Volunteer Focus Issue 23

Together we’re making a difference

Belsay awakes A look at the people and projects involved

On the cover:

Garden volunteers at Belsay Hall, Castle and Gardens

If you’d like to contribute to the next edition of Volunteer Focus or if you have any feedback, we’d love to hear from you:

e. [email protected]

t. 0370 333 1185

www.english-heritage.org.uk/volunteer

If you’d like this document in a different format, please contact:

e. [email protected]

t. 0370 333 1181

Editor Anneka Coleman

Assistant editor Sophie Robertson

Designer Bronwen Reeves

With thanks to copy editor volunteers

Ann Mateo and Kirsty McEwen, and all of our contributing volunteers.

The English Heritage Trust is a charity, no. 1140351, and a limited company, no. 07447221, registered in England and Wales.

(CM8396_07/24)STE3800

Hello and welcome

Welcome back to the latest issue of Volunteer Focus, the magazine written both by you and for you, our all-important volunteers. Since we last spoke, you have all been once again hard at work keeping our beautiful sites looking their best all whilst adding an extra sparkle to our visitor’s experience.

Interestingly, it would appear that many of you have been inspired by the magical and the mystical over recent months. Perhaps this is an occupational hazard when working at sites like the awe-inspiring Lindisfarne Priory featured on page 32 . Elsewhere in this edition you'll find a tale of angels and gods on page 22, and the discovery of spiritual meaning on page 14. And why not, because after all, isn’t that wonder of looking back through time what it’s all about?

As ever, if you have a story to share, we’d love to hear from you.

Matt Huggins Communications volunteer

Charity update

Our new chief executive Nick Merriman shares his vision to open up access to heritage for everyone.

My first few months as chief executive have confirmed to me what a wonderful organisation English Heritage is and how lucky I am to be leading it.

Iam passionate about opening up access to heritage for everyone, and the benefits that engagement can have on people’s sense of identity and wellbeing.

Our vision

We now have a ten year vision that I’d like to share with you as we emphasise our role as a charity with a social purpose. That purpose is ‘creating new connections’ – connecting people to each other, to their places, and to their histories. We want to place a strong emphasis on widening and diversifying audiences by sharing more stories and helping more people to find their own place in England’s heritage. We want to be known as a charity that directly benefits society and is worthy of support.

To help us achieve this vision we’re refreshing our brand. As a volunteer you’ll hear more

about this and hopefully you will have noticed a fresh look to this magazine. The refreshed brand will be rolled out gradually to help keep costs down and minimise our environmental impact.

Growth and opportunity

During these first months, I have prioritised getting around the country to see as many sites as possible, averaging about two a week. This has shown to me the huge diversity of our sites, and given me an insight into what a difference our enthusiastic staff and volunteers make to our work, both with visitors and behind the scenes.

We now have some five thousand volunteers, and aim to expand these numbers further, so we have far more volunteers than staff. This means that volunteering is at the heart of our work and our vision for the

I am passionate about opening up access to heritage for everyone

future. We want to grow more opportunities for people of all ages and walks of life to support us by giving their time, skills and experience as a volunteer. The opportunities are wide and various, from young volunteers with Shout Out Loud to those volunteers supporting school visits, working in our gardens, engaging visitors in historic settings, undertaking wildlife surveys or running our second-hand bookshops. Our maintenance volunteers undertake essential basic tasks and are particularly important in looking after our free-to-enter sites such as Chester Castle and

Fort Brockhurst, encouraging community ownership and engagement, improving presentation and facilitating community events.

Valued support

I want to thank all of you for your enthusiasm, hard work and commitment to what we do. I will continue getting out and about as much as I can over the coming months and hope to meet as many of you as possible. English Heritage couldn’t do all we do now or all that we want to achieve in the future without your support. Thank you. ■

English Heritage couldn’t do all we do now or all that we want to achieve in the future without your support

Get involved

There are a wide variety of volunteering roles across the country. To find out how you can get involved visit www.english-heritage.org.uk/volunteer

Keeping connected

Staying in touch with you

Virtual welcome sessions

These virtual welcome sessions are ideal for anyone who's started volunteering with English Heritage in the last few months. They'll give you an overview of how the charity works, the things we're trying to achieve, and how you can play your part. We've just refreshed the sessions based on your feedback, and everyone's invited to come along, no matter where you are or what you do.

Scan the code to sign up on Fuse and find dates in the digital newsletter.

