Category Archives: Blog

Workshop: Digitisation of Archival Content – sharing expertise

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A selection of Posters from the Brighton Swimming Club Archives

Workshop: Digitisation of Archival Content – sharing expertise

Cost: Free
Date: Wednesday 7 December
Venue: University of Brighton, Grand Parade, Brighton
Time: 1pm – 4pm

A workshop hosted by the University of Brighton Design Archives in collaboration with the Brighton Swimming Club Archive.

Many organizations are digitising their collections to provide wider access to their holdings. This workshop has been designed to give participants from different backgrounds an insight into the care and digitisation of archival materials.

Find out about the speakers involved here

Note: This event is for students and other volunteers interested in gaining work experience in the field of digitisation through working with the Floating Memories project.

To book a place contact juliette@floatingmemories.co.uk

Talks

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We are pleased to announce that we have three speakers confirmed for a series of talks that will coincide with the Floating Memories exhibition in 2012 at the Fishing Quarter Gallery between the 4th – 14th May 2012. Susie Parr will give an illustrated talk about her latest book The Story of Swimming, Fred Gray will discuss links between Brighton Swimming Club and the West Pier, and club member Mark Harper will talk about the physiology of cold water swimming. If you would like to attend this event please sign upto our mailing list.

Walking Tour

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Brills Baths - Royal Swimming BathsAs part of Brighton Fringe Festival 2012, we are producing a series of walking tours produced by Jackie Marsh Hobbs and volunteers. This tour will uncover the hidden history of Brighton’s sea water swimming pools, lido’s and bathing houses. The tours will take place between the 7th – 11th May 2012 and we are currently seeking volunteers to help us research content for this event, if anyone is interested in this role then please get in touch as we are currently booking research trips at the Local History Centre and the Rare Books Library in Brighton.

Find out more about Hobden’s Royal Baths here

Workshop: Oral History Training Opportunity

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Alan Dein

Workshop: Oral History workshop for people interested in recording the memories of young and old members of Brighton Swimming Club (established 1860)

Cost: Free
Date: Saturday 19 November
Venue: University of Brighton, Grand Parade, Brighton
Time: 10am – 4pm

Alan Dein will be presenting a one-day training session which explores the history and the range of oral history practice. He will be playing extracts from 25 years of his work in the field, and discussing the changing styles of both oral history methodology, and the impact of technological changes to the practice. The day will include opportunities to interview members of Brighton Swimming Club as part of the Floating Memories Project.

Alan Dein is a long established oral historian, and he also works as a broadcaster, making feature documentaries for BBC Radio 4. Find out more about his amazing work here.

Please note: due to the nature of this event places are very limited. If you would like to take part, please contact Juliette Buss, Floating Memories Project Manager: juliette@floatingmemories.co.uk

Brighton Swimming Club Memory Day

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Brighton Swimming Club Memory DayVolunteers and members of Brighton Swimming Club got together at East Sussex Records Office in Lewes on the 15th October 2011 to view the archives of Brighton Swimming Club and listen to a talk made by David Sawyers on the history of the club. Listen and read a full account of the day here.

ESRC Festival of Social Science 2011

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Brighton Swimming Club Archives
Sport Cultures: Capturing Sports in a Globalised World
Paul Farrington has been invited to speak at this years Sports Cultures ESRC Festival of Social Science 2011 which is being organised by the Royal Anthropological Institute on Saturday 5th November. Find out more here.

BBC South East Today

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Members from Brighton Swimming Club were in the sea as usual at 7am, but this time it was for a feature by BBC South East today. If there are any members from the club, or members from other clubs who have been connected with Brighton Swimming Club then please get in touch here.

Is it by Benjamin Botham?

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We have this photograph in our archives and there is a question over what year it was taken. Someone thinks they have found a connection with our minute books from 1863, and that this might be a photograph taken by Benjamin Botham as early as 1863, as notes in the Committee minutes from the 2nd June 1863 state that they let a new member be admitted ‘on condition of his taking a photographic sketch of the members of the Club’, whilst another member thinks it was taken much later, around the 1900s due to the style of costume. Let us know what you think?

 

Exhibition

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Floating Memories – Brighton Swimming Club Archives 1860-Present
Jubilee Library
26 – 30th September 2011

A display of old posters, photographs, film stills and other swimming related ephemera belonging to Brighton Swimming Club goes on display at Jubilee Library to kick off the Heritage Lottery Funded Floating Memories project.

Floating Memories explores a recently discovered archive in Brighton Museum that delves into a fascinating and extensive heritage of swimming in Brighton. The project will shed light on archive material dating back to the 1860s. Activities such as sea swimming, water polo, diving and more will be explored. Artefacts including reels of unique 16mm film footage from the 1940s, and club rules from 1887 are among fascinating items to be properly documented and conserved.

On display in the foyer at Jubilee Library will be some of the highlights from the archive, which include beautiful old letterpress posters and film stills from the recently discovered Roger Dunford Collection, revealing some of the club activities dating back to the 1940s.