Learning to live with lockdown

A deserted Monsal Trail (Emily Bowyer-Kazadi) NATALIE WARD, Senior Conservation Archaeologist at the Peak District National Park, reflects on a difficult period for those working in the heritage sector

Parwich History Society on a survey The past couple of years were challenging for our region’s heritage and all those involved in the voluntary and professional spheres. From cancelled events to closed sites and museums; a wholesale shift to home working to introducing Covidsafe site working procedures; cancelling site visits and fieldwork projects, to finding new ways to engage with our audiences, the challenges of 2020 and 2021 have meant we have had to find new ways of working and embracing the new opportunities these present. In fact, the Derbyshire County Council and Peak District National Park heritage teams felt busier than ever. Having quickly adapted to home working, we found ourselves facing a greatly increased workload of planning applications and having to deal with the effects of higher visitor numbers on some of our more popular heritage sites. In this feature, people working in and involved in heritage across Derbyshire and Peak District reflect on their experiences of lockdown and the Covid restrictions, and what they have meant for them, their organisation, their work and their projects.

Sarah Chubb, Archives and Local Studies Manager at the Derbyshire Record Office

Although Derbyshire Record Office had to close to the public for long periods over 2020-2021, we resumed our copying and research service after the first lockdown ended, so customers didn’t lose out altogether. We have now reopened although with limited numbers and booking in advance. It’s been interesting having to rethink how we offer our public service – but it’s given us the opportunity to try out new ways of doing things which we think will make things run a little smoother in the future. Even though staff had to work from home during lockdown, we had plenty to keep us busy including adding 3,300 local studies and 13,800 archive records to our online catalogue. We also had a bumper year for online usage with 8.8 million page views and over 233,000 users. We have now introduced online events and are planning more digital work in the future, including more exhibitions on Google Arts and Culture. Follow our blog (recordoffice.wordpress.com) or Twitter (@FranklinArchive) for the latest information about what’s happening at the Record Office.

Fiona Hadfield, Parwich History Society

Lockdown hit Parwich just as the history society was contemplating progress on a project to explore the origins of the village. We were keen to find out whether there was any possibility that the lower part of the village was established on an Anglo-Saxon platform. This theory had been mooted by some members of the society over the years, and a small amount of geophysical exploration which had been carried out the previous summer as part of a village Archaeology Day led us to believe further work was justified. Lockdown however meant that we were restricted in

moving forward. We were unable to meet and apathy was taking over. At the Archaeology Day we had started excavating an area at Nethergeen Farm which appeared to consist of an underground chamber. We decided that as soon as we could meet in a group of six outside, we would continue excavating the site. We spent several Sunday afternoons last spring making a start. We speculated about the purpose of these chambers and how far we should go in our excavations. Was this a feature of archaeological interest or not? Natalie Ward, Senior Conservation Archaeologist at the Peak District National Park, thought it worth exploring further and suggested that we looked at the skill level of the group. We found that although we had some skill sets between us, we really needed to learn how to work a trench and record our findings in the correct manner in order for it to be meaningful. Using digital meetings we decided to buy some basic equipment and make or borrow other items. We now have the equipment and are ready in theory to curb our enthusiasm and do the job properly. We plan to use the chamber excavation as our ‘nursery slope’ before embarking upon the exciting task of opening a trench across the possible AngloSaxon platform. We hope to be able eventually pass our newly honed skills to others in the village so that we can explore the origins of the village as a community project.

Emily Bowyer-Kazadi, PhD Candidate in Archaeology, University of Liverpool

The research for my PhD in archaeology focuses on how people engage with archaeological landscapes within the context of British National Parks. It aims to investigate narratives, perceptions, and experiences of different groups within the Parks. It is, of course, important to denote which groups will be studied, and initial investigations have identified locals, visitors, local, regional, and national governments, Park authorities, farmers and businesses, among others. One of the main focuses of my research on how archaeology is linked to our wellbeing and how it can help in creating a sense of identity (individual, communal and national). This will include investigating different concepts of landscape as well as looking at identity, diversity, access, and inclusion within British National Parks. Covid-19 has had many impacts on my research including on its focus and on the data collection, which will be largely qualitative in nature. This will create many challenges with adhering to Covid-19 safety regulations and ensuring that I can get enough data. However, the pandemic has also presented an interesting opportunity to investigate how a crisis such as this can affect our relationship between our wellbeing and our heritage. Please feel free to contact me for further questions at: emily.bowyer-kazadi@liverpool.ac.uk More information can be found at: https://www.liverpool. ac.uk/archaeology-classics-and-egyptology/research/ phd-research/

Castleton Historical Society

2020 began with our January AGM, followed by our first talk in February, which in hindsight we felt lucky to have squeezed in. Happily many of our speakers agreed to transfer to 2021 and were prepared to make presentations on Zoom. As we collaborated with Hope Historical Society to share remote meetings, we’ve enjoyed the bonus of many more talks than usual. Furthermore, we’ve realised that via Zoom we can invite speakers who live virtually anywhere, so we are now considering a mix of virtual and face-to-face talks at least for 2022. A big blow was the lockdown closure of Castleton Visitor Centre within which are our museum and archives and at the time of writing (July 2021), we are poised to go in and do some housekeeping, prior to hopefully a relaxation of rules so that the public can enjoy our displays once more. We weren’t entirely idle during lockdown as our website was always up and running and we received quite a few enquiries from authors preparing Peak District fiction and non-fiction, and family historians. A number of donations to the museum collection included a shawl worn by Tommy Liversage, the (then) male consort in the Castleton Garland ceremony during the 1950s. and some good photos. Sadly, there was no Garland in either 2020 or 2021 – the first cancellations since the First World War. Finally, community archaeology was on hold last year but the hiatus did give a little more breathing space for documentary research. Together with the team from the University of Sheffield’s terrific Department of Archaeology, we hope to soon return to the New Hall site on Buxton Road to continue the search for the earliest remains of the building.

Items from the Derbyshire Record Office collections, on Google Arts and Culture

Tommy Liversage (mounted) as the Consort at the Castleton Garland, with Charlie Eyre and Sally Waining (Picture curtesy of Jayne Webster and family)