauty of this unique landscape. Many, many different terms were used to describe the spectacular scenery of the region. I’ve often pulled over on my drive home along the A53, from Buxton to Leek, to admire the view across the hills and dales.

Unspoilt Untamed Incredible

We’re continuing to photograph the board as it fills up to keep a record of the comments. We’re also starting to share some of these quotes with the world through our Facebook and Twitter accounts.

We’ve started to share our responses through social media.

Please share your own thoughts about the Derbyshire landscape with us and we’ll endeavour to print some out and include them in the exhibition. Use #WPDP on Twitter posts. I’ll leave you with one of the most artistic contributions so far, but perhaps a little unfair on some of our neighbours though…

Some visitors have been quite creative…(not the opinion of the museum I hasten to add!)

Museums Association Conference

Guest post by Ros Westwood

I’ve just attended the Museums Association annual conference which was held this year in Liverpool. Have you been there recently? It is a fabulous city. The conference centre is right alongside the Mersey, and really near some of their iconic museums. I was so busy talking that I’m afraid photographs did not take priority.

I took time out to go to see the Museum of Liverpool. It’s a new building, very bright white, rather than the mellow tones of the Three Graces on the Liverpool waterfront, but internally feels like a Tardis. The staircase loops beautifully around in the centre, drawing your eye upwards.

Photo bt Nathan Stazicker

I didn’t have time to do the whole museum, so the Beatles will have to wait. On the top floor is a gallery called The People’s Republic. It covers the recent history of Liverpool, in the words and artefacts of the people themselves.  As always, I landed up going backwards through the gallery, I think.

It is an object rich gallery, so that you hardly know what to look at, there is so much choice. I wanted one of those devises that maps where your eye is looking, because there was so much to see and it would have been interesting to see the journey across any one of the cases. Actually, for our project, this is an important lesson:  we need to make sure that we don’t put in so much that the visitor doesn’t see anything – an interesting thought when CITL is committed to putting 10% more artefacts on show!

Our object rich displays in the ‘Wonders of the Peak’ gallery

There were several talking head videos. I thought these would irritate me, but they didn’t. What the people had to say was interesting and moving, and in the quiet of the gallery, you felt the place had people in it. Perhaps if these soundtracks were all restricted under sound hoods, they would not have had the same impact.

The breath-taking view up the waterfront and all the way to America rather steals the show, particularly on a sunny day.

However, I had only nipped out from the conference, and wanted to see Liverpool’s version of the History Detectives on the first floor, covering the arrival of people in the area, again to the present day. Rather than talking heads, here there were quotes instead – and this common interpretation appealed to me. Short extracts supported by succinct interpretation. The objects ranged from stone tools, through to beautiful porcelain, archaeological potsherds form all periods of the city’s history, ephemera and social history. Object labelling was really important to the curators, but often it got in the way of some of the displays. Also, the maps were not as precise as I might like, with assumptions that the visitor knows where every place is. But this is one of the areas that I know we want to do better in the new gallery.

We want to improve the labels in the new gallery!

Back at the conference, I went around the trade stands looking at display cases and lighting systems, environmental monitoring and the range of digital interpretation currently on offer. With loads of people to talk to and lots of good practice, the ideas and lessons need to be fed into Collections in the Landscape.

A Visit to Arbor Low

A number of weeks ago, Ben and I braved the elements, jumped in the car, and made the 10 mile journey from Buxton to Arbor Low. The prehistoric monument is one of the sites we’d like to build a pilot project around for Collections in the Landscape. The Scheduled Ancient Monument is one of the most important monuments in the Peak District but also holds national significance. This is reflected in it’s popular nickname, ‘Stonehenge of the North’.Luckily the rain held off as we met our guide for the morning’s visit: Ken Smith, Cultural Heritage Manager for the Peak District National Park Authority. Ken explained the archaeology and history of the site as well as how the monument is managed for present and future generations.

Welcome to Arbor Low

Prehistoric Henge & Stone Circle

Arbor Low consists of a henge monument, enclosed by a bank and ditch, with a circle of stones inside. A round barrow was incorporated in the south-western bank during the Bronze Age. Another barrow, known as Gib Hill, lies 300m to the south-west.

