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Hunters and Gatherers with Hampshire Cultural Trust at the Aldershot Military Museum, May 2025
A small group of students recently took part in a day trip to the Aldershot Military Museum. The event was run with Hampshire Cultural Trust, an independent charity that supports and manages museums, galleries and arts centres across Hampshire. The day was run as part of the Data Hunters and Story Gatherers project which is funded by the National Heritage Lottery Fund.
Students were shown how to properly risk assess and handle a range of objects from their collection. We learned about the biological, chemical and physical risks to objects and people. Later on they put this new knowledge to the test by working through boxes of uncatalogued material. On top of correctly handling the objects, students learned how to accurately and precisely describe them.
We also had a tour of the museum, where we learned about our local history including the Army town and the influence of Samuel Cody.
Students reflected on their experience, explaining that:
"It was enlightening being able to handle and catalogue the different historical sources that were available to us. I liked that everyone had different sources so it made it more interesting to compare them and hear people's different interpretations. A few of my favourite objects to handle included a scrapbook of newspaper clippings from WWI, and a bean from Sierra Leone, brought back by a soldier who was stationed there."
"I enjoyed logging the artefacts, as it was something that I hadn’t done before and I learned new skills, as well as working together in a pair."
One of the boxes of objects that students had to correctly handle and catalogue
Trip to the National Aerospace Library and Archive and tour of the Wind Tunnels, March 2025
10 students took part in a half day trip to Farnborough Hub to visit the National Aerospace Library and Archive. We were given a tour of the library and staff explained their roles and the role of the Royal Aeronautical Society.
Students were able to get hands on with archival materials and learn about conservation techniques too. Conservation volunteers showed students how to clean handwritten letters from the Major B.F.S Baden-Powell collection, and the Librarian and Archivist helped students to replace conservation material on negative photographs. We learned about catalogue numbers and the ways that conservation techniques have changed over time.
As part of the morning, we were also taken on a tour of the wind tunnels by volunteers from FAST (Farnborough Air Sciences Trust). This gave us a fascinating insight into Farnborough's aviation history.
Find out more:
Find out about the work of the National Aerospace Library and Archive and view some of their collections online
Find out about the work of FAST - Farnborough Air Sciences Trust
Attend one of the FAST Lecture series on aviation history and heritage. These are held in our Simon Jarvis Lecture Theatre and student entry is free.
Careers in archives and record management advice from the Archives and Records Association
How to become an archivist on the National Careers Service website
Details on starting your archives career on The National Archives website
A selection of some of the fascinating archival materials we got to explore
Two of our students learning some archival conservation techniques
Trip to the National Portrait Gallery, London for the 'Portraits of Empire' workshop, January 2025.
20 students took part in a workshop at the National Portrait Gallery in London. We spent time in their learning centre discussing how to use a portrait as a primary source. We were shown some examples including Cetshwayo ka Mpande (the last king of the independent Zulu nation in South Africa). We then visited the Empire and Resistance Gallery and applied these new portrait reading skills to a range of portraits linked to empire.
Find out more:
Read the college news piece about the visit here.
Read about the workshop on the National Portrait Gallery website here.
Read the National Portrait Gallery lesson resources for 'Portraits of Empire' here.
See the National Portrait Gallery webpage explaining how to use portraits as a primary source here.
View the portraits in Room 23, 'Empire and Resistance'.
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