Natural History
Hooks Green Farm, Clothall by Alfred J Bamford (c) North Hertfordshire Museum
One of our many tasks while preparing for the new North Hertfordshire Museum is to understand the collections we hold and where they came from. This often helps to tell us more about the objects, and it is why, when people donate items, we collect as much information about the person giving the item as we do about the object itself.
The Bamford family were one of the families involved in setting up Letchworth Museum and providing items for the collection. We were in correspondence with current members of the family about some of these items shortly after Letchworth Museum closed, and this has led to helping them with an interesting Art Exhibition, The Artful Gene, currently at the Letchworth Arts Centre until the end of August.
This is an exhibition of paintings and drawings by A.J. Bamford (1849 to 1929) and his great grandson M.J. Bamford (b. 1959) who lives in Australia. 100 years after the first exhibition of Alfred’s work this new exhibition explores the Bamford family tree and features sketches, drawings and more by both artists comparing the similarities in style and subject between the two artists, and exploring whether artistic talent and style exist in the genes.
Reverend Alfred J Bamford was born in Folkestone in 1849 and although he was interested in the study of animals and a talented artist and illustrator, he trained in Christian ministry. His first church was in Kent after which he served abroad for six years in India and China. He returned to England and became minister of a church in Lancashire for twenty years, but retired early, and moved to the new Garden City of Letchworth in 1907.
The Hidden Stream on Norton Common by Alfred J Bamford (c) North Hertfordshire Museum
One of Letchworth’s earliest residents, he took an active role in many of the town’s organisations. He was a member of the Literary and Debating Society and became Chairman of the Naturalist Society in 1916 during the period when the Society ran Letchworth Museum. He was a member of the Brotherhood Church, he lived on Hillshott and was known locally for his art work. Some of his paintings were shown in an exhibition of local Arts and Crafts mounted for the newly extended museum in 1920. He died in September 1929. Seven of his paintings were donated to Letchworth Museum, and can be seen on the BBC Your Paintings website and copies of them form part of the current exhibition.
Do visit the exhibition, particularly as there are sketches on show of local scenes that the family have not been able to identify and they are hoping to make use of local knowledge to fill in the gaps. Look out too for the workshops run in connection with the exhibition over the coming weeks.
We often use specialist equipment in museums when caring for our collections, however, sometimes we find that everyday items can be put to use. Last week we were taught how a make-up sponge can be used to clean our feathered and furry collections.
Nicola Crompton, who trained in conservation at Lincoln University, came to show us how to smarten up our Natural History collection ready for display in the new museum.
Nicola showing Gill how to clean a dormouse
We began by wiping down the feathers (or fur) of our chosen specimen with either a cosmetic sponge or a special piece of cloth called a ‘Dust Bunny’. These create static which causes the dust and dirt to stick to them. It was amazing how effective they were and lovely to see the bright colours on the birds reappear.
Cleaning the feathers of a blackbird with a Dust Bunny
Gill also tackled a hedgehog, its very sharp quills meant that a different technique had to be used. She used a small brush to brush the dust off and into a vacuum cleaner. The end of the vacuum cleaner’s pipe is covered with a gauze (the gauze lets the small dust particles through but if any small piece of the object comes away during cleaning it is collected on the gauze and can then be kept and possibly reattached).
We then moved on to the eyes, beaks, feet and claws. We used a sticky substance called ‘Groomstick’ which is rolled into a small ball and stuck on the end of a cocktail stick. This can then be dabbed on to the eyes etc. and the dirt sticks to it. For eyes that were really dull we used a damp cotton wool swab and the eyes of all the animals were soon sparkling again.
Using a damp cotton wool swab to clean the eyes of a Tawny Owl
Finally, tweezers, pins and cotton wool swabs were used to very carefully tease feathers back into place where they had got twisted or misshapen and by the end of the day we had a table full of animals looking ready for their brand new display next year!
Many thanks to Nicola and our Natural History volunteer Bob Press for spending the day with us and sharing their expertise.
Deer Skull
Emptying the cases
North Herts Museum staff have been busy down at Standalone Farm. If you haven’t already seen, there is a barn at the farm with some interesting nature displays, giving visitors a chance to get a close look at some creatures they may not normally see. These include some North Herts Museum cases with large creepy crawlies and an impressive seascape diorama with a huge variety of bird specimens. There is also a working beehive with live bees who you can watch as they work away busily. So its well worth popping in when you are next at the farm.
Anyway, a potential pest problem was spotted by staff at the farm so our team rushed in to take a look and save the museum specimens. Pests such as woodworm and carpet beetle can damage natural history specimens and their settings by eating through them. Natural Historian Volunteer Bob, Technician Colin and Assistant Curator Suzie worked on the cases and managed to dismantle the two where the problem had been spotted and safely pack all the specimens.
These have now been taken for safe keeping at the Burymead Resource Centre where they will be frozen. Freezing the mounted specimens wont harm them at all but it will destroy any pests and their larvae. Specialist pest staff at Standalone will treat the cases to make sure the specimens will be safe from further damage. Once done, they can all be returned back to their nice, clean display cases.