This weekend we had a visit from the cast of “The Hired Man” which opens on 29th July at the Lichfield Garrick . Based on a novel by Melyvn Bragg this musical follows the life of John Tallentire, a farm labourer and coal miner from the end of the 19th century through the first world. The cast had a museum and mine tour and visited the Apedale Valley Light Railway who showed them around their trench system. Some of the cast also had their first taste of North Staffordshire Oatcakes!
We found out today that we’ve been awarded a Tripadvisor Certificate of Excellence 2016, which is awarded to places that have a high average score and pass a certain number of review over a 12 month period. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed us, and especially to everyone at Apedale who’s hard work is reflected in the reviews.
Recently we had a great time working with a Team from BBC Research and Development and Rewind who recorded some 360o footage at the Heritage Centre. Even if you didn’t know that the BBC has a R&D department, you’ll almost certainly have used some of the technology that they have worked on over the decades like Ceefax (for those if us old enough to remember it!) or more recently HDTV. In fact, conducting research is part of the BBC’s obligations under its royal charter.
360o video is quite a new technology, recently the BBC created the first full 360o TV show, an episode of BBC Click. Examples can be found on YouTube and unlike normal video that has a fixed view point, in 360o video you can look around. On a PC you drag the view around with a mouse, on a phone or tablet you can move the device to look around, and with a Virtual Reality headset you can just look around as if you were there.
The format is still being explored and BBC R&D are looking at things like presenting graphics within 360o video and other aspects of usability. To do this they want to film in interesting places and Apedale is one of them. The filming took place over two days, in between school visits and a civic visit, which made for a very busy week. Two members of our mining team were filmed doing parts of the mine tour as well as making sure that everything was done in a safe manner, and other volunteers helped out behind the scenes, fetching carrying as well as feeding and watering the crew!
Although the results aren’t likely to find their way onto prime-time TV we hope that we’ll be able to share something with everyone in a few weeks once the video is processed and edited.
A big thanks to Compass Minerals UK who run the Winsford Salt Mines for their donation of a cheque and Easter eggs yesterday.
Earlier this week we were visited by the Mayor of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Councillor Sandra Hambleton and a party of local mayors and dignitaries. They had visited Chatterley Whitfield earlier in the day and then onto Apedale for a buffet and talk about the Heritage Centre. They were then offered a chance to go on our mine tour, which a few of them took advantage of.
On Saturday 26th March we’ll be pleased to welcome the Rode Hall Silver Band and the Cast of the Congleton Players’ production of “Brassed Off” to the Heritage Centre. The Band will be performing numbers from the play, and the cast and director will be happy to chat!
Open Door Stoke-on-Trent (http://www.opendoorstokeontrent.co.uk) are organising a charity walk around Apedale to support their work with homeless and vulnerable people. Tickets include a bowl of lobby, a roll and a drink. Contact the number shown below for information and booking.
PLEASE NOTE: The meeting point address is incorrect on the image below it should be “Apedale Heritage Centre, Loomer Road, Chesterton, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire. ST5 7LB”
At the Minnie Pit Memorial Event, last Sunday, we met quite a few people who were descendants of Minnie Pit miners. One gentleman brought this scout belt buckle with him, which belonged to Bernard Spode, a haulage worker. Bernard was just 14 when he died of terrible injuries in the disaster, and this item helped to identify him. Sure enough, we found it mentioned in the Minnie Pit Record Book that we have in the museum:- “Identified by scouts belt & piece of trousers by his mother”. Sad though they are, details like this help to paint a real picture of the events, making the victims more than just a number.
A description of the day can be found on the Methodist Church’s webpage here.
