Culture and Cake Q&A with Heritage Eastbourne Service Manager Jo Seaman!

     As the Redoubt Fortress kicks-off its 2016 Culture and Cake season tomorrow, we talk to Heritage Eastbourne Service Manager, Jo Seaman to discuss all the exciting and interesting subjects to be discovered during the series this year! 

Jo Seaman in his most natural 'excavation' habitat.

    Q - What is the objective and purpose behind the Culture and Cake series and what will visitors get out of the events?

       

    A - The Culture and Cake series offers a different kind of talk in an informal setting, where visitors can discover the untold stories of Eastbourne or can find out the story behind some of the amazing objects in our collections and the Redoubt Fortress itself!

      

   Q - How were this year’s subjects for Culture and Cake talks decided and for what reasons?

      

   A - The talks were carefully chosen to reflect some of the other things Heritage Eastbourne is doing this year and also in response to feedback received after last year’s series.

      

Q - How are Culture and Cakes events conducted?

      

A - The Culture and Cake talks take place in one of the Casemates in the atmospheric Redoubt Fortress, followed by cake and a hot drink in the Outpost and a chance to chat to the speaker about the talk.

      

Q - The first in the series “Learning to Live with Ghosts” takes place this Saturday (16 April), what will the talk teach people about WW1?

      

A - This talk will take an in depth look at how Vera Brittain changed lives after the First World War and discuss the effect the lost generation had on the nation.

     

Q - "Health,Wealth and Happiness" in August discusses Eastbourne’s rise to becoming a flourishing seaside resort town throughout history. How does an Eastbourne seaside holiday today, differ from seaside holidays in Eastbourne 100 years ago?

     

A - Seaside Holidays have changed massively, in some ways beyond recognition. We are returning to the sporting holiday idea though!  Seaside holidays were first popular for the so called 'Health Tourists', visiting the coast to reap the benefits of the sea air and sea bathing. It soon changed to appeal to the sporting family, enjoying a game of tennis, cycling around the parks and strolling along the prom. There are so many more things to do on holiday in Eastbourne now, Eastbourne’s early holiday makers were left to their own devices and occupied their time with leisurely pursuits. Now, we’ve got lots of theatres, heritage attractions, leisure centres and so much more.

     

      Q - In July, "Culture and Cake: Once Upon a Time" uncovers the story behind 10 archaeological discoveries in Eastbourne. Can you tell us a little about some of those amazing discoveries - and which discovery, in your opinion is the most fascinating?

      A - There really have been so many amazing discoveries made in Eastbourne over the years, but it is only recently that we have started to put these stories together as a cohesive narrative.  This story is getting bigger and more exciting each time a new site is investigated or an old one reanalysed and at the same time we are finding more and more about what this area was like in the past. All archaeological work reveals something new and unique, even if it is the simple fact that there was actually nothing going on at a given spot!  But the discoveries we will be looking at range from prehistoric hippos and elephants found near what is now Terminus Road, to lost Medieval manor houses and much more besides, in short we will be looking at what has been going on round here in the past 200 million years or so! All of the discoveries are fascinating, but the one that still intrigues me most is 'Beachy Head Lady', a skeleton rediscovered after being in storage for over a century and who has presented us with evidence of the earliest identified sub-Saharan African in Britain, her story must have been a remarkable one but you will have to come to the talk to learn more!

     

Q - Culture and Cake in September, "The Discovery of a Lifetime" delves into the discovery of a Bronze Age site here in Eastbourne, which is also the basis for the current exhibition at the Pavilion. What can people learn at the talk, which they couldn’t by visiting the exhibition? 

A - Although the exhibition is a really exciting way to learn about the incredible Bronze Age site discovered at Shinewater, the talk will have more of the personal detail of what the excavation was really like and will also include in-depth analysis of the findings that we just didn’t have room for in the exhibition.  We will also get a chance to delve more deeply into the murky world of Bronze Age ritual deposition and to discuss what the purpose of the massive and enigmatic structures may have been using theories put forward by various experts

Q - We've covered the culture, so now for the cake! What yummy cakes will be served up in The Outpost Cafe during the Culture and Cake season?