Share your news

We’d love to hear from you by email at [email protected]

In February, David Thomas, a volunteer at Dover Castle, attended our online talk Portrait of a Lady: The Duchess of Cleveland and Battle Abbey by volunteers Fiona Stapley and Robert Catt after seeing it advertised in our e-newsletter.

Inspired by Fiona and Robert’s eclectic talk, David was keen to experience the site first-hand. 'Not only did their talk inspire me to visit Battle Abbey, I decided to take up the English Heritage holiday cottage discount offer which featured in the following week’s volunteer e-newsletter and booked a staycation for March.'

Get 25% off at English Heritage shops and cafés with your pass or quote code 24EHVOL523 to get the discount in our online shop.

Don't forget

Your volunteer pass gives you free entry for you and up to six friends or family to all English Heritage sites. We hope you enjoy learning about the other sites in English Heritage’s care. Just show your pass when you arrive, or book online using code: use code EHT2024

Get 10% off your stay at an English Heritage holiday cottage. Use discount code EHTVOL10 when you book online or call 0370 333 1187.

Log

on

Join us online

The English Heritage Volunteers group on Facebook is a great place to share snaps, stories and musings. We also run regular competitions. Chester Castle volunteer Mike Graham was the winner of our Halloween competition. ‘I love Halloween and jumped at the chance to be part of the offering at Chester Castle for our Spooky Tours – a first for the castle. It was a special event for us. I was then delighted to receive as a competition prize the English Heritage book, Eight Ghosts, it was the icing on the cake.’

Search English Heritage volunteers on facebook.

to the Volunteer Hub

Our new Volunteer Hub is up and running. You should have received an invitation to start using it in June, and if you haven't already, log in and take a look at what it can do. You can:

• update your contact info, address and emergency contact

• tell us a bit more about you and your background

• tell us how you'd like us to communicate with you - including whether you'd like us to keep sending you Volunteer Focus in the post

• find your expenses number to claim, if you've got an expenses account set up.

If you need help getting started, chat to your manager or email [email protected]

Bringing learning and information to life

Fuse is our learning and internal communication platform for staff and volunteers. It's the best place to find key information like expenses forms and your volunteer handbook. There's also a wealth of training, updates and a social area to enjoy. So, what would be the top picks? With so much to explore, we asked volunteer Charlie Dodds to share his top picks.

• Videos about conservation and investment projects Particularly Berwick Barracks, where we're transforming the site into a flourishing cultural hub.

• Celebrations of volunteer achievements

Like the work of Eltham Palace volunteers to catalogue and preserve the Courtaulds' library.

• Blogs about volunteerled initiatives

Such as Martin Hayman’s tour for Ukrainian refugees at Kenwood.

If you need any help please contact EHfusequeries@ english-heritage.org.uk

Thinking green

Conservation for the past, present and future

English Heritage's Climate Action Plan sets out the steps we'll take to become a more sustainable charity. Communications volunteer Matt Huggins takes us through some of the plan's highlights.

The Green Team Network

The English Heritage Climate Action Plan revolves around four key elements: developing capacity and capability in people, creating sustainable operations, adapting and building resilience, and achieving net zero by 2040. At its heart, the plan is about people. Because, without you and the rest of the English Heritage community, nothing would be possible, and that’s exactly why the Green Team Network was set up. It aims to empower everyone to take part in our sustainability efforts.

The network is co-led by Katie Woolridge, sustainability learning lead, Michelle Cook, volunteer manager, and Celine Elliot, youth development manager for Shout Out Loud. It consists of enthusiastic and creative employees and volunteers; volunteers such as Andy Limbrick at Marble Hill, Nick Redman at Battle Abbey, Sally Starborg at Beeston Castle and Eleanor Brooks at Walmer Castle. They'll be pursuing practical, positive actions, and represent the frontline of sustainability at English Heritage. ►

It aims to empower everyone to take part in our sustainability efforts.

Opposite bottom Scarbrough Castle team with their silver Green Tourism Award.

Opposite inset Green tourism volunteer Nicola Mackley.

Green Impact Programme

Created by SOS-UK (Students Organising for Sustainability UK), the Green Impact programme is a sustainability learning and awards scheme designed to promote practical action within businesses and organisations. A tailored online toolkit is provided to help break down such a complex subject into real,

practical steps and it allows teams to work toward bronze, silver and gold awards. It was initially introduced at 18 sites. Nine sites have already achieved bronze, and one, Walmer Castle, was awarded silver. 41 site teams are now taking up the challenge and are busy recruiting new Green Impact volunteers.

