What's on?

Are you ready for a peek at a collection that looks back at you? Welcome to the world’s oldest museum of optometry! Find out what that is and discover some of the curious devices created to aid our vision (and more) with this introduction from its curator, Dr Neil Handley. (P.S. – Watch out for stories of augmented reality, football fans and student practical jokes along the way!)

The National Trust has an incredible collection of places, objects, and most importantly, stories. A collaborative research project has helped them highlight more of these from under-represented groups. Members of the project team introduce their work here and share three of the stories – discover the celebrated miniaturist who painted with her mouth and shoulder and the much loved sister who learnt to speak again after an accident.

From Roman soldiers to a Regency era ferryman, the rich history of African people in our country is a long one. A project in the North East has been researching these stories, sharing them through a range of resources and events – including a taster walk over our festival. As we couldn’t attend the walk we asked them to share a few stories here, highlighting the wonderful work they do and resource they are creating.