An online journal for the North Devon Athenaeum
My mother remembered that in 1927, after her younger brother was born, he had to wear a shoulder and arm splint because his arm had been broken during his delivery. My Grandmother had been assisted during the birth, like most lower-class women, by an untrained local woman. The cost of a doctor per visit of …
As part of International Archives Week we are taking a look at some of the posts we’ve written about the document and archive collections in our care and the work we do. Today we’re taking a look at some of the posts we’ve written about what we get up to when the public aren’t in …
Continue reading "5 Posts Which Take You Behind the Scenes…"
As part of International Archives Week we are taking a look at some of the posts we’ve written about the document and archive collections in our care and the work we do. Today we’re taking a look at some of the posts we’ve written about our collections. 1. The North Devon Journal Archive One of …
We often come across intriguing items which have a story to tell when we are looking for something else in our collections, this generally happens when we are doing something quickly for someone! This was the case when I kept coming across images of a rather imposing building from various angles and in various states …
As today marks the 75th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day we take a look at some of the resources we hold within our collections. Throughout the course of the war, the Athenaeum did its bit. The railings were taken to be melted down and used in industry, there was a fire watch station on …
Continue reading "Discover VE Day and World War II…On Our Shelves!"
Reading the first few pages of book Lumberjills – Britain’s Forgotten Army by Joanna Foat I experienced a feeling of déjà vu. Some of her first statements were: - “In the 1940’s people did not believe women could work in forestry” …. or be strong enough to fell trees. “They were laughed at, they were …
Continue reading "Lumberjills – Women’s Timber Corps in World War II 1942-1946"
Every year we close for a fortnight for what has been traditionally called stocktaking. A chance for us to go through our collections to make sure everything is where it should be! It also gives us a chance to carry out larger projects we wouldn’t normally be able to do while we are open to …
2019 was another interesting year, exploring our collections and discovering new things. January Our Assistant Librarian, Sandi, wrote about the research she had been doing on the Plaster Ceilings of Barnstaple in the first post of the year. March Was a big month for us as we worked together with British Military History to put …
On the 22nd July 1919 a Special Meeting of the Board of Directors was called and the directors were gathered in their Board Room in the Athenaeum over-looking the Square. “The Librarian read a statement complaining of the assistant librarian’s behaviour towards himself. On the retirement of the Librarian the Directors sent for the Assistant. …
On the Anniversary of Peterloo, one of our volunteers, David Phipps writes about an interesting Devon connection to the events in Manchester... After the launch of Mike Leigh’s new film about the Massacre of Peterloo (named to echo the battle of Waterloo), I wondered just how many people were aware of just what happened in …
