London and the NT

Interpretative Text for the Sutton Ho House in Hackney

The last two weeks of my internships included seeing new houses and working towards the completion of case studies that the due date is coming closer and closer too.  Catherine and I took some workday adventures to some National Trust Properties within London.  We explored the Sutton Ho house in Hackney, which was a part of London I had never seen.  The house is unlike most of the National Trust properties as it is used as a community center for the residents of Hackney.  All the rooms were interactive, which works especially well for school groups, and the barn and garden are used as community meet up points.  It is a great example of how to make heritage part of the community in a way that makes people interested in the future of the house.  The house has been preserved and restored nicely with rooms that feature its varying timeline from the Tudor period to the Georgian period, and even to modern day.  I highly suggest a visit if you are ever in London.

Besides all the deskwork and meetings that I got to sit in (a very informative on about fundraising included) we took an adventure to the end of the Northern Line to Morden Hall Park.  Morden Hall Park is a very large park in South London that has a house, garden, and playground.   The whole area is able to be used by the community and the outdoor area is the main attraction.

Catherine and I playing with the interpretative material at Sutton Ho

At Morden Hall Park they were hosting Italian students who had won a school competition to come to London.  The competition was held by FAI (the Italian National Trust).  The student winners were than rewarded with the opportunity to visit the UK for a week and volunteer for three days at a National Trust Property.  It was great because the students had a chance to visit the UK, and Morden Hall Park received some much needed extra volunteer help.  One of the things they did was make natural shelters for the children to play in at the Morden playground; which I would love to play in if it didn’t make me look like a crazy person ;).

Entrance into Morden Hall Park

Catherine and I went to visit for their celebratory English Tea with scones and cake (inspired by the garden with lavender and rose flavoring).  It was really exciting to see the partnerships forming between the staff at Morden Hall Park and their Italian guests.  Yippee, for the partnerships created between FAI and the National Trust.  There we had the opportunity to meet the students and discuss (through some language barriers) their projects and what they thought.  They all seemed to be really excited about this opportunity, and it shows how great FAI works within the education system in Italy. I wish my high school had a competition like that with the reward being international travel. Wouldn’t that have been exciting?!