In 2009 we commissioned award-winning scriptwriter Emily Capstick to devise a performance for early years visitors.  The story is about Mr Ordinary who suddenly realises why he is so bored and why everything in his life is so ordinary – someone has stolen his thinking and doing!  The animals from the Manchester Coat of Arms hear his cries for help and they embark on an adventure to rescue his thinking and doing from the Giant who is called Lazy.  The story gives the animals the qualities that the symbols represent: the stag who keeps trying, the strong protecting lion and the hard-working bees.

We have the largest collection of trade union, political and campaigning banners in the world. Catherine O’Donnell, Learning Officer at the museum explains: “Our banner collection has a rich visual language, with symbols frequently used.  These symbols originated when the majority of the population could not read and write, but they could instantly understand what the pictures meant.  Visual communication continues to be very important particularly in a city with a hight proportion of people who speak English as an additional language.”

We have already partnered with a local primary school to get the pupils involved, as experts, in choosing an illustrator for the book.  There will be further workshops with the artist and the author both in school and at the museum later in the year. 

The book will be launched at the Manchester Children’s Book Festival on Sunday 8 July 2012 at a free event at the museum.  An exhibition of the illustrations will be on show throughout the festival.  The book will be available to families, children and those working with children through free distribution to schools, early years care providers such as children’s centres, public libraries and the museum itself.  It will also be available to download free of charge on our website.

Public performances of Mr Ordinary’s Prize run throughout the year – see the What’s On section for more information.

There are two banners that are on display for the very first time this year: The Operative Grain Millers banner and The Typographical Association Preston Branch banner.  The latter has been painstakingly conserved in our Textile Conservation Studio over the last year or so.

Some of the new banners have connections to significant events or anniversaries in 2012:

The Typographical Association Preston Branch banner – 2012 is the year of the Preston Guild – an event that has taken place every 20 years in the town since the 16^th century.

The womens struggle won the vote, use it for disarmament banner – 12 December 2012 marks 30 years since 30,000 women joined to ‘Embrace the Base’, linking arms around the nine mile perimeter fence at cruise missile base Greenham Common in Berkshire.

Raise higher the red banners of the classe struggle! banner – 2012 marks 100 years since Lenin’s Bolshevik group expelled the Mensheviks from the Communist Party. The group later came to power following the Russian Revolution of 1917.

2012 also marks 175 years since banner makers George Tutill was founded in London.  Numerous Tutill banners are on display in the museum galleries.      

w/c Monday 9 January – Main Gallery One will be closed. 

w/c Monday 16 January – Main Gallery Two will be closed.

The filming has concentrated on the conservation of one particular banner, the Amalgamated Stevedores Labour Protection League banner. Conservator Leanne Tonkin talks through some of the processes involved in conserving this banner and you can also see some of this very detailed and careful work in action.  We also hear from Kate Chatfield, Exhibitions Manager who talks about the involvement of the Conservators in designing the new galleries and in particular the display of banners from the museum’s collection.

The film has been divided into four smaller films and is available on the PHM channel on youtube – http://www.youtube.com/user/PeoplesHistoryMuseum

or you can click on the videos below

The museum submitted an application for the award and received a visit from two of the judges earlier this year.  They were very impressed by what they saw.  We have now been nominated to receive an award and will find out if we are a winner at a ceremony in May 2012.

There are a number of awards which will be made at the event and you can find out more details on the European Museum Forum.

We are delighted to announce that the winners are:

Under 11s – Imogen Ferguson

11 to 16 – India Taylor

 Adult – Stuart Vallantine and Lyndsay White (joint winners)

Both Ed and Kate were really impressed with the standard of the entries and found it very hard to select the winners (and in the adult category they couldn’t chose between two entries so decided to announce two joint winners!) 

Congratulations to the winners and thank you to everyone that took part and submitted their banner designs.

The Times columnist, political sketch writer and former MP Matthew Parris officially opened our new exhibition Picturing Politics on Friday evening.

