 Thanks to the new follower who submitted this tale of someone playing fast and loose with interpreting the rules for visiting their property. The lady with the dog was quite cheerful, and unaware of the issues behind the rules. Her friend was the one to argue the case, threatening to "write to your head office and ask for my membership to be refunded" if the staff "persisted in being petty and demanding."
The issue was resolved when the lady with the dog suggested he may get restless anyway, so if they put him in the car they'd be able to enjoy the house without him wiggling around.
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 "twang!" King Harold was somewhat notoriously so battered after the Battle of Hastings, that there was trouble IDing him (one of those facts many kids know - an arrow to the face + battle wounds = childhood gore levels to the max) and due to his then death, the way was clear for us gaining a new ruling class, some ace tourist attractions and extra set of words to our mongrel language.
However... there's a bit of an idea that Harold survived, and lived locally and secretly as a religious hermit, before confessing his true identity on his deathbed and being buried at Waltham Abbey, Essex. Cue a very keen author and "amateur historian" Peter Burke and the same production team, Oval Films, who worked on Richard III's discovery. They've just had the licence for archaeological shenanigans approved by English Heritage, and work can begin on playing Hunt the Harold.  Phone calls I, and a public facing team member in a heritage venue, have both had this past four days:
"I can't find the option I want on the website drop down menu, so phoned to arrange it in person" "The option isn't on the website because we don't offer it any longer." "You don't offer it online?" "At all, it's not an option we provide at all. You can - " "Who do I need to talk to to get that option?" "..." "My son was playing on the balance beams yesterday and fell off them, so I wanted to raise it as a concern." "I'm very sorry to hear that, was he hurt?" "Not so much, but his trousers have been washed twice and are still stained, I think you need different wood chips or something dryer in that area." "Can you tell me what the soup of the day is in the cafe?" "Of course I can find that out for you if-" "Why do you need to find it out? Why don't you know?" "I'm not based in the kitchen, but can ask them." "Well, I suppose that'll do." "It says on your website that some of your collection is in storage, I explained to my wife that it means it isn't on show, and that we won't be able to get in there, but she insisted I call to make sure. We did a tour of the stores at a museum in Birmingham a few years ago, and now she pretty much forces me to check 'can we see in the stores' every time we visit somewhere with an archive. So I'm sorry, but I have to ask or I won't hear the end of it." The fantastic, terrifying and amusing whenyouworkatamuseum.com asked it's readers to help with advice for those thinking about a career in musuems, and similar venues. The response was pretty huge, and the result is a crowd sourced and distilled set of wisdom aimed at helping anyone pondering a route into museums.
Some of it may seem obvious, but some of it does provoke thought and reflects the modern world of museums, which is now further away from the traditional idea of "university, study, become an expert in your field, become a curator". See the list for yourself at the link below, and spread the word to those thinking about it. http://whenyouworkatamuseum.com/post/97568768392/so-you-think-you-want-to-work-in-a-museum When your main museum is closed, and the collection placed in storage. Then a family arrive, asking to speak to the person who has arranged access to the collection for them.  You find that another staff member promised they would "sort out access for them" And no-one actually contacted the venue staff to even try and arrange this.  But like a well oiled machine, everything is sorted, they get a special secret tour behind the scenes, and they never know anything was wrong.  
When this image appeared on my tumblr feed thanks to medieval.tumblr.com there was only one thought which came to mind, so here's my altered version of the medieval manuscript.
What can I say, it's been a rum old couple of weeks! |
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May 2021
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