Community & Learning Intern Blog – Meghan’s Grand Opening day
9 August 2015
So the big day finally arrived with much excitement and calmly chaotic activity in the House. The day started with staff breakfast in the dining hall, accompanied by our roaming poet. After fuelling up for the big day ahead, we got to work. First on the agenda was unpacking the Fantastical Furniture we had carefully put away on Friday. Once this was all set up and well stocked, we began helping out with anything else that needed doing: from carrying boxes to the right room in the House to set up for events such as our storyteller to sweeping floors as the last of the ‘From Where I Stand’ exhibition was put into place. All of this was completed before 10am when we all congregated in the Welcome Centre for briefing about the day. After a quick run-through everything that was going on, we split into different groups to talk about specific tasks. We were excited to hear that visitors were already beginning to queue outside!
It was then time to make our way toward our first stewarding point. I was helping out with the storytelling event until my break and then in the afternoon the plan was for me to restock the Learning Space and act as a point of information for families in this area.
We then followed the storyteller along a short trail which the children would follow, solving riddles to collect picture pieces in order to complete the story which they had to return to the Blue Room to hear. The storytelling had a relatively small but consistent attendance throughout the morning, and everyone taking part really seemed to engage and enjoy the story. It was a fantastic way to link part of the story of Stowe to a creative and engaging event.
Whilst in the Blue Room, we were also asked many questions by the increasing flow of visitors which made me wish I had spent more time listening to the tours passing through when we were working in the library. This was a valuable opportunity to see how to manage such a large number of visitors (we had around 3,500 in the House throughout the day!). This involved lots of management of queues and corridors as well as making sure that everyone stayed safe by not accessing restricted areas.
After a swift lunch break and a short return to the Blue Room, I made my way to the Learning Space to see the chaos and creativity which may have been going on there. After a bit of a tidy up of paper and pencils, glue sticks and scissors, I was really pleased to see how busy the family activities were. Large family groups all joined in together making colourful paint palettes and coloured glasses. This all fed into the main summer trails which investigate colour and pattern in the House. It was a really busy afternoon and a prime position to direct and advise families on all of the other family friendly activities we have on offer in the House, including our fascinating Fantastical Furniture.
Numbers of people through the House began to trail off as we approached 5 o’clock and shortly after this, we started to close up the House. This meant a swift tidy up was in order with everyone chipping in to collect all of our resources and equipment. Shortly after 6pm we managed a few minutes sit down in the Welcome Centre to reflect on the day. It had been a massive success and everyone was really pleased with how it had gone. The number of visitors vastly exceeded all expectations and we sincerely hope many will return. Despite how busy we had all been everyone had a fantastic day. I couldn’t stop smiling, the busy atmosphere and buzz about the House was infectious – you could really see what the House must have been like at the height of its ‘party palace’ days with so many people inside!