The museum was delighted to welcome Matthew and he enjoyed a guided tour of Picturing Politics by the Curator Chris Burgess, Exhibitions Manager Kate Chatfield and Director Katy Archer.  In his speech he shared his enthusiasm for the exhibition and recounted some personal stories of his connections with some of the posters that feature in the exhibition.  He then declared the exhibition officially open.  Over 150 guests enjoyed having a sneak preview with the opportunity to see the exhibition before it opened to the public on Saturday.

Afterwards we were pleased to give Matthew a behind the scenes tour of the Labour History Archive and Study Centre and showed him some of the highlights from the collection.

See Picturing Politics for more information.

The exhibition is on show until Sunday 17 June 2012.  Admission is free to all.

Join us on Monday 28 November between 3.00 and 5.00pm.  There will be a tour of the exhibition at 4.00pm as well as a Print Power drop-in workshop all afternoon.  Click to view and print the invitation.  

RSVP by 21 November on 0161 838 9190 or to learning@phm.org.uk

Throughout the duration of the exhibition we will be offering ten schools or community groups our popular Print Power workshop for half price.  Just quote offer code PP1 when booking.

The temperance movement, in which people took the pledge not to drink alcohol, effectively began in the North West. It was a significant feature of many working people’s lives for over 100 years and is still a tradition in many local families. 

Historians at the University of Central Lancashire hope to offer a range of events from July 2012 to explore this history – with an exhibition at the People’s History Museum, talks and entertainments such as a re-creation of a Temperance meeting.  They also hope to find out what family traditions or personal memories the people of the North West have, and to record these for future generations as well as using them to contribute to the exhibition, where possible.  

The researchers at UCLan would like your help.  Please get in touch with them.

• Please contact them if you think that this is a good idea and if you would be interested in attending the exhibition/ events.  This will not commit you to anything.  They need this list to show that there is interest from the local public and to support their application for funding.  They will only use this to keep you informed and will not give this to any other group or organisation
• If you have personal memories of temperance movements (such as the Band of Hope, Rechabites, Orders of Good Templars or Phoenix, or church-linked Temperance societies) or if you have family traditions or stories, please contact them.

Contact details:
Dr Annemarie McAllister
Email: amcallister1@uclan.ac.uk
Telephone: 01772 893799
Post: School of Education and Social Science, UCLan, Preston, PR1 2HE

We have instigated almost 40 different ways of working to help reduce our carbon footprint and to ensure the building is as sustainable as possible. 

Examples of what we are doing to be green in the museum include: 

• actively sorting plastic / glass bottles to be recycled
• actively sorting cardboard / paper waste to be recycled
• recycling clean cardboard for use in craft activities where appropriate
• turning down the central heating to level two
• re-using envelopes where possible
• postage stamps are sent to Oxfam where they are valued and priced to sell to collectors
• internal documents are printed on used paper
• lights in the toilets and staircases are on a sensor so they go off when it is bright daylight or when there are no visitors
• the heating, lighting and air con systems are monitored to ensure maximum efficiency and minimum waste
• visitors are encouraged to use hand dryers in the toilets rather than paper towels
• visitors are encouraged to use public transport to get to the museum where possible

Visit the Greener Museums website for more information

We’re really pleased to announce that Viv Anderson’s England shirt is now on public display.  Viv very kindly loaned the shirt to us earlier in the year and since then it has been conserved in our Textile Conservation Studio so that it was ready to go on display.  The England shirt is the one Viv wore in 1978 as the first black footballer to play for England.  The match was at Wembley against Czechoslovakia, with England winning 1-0.  The shirt is on display in the Time Off? section of Main Gallery Two on the second floor.      

Come and see a special Living History performance.  Join us on Tuesday 25 October at 1.15pm for a performance of No Bed of Roses – from the Caribbean to Manchester.  Celebrate Black History Month and meet Gabrielle and help with her life changing decision to move from the Caribbean to Manchester in the 1950s.  Family Friendly activity.  Suitable for over 7s to adults.

If you’re visiting the look around the main galleries, why not follow our self-guided Black History Trail.  Answer the questions about objects or stories dotted around the museum galleries and find out lots of fascinating facts.  Pick up a copy of the trail (which is free) from the reception/information desk. 

The museum is open every day from 10.00am until 5.00pm.