Our last message of 2021 – thank you to all your kind support and good wishes over the past year as we have welcomed visitors, researchers and schools back to Bruce Castle Museum & Archive since the summer.
It has been lovely seeing people being able to visit again in the building – whether it be to the archive for research or in the galleries enjoying an exhibition, taking part in a tour or a historical walk outside. It has also been a delight to hear the sound of lots of children’s voices in the museum as they have had fun exploring new ideas, stories from the past and getting hands-on and creative with activities. It has been great to have our two talks programmes continue as well this autumn with our lunchtime events being delivered in a hybrid fashion, allowing both in person as well as virtual attendance, and our evening talks delivered virtually. Thank you to all our wonderful speakers who have supported this programme. Our new programme of events for 2022 will be announced in January – so do look out for that soon.
Bruce Castle Museum & Archive is now closed from 24 December 2021 for the Christmas and New Year period and we will resume our normal working hours from Tuesday 4 January 2022. Updates and news will be sent out again that week.
We would like to extend our warm wishes for the holidays and hope you have a happy and healthy time this Christmas if you are celebrating.
During the holidays if you are out for a stroll in Bruce Castle Park, do enjoy a catch up with our current Little OPEN OUT Gallery displays for Christmas with the delightful artwork by children in Key Stage 2 from Risley Avenue Primary School in Tottenham. Thank you to all the schools from around the borough who have taken part every two months over 2021:
Equally, if you are out and about, you will still be able to see our Seasonal Windows @ The Castle advent calendar on show at Bruce Castle during the day and also lit up at night. Photographs (see far below) have been posted for each new window as they appear, with their associated information, and added to Bruce Castle Museum’s new Instagram page (just click on the link here – please do follow the page if you can!).
I must send a big thank you to all our staff at Bruce Castle for all your dedication hard work this year and for also getting hands-on and involved in these lovely seasonal window creations this month. In particular a huge thank you to our four very special artists who have studios at Bruce Castle and joined in, supporting us with the spirit of the season and helping us make this happen. We are deeply honoured that they so kindly shared their time in creating these fantastic new artworks for our windows. Thank you to artists Sadie Lee, Nicola Green, Lucy Griffiths and Wendy Charlton for sharing your wonderful designs with us. Here’s a close-up of what they created:
Day 4
Merry Christmask
By Sadie Lee, 2021
https://artacademy.org.uk/page/sadie-lee/
Day 11
Light, Bruce Castle
By Nicola Green, 2021
Day 14
Angel @ The Castle
By Lucy Griffiths, 2021
https://www.instagram.com/lucyannlark/
Day 18
Community & Light @ Broadwater Farm
By Wendy Charlton, 2021
https://www.wendycharlton.net/
Day 12
Parang – a Trini Christmas!
Inspired by and with thanks to The N15 Archive
To accompany our current exhibition We’re in Business: Art, Trade & Business of West Green Road – the Windrush Generation’s Legacy and in honour of Althea McNish, one of those celebrated in the exhibition, this Seasonal Window @ The Castle is called ‘Parang – a Trini Christmas’. The word ‘parang’ looks back to Althea’s birthplace and family home in Trinidad & Tobago. During the festive season on the islands, the much-loved soca and calypso songs sung especially at Christmas are called ‘parang’ music. The term comes from the Spanish word ‘parranda’, meaning ‘a spree or fête’. At this special time of year, parang bands in Trinidad embody this tradition with lively and colourful performances that exude the fun and festivity of the season.
Featured below are all the Seasonal Windows @ The Castle, covering Days 1 – 24 (shown in reverse order with a few other pictures thrown in!), starting off with Day 24 (and here’s the link again to the Instagram page with other information):
Lastly, here are two Christmassy photographic views of Bruce Castle – one taken this week in 2021, the other (one of our favourites from our collections here at Bruce Castle) taken by Frederic Fisk on a snowy 26 December 1906 – two views, 115 years apart.
From the collections and © Bruce Castle Museum & Archive
On that note we will end this seasonal message – whatever you are doing over the holiday period, have a safe, healthy and peaceful time.
Wishing us all a better 2022 – happy New Year!
Take care and best wishes
From us all at Bruce Castle Museum & Archive
Deborah Hedgecock Curator
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