Get involved

With all these fantastic and exciting new developments going on, the Green Team Network is looking for a communications volunteer to help spread the word of their excellent achievements and important work. If you can help, please get in touch at [email protected]

Nine sites have already achieved bronze, and one, Walmer Castle, was awarded silver.

Green Tourism Awards Make and mend

Although our green teams don’t do it for the plaudits, when recognition arrives, they can still be proud of their achievements. This was definitely the case when – after wondering whether they could achieve bronze – Scarborough Castle were awarded a Silver Green Tourism Award, which was a very welcome and well-deserved surprise. Congratulations to the site and, in particular, our green tourism volunteer, Nicola Mackley.

When Gainsborough Old Hall came into the management of English Heritage in 2020 we inherited a thriving 'Make and Mend' costume group. It's now inspiring other volunteers across the country.

The group makes and mends costumes used at English Heritage sites. It brings together people with a range of skills like sewing, pattern research and design, textile management and historically accurate costume construction. Together, they recreate and repair all manner of costumes, using materials sourced from old curtains, bits of scrap linen and just about anything that comes their way.

The team at Gainsborough is now in its 14th year. Avril Sanderson has been part of it from the beginning and her enthusiasm and expertise is now inspiring new groups being formed at Carlisle and Kenilworth castles. ■

Coming full circle

Lead volunteer Christine Clarke talks to Sophie Robertson, volunteering and participation officer, about the spiritual

meaning her

volunteering

has had and why her heart can be found on a plateau above the river Ure.

Around 4,500 years ago, three identical circular earthwork enclosures were built on a raised plateau above the river Ure by farming communities. Today known as Thornborough Henges, this is a place where people have gathered for ceremonies and funerary rituals for thousands of years and it continues to have great spiritual and social importance to many.

Head and heart

In the week that we speak, it is announced that the henges are to be finally reunited, and that the charity has acquired the third and final henge (the north henge) with the generous support of the National Heritage Memorial Fund, Jamie Ritblat and family, and the SCS Trust.

Christine was excited to get started on helping to build a volunteer programme. Working with the free sites team, she identified that the main volunteering priorities should be to provide public tours, increase wider appreciation and awareness, and build a team of monitor volunteers to identify issues and maintain site presentation.

It’s often described as the 'Stonehenge of the north'

Spiritual meaning

Christine was passionate that any tour should put the people who raised the henges at the forefront of the story.

‘You can only understand the henges if you understand the social context in which they were built,’ she says. ‘They are very much a product of the landscape – near a river and with a nearby burial site. It’s obvious this was a sacred landscape before the henges were created, and their use went on into the Bronze Age.’

The connection between the henge’s builders and the natural world would have been incredibly strong, with their lives dominated by the seasons and what nature provided (or didn’t provide). Today, as we confront the challenges of the climate and

ecological crises, we’re rediscovering the critical importance of the natural world. Christine tells me about the recent collaboration with volunteers at the Lower Ure Conservation Trust, a charity working to restore sand and gravel quarries into rich wildlife habitats. At Thornborough, the charity has started work to restore the vegetation and create a more balanced ecosystem, reintroducing rare grass types back to the henges.

For Christine, Thornborough’s landscape and its henges have a deep spiritual meaning. She is a regular attendee of the ancient Celtic May Day festival of Beltane, and the autumn equinox festival, Mabon, both of which are celebrated at Thornborough by Pagan communities from across the north, led by Nell Stafford. When she attended the event in 2023 she was able to share English Heritage's plans to care for Thornborough Henges with the pagan community groups she is a part of, for whom respect of the site and its transcendent meaning was of chief concern.

Coming together

Although it’s often described as the 'Stonehenge of the north', Christine’s electric description and enthusiasm makes it clear that Thornborough is a place all of its own. The future for Thornborough, Christine says, is looking bright and with such dedicated, inspirational volunteers, I think we would all agree. ■

Plan your visit

If you'd like to visit Thornborough Henges or would like more information on this free-to-enter site, please visit www.english-heritage.org.uk/thornborough-henges

Belsay awakes!

The people and projects

Belsay has finally awoken thanks to over one hundred newly recruited volunteers who were tasked with helping deliver the project in numerous new and exciting ways. Community engagement manager Melanie Hills tells us more about all they helped achieve.

