nick's blog

Just concluded a long MHMS meeting and we are rapidly concluding that to evolve the project meaningfully we are going to have to secure some funding, but, where from? The economy is in the doldrums and there seems to be few options. We have agreed to look at the various possible sources of support and compare timeframes for application, work required to produce a funding bid, etc. Work to identify the prospect of work, to find the means to fund work!

Brighton & Hove Open Door 2009 has been a great success. More events and more participants than ever before and a hugely positive response. Griff Rhys Jones, the Heritage Open Days team and the English Heritage representatives did us proud and lots of enthusiastic people found us and offered assistance for future initiatives.

Thanks to all involved for your commitment to the event. The level of work required to present such a mammoth programme is almost beyond belief and to have succeeded with no significant financial backing and such meagre physical resources is a real triumph.

We hope to gain your support again for BHOD 2010, but for now, take a deep breath and relax!

Census documents represent an entirely new challenge. Unlike the Directories which are very easy to read, 19th Century census documents are written records that contain old-fashioned handwriting. Since there were many different census workers collecting/processing the information we are exposed to all sorts of different styling of writing, from legible to indecipherable.