Still here, there and everywhere

A busy second half of last year took our minds away from the blog – so time to bring it up to date. We were working on some fantastic projects last year in the Isle of Man, East Yorkshire and South Wales, so there was a good deal of travelling and some interesting journeys for the team and only brief spells in the office for some of us. Our projects for Manx National Heritage and Sewerby Hall and Gardens in Bridlington are now complete but we are still busy in Narberth and on projects in Rochdale, York and the Midlands, whilst some shorter term consultancy projects are taking us to Port Sunlight in the Wirral, Newport and Belfast.

Just before Christmas we completed an Audience Development Plan for Manx National Heritage putting the organisation in a strong position to plan its future development with wider audiences, more repeat visiting and an enhanced quality of experience firmly in mind. We also completed a combined Interpretation and Activity Plan for Sewerby Hall and Gardens, a beautiful Grade 1 listed property in Bridlington. We went on to work with the architect and curator on refining proposals for refurbishing, decorating and furnishing some of the historic rooms, which had become institutionalised and bare during the years of mixed council use. The refurbishment project has recently been submitted by East Riding of Yorkshire Council for Round 2 of an HLF bid.

Both projects brought challenges of scale in terms of the depth and range of research and consultation they required. And both demanded creative approaches to engaging new audiences with areas of heritage which were once the preserve of the highly educated and well-off. The Sewerby bid to HLF will go before regional committee in March and if successful will see the property completely refurbished and returned to its glory days of the 1900s, with a recreated working Victorian Kitchen at the heart of its activities programme. Its early years in the public realm are shown in this lovely picture taken in the 1930s shortly after it was purchased by Bridlington Corporation for the benefit of the town.