Friday 22 May 2015

Wednesday 20th May 2015

A good day was spent recording and measuring in St Mary's Churchyard in Embsay. The weather wasn't ideal for RTI photography as here was a strong breeze and the bright intervals were frequent, short & unpredictable. But moving round to the east side meant we were a little more sheltered from the strong gusts of wind.

This was our first proper day of RTI - at least it was meant to be. Jane's flash gun refused to work remotely in sync with the camera, so only Alan managed to get any RTI done - the results were good though on the gravestone he did this morning. 

Each team quickly got into an efficient rhythm of working depending on their own group dynamics, using Sue's latest version of the recording forms, which worked really well. Most of the gravestones on the east side are in good condition and don't need RTI so we were able to crack on with the "plain" photographs and recording of them. 

Sue and Bridget spent a good  morning sorting out the plan of the memorial garden and updating the records for these. 

We had a leisurely lunch inside the church - and of course, enjoyed Sue's chocolate cake. 



In the afternoon we measured in the location of each of the gravestones we had surveyed so far - this placed them on the plan in relation to the fixed reference points we had identified on the church building. It was a little like maypole dancing as the different teams choreographed their way around each other trailing their surveyors' tapes up and over and through!

Jane Lunnon

Friday 15 May 2015

Thursday 14th May 2015

Three members of ERG (2 of whom are also members of St Mary's) and another member of the St Mary's Church History Group attended a day's workshop in the beautiful King's Manor building, home to York University's Archaeology Department. 

The event was hosted by the York Centre for Digital Heritage (Gareth Beale), the Cemetery Research Group, and Kirkyard Consulting. The title of the event was "Who's telling the stories?" and focused on the interpretation of cemeteries and graveyards to reach public audiences of local residents, visitors and tourists.
Sadly, we were the only local community group represented - the other delegates were mostly professionals working with heritage organisations or for large cemeteries. While they were dealing with large spaces used for a variety of purposes, including parks and recreation - and often have to generate income, and provide proven, audited "added value" - ERG and St Mary's can concentrate on the educational and local heritage value of our little graveyards, according to our own interests. Nevertheless, despite our objectives and perspectives being very different from everyone else's, we all found the day very interesting and picked up some very useful tips and ideas. We are now full of enthusiasm for promoting the heritage of the local graveyards of Embsay and Upper Wharfedale!

Jane Lunnon