I’m told that the life of an archivist is mostly spent ferreting away in the well regulated temperature of the archives room and yet whilst this image is terribly appealing in such hot weather, this week I attended an event held by Santander and the University of Sheffield. Alas the coolness of the room was not on par with the basement, but the delicious free sandwiches, quiche and spring rolls helped me cope. The event was to highlight the partnership between the two institutions and to promote the work they do together. Hannah and I were invited as we are fortunate enough to have our internships part funded by this partnership. Without the partnership between Wessex and the University, the internship opportunity would not have been possible and other Wessex staff involved in the setup and day to day supervision of the internships were also invited – Andrew Norton, Richard O’Neill and Jess Tibber. We were introduced to Simon Bray who heads the Santander Universities initiative and I think he was really impressed with the variety of experiences that we have accrued since the inception of our internships – from the Bronze Age Cremation Urn that I’ve been looking at as part of an archive due for deposition, to the community work that Hannah has been engaged with on the Exploring Tinsley Manor Project; our internships with Wessex Archaeology have shown the amazing variety that Wessex has to offer.
The social events don’t stop there as this week Wessex Archaeology Chair Eugenie Turton and Commercial Director Peter Dean visited our Sheffield office and were given a tour of the archives room (Eugenie particularly liked “the witch in the basement”) and next week I shall be travelling down to our Salisbury office to see the huge archives at Portway House and get stuck in there!
By Emma Carter