Belsay Awakes was our largest ever site project. Crucial conservation work has helped secure the future of the Georgian hall and the gardens have been revitalised, while new facilities, attractions

and interpretation are giving more people the chance to experience the stories of the site and enjoy a great day out. The project has been a huge success and none of it would have been possible without a fantastic team of volunteers.

Extensive achievements

We were joined by over a hundred volunteers in a range of roles. The garden team worked hard in all weathers to plant the 80,000 new plants that were added to the formal gardens, and tour guides led over 2,000 visitors up the hall’s scaffolding to take in a once-in-a-lifetime view and see the conservation work up close. History research volunteers delved into archives to find information on Belsay’s past and their efforts helped support the new interpretation and delivery of new tours. Second-hand bookshop volunteers raised over £30,000 through the sale of donated books and homemade crafts.

None of it would have been possible without a fantastic team of volunteers

The wild side of Belsay

by

wildlife monitoring volunteers Roger and Pat Harrison

After enjoying regular visits to Belsay and, as keen birdwatchers, we were attracted by the diverse habitats of formal gardens, woods, sheltered quarry garden and a lake. During one visit we noticed boards introducing the Belsay Awakes Project and an impressive amount of scaffolding surrounding the hall. Following a tour it was clear that Belsay Awakes was an exciting project. We’d noticed the bird feeders and nest boxes around the grounds, so we asked if there was an opportunity to make wildlife (and particularly birds) a part of visitors’ enjoyment. Weekly throughout the year we maintain bird feeding stations, monitor nest boxes and often chat with interested visitors whilst doing this. This year, we were pleased to take part in the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch, during which we encouraged visitors to make their own feeder.

We undertake regular bird surveys, as part of the British Trust for Ornithology Garden Birdwatch programme, and have investigated how squirrels are attracted to bird feeders. Over sixty bird species have been recorded at Belsay. We have found it rewarding to build up a picture of bird life throughout the year, as well as meeting visitors and sharing in their experiences of Belsay’s wildlife. ►

We have found it rewarding to build up a picture of bird life throughout the year

Previous spread Belsay Hall, now open after an extensive conservation project.

Opposite page Bug hunting.

Above Melanie Hills talks with some of the garden team.

Below Roger Harrison sets up the squirrel feeder.

Cleaning, with a difference

by

collections

care volunteer Bronia Banecki

It gave me the opportunity to learn new skills and volunteer with some great people

When I described collections care to a colleague, their response was that it didn't sound ‘sexy’. Maybe not, but it’s an opportunity to learn loads about conservation. It’s very much a ‘behind the scenes’ role, but just like in the movies, the work we do in the background makes a massive contribution to the finished product.

Essentially, it’s cleaning, but cleaning that brings out the brilliant colours and patterns of neglected wallpapers, restores the sheen of elaborate rusted fireplaces and exposes graffiti that tells the story of Second World War soldiers stationed

at Belsay. We wore protective kit doing some of these tasks, and while it kept us safe, it also made us look like giant Teletubbies.

Hoovering up cluster flies might not be pleasant, but it is key to ensuring other pests do not have a ready food supply to damage the hall’s fixtures and fittings. This is a critical element of our role in helping manage the storage, organisation and preservation of the hall’s collections. We undertook a range of conservation jobs and it gave me the opportunity to learn new skills and volunteer with some great people.

Plan your visit

Come and see the changes and visit Belsay Castle, Hall and Gardens for yourself. Visit www.english-heritage.org.uk/belsay

Growing in confidence

by young heritage volunteer Niamh Hills

Tagging along with my parents to visit Belsay led to an opportunity for us all to contribute to the project. Family volunteering sessions allowed us to help create giant Christmas decorations that would be hung around the gardens as part of the festive wishing trees display. It was fun and great to see visitors smile and hear them laugh at the creations we helped make. When I turned 16 years old, I could volunteer in a different way, building on what I had done with my family. As a young heritage volunteer (for 16 to 18 year olds), I’ve continued to help create fun resources for visitors. I’ve also helped deliver a range of events such as wildlife activities and 'Be a Belsay Builder', when

we encouraged families to learn about the construction work being undertaken with hands on activities. It’s great to see the difference I can make to a visitor’s day, especially families with young children who aren’t confident in joining in. It’s funny that I am helping them to grow their confidence while growing mine at the same time. Working in a team of other volunteers and staff and encouraging visitors to participate has helped me build my social skills, as well as learn about the site and its history. Adding to my experiences has already helped me get a part-time job in the new café and will help with university applications. It’s been such a great opportunity. ■

I am helping them to grow their confidence while growing mine at the same time

Above Making a wish on the wishing tree.

