Gloucestershire Archives: Passport to the Past
Bugs, Bees and Books: A day at Gloucestershire Archives
Wednesday 4 August, 4 - 5pm. Free of charge
You might already know about our 11 million documents going back 900 years. Maybe you’ve heard about our 10 miles of shelves. But you might not know about the buzziest members of the archives team, or some of the tiny unwelcome visitors we have to deal with.
Find out why this little chap is an archivists worst enemy....
...the surprising history of Raikes the Archive Rat
...and why you don’t have to be superhuman to move a ton of books with one finger.
To book this free online session visit Gloucestershire Archives
The Worst Journey in the World
Wednesday 8 September, 4 - 5pm. Free of charge
Can you imagine seeing this advertisement in the newspaper and thinking "Yes! I'll do it!"
Edward Wilson, a young doctor from Cheltenham, joined the expedition to the Antarctic in the year 1910 - and never came back. At that time, nothing was known about this frozen land. Like the moon in 1969, no-one had ever set foot there. It took as much courage to climb aboard the Terra Nova expedition ship as it did into Apollo 11, 60 years later. Wilson didn’t survive the voyage - but many of his beautiful drawings and paintings did.
Wilson learned to draw as a young child, and practised on the birds, plants and animals he saw in the Gloucestershire countryside. We’ve borrowed some taxidermy specimens (stuffed animals) to have a go at drawing animals from life and we’re going to focus on some of the skills and qualities a modern-day explorer might need.
"The great ice barrier - looking east from Cape Crozier". Watercolour by Edward A Wilson, 4 January 1911
Where would you like to explore?
What would you take with you?
How would you record your discoveries for future generations?
For this session you’ll need some pencils and paper.
For every monthly Passport event, we create new resources which can be used during the session. These will appear on the Passport to the Past: fun activities and resources for families and schools page at least 48 hours before each event takes place giving you time to print them off. This link will also be sent to you a couple of days before the event takes place.
f you can’t print off the pages for the session, please don’t worry! We will display the pages on the screen during the event and all your child will need is a couple of pages of blank paper and a pen or pencil.
Please note that there are other pages listed as downloads which you can also print and enjoy in your own time if you want to do so.
You should receive your Zoom link as an automated message when you book on to this event (remember to press the "Book now" button once you've entered your details). If you don't, please check your junk folder. If it's not in there, please contact archives@gloucestershire.gov.uk and we will send you a link.
