Yesterday the Library welcomed the ‘Let’s Do The Time Walk Again!’ team who were hosting a volunteering event in Augustine House.

‘Let’s do the time walk again!’ is a project funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund. The project is led by Professor Carolyn Oulton at Canterbury Christ Church University in partnership with Sandwich Guildhall Museum, Deal Museum, Ramsgate Clock House Museum and the Dickens House Museum, Broadstairs.

Rough Sea, Deal – Postcard from the Kent Maps Online collection.

The purpose of the project is to digitise archives from the early 19^th century to the mid-20^th century to create a series of themed walks through time and place exploring the rich seaside heritage of Kent’s coastal towns. It builds on the highly successful Kent Maps Online project which has been running since 2020. The walks between the towns will be connected through a digital story-telling platform.

Each museum has its own unique theme. Sandwich Guildhall Museum is focussing on the history of the high street, Ramsgate on the harbour, Broadstairs on literary tourism and the cliff, and Deal, the beach.

The project kicked off in May with a lightshow at the Ramsgate Clock House Museum to celebrate the 85^th anniversary of the Dunkirk little ships which was created by Howard Griffin of Illumiscape using research from the museum.

Local studies books and material from the university’s Archives and Special Collections were made available for participants during the event including old maps, seaside postcards from the Nic Costa Collection and photographs from the South East Archive of Seaside Photography (SEAS).

Museums also brought along some of the gems from their collections including a letter from Charles Dickens and Ramsgate harbour records from the First World War.

The volunteers learned how to digitise a postcard, how to identify copyright and how to search newspaper databases and were encouraged to think creatively about representations of place by the project’s Impact Officer, Lesley Hardy.

Volunteers from Sandwich Museum

The event proved a perfect opportunity to showcase some of the library’s unique material as well as share knowledge on copyright and newspaper database searching, echoing the university’s ‘Vision 2030’ strategic aims of collaboration and creativity within its community. The collaboration between academics, museum partners and library professionals evidenced the role that libraries can play in supporting the university’s Knowledge Exchange Framework which commits to developing skills through public and community engagement. We wish the project team good luck as they continue their project.

Using money raised by National Lottery players, The National Lottery Heritage Fund supports projects that connect people and communities with the UK’s heritage. ‘Let’s Do The Time Walk Again!’ is made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players, ‘Let’s Do The Time Walk Again!’ has been able to provide volunteer training in digitisation and research to local museums.