Community & Learning Intern Blog – Meghan’s last week!

24 August 2015

So it’s just me this week, with Ella leaving last Friday. I can’t quite believe that I have finally reached the last week of my internship. The week started off quite quietly with lots of rain putting off some visitors and no other interns around either! I’m missing them already. However, this presented a good opportunity to crack on with some work. I spent a great morning preparing all of the materials for this week’s family event, 'Walk Like an Egyptian'. After laminating, cutting and hole-punching lots of amulets ready to become necklaces, we only had the sand and glitter mixtures to make and clay to experiment with to make little scarab beetle pendants. This left time for me to work on my project before getting to peek at all the new stock which had been ordered for the shop.

The arrival of Kelly with a huge bag of sand – it was time to get started on the experimenting. One of the activities for 'Walk Like an Egyptian' was to hide a scarab beetle in sand and then uncover him to reveal a sand picture. To achieve this participants had to cover the beetle in glue and sprinkle him with sand. But not just any sand. We wanted brightly coloured, glittery sand. So obviously we decided to make our own, experimenting with powdered paint and lots of glitter. We were really quite pleased with the sparkly results.

Despite the rain, Sophie and her lovely volunteers in the National Trust Gardens braved the elements to put on their fairies activity. This was a fantastic opportunity for stories and creativity. With boggarts and fairies to be made and magical leaf wands to be created, there was great fun had by all whilst sheltered in the Lake Pavilion.

By mid-week things were starting to get busy: just a few days to get my project all sorted;  the family event to do; preparation for the final summer event the following week; and an entire exhibition to move. It was time for efficiency and hard work.

'Walk Like an Egyptian' was a small but fun session with some really enthusiastic participants. Our explorers were very happy to craft their own amulets before setting off to collect more, solving clues and unearthing Egyptian symbols all around the House. But once one event is done, it’s on to the next: time to get teddy ready for school. Kelly and I worked on creating some messy activities which were both engaging, interactive and safe for the only under 5s specific event of the summer. I hope that everyone will have fun with lots of music and lights and teddy colouring at 'Teddy Gets Ready for School'.

Our other big task for the week was to move the BYHP collaborative exhibition into storage after being on display in the House during August. From the look of the chalk board, designed for feedback and comments, the exhibition certainly did provoke conversation about the interaction of heritage and fashion as well as responses to such an exhibit within the House. I hope everyone who saw it enjoyed the pieces and could see the hard work and inspired creativity which went into its creation. Hopefully this is just the start of such exhibits within the House. However, it was sadly now time for it to be moved in preparation for the start of term. So ensued lots of lifting, carrying and negotiating with doorways. With a little help from some of Stowe’s lovely volunteers, the pieces are now tucked away in the House. Hopefully, some of the pieces will be exhibited again soon.

Then all too soon, the end of the week arrived and it was time for me to pack up my bags and head home. It has truly been a fantastic summer at Stowe, both as an experience and for all the members of Stowe House Preservation Trust. I have loved seeing the House come alive with visitors and the developing experience you are providing them. I wish you all the best for the future in continuing to be a successful property. I also want to say a massive thank you to everyone at Stowe this summer, you helped to create a really memorable experience for me. I had great fun with the other interns, Jenny, Craig, Madeline and especially Ella, and also learnt a great deal both from all you and all of the Stowe House team. You’re all wonderful and are so dedicated to what you are doing, I don’t think anyone could walk away without an appreciation of all you have done and continue to do. Lastly, a huge thank you to Natalie and Kelly. You are both a great inspiration and I have learnt a massive amount from you both in such a short space of time. This internship has made me once again really appreciate heritage, and I’m excited to hopefully build my own career in this area thanks to the things I have learnt at Stowe this summer.