A - Well, as the series goes from May - October, I think the cakes on offer will change depending on the month as the Outpost always provides some great seasonal treats. However, you can almost always be sure to be tuck into Lemon Drizzle Cake, an amazing Victoria Sponge and some delicious Bombardier's Brownies (the Redoubt's version of a chocolate Brownie) at the Outpost!

       For more information on all Culture and Cake talks at the Redoubt this year, visit www.EastbourneMuseums.co.uk/whats-on. Tickets for all Culture and Cake talks are £6 and include cake and a drink in The Outpost and entry to the Redoubt museum! 

Discover Victorian Seaside Holiday Fun and Eastbourne's Bronze Age Mystery this Year all with Heritage Eastbourne!

Heritage Eastbourne has got a super season of captivating interactive exhibitions plus a great line-up of fun and engaging events in store for 2016! From Bronze Age discoveries to WWI and a free vintage Summer Holiday programme, you'll want to head to Eastbourne from 21 March when the Redoubt Fortress opens its gates for this fabulous season! What's more, the majority of exhibitions are completely free, so great family days out with Heritage Eastbourne are accessible to all this year!

Did you know that 21 years ago, the UK's biggest Bronze Age causeway was discovered in Shinewater Park in Eastbourne? Well it was, and now for the first time the stories and fascinating mysteries of the people who lived in Eastbourne and built this astonishing track-way over 3000 years ago, are being brought to the foreground in an exciting new and free exhibition at the Pavilion, on Eastbourne's seafront!

Opening on 21 March, Making Tracks: Eastbourne’s Bronze Age Mystery recreates part of the Bronze Age causeway, contains a display of never before seen artefacts from the British Museum, Bronze Age items such as axes and jewellery uncovered in Eastbourne and allows you, the visitor to piece together the prehistoric puzzle to discover the tales of international visitors and human inventiveness from an astonishing time period! 

There's even a free dedicated Bronze Age Day on 23 July which celebrates the exhibition giving you the opportunity to have a go at making Bronze Age food, shoes and even flint making, in a family fun day which you and your children will love!

Summer might seem a little far away right now, but the Redoubt already has a great summer exhibition and activities lined-up! In another free exhibition, discover Eastbourne’s journey from a Victorian seaside ‘tennis town’ to 1970’s mass market seaside resort in the Seaside Holiday exhibition from 23 July to 5 September! The nostalgic exhibition will showcase some great holiday memorabilia from 1940’s bathing costumes, to an exquisite Railway Porter’s uniform heralding the days of luxury steam travel and Lewis Carroll’s renowned bed desk, designed especially for his holidays in Eastbourne.

With postcards, photographs and memories on display, you can leave your own memories at the exhibition, whilst your kids will love taking part in themed activities on the parade ground. With traditional seaside fun with free sandpits and a summer play park, your children will be occupied for hours, letting you relax with a Colonel Coffee and Sergeants Scone or a Trench Toastie in the vintage Outpost Cafe!

Also opening on the 21 March, when the Napoleonic fortress re-opens for the season, you'll discover a brand new WW1 exhibition in the fortress's fascinating military museum! For Hearth, Home and Honour? Eastbourne Learns the Reality of War uncovers the story of 11 Sussex men, all either wounded or killed at the Battle of Boar’s Head and shows the human side of war and its effect upon both the soldiers and the local community. With real footage of soldiers marching through the town’s train station, diary extracts, poetic sounds of the battlefield and a display of Eastbourne’s very own Victoria Cross winner, Nelson Victor Carter. Visiting with children? Younger visitors can also interact with a soldier’s kit bag of interactive equipment to help them discover life as a soldier!

The 200 year old fortress is home to many more renowned exhibits, from rare WW1 trench art to a captured German staff car; step back in time in the interactive 1940’s garden, featuring real aerial and audio footage of a Sussex family watching the Battle of Britain overhead.

