Fire Heritage Network UK
Training COURSES
In 2007 the network held 2 very sucessful training courses for members.
The first in London in May was a CONSERVATION TRAINING DAY
Esther Mann and Lucy
Price of London Fire Brigade Museum kindly
offered to arrange a one-
conservation and collections care in 2007. The training took
take place
at the London Fire Brigade Museum in Southwark.
Both Esther and Lucy were very
keen to share some of their knowledge and experience with other members.
Most of whom are involved in looking after fire heritage collections and archives,
Some
have similar responsibilities and problems to London's, but without the
necessary
training or professional networking resources.
The course was held at a relaxed pace
and was regarded as a great success
by all of the delegates.
Introduction to Collections Care and Management
A delegates report by Bob Wright of The Strathclyde Fire Brigade Preservation Group
Day One: Collections Care.
Our first speaker, Steph Gillett, provided the students with a most informative but nevertheless daunting insight into the world of collections care. For most of us, many of the ideas and recommendations were, due to costs and storage facilities, outside the means of many if not all of our members. However, with a few simple changes made and other simple practices put into operation, we can help to implement policies that will enhance and protect the items in our care.
I felt that there is a difference of opinion when it comes to the care and display of fire service vehicles and equipment. The official line of our local museum professional and that of the fire service preservationist are at times in direct conflict when it comes to exhibiting our collections. We have professional organizations, who are, in my opinion implementing a preservation policy without taking into consideration the history and ethos of the fire service.
On Tuesday afternoon we were treated to a visit to The College’s new Heritage Centre set up by Mick Kernan with the backing of the Fire Service College. The collection of ‘Fire Art’ was extremely impressive as was the fire service and insurance company artifacts. I am sure the Heritage Centre will prove to be a popular attraction with visiting students and other interested parties. The only criticism was the presence of six college ‘heavies’ and a set of scales on the exit door put in place I’m sure, to deter the ‘Strathclyde Two’ and to ensure the collection remained intact!
NETWORK TRAINING INITIATIVE
In November 2007, Fire Heritage Network UK held a Museum Skills and Collections Care
training course, which was attended by seventeen representatives drawn from our various
member groups. The course, which took place at the Fire Service College in Moreton-
Classroom sessions covered the storage and handling of objects, environmental controls,
correct documentation procedures, dealing with backlogs, marking and labelling and
the preservation and treatment of photographic items. The last afternoon of the course
involved a behind-
The course also included visits to the College’s new Fire Heritage Centre and archives collection, also the Fire Service Chapel, which is also on the campus.
Although still only a small proportion of our total membership, those attending on the course did represent the many different types of organisation which enjoy the benefits of being part of the Network. These included several brigade museums, independent fire museums, a fireboat preservation group, the major national group for private preservationists (FSPG), and three organisations that will be opening new fire museums in the future.
The course was a major success and will go a long way towards raising the standards
of care and preservation in our sector, which is almost completely volunteer-
Report by Bob Bonner GMF&RS Museum
Day Two: Documentation Essentials.
Heather Lomas provided the students with an introduction to the world of cataloguing and administration under the collective banner of ‘Documentation Essentials’. This was for me extremely relevant as only the week before I received a Museum Entry Form from Hamilton Museum for items of uniform that we had given them on a short term loan basis. Again the task of cataloguing and recording items would appear to be a daunting one but nevertheless essential to ensure a permanent record of all artifacts and items held within our collection.
For those smaller museums who may not seek accreditation then the implementation of basic administrative procedures, would ensure an accurate record of their collection, donations and loans.
Day Three: Care of Photographic Items.
Nick Blakely gave a talk on the ‘Care of Photographic Items’. The history of photography
was covered extensively but due to time constraints, the care of photographic items
was somewhat curtailed. My own interpretation and safeguard of photographs would
now be to digitally copy the original and then store the originals in museum approved
storage boxes at the appropriate temperature (-
Study Visit: Tour of the Heritage Motor Centre, Gaydon.
The visit was to the Heritage Motor Centre at Gaydon. The first thing I noticed on entering the museum was the high standard to which the exhibits were presented. The talk by the General Manager and Curator was most informative and the tour of the workshops provided the students with an insight into the world of vehicle restoration carried out by a dedicated group of professional mechanics and bodywork specialists.
I spoke at length to the chief mechanic regarding the care of the vehicles in the heritage centre and was pleasantly surprised to hear that they used the same products as we do to polish our fire appliances. This would appear to be in direct contravention with our local museum professionals and conservators. For me this totally vindicated our practice of displaying a vehicle to the same standard as it would have been kept during its service with the fire brigade.
Speaking to the Curator I remarked that it was most refreshing to see such a high standard of care and attention given to the vehicles in the museum. I would like to think that Strathclyde Fire Brigade Preservation Group use the practices employed at Gaydon as a benchmark for the proposed Fire Museum at Greenock. The Transport Museum in Glasgow regrettably does not employ a similar ethos and the collection of fire appliances and other vehicles on display look dull by comparison.
In conclusion:
Both George and myself thought the course was well organised and the subject matter did indeed give us food for thought. We will shortly be holding our group’s Annual General Meeting when we will give our members a synopsis of the course content and suggest that an action plan be implemented to start cataloguing our collection and introduce some basic procedures as suggested at the seminar.
This course has given all the students attending a valuable insight to the problems faced by those with a historic collection of fire brigade equipment, vehicles, artifacts, documents and photographs. It also offered simple solutions to ensure that the collections are better maintained and cared for.
To organize and provide a three day residential course, free of charge to members of the Network was a monumental achievement and one which has added another degree of professionalism to the Fire Heritage Network UK.
