The Heritage Buddy

 ​ As I was going to St. Ives, I met a man with seven wives, Each wife had seven sacks, Each sack had seven cats, Each cat had seven kits: Kits, cats, sacks, and wives, How many were there going to St. Ives?  -Anon.  Looking through the War Memorial Register as a volunteer for the Imperial War Museums, I noticed a glazed and framed Roll of Honour on the system housed at St Ives Museum. I have been to St Ives before and walked past the museum a good few times, but never went in.  Under 16’s go free and it’s £5 per person over 16. A volunteer very kindly introduced me to the museum’s collection 

​Not long after my nan passed away last year, she had left a lot of family history behind, including the amount of keepsakes she kept. This gave my mother a good excuse to make good use of her Ancestry subscription that me and my sisters bought her for her birthday. We already knew that my paternal great grandfather was a construction worker and his family owned and ran a construction business in the heart of my borough; my father once drove us around the neighbourhood he helped to build pre-WW1, or at some point in the very early Edwardian era. After beginning a long process of clearing out my nan’s house, he brought home his equestrian trophies and rosettes, we did already know he was a keen horse rider, as well as a construction worker, as my father looked into his family history a quite a while ago. There was also a business directory of all the local public services and businesses, which did include my great grandfather’s construction company which was located next to one of the ...

During a gym workout session when taking a brisk walk on the treadmill, I received a WhatApp message from my father saying his colleague is doing a research project on an abandoned RAF and US Army Air Force (USSAF) airfield in Essex, and is inviting me along on the project.   I met with my father's colleague soon after; he explained the history of the airfield on how it was one of the airfield for the Americans during Britain's alliance during the Second World War, then the RAF came in later. Despite being operational for only two years, the airfield also played a part on D-Day with the Glider Pilot Regiment, then onto Operation Market Garden (Battle of Arnhem), followed by the Rhine Crossing (Operation Varsity).  A month later after holidaying and day trips, I booked myself into Imperial War Museum's research facility and requested to look at Bruce Stait's book, Rivenhall: An Essex Airfield and some documents to see what I could learn about the airfield. I then bought ...

Happy Volunteers Week 2025! It is volunteers week this week and can only mean one thing... a huge celebration of volunteering in lots of different sectors and celebrating the work of volunteers themselves. It is not just charities, children's services, care homes and animal rescue centres where people volunteer, it also includes museums, arts and culture. I first started volunteering as a poppy collector with the Royal British Legion which was a heartwarming experience and considering going back when the time comes as I have done some individual fundraising for them since. I am proud to share I have been involved with museums for 8 years which has been such an incredible journey. I'll start by sharing where it all began: my autism group set up a work experience project with the Museum of London in their archives and collections. The title itself is self explanatory; the Museum of London explores the history of London from the Roman settlements in Britain (whereby London was kno...