There are still many gaps in our understanding regarding Arbor Low. This doesn’t harm the sense of mystery and wonder I always experience when I visit, but it does frustrate the archaeologist in me! The Arbor Low Environs Project has recently been set up to help broaden our understanding of the monument and is still on-going.

The monument we see today was created in several phases over more than 1000 years, from around 2500 to 1500 BC. According to English Heritage, it’s thought that the first feature on the site was a Neolithic barrow at Gib Hill, followed by the creation of the bank and ditch at Arbor Low. Later, in the Bronze Age, the stone circle was added inside of the henge monument and two barrows built; one over part of the bank and another built over the Neolithic barrow.

Plan of Arbor Low

The stones at Arbor Low lie flat rather than upright as one might expect. This has caused some debate over the years about whether or not they were ever standing. Ken was definitely in the ‘they once stood’ camp and pointed out what look like the stumps of several stones long since broken and removed.

Regardless of whether or not the stones ever stood, I think a lot of blood, sweat and tears must have gone into the construction. Today the bank stands at over 2 metres high and is 75 to 79 metres in diameter. This demonstrates a huge investment in time and effort even before anyone dragged more than 40 slabs of quarried limestone into the centre of the monument! However, looking out at the view, and the prominent position of the site, it’s easy to see why the spot was chosen.

It’s very easy to get bogged down in the fascinating archaeology at Arbor Low, but we also had other business for being there. It gave us a sense of the landscape we’d be working in and we were able to explore both the benefits and potential issues that delivering digital projects at the site might bring forth. It’s easy to sit in an office and forget all the problems that the weather, rugged terrain, variable mobile signal and rogue sheep can bring!

 Access vs Conservation

Access to Arbor Low for you or me is thanks to a partnership between the Peak District National Park Authority, English Heritage and local landowners. This aims to create a sustainable future for the monument, balancing out the needs for conservation, visitor access and agricultural use of the land. Access is maintained through a £1 charge, payable at an honesty box at the farm. A bargain if I do say so!

My favourite bit of subtle visitor management was a thin line of gravel path that peters out as you cross the field towards Arbor Low. For many years visitors went through the gate and made a bee-line for the closest point of the henge, crossing over the bank and wearing a noticeable groove in the earthwork. Without any intrusive signage, the subtle gravel path sets today’s visitors unconsciously towards one of the monuments two entrances, ancient gaps in the bank and ditch.

Objects from the Past

Our collection includes many stone tools discovered in the region of Arbor Low, many discovered by local people as they walked the fields. There is little evidence to suggest where the communities that built Arbor Low may have lived, but finds such as arrowheads, scrapers, knifes and axe heads confirm their presence. Other tools, pottery and bones, found in other areas of the Peak District, also help put the world of ancient Derbyshire into context.

Some of our Arbor Low flints on display at the museum

The collection also contains crawings, prints, lantern slides and photographs of Arbor Low. These help us understand how subsequent generations viewed the site. The monument attracted the attention of many local antiquarians including the likes of Thomas Bateman. 19^th century excavations discovered human remains and grave goods in both barrows and further remains were discovered at the centre of the stone circle between 1901 and 1902.

We’d like to make our collections available to people as they stand amongst the stones and we’re still figuring out the best way to do this. I Dig Sheffield is a good example of a simple, effective method but at the moment the site doesn’t translate well to mobile devices. Keep tuned and we hope to announce exciting things for Arbor Low very soon…

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A Derbyshire salon hang?

Over the last five years Buxton Museum has bought over 30 artworks as part of the Enlightenment! project. These range from oil paintings by Royal Academy artists to watercolours by unknown amateurs. What the pictures all have in common, is that they show either Derbyshire views or Derbyshire people and were created between 1743 and about 1880.

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All these artworks have been on display in the Museum, and many of them have toured to Derby Museum and Art Gallery and Strutt’s North Mill. We don’t have a permanent art gallery at the Museum. Instead we incorporate art into the Wonders of the Peak Gallery, especially in the Georgian Room, and into our temporary exhibition programme. As part of Collections in the Landscape we are looking at redeveloping the Wonders of the Peak Gallery and have a commitment to put 10% more objects on display.

