Les first came to the museum as a visitor, drawn by a straightforward love of history and the kind of place that makes the past feel present and real. Something about it stayed with him. The open-air setting, the reconstructed buildings, the sense that centuries of ordinary English life were being kept alive rather than simply described. So he made a decision that, eighteen years later, he shows no signs of regretting: he became a volunteer.
“I just love the place,” he says simply, and there is nothing in his manner that suggests he is overstating it.
Eighteen years is a long time. It is longer than many careers, longer than some marriages, and long enough to know, beyond any doubt, whether something is genuinely worth your time. For Les, the answer has never been in question. What keeps him coming back is a combination of things, and he is honest about all of them.
First, there is the work itself. Les has a background working with wood, and at Weald & Downland he gets to do exactly that — practical, skilled, hands-on work of the kind that connects directly to the craftsmanship the museum exists to celebrate. There is something fitting about that. The museum preserves traditional building skills and rural trades, and its volunteers often bring precisely those skills with them. Les is not just filling a rota slot; he is contributing something real.
Then there is the community. Ask any long-serving volunteer at Weald & Downland what keeps them going and you will usually hear some version of what Les describes: the friendships. “We make good friends,” he says, with a warmth that makes clear he is speaking from experience rather than sentiment. Volunteering alongside someone, week after week, through the varying seasons of an open-air site, builds the kind of bond that ordinary social occasions rarely produce.
That combination — purposeful work and genuine companionship — is what makes Weald & Downland’s volunteer programme more than just a way of keeping the museum staffed. It is, for many of its volunteers, a significant part of how they spend their time and who they spend it with.
The museum relies on its volunteers in a way that goes beyond numbers. The skills, knowledge, and continuity they bring cannot simply be hired in. When someone like Les commits eighteen years to a place, they become part of its character. They know its rhythms, its visitors, its stories. They carry it forward.
If you have ever visited Weald & Downland and wondered about the people working quietly in the farmhouses or demonstrating crafts in the workshops, Les Marshall is exactly who they are: someone who came for the history, stayed for the community, and found work worth doing. Someone who belongs to the place.
Get to know Les! Watch his full video interview here:
Could You Be Our Next Volunteer?
Les’ story is one we hear again and again: a lifelong interest in history, a love of the Museum, and a desire to be part of something meaningful. Whether your passion is agricultural heritage, building conservation, crafts, education, or simply welcoming visitors — there’s a place for you here.
If you’d like to find out more about volunteering at Weald & Downland Living Museum, check out our Volunteering Page or speak to a member of the team on your next visit. We’d love to hear from you.
