“What the heck” and more!

I never really thought learning about Archives would be something that I would find that interesting, but since I started working with the College in December 2022 I had heard nothing but positive feedback about the series of sessions that our partners at the West Yorkshire Archive Service facilitate, so attending these sessions had been on my to do list for quite some time. I also knew from meeting with Helen Walker (the tutor and Archivist at the centre) to schedule the sessions, that her knowledge in this area was apparent and her passion to share this with others and support the mental health and wellbeing of individuals is amazing.

Unfortunately, due to other commitments my attendance had sadly fallen to the bottom of my priority list.  However, when I met with Helen to schedule in this term’s series of sessions, I had full intention to prioritise these and make sure I attended (although I’m not sure how I missed putting the bookbinding one in my diary, but at least I now have one to look forward to next term) so that’s what I did and I really enjoyed them!!

When I arrived for my first session ‘What the heck are archives?!’, I was super impressed by the building whilst feeling quite conflicted that the building felt welcoming, fresh and modern, yet we were there to learn and experience historical items. I don’t think I have ever seen a book so big and I’m not sure I would have the strength to carry one of those around!!

Before attending this session, I hadn’t ever really thought about the preservation of our historical records and the time and effort that is spent in keeping these safe, where the records may have come from, or what is the difference between an archive and a historic document, it really was eye opening! It was lovely to meet and spend time with some of the students who attend the College and to learn alongside them and our volunteer Kev, who regularly supports these sessions.

The second course I attended was the ‘Learning more about the West Riding Pauper Lunatic Asylum creative workshop’ which again, I knew very little about.  I had a vague idea of where it used to be, what it was about and as I had heard quite a few horror stories, my perception of the establishment was quite negative, so I was keen to learn more about the asylum, and that I did!  I won’t ‘spoiler alert’ the session, but I certainly learnt a lot about the establishment and it certainly challenged my initial perception of life in the asylum. It was lovely to see some familiar faces from the ‘What the heck are archives’ session. Understandably the topic can be quite emotive, particularly for those who may have had an ancestor who lived there, but Helen is great at being able to support students with this and advise of services that they can offer for finding out more through the Archives or the Ancestry service (which is free of charge to access via their centre), or support that we can offer at the college.

As the course scheduled on this occasion was a creative workshop, I did worry about the ‘creative output’ I would create, as although I do really enjoy arts and crafts, I am very much a follow instructions kinda of crafter, so to be left to my own inspiration was certainly out of my comfort zone! But I stuck with it and once I got into the flow, I really enjoyed it and although I’m no Picasso, I was impressed by my creation. I was also really impressed to see that as a cohort of students, who had all sat and listened to the same thing and had all looked at the same resources, everyone created something different and unique to them. Everyone’s creations really were amazing! I am looking forward to seeing them all pulled together for the online exhibition and I am very much looking forward to attending the bookbinding session next term!

So, as I have now joined the club of attendees that shares the positivity for these sessions, for anybody considering attending this course, I can happily recommend that you do!!

And I am also happy to share a picture of my creation with you, to show that nobody needs to be a trained artist to give one of our creative sessions a go, it really was the taking part that I enjoyed and helped with my wellbeing!

Click here if you fancy finding out more about our West Yorkshire Archive Service sessions.