February 2014
Over the winter period, when the museum is closed to the public, staff and volunteers are working hard to prepare all areas of the museum for the visitor season to come.
A major focus of this work is the conservation cleaning of the collections on display, and this January it has been about the care of the large objects in the main back hall where a conservator from the NMS team has been working alongside volunteers. The closed season has also enabled the conservator to assess the condition and conservation needs of each object in preparation for any further treatment and allocation of resources.
Volunteers cleaning objects before returning them to their display case
The gallery space isn’t too warm in January, hence the warm clothing being worn by everyone!
The objects on display in this area include several large pieces of agricultural machinery and vehicles, and many smaller, rural life associated objects.
Working on large agricultural implements and vehicles, which are essentially pieces of industrial machinery, present very specific conservation and logistical challenges. Particular care has to be taken also with regard to safety due to components such as sharp blades, gears, revolving parts, etc. which have potential to cause injury even though they are retired from use in a museum!
Cleaning the roof of a showman’s wagon using a specialist backpack vacuum cleaner
Cleaning a farm wagon
The display gallery cleaned and ready for another visitor season. Thanks to the hard work and dedication of the volunteers at Gressenhall.
Visit Gressenhall Farm & Workhouse to have a closer look at the objects featured in this blog.
For a closer look at the work of NMS conservation department, follow our twitter feed @ConserveNMS