Thursday 18 November 2016

At the invitation of Long Preston Heritage Group three of us visited Long Preston today to tell them about our churchyard survey project at Embsay. We thoroughly enjoyed the day and were well fed with plenty of home-made cakes.

Members of the committee and a couple of other interested local residents listened patiently to our three presentations – Sue gave an overview of the way the project has been managed and evolved over the past two years or so; Jane explained how the data collected and photographic collection can be analysed for a broader understanding of the cultural and social significance of the gravestones; and Alan explained the technique of RTI photography which has proved so useful in the project.

Sue chats about the project while Alan sets up the RTI demo

For the afternoon, we had planned a practical demonstration of RTI but the persistent rain meant we were driven indoors. So Alan set up a demo of the technique inside the church where a very lovely Jacobean bench-seat provided a good substitute for a gravestone.

Alan, Sue & Tony run the RTI demo inside Long Preston church

Some of the Long Preston Group then came back with us to the village hall where Alan wowed them with a demonstration of the RTI Viewer software.

We hope very much that the Long Preston Heritage Group will be inspired to run their own churchyard survey, and look forward to sharing our experience with them if they decide to go ahead.

Our thanks to them all for showing such an interest in our project and giving us such a warm welcome.

Jane Lunnon