Left Belsay Awakes builders day.

An angel, Apollo and a Sikh princess

Sundeep

Braich, explainer volunteer at

Wall Roman Site

(Letocetum) discovers her heritage links with a Sikh Princess who was key to the suffragette movement and recognised with a blue plaque by English Heritage in 2023.

We might not know ourselves as well as we’d like, but heritage can help. Through finding out our roots we can learn more about who we are and how connected we are to the bigger picture.

My journey to self-discovery began in the humble hometown where I had grown up, left for university and work, and then returned to following a life-changing amputation to my right leg. While sat on the bench outside the local college something caused me to look up. For the first time since I had lived in my hometown, Burtonon-Trent, I noticed there was a statue of an angel as part of the war memorial. Something resonated straight away; the angel was standing on the world

Plan your visit

with the same one foot left as me and her right foot was off the world. Unbeknownst to me, this epiphanic sighting would begin a quest for my Anglo-Sikh roots via Greco-Roman legend.

In the angel’s left hand is a laurel wreath. Laurel wreaths are used in many logos, such as for the World Health Organisation. To find out what the wreath's symbolism truly meant, I researched its heritage. Rather befitting for an angel statue, I found a god at the roots of the laurel wreath: the GrecoRoman god, Apollo. And true to its origins, the laurel wreath is on the leaflets of the Letocetum Roman Wall site where I now volunteer. The word ‘Leto’ also stood out, because that’s the name of Apollo’s mother.

An exhibition about Princess Sophia Duleep Singh's grandfather: 'Ranjit Singh: Sikh, Warrior, King' is on at the Wallace Collection, London www.wallacecollection.org

Know thyself

When I visited Apollo’s ancient temple at Delphi, Greece, I became aware of a Delphic maxim once inscribed above its entrance: ‘Know Thyself’. The phrase is a reminder that we are humans with mortal limitations, not gods. GrecoRoman deities preferred to keep the boundaries between mortals and immortals diamond-cut clear. The idea of a bridgeless chasm between mortals and gods is illustrated in the legend behind the World Health Organisation’s emblem involving the story of Apollo’s healer son, Asclepius. While at Delphi, I was struck by the date when its excavation rights were granted on 13th April 1891. The day and month are my birthday, and from being raised in a Sikh family I know that it means Vaisakhi, a sacred day. Coincidentally, written on the Victorian ferry bridge behind the resonating angel statue in Burton-on-Trent, I had also spotted ‘Declared free of toll’ on the ‘thirteenth day of April 1898’.►

This

epiphanic sighting would begin a quest for my AngloSikh roots

Princess Sophia Duleep Singh became uniquely important to me

Did something significantly 'Sikh' happen in 1898?

Curious, like an archaeologist, I dug deeper and discovered that in 1898 there was an AngloSikh royal marriage. It was the first interracial marriage between titled individuals, namely Lady Anne Coventry and Prince Victor Duleep Singh.

as an influential suff ragette in the fight for the right to vote.

More personally, Princess Sophia Duleep Singh feels like family. In fact, her grandfather, Maharaja Ranjit Singh, was coronated in 1801 on Vaisakhi, a Sikh festival, which is also my birthday.

Find out more

Read more about Princess Sophia

Duleep Singh’s Blue Plaque at www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/ blue-plaques/sophia-duleep-singh

The fact a Sikh kingdom and Sikh royal family ever existed was news to me. Even more interesting was finding out that Queen Victoria was the godmother to Prince Victor Duleep Singh and his sister, Princess Sophia Duleep Singh. Intriguing too that I pieced together the puzzle from dates on this Victorian ferry bridge in Burtonon-Trent, given that funeral operations for key members of the British Royal Family are given bridge code names (Elizabeth II’s funeral plan was called London Bridge and Prince Philip’s was called Forth Bridge).

Princess Sophia Duleep Singh became uniquely important to me as a woman because, at great personal cost, she used her royal status for the advancement of women, notably

Knowing how meaningful Princess Sophia Duleep Singh has been to my post-amputation self-discovery journey, my partner, Andrew Caddell, painted a portrait of her for me.

As a new volunteer in 2023, it was a happy coincidence to also see how English Heritage was recognising Princess Sophia Duleep Singh’s contribution with a blue plaque outside the home that Queen Victoria had given her as a grace-and-favour residence at Faraday House, 37 Hampton Court Road.

