DEN Project: Sudbury Hall NT

St Andrew’s Day

By: Rose
30th November
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Today is St Andrew’s Day, patron saint of Scotland!

St Andrew
Image from: http://edubuzz.org/prestonpansprimary/2011/11/24/p4-st-andrews-day-assembly/

St Andrew has been the patron saint of Scotland since 1320. He was a Galilean fisherman working in the Black Sea before he, and his brother Simon Peter (St Peter), became disciples of Jesus Christ. He was crucified by the Romans on an X-shaped cross, which has inspired Scotland’s national flag of a white X on a blue background, known as the St Andrew’s flag. St Andrew is also the patron saint of Romania, Greece, Russia and Barbados. His patronage extends to fishmongers, gout, singers, sore throats, spinsters, maidens, old maids and women wishing to become mothers.

St Andrew’s flag
Image from: http://www.realfoods.co.uk/article/st-andrew’s-day

To celebrate St Andrew’s Day, here are a few of the Scottish inspired objects in our collection.

A tinplate clockwork toy of a Scottish piper
See it online here: http://www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk/object/659994

A toy Scottish Terrier
See it online here: http://www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk/object/669676

A costume doll of Mary Queen of Scots made by Peggy Nisbet
See it online here: http://www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk/object/661187

R.Bell & Co’s Scottish Bluebell Matches
See it online here: http://www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk/object/669667

A Royal Bank of Scotland piggy bank
See it online here: http://www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk/object/665076

A bisque-headed male doll in Scottish costume
See it online here: http://www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk/object/659609

And finally….

The St Andrew’s Day Google Doodle!

(Information sourced from:

http://www.scotland.org/celebrate-scotland/st-andrews-day/who-is-st-andrew)

C.S. Lewis

By: Rose
29th November
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C.S. Lewis, author of the famous Chronicles of Narnia books, was born on this day, 29th November, in 1898. A few days ago, on the 22nd November, it was the 50th anniversary of his death, 22nd November 1962 – the same day that J.F. Kennedy was assassinated.

C.S. Lewis
Image from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/10454520/Rowan-Williams-to-unveil-CS-Lewis-tribute-in-Poets-Corner.html

C.S. Lewis was a writer and a university professor, teaching at first Oxford, and then Cambridge. As well as his famous Narnia stories for children, Lewis also wrote books for adults, about literature, religion and science fiction.

The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
Image from: http://terminalpodcast.org/2012/11/23/book-review-the-screwtape-letters-by-c-s-lewis/

C.S. Lewis’s full name was Clive Staples Lewis, but to his family he was known as ‘Jack’. He was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He was educated in both England and Northern Ireland, before studying at Oxford University. At the age of 19 he became a soldier in World War I, fighting inFrance.

C.S. Lewis wrote many of his more serious books first, writing The Chronicles of Narnia later in life. While teaching in oxford, one of his friends was J.R.R. Tolkien, author of The Lord of the Rings.

J.R.R. Tolkien
Image from: http://typewritermonkeytaskforce.com/2012/11/16/135-why-j-r-r-tolkien-is-awesome/

Having been brought up a Christian, C.S. Lewis became an atheist as a teenager, but returned to Christianity at the age of 33. Many of his books were based on religion, including The Chronicles of Narnia. He started writing the Narnia books in 1939 when three evacuees came to stay with him during World War II. The first book, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was published in 1950, followed by six more books until The Last Battle was published in 1956.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
Image from: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2012/06/21/top-100-childrens-novels-5-the-lion-the-witch-and-the-wardrobe-by-c-s-lewis/

C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia are still hugely popular today and have sold over 100 million copies and have been translated into more than 45 languages. So far, three of the books have been turned into major motion pictures, increasing their popularity yet further.

The movie of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Image from: http://fromscreentowords.wordpress.com/tag/the-chronicles-of-narnia/

The movie of Prince Caspian
Image from: http://cost-of-discipleship.blogspot.co.uk/2010/12/new-narnia.html

The movie of THe Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Image from: http://teaser-trailer.com/movie/narnia-3/

Here are a few of the objects in our collection which relate to the Chronicles of Narnia.

The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis

Inside the book of The Magician’s Nephew

Inside the book of Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis

A marionette of a faun from the Lilliput Marionette Theatre. He might have been Mr Tumnus from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
See it online here: http://www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk/object/661561

Inside the book of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis

Another look inside the book of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

A Catalan translation of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

So, have you read any of the Narnia books? Which was your favourite?

(Information sourced from:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/famouspeople/cs_lewis/ & https://www.cslewis.com/uk/about-cs-lewis)

Doctor Who’s 50th Anniversary

By: Rose
22nd November
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Tomorrow, 23rd November, is the 50th anniversary of the first broadcast of Doctor Who!

See it online here:
http://www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk/object/662362

First aired on BBC One at 5.15pm on Saturday 23rd November 1963, Doctor Who has been honoured by Guinness World Records as both the longest running and most successful science-fiction series in the world.

Created as an educational family show to fit between the football results and evening entertainment programmes, Doctor Who was the brainchild of Canadian TV producer and BBC Head of Drama, Sydney Newman.

After an initial run of 26 years, the series was rested. It returned for a one-off TV movie featuring the Eighth Doctor in 1996. Doctor Who was fully resurrected in 2005 and has gone from strength to strength ever since.

To celebrate this landmark anniversary, the 50th anniversary episode, The Day of the Doctor, is being shown in cinemas around the country (in 3D no less!), at the same time as being broadcast simultaneously in 84 countries around the world!

To mark the occasion in our own way, here at the Museum of Childhood, we have set up a display devoted to Doctor Who and his companions. This display contains models, toys, books and memorabilia spanning the (re)generations (sorry!) of Doctor Who, some donated to the museum, as well as artefacts on loan to us from private collectors.

For those of you who aren’t able to come and browse the display yourself, here are a few of the Doctor Who artefacts that we have in our museum collection.

The Doctor himself, as portrayed by Sylvester McCoy.