From Ordinary to Extraordinary

Exploring the hidden stories and histories around us

We partnered with the Young Archaeologists’ Club to help fund an exciting opportunity for YACs from across the UK to design and deliver an archaeology themed project in their own community.

The projects focused on exploring untold stories and narratives linked to a site/place chosen by their group.

Our Young Producers and YAC Young Leaders helped select the 8 projects to receive the funding.

Below you will find overviews of all the projects, as well as the project film featuring all our groups.

A group of people photographing an artifactn

Following the threads: pinning down child workers in the Chiltern lace making industry

Chiltern YAC investigated part of the forgotten local heritage of Buckinghamshire, the area where their group is based.

The Chilterns was one of the major areas for the bobbin lace making industry until overtaken by mechanisation in late Victorian times. Chiltern YAC made a film to show how young children working in the lace making industry lived and worked in the Chiltern villages during the mid-Nineteenth Century. They considered; their age; why did they have to work; their working conditions and pay; their living conditions and what happened when machine made lace took over.

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What was the main output from the project?

The main output for the project was the project film that features the research of the YAC members, interviews with experts and the YAC members themselves, plus footage of lace-making in action.

The project film was produced, recorded, directed and edited by the groups two young leaders, Aaron and Rosie.

Watch the video here
Pictures and drawings of cats and dogs

The Secret Life (and Death) of Pets

Brighton YAC will ‘let the cat out of the bag’ on Preston Manor’s Late Victorian and Edwardian Pet Cemetery. Believed to be the only example in Sussex, this is the final resting place of 16 known dogs and 3 cats. Brighton members are conducting their own graveyard study and consulting local archives to reveal the hidden story behind these beloved but often over-looked Brighton residents. What tales will they tell that we can share with our community?

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What was the main output from the project?

An interactive illustrated map of the cemetery. The map includes hand drawn maps and images as well as embedded videos.

The embedded videos focus on individual pets from the cemetery presented by different YAC members, which you can access via QR codes. You can hear about their history, their owners and take a look at pictures and drawings of each pet.

Download your map here
Illustrated map of Tudor Essex

Caught in a Tudor Web

Colchester YAC set out to create a Martyrs’ Trail, which commemorates the Protestants from Colchester who died for their faith in the sixteenth century and show that prejudices and divisions in our town are in the past. More than four hundred years ago there was such religious conflict in England that cloth workers and farm labourers were martyred, for their protestant faith, in the castle bailey and at the town walls. Today a Mosque, Synagogue, Anglican, Methodist, Baptist, Buddhist, Greek Orthodox and Catholic places of worship are all within a short walk of the sites of martyrdom.

Colchester YAC members worked together to research the history of protestant martyrs in their area. They undertook site visits, map regression work, historical document and research and they also created their very own project logo.

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What did they create?

The group created their very heritage trail around Colchester and the wider county. This was created in both a poster version and as a printed information flyer that is now available locally.

YAC Leader, Barbara, also recorded an article for the May edition of the “Talking Magazine” for the blind and partially sighted in north Essex, which focuses on the young archaeologists’ club project. It is about 34 minutes in to the recorded magazine here: Talking Magazine Article Recording

Future Plans

The group have plans to turn their research into a project film in the near future. They are also hoping to organise tours based on their trail for the local community.

Group of young people filming in an archive

Torquay at War: Uncovering forgotten stories from Torquay during the Second World War

The Devon Torbay YAC members set out to work with their leaders and a film maker from Emberlense Productions to discover stories of the second world war, which were uncovered through physical evidence seen around the harbour and seafront areas of Torquay, such as memorials, the D-day slipway, bullet holes in walls etc. Using this and Torquay Museum’s collections, plus historical research, the YAC members decided to make two new documentary films. Members decided on the format and style of the films through a process of co-creation and these have been disseminated through Torquay Museum’s social media.

Blog Post: Devon and Torbay YAC and their ‘Torquay at War’ project

The group created TWO(!) documentaries about their research and findings.