The forthcoming book There is more. I am writing a book about my journey called LegEnd: Greek, Sikh and Me The draft was in the top 6% of the Bridport Prize Memoir Award 2023. ■

How to monitor a ruin

We caught up with Karen Gwilliams, senior historic building surveyor, to find out about the masonry training being given to monitor volunteers.

Over the past year, historic building surveyors from English Heritage’s building conservation team have trained monitor volunteers in identifying and reporting loose and fallen masonry at their sites.

‘English Heritage is trying to slow down deterioration and mitigate against loss for the exposed, ruined places in our care,’ explains Karen Gwilliams, senior historic building surveyor. ‘Volunteers can really help us to make a difference simply through regular vigilance, taking photographs and noting and reporting on any changes seen'.

Trainees visit a nearby site to take a closer look and runthrough a ‘Prime’ check. Prime is the system we use to monitor and report on the places in our care. Our ruined sites are impacted by the weather and it’s useful to visit a site after severe weather to see if any building fabric has been dislodged. ‘Falling masonry is a constant concern at our

remote, free-to-enter sites, and the work of monitor volunteers is invaluable,’ says Karen.

Warning signs

Examples of defects that might be a cause or a symptom of loose masonry are highlighted during the tour and they can include open joints and cracking, unsupported or corbelled masonry blocks, vegetation establishing at high level, delaminating or peeling surfaces, any change around openings such as doors and windows, or fresh-coloured stone which might indicate a recent fall.

It was during one of these training visits that Karen met volunteer Celia Wallis. ‘I started as an English Heritage volunteer by helping with the roundhouse build at Beeston Castle,’ says Celia. ‘I am a civil engineer by background, so the Beeston project was right up my street as it was hands-on-conservation

Volunteers can really help us to make a difference

and archaeology. I then got involved at Chester Castle.’

Celia and Karen are working on plans to use her engineering skills to support the surveyors at more sites.

Surveying the future

Jeff Dyer worked in the estates department for 16 years and became a volunteer when he retired in 2022.

'I have continued to do survey work as a volunteer since my retirement', says Jeff. 'I have also reviewed planned maintenance at Audley End and helped the team deliver training across the charity'.

Jeff co-delivered the monitor training at Castle Acre with his successor Robin Halford. 'Ruins are irregular and very different to dealing with a period house'.

Jeff was also keen to reflect upon the social benefits. ‘As a volunteer at remote, rural sites, you quite often don’t get to meet fellow volunteers. Events like this training day allow volunteers to meet each other and hopefully makes the volunteers feel part of the wider charity.’ ■

Breaking bracken at

Old Oswestry Hillfort

Ginny Slade, territory volunteer manager for free sites west, shares the valuable work of volunteers with the help of some four-legged friends.

Old Oswestry Hillfort is one of England’s best-preserved hillforts and it was in use for almost 1,000 years during the Iron Age. It’s easy to access from the town of Oswestry and those with enough puff to reach the top can enjoy farreaching views in all directions.

Volunteer support needed

The fort’s ramparts are steep and enclose a central area of 8.4 hectares (nearly 21 acres). Until the millennium, workers were employed to keep it free of scrub and bracken. Since then, it’s been managed on a more ad-hoc basis and nature has seized its opportunity. Despite annual work by contractors, the grass over the ramparts is overwhelmed by bracken in the summer. But several clearance days, supported by volunteers who concentrate on specific parts of the monument, have led to an impressive improvement in the visibility of the fort’s banks, ditches and other features.

Protecting the ecology

Recent volunteering efforts have focused on six large pits or ponds along the western face of the hillfort. In this area, the monument has been swamped by willow as well as bracken,

gorse, broom, thorn, bramble and oak saplings. It’s possible that the ponds contain undiscovered organic archaeological remains, so it was important to clear them. Ecologists supported the volunteers as they removed willow and other weeds that had accumulated in the ponds. We can’t use machines for this work as the environment is too fragile and risk harming the newts and other pond life so the team wrapped up in warm clothing and waders to complete the tasks by hand. Elsewhere, volunteers cut back scrub over very steep slopes and dragged the cuttings to a chipper. The wood bark was then sprayed over the ditches, forming a protective surface for visitors to walk on.

Managing bracken

The bracken remains a major problem. The best method to eradicate it is to pull out the young shoots in the spring, but this is impossible over such a huge area with only a small number of volunteers. Previous controlled areas have quickly reverted to new growth of bracken, especially during the pandemic. We've now enlisted the help of a different type of volunteer - and Soay Hebridean sheep are now happily grazing the ramparts.

