Visitors invited to explore Nottinghamshire’s historical past during Archive Fun Day

Everyone has a part to play in building up the history of Nottinghamshire that is the message from Nottinghamshire County Council’s Archives Service.
Mansfield branch of the Suffragettes: one of the pihotographs on display at the Archives Fun Open Day on Saturday (May 2).Mansfield branch of the Suffragettes: one of the pihotographs on display at the Archives Fun Open Day on Saturday (May 2).
Mansfield branch of the Suffragettes: one of the pihotographs on display at the Archives Fun Open Day on Saturday (May 2).

Nottinghamshire County Council hosts an Archives Fun Open Day on Saturday (May 2), from 9am to 4pm with the service looking to welcome existing visitors and attract a wide variety of new audiences to get involved in the work of the archives team.

The fun day features a tour of the recently extended facilities and some exciting graphics will be on display which demonstrate how different ‘layers’ of historical documentation, images, stories and other information can be pooled together to help build the most accurate picture of the past that is possible.

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The graphics include famous buildings and landmarks in the county including Newark Castle, the interior of Southwell Minster and Nottingham’s Council House and Market Square from a number of different sources stored within the archives service which build up the story of that particular site.

Ruth Imeson, Team Manager Archives and Local Studies, at Nottinghamshire County Council said: “Everyone has a past, and everyone’s past is as important as the next person. We want people to not only come and explore the documents and archives already here but also include their own contributions if they wish because the more sources of information we have about Nottinghamshire, the more complete picture we have of the past which will benefit future generations.

“For example, there are so many stories to be told today and if things are not captured now they could be lost forever.”

The free family fun day marks the official reopening of the county council’s archives service following recent works to modernise the building. The building itself opens again to the public tomorrow (April 28) at 9am.

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Activities for children will include seal making, designing your own coat of arms, and dressing up in historical costumes. A number of artefacts will be on display at the fun day such as this heraldic pedigree from 1712 which was produced by Thomas Brand for the Botiler and Hutchinson families of Owthorpe. Heraldic pedigree helped people to establish noble ancestry, further indicating how exploring family history was as popular in the past as it is now.

During the open day, visitors can explore the new building with a display of archives, take part in the family activities and take tours of the new building, see the strong room and other areas of the extended building.

There will be an official opening ceremony conducted by Nottinghamshire County Council Chairman Pauline Allan at 10.15am, and at 1pm, there will be a talk by historical fiction by writer Judith Alnatt. Her first novel, A Mile of River was a BBC Radio 5 Live Book of the Month and was shortlisted for the Portico Prize for Literature and The Poet’s Wife was shortlisted for the East Midlands Book Award.

The new-look archives building now includes additional space to accommodate new archives for decades to come, including specialist storage for photographs and digital media. It also includes an additional new meeting room/multi-purpose learning space and improved computer suite for accessing digital heritage with free public wi-fi throughout the building.

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The opening times for the Archives building from 28th April, will be:

• Tuesdays 9am – 7pm

• Wednesdays - Fridays 9am – 5pm

• Saturdays 9am – 1pm

Find out more about the Nottinghamshire County Council archives service: www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/learning/history/archives/archivesnews/