The heart and soul of the Weald & Downland Living Museum is the volunteers who put so much of their passion and time into our Museum. A volunteer who is as familiar to our visitors as the buildings themselves, is Alan Wood. Alan, who celebrated his 90th birthday last week, has been volunteering at the Museum for 26 years and has helped with the construction of many of our buildings.
Here Alan tells us about his time at the Museum and why the Weald & Downland Living Museum is so important to him…
Tell us about your time volunteering at the Museum
I joined the Museum in September 1997, so just over 26 years ago now. Shortly before that, I’d sadly lost my wife and I needed something to occupy my mind. As a retired structured engineer, the buildings at the Museum also interested me.
I found the Museum after seeing an advert in the local press for junior sheepdog trials. Out of interest I came along and discovered that the Museum also had a volunteer programme.
I made a phone call and got in. Initially I was placed in the shop but was transferred over to the curator where I started doing odd jobs around the site.
The first building that I was involved in was the erection of Poplar Cottage – that’s my favourite building. There were four of us putting together the A-frame, and they had the local television cameras there too. You’d be adding a piece of timber and not quite make the joint, turn round and there was a television camera about 6 inches away from you capturing it!
I have been involved in looking after the Museum’s heavy horses, before that I’d never touched a horse in my life and then I go and work with the heaviest horses around.
I also worked up in the woodyard where I spent about two years making new wooden wheels, repairing vehicles and wooden shafts – a lot of carpentry work.
Now I’m usually here three days a week. Due to mobility problems, I only work in the Gridshell and do the Friday tour. When the Gridshell building was first erected, I used to do the guided tour every day of the week.
During your time at the Museum, you have been involved in many areas and projects. Are there any which are particularly special to you?
As well as Poplar Cottage, the Downland Gridshell is also an important building to me. While it was being constructed, we had an observation platform installed, which was the same level as the top of the scaffold where all the latticework was laid out on the top. I used to take visitors up there while it was being built. So, I’ve seen every single piece of that building being put together.
I’ve helped the Museum apply for planning permission for two of the buildings. I actually made up the drawings, and then they made them.
I also designed and set out the foundations for eight buildings, which involved doing all the drawings of the foundations and laying out the brickwork for the chimney and the bake oven, as well as supervising the construction.
Tell us about some of your fondest memories volunteering here.
One fond memory is from my 80th birthday when my family arranged for me to plant a tree at the Museum. That’s a memory that will stay with me for a long time.
From the whole team here at the Weald & Downland Living Museum, we would like to say thank you to Alan for everything he has done for the Museum over the years.
For his 90th birthday, Alan’s family surprised him on site by presenting him with a plaque to go on his very own bench at the Museum, which overlooks his favourite building, Poplar Cottage. This was followed by celebrations in the Downland Gridshell building, with his family, old friends and the many volunteers Alan has met over the 26 years he has supported the Museum.