Main image A flock of Soay/Hebridean cross-breed sheep help maintain the vegetation on the hillfort. Left The team clearing bracken at a maintenance day. Taken by volunteer photographer Henry Gage.

They’ve made great inroads into the scrubby growth and bracken, but so far only in small areas of the hillfort. We’re also experimenting with robotic mowers, but for now, people remain key to managing the site. The small team that comes on a regular basis hail from across North Wales, Chester, Cheshire and Shropshire, but more are always welcome. ■

People remain key to managing the site

Plan your visit

See the results for yourself with a visit to the hillfort. For more information visit

www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/ places/old-oswestry-hillfort

A decade of volunteering at Stonehenge visitor centre

It’s

been ten years since the visitor centre at Stonehenge opened its doors. Volunteer manager

Sue Martindale introduces us to some of the team to hear their highlights of the last decade.

It’s been my privilege to work at Stonehenge since the visitor centre opened in December 2013 and to have been the volunteer manager here for almost eight years. We’ve seen many faces come and go and some of our volunteers were here before we moved from our old facilities at the stones. Our volunteers have supported us through many events and changes, with over 300 people involved so far. They’ve helped build a Neolithic village, met world leaders, greeted royalty, demonstrated Neolithic skills, welcomed over 485,000 school children and hundreds of thousands of visitors, weeded the monument, stayed up all night to welcome the solstice and so much more. Volunteers have truly been at the heart of everything we do. ►

Volunteers have truly been at the heart of everything we do

Get involved

It’s been a busy decade but the team keeps growing. Find out how you could get involved by visiting www.english-heritage.org.uk /support-us/volunteer

Engaging with visitors

Kevin Friery, exhibition volunteer

I’m a relative newcomer as a volunteer at Stonehenge, having joined in late 2022. Although there are several fascinating roles for volunteers to fulfil, my preference is for working in the exhibition. Engaging with visitors is always a highlight, as I help them make sense of the experience of Stonehenge whilst also having the opportunity to learn from them. I often find myself talking to visitors who have read a great deal about Neolithic Britain and who bring new insights.

The exhibition is ten years old and archaeology and related sciences have advanced dramatically over that time. The printed word can hardly keep up with the pace of developments, but engaging with visitors helps to draw a more complex picture than a static display can offer.

One aspect that I like to highlight is that, in prehistory, people travelled huge distances to visit Stonehenge, and that visitors today are still doing the same thing. We are all part of that pilgrimage continuum, and drive it, it’s a thread that connects us directly to our prehistoric predecessors. I like to leave visitors with questions. Stonehenge is an incomplete story and it is refreshing to be able to say ‘I don’t know, but what do you think?’

A fulfilling decade

Janice Ballard, visitor volunteer

What a decade! In the past ten years I’ve learned some great skills including flint knapping, basketry, pottery and sign language. I’ve helped to build and maintain Neolithic houses, weeded the monument and helped visitors to celebrate the solstices and equinoxes. I’ve spoken to so many people from all over the world and am fortunate to be

part of a great team bringing to life this amazing place. Every conversation is different – it keeps me on my toes. If I don’t know the answer to a question, then I’ll find out for the next time I’m asked something similar. It’s very important to me that it’s an ongoing experience of learning, from lectures, colleagues – and visitors. My retirement has been

It is refreshing to be able to say 'I don’t know, but what do you think?'

greatly enriched by this role. The site itself continues to evolve, with each addition enhancing the experience for visitors and us all. For me, the Neolithic houses have been a tremendous addition.

I’m so proud and feel very privileged to be part of this iconic site. Roll on the next ten years and all those conversations yet to be had and skills to be learnt.

A new volunteer’s story

Megan Fyfe, exhibition volunteer

Volunteering at Stonehenge was not my idea, for several reasons. Having been brought up near Avebury, I had the sneaky feeling that this was the better monument, for which multiple visits involving rolling down the banks – in my youth, I hasten to add, when this was still allowed – was at least partly responsible. Then, having moved to Amesbury several years ago in my declining years, Stonehenge was mostly linked in my mind to the need to avoid the all-too-regular car park that was the A303. So, despite being within walking distance of my house, I avoided the stones. My resolution wavered when a very knowledgeable – and persuasive! – friend enthused about volunteering there and I went along and was hooked. The training was excellent and

both staff and volunteers very welcoming. I was particularly impressed by the workshops on offer and saw the evidence of these in my first session in one of the reconstructed Neolithic houses. Not only had volunteers built the house themselves, using a floorplan from excavations at Durrington Walls, but the house itself contained clothing woven from nettle fibre, a selection of fibre skeins dyed from local plants, a fish trap made of willow, longbows and arrows. There were a variety of flint points, reconstructions of pottery from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age, flint and metal axes and awls, prepared deer skins, and beds and a dresser all made of wood, but in the style of the contemporary stone-built settlement at Skara Brae on