Plan ahead for the year and make some awesomely authentic Halloween plans, as the Redoubt hosts two weekends of spooky Twilight Ghost Tours in October in which you can explore the creepy corridors by night! 

Talking of night time, the Redoubt joins in with the national Museums at Night celebration from the 13-15 May with its very own film festival. Adults will love the spine tingling screening of The Mummy (1959), complete with an introduction to Egyptian curses from a renowned Egyptologist, plus the terrifying screening of Alien (1979), whilst a family friendly event will screen One of My Dinosaurs is Missing (1975) and will have some fossil making fun thrown in for good dino-measure!

If you like cake and learning, then you'll be happy to know that last year's successful Culture and Cake series is back and even bigger this year! During the fascinating and engaging talks, passionate historians cover subjects such as Learning to Live With Ghosts and Health, Wealth and Happiness by the Sea, at the monthly talks from April to October! 

The Redoubt opens every day from 21 March until 13 November. Entry to the Making Tracks and Seaside Holiday exhibitions, cafés, parade ground and gun platform is free. Museum entry includes the WW1 exhibition and costs £4.50 per adult, £2.50 per child or £12 per family. Every ticket includes a free return visit in 2016, or visit the free Bronze Age exhibition and complete the exhibition trail for free kids entry to the museum!  For further information visit www.EastbourneMuseums.co.uk or telephone 01323 410300.

Visit Eastbourne's Museums Before the 2015 Season Comes to an End!

The Redoubt Fortress and Military Museum's 2015 season will come to an end on Sunday 15 November, so here at VisitEastbourne we're encouraging you to head down to the fortress on Eastbourne's Seafront and check out all that it has to offer, before the end of the season! 

Discover Treasure....

... and not the cliched, shiny and buried variety! The exciting and colourful Treasure exhibition which has been in the museum since March, explores the definition of treasure and displays thousands of treasured items from Lewis Carroll’s bed desk used during his many stays in Eastbourne, to the diary of a young woman holidaying in Victorian Eastbourne. Unfold the many stories of the town's history through learning understanding the uniquely treasured items on display. You can even Journey back through time and discover what a Flint Hand Axe has in common with a modern day computer, as well as listening to voices which have been sent deep into space and count coins in an incredible Roman Coin Hoard, in this interactive exhibition which both children and adults will love!

Devour Some Culture and Cake...

Culture and Cake is a fantastic series of informal talks, covering some extremely interesting and mind boggling topics. The first two talks have discussed how the invention of something as tiny as the sewing needle impacted upon the world, as welll as how humans have developed from the Stone Age to the Space Age! During the final Culture and Cake event on 14 November, Dr Matt Pope will discuss how to survive an ice age in Eastbourne, after carrying out a careful study of how our ancestors once lived in the depths of the prehistoric ice-age! Did we mention that there's cake? The event includes tea or coffee and cake in the Outpost Cafe, where afterwards audiences can discuss Dr Pope's fascinating talk in an informal environment! You can get your ticket for this great event at the Redoubt or at Eastbourne's Tourist Information Centre!

Learn about Summerdown Camp at the Pavilion....

Some exciting news is that the fascinating Summerdown Camp exhibition which can be found at the Pavilion, next door to the Redoubt, has been kept open for a month longer because it's been so popular this year! The exhibition will now end on 13 December, so now's your chance to visit and learn about the UK's first and largest convalescent camp which opened in Eastbourne during World War One. The camp opened in 1915 and treated over 150,000 wounded soldiers over the five years it was open. Not only was it temporarily home to casualties of the war, it was also where some extremely incredible women worked hard to nurse and care for the men! The exhibition uncovers some of the pioneering medical treatments and occupational therapies used to treat the injured at the camp and tells many heart warming stories of the camp's residents, both men and women! 

Summerdown Camp exhibition is free to attend and is open daily from 11am-4om at the Pavilion on Marine Parade until 13 December! 

Visit Eastbourne Museums for more information about the remaining events at the Redoubt this season!