Heritage Big Brother
A group of 50 young people - between the ages of 13-19 years old from Ashington, Northumberland will be swapping their bling and 21st Century technological luxuries including mobile phones, iPods and games consoles during a week-long 'experience of a lifetime' (8-12 August) that will propel them back in time to 1840s England.
The innovative Heritage Big Brother time travelling journey will see the housemates move into no ordinary dwelling, as they will be staying at the stunning Gothic Grade 1 listed Featherstone Castle in the heart of rural Northumberland (near Haltwhistle) - trading in their trainers and jeans for traditional old fashioned attire (as pictured above).
1840s Heritage Big Brother is a Time Travel Northumberland project that is part of NE-Generation and is funded by Legacy Trust UK, an independent charity set up to create a cultural and sporting legacy from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games across the UK.
The unique element about 1840s Heritage Big Brother is that the concept has been entirely devised by young people for young people. They took inspiration for the project by delving into the archive at Woodhorn Museum and Northumberland Archives, where they learnt about events of yester year in particular a heritage poster promoting Felton Fest (d. 1836).
The heritage project has been a 'work in progress' for the past 18-months and has seen ten young people plan, research and develop a creative programme of events to challenge and entertain the Heritage Big Brother attendees - all written from a young person's perspective. This approach looks to encourage ownership, commitment and excellence amongst the house mates.
"The Heritage Big Brother project will offer North East teenagers the opportunity to experience life like their great, great, great grandparents. It should be a culture shock but we believe they will relish the challenge," said Robert Naylor (aged 15), one of the Heritage Big Brother project team.
The intrepid housemates will live a 1840s lifestyle and experience everything from the food, music, arts, crafts, sport, fashions, map reading, make up and hairstyles. The young people will work with professional practitioners to learn about what it was like to live in 1840 whilst developing transferable skills.
Heritage Big Brother will be a priceless opportunity for the young people to interact and form new friendships. All of the housemates had to apply for the chance to take part and impress the judging panel. Each person has been chosen for their individual character traits and for what they can potentially contribute to the house (castle).
Like the format of the popular television programme their will be strict house rules and ingenious tasks that have been intricately devised by the young project team. They've even designated a special 'reflective diary room' for those who need to partake in a cigarette break.
Time Travel Northumberland is based at Woodhorn and will be delivering many cultural activities created by young people for their piers throughout 2012.
The whole experience is also being documented on film from a young person's perspective by the young people themselves with help from local filmmaker company Act 2 Cam. Also the journeys of the young people involved will be followed by filmmaker Hugh Kelly who has been associated with the project from its inception. The documentary footage will act as a lasting token to be placed in Woodhorn's archive and stay the test of time for hundreds of years to come.
Robert Naylor continues: "Time Travel Northumberland captures a great way of connecting young people from across the region and uniting a vibrant culture. It is important that North East teenagers should not forget where they come from; as in some cases young people can feel uninterested in their heritage. This project will also be a valuable chance to put across our way of thinking, as in some situations, older people do not understand the cultural expressions of us young adults."
Woodhorn will be celebrating its 5th anniversary later this year as they approach an impressive milestone of having over half a million people walk through the doors of the award-winning heritage site situated on the former working colliery.
Woodhorn prides itself in working with a cross section of the local community and ensure people of all ages engage with the museum and archive. The outreach team deliver projects that unlock passion, feeling and happiness amongst the people who take part in the programmes.
Keith concludes by saying:"The heritage project also cleverly enables young people to imaginatively research the Northumberland Archives held at Woodhorn - in a time when archives, such a fantastic resource of stories, are often being under-valued."
Juliet Hardy, Creative Mentor at Woodhorn Museum and Northumberland Archives, said: "Seeing the confidence of the young people grow is magical, they sometimes don't see it happening and the moment they realise they have achieved something is very rewarding."
Over the past 18-months Time Travel Northumberland has grown into a massively successful project with 250 young people taking part in a variety of creative cultural activity. The intention is to create a valuable legacy by embedding cultural activity throughout Northumberland with Woodhorn being at its core.
Juliet continues: "Time Travel Northumberland is an amazing roller coaster project that really gets young people enthused about their heritage. Everyday is different, there is never a dull moment working with young people in this way. We encourage the young people to be ambitious and strive for excellence."
For further information about the work produced at Woodhorn Museum and Northumberland Archivesand their fun and interactive programme of forthcoming exciting events please visit www.experiencewoodhorn.com