Orkney. The axes were particularly popular with youngsters… The volunteers themselves were obviously enthusiasts and this showed in the way they dealt with a pretty constant stream of enquiries, from lots of people in many languages. My sessions are still under volunteer supervision and I am frantically making notes from what others say, so that when my turn comes, and visitors expect someone in an English Heritage uniform to know what they’re talking about, I do not disappoint.

Above Megan Fyfe.

Looking ahead

Much has been achieved over the last decade, but there is more to come. We’ve got plans for exhibitions, events, the Neolithic village, tours and more. We’re excited to grow the team further and looking forward to what the next ten years bring. ■

Why we love Lindisfarne Priory

Lindisfarne volunteers Emma Bennie, Julia Graham and Caroline Kendrew explain to Penny Edwards why they love to hop over to Holy Island between the tides.

When asked what it is they like so much about Lindisfarne Priory, Caroline, Emma and Julia all give the same answer: ‘It's just a feeling you get when you're there. It's hard to explain but there's something special about the place.’ The three are affectionately known as ‘Lindy Hoppers’ to the team, hopping over to the island when the sea allows, aligning their rota to the tides.

Saints Aidan and Cuthbert were both priors of Lindisfarne in the seventh century – each a significant figure in the history of English Christianity. ‘I love to stand by the well in the nave,’ adds Emma. ‘Although the current priory is Norman, the well is

older, and I like to ask visitors to imagine the earliest monks drawing their water there.’

Lindisfarne’s past Lindisfarne's part in the history of the region fascinates the volunteers. Northumberland has a violent past and lots of tourists want to know about the famous Viking raid here. ‘But I wonder about the later medieval monks,’ says Julia, who the trio fondly call ‘our boys’. ‘What was expected of our boys when the English and Scots were battling over Berwickupon-Tweed, or when Bamburgh Castle was under attack during the Wars of the Roses? This place is so tranquil today, yet all of this was happening just down the road, so it must have affected them too.’

History alone cannot explain the atmosphere in the ruins

The atmospheric priory History alone cannot explain the atmosphere in the ruins under the famously big skies of Northumberland. ‘Even the light is different,’ Julia adds, ‘particularly at dawn or sunset when you drive across the causeway flanked by water that reflects the sky.’ Caroline only moved to the area a few years ago and getting involved at the priory has provided more friends and a greater connection to the county. ‘I just like to be here listening to the sea and the singing of the seals, soaking it in. I'm proud to be part of it all.’

Lindisfarne’s fame

The trio often share snippets that they have discovered about Lindisfarne, and enjoy recognising locations in the television series Vera, or in the many books inspired by the island. They are not the only ones to feel affection for the ruins and it's not unusual to spot a celebrity at the site. A visit

here is on the bucket list for many people for all sorts of reasons, but Emma particularly loves those moments ‘when a visitor really takes their time to appreciate the priory, and when they get "the feeling." Just like us they always want to come back, and that would make our boys so pleased.' ■

Plan your visit

Will you get 'the feeling' when you visit Lindisfarne Priory? For more information visit www.english-heritage.org.uk/lindisfarne

Over to you

A space just for you

We love seeing your images on the volunteers’ Facebook group. Here are some of our favourites, including Linda Vanns and Sarah Goddard reading Volunteer Focus in the gardens at Eltham Palace. We'd love to see photos of you reading

We’d love to hear from you

this issue of Volunteer Focus in weird and wonderful places. We'll give a small prize for the most unique location! Don’t forget to check out our English Heritage Volunteers’ Facebook group. It’s a great space for you to connect

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Please send us your letters, news, photos, puzzles, quizzes, jokes or anything else you’d like to share. Email us at [email protected] 5 1 2 3 4

with others. Over four hundred of you have joined and everyone is welcome to come and be part of the friendly conversation.

Search English Heritage volunteers on facebook. ■

Thank you to our heritage heroes

The variety of roles you do continues to grow. This time we’re celebrating stone circles, an ancient part of the landscape many of you are helping to preserve.