Documentary Film 1: The Bombing of St Marychurch

This film explores the bombing of St Marychurch, which killed 21 children and 3 teachers. The film tells the story of the tragic events of the 30th of May 1943. Incorporated in the film are photos, newspaper articles from the time, an original model of the church used to raise money for the rebuilding of the church and voiceover excerpts read from the diary of young child who tragically lost his life in the bombing.

Documentary Film 2: Air Raid Wardens of World War 2

This film explores the role of Air wardens in WW2. For the pre-production of the film the Young Archaeologists visited the Brixham Battery and learnt about its function and what life was like during the War. From this visit, they wrote a script about the function of an Air Warden and questions about the many items that Air Wardens used. They then interviewed Anthony Job who does Air Warden re-enactment for the Brixham Battery.

Watch here
Group of young people exploring an exhibit

The Archaeology of Slavery and Liverpool

The Mersey and Dee YAC branch decided to explore the archaeology of slavery and its links to Liverpool. They divided their project across three sessions: to learn about the legacy of the international trade in enslaved African people in their landscape, how to do research to find out more and what the finds could tell us, and setting out their display.

You can read more about that in the first blog post below.

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What was the main output from the project?

The main output from the project was the curation of a co-created museum exhibition at the Museum of Liverpool based on the topic of the TransAtlantic slave trade in Liverpool. Below you can see the panel they created, the museum display and the installation underway.

Watch the video here
Group of people at the coast in hats

Monopoly - The Oban Edition!

The Rockfield Centre YAC set out to explore important places and spaces in Oban. The YAC members wished to record a variety of locations through expert knowledge, oral histories and recordings with their new camera, purchased with funding from the FOTE project.

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What was the main output from the project?

YAC members became particularly interested in a local cave system that was no longer accessible and decided to explore this further. Members interviewed a local expert about the caves and created their very own podcast. You can listen to the podcast here:

Rockfield Centre YAC Podcast

They also undertook a guided tour of Oban, inviting their friends and family along too. During the walking tour members chose places to stop and take 360 pictures.  All the pictures taken from the day and the 360 photos now have their own page on the Rockfield Centre website showcasing the groups involvement with FOTE project. You can see a selection of the photos below:

Check out the 360 video here
Selection of exhibit photos

Hidden Histories

Rusty Club YAC explored the theme of ‘Hidden Histories’ by thinking about different historical sites across the country that either aren’t easily accessible or are not immediately visible, such as cave systems, underground passages, hidden rooms and cathedral ceilings. They also explored some mystery objects and investigated the changing past uses of the museum building itself. The club members also explored how exhibitions are made with the aim of co-creating their own exhibition at Weston Museum.

Blog Post: Rusty Club YAC and their ‘Hidden Histories’ project

What was the main output from the project?

Club members worked together to research, curate and mount their own exhibition, which opened to the public in February 2022. Each member chose their own bit of history to showcase and then wrote about why it was important to them.

We also wanted this text to be accessible to a wider audience so we had it translated. In Weston-super-Mare we have a large population of Polish speaking families and we wanted to encourage them to visit the exhibition too. We used part of our grant to have all the text in the exhibition translated in Polish and have this translation freely available in print form upon viewing the exhibition.

Resource created about games through the ages

Childhood Tales

Worcestershire YAC set out to explore the theme of childhood in the historical and archaeological record. The group began by undertaking site visits and group research to identify areas that interested them.

YAC members then developed their own research strands, some exploring topics such as toys and games, others pursued an oral history approach interviewing their family and neighbours about their experiences in WW2 for example.

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What was the main output from the project?

Worcestershire YAC brought all their research together and presented them as a series of online blogs that they shared via their own social media channels.

You can read each of them by clicking the links below:

Childhood Tales – A Worcestershire Young Archaeologists’ Club Project

Childhood Tales – Toys and Games

Childhood Tales – World War II

Childhood Tales: Family Stories

Or watch the showreel

We worked with the Council for British Archeology and their Young Archeologist Clubs to deliver this programme.

Find out more about them on our Partners page

Archeology