Salon hangs were popular in the 18th and 19th centuries.
This is an image of the 1839 Derby Exhibition at the Mechanics Institute in Derby.

I am very keen to get more art on display and one way of doing this in a small space is by implementing a salon hang – basically floor to ceiling art.  Although I like salon hangs, I do find that they don’t always work and that pictures can sometimes blend too much into the background. Traditionally the ‘best’ paintings were hung ‘on the line’ i.e at eye level. While those further down the hierarchy were ‘skied’, meaning that you can’t get a decent look at them! The benefits of the salon hang, is that you are able to get more art on show and they are displayed in an appropriate period style.

Salon hang at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

I think Buxton Museum’s Derbyshire views would work well in this scenario. It would give the wall a strong theme and comparisons could be made easily between the different artists’ interpretations of the views. Oils could be up there semi-permanently while works on paper could be on a rolling programme, limiting their exposure to the light. We could also look at drawers, possibly in a Georgian Gentleman’s style cabinet in which to display prints and watercolours, which would allow public access while limiting light damage.

Anna using the iExplore app at the Clarke Institute

 
It can be tricky to get the interpretation right on a salon hang, as it doesn’t lend itself to the traditional museum label.  While visiting museums over the last 6 months I have been keeping my eyes peeled for ideas. I enjoyed the hang at the Clarke Institute in Massachusetts, USA. Here they’ve hung over 80 paintings in a small room and the bulk of the interpretation is accessed via tablets, which are loaned to visitors. It creates an interesting exhibition and I enjoyed the ‘hodgepodgeness’ of depictions of American Indians displayed alongside a Renaissance Madonna and British coastal scenes.

The tablet displayed a programme called uExplore which gave further information on the paintings and sometimes also relevant audio and video content. There was another interactive app called uCurate which allows visitors to digitally curate their own exhibition – you choose the paintings, wall colours, design layout etc.

A visitor using the uCurate app at the Clarke Institute

Both apps are available to use from the comfort of your own home – http://www.clarkart.edu/exhibitions/remix/content/exhibition.cfm We’d be interested to know what you think?

 

Visit to British Geological Survey

On 29^th July myself, my colleague Ben and one of our Volunteers Brian visited the British Geological Survey (BGS) to take a few of our fossils specimens for photography and 3D scanning. BGS are coming to the end of a digitisation project called GB3D type fossils, run by Simon Harris and Dr. Michela Contessi and funded by JISC, which has been 3D scanning all the type fossils in museums in the UK. The data will soon be freely available on their website and the results are quite impressive. If you have the equipment the 3D scanned fossils can also then be downloaded and printed on a 3D printer.

The 3D scanner in action

One of our type fossils being photographed at BGS by Simon Harris

Our specimens were particularly small so only one item, a brachiopod, was big enough to be scanned. The other two fossils, holotype and paratype trilobites, were photographed on both sides and the labels of the items were also photographed as a record. It was also a great opportunity for us to learn some tips to improve our own photography, for instance objects should be lit from the top left when photographing.  

BGS retain borehole cores from all over the UK in their massive stores

The Victorian cases in the BGS museum stores

Whilst there we were also lucky enough to be shown around their museum collections, library and stores by Simon Harris, who will soon be the collections conservator at BGS. We were surprised by the size of their stores – 28,000 trays housing over 3 million specimens, and that isn’t including all the borehole samples they retain! The type, figured and cited collection alone is around a quarter of a million specimens. The museum collections are still kept in wonderful Victorian wooden cases and we were interested to find that they hold several fossils collected by one of the main contributors to Buxton Museum & Art Gallery’s collections, J. W. Jackson.

Specimens collected by J.W. Jackson from Mam Tor, Castleton, Derbyshire

As part of the GB3D Type fossil project, later this month there will be a treasure hunt for 3D-printed fossils created from the 3D scans. A printed fossil will be hidden in some of the museums that have taken part in the project and the BGS are inviting visitors to search for the 3D prints and enter the treasure hunt! The treasure hunt will run between 22^nd August and 12^th September. We will select five winners from the entries at our museum and those winners will get a VIP tour of Buxton Museum & Art Gallery. The winners will also be entered into the grand prize for a chance to win a tablet preloaded with 3D fossils. Details of how to take part will and what to look for will be updated shortly.