Archives in Action - Pop-up Apothecary
Two new family activities created for the Chester Heritage Festival launch this year! A tongue-twisting ‘pop-up apothecary shop’ with ingredients from Tudor herbal remedies to touch and smell; and a green screen photo booth with props to transport you to the world of Chester Young Producers’ creative research in the archives.
We selected four remedies from one of our published treasures - ‘The Herball’ - and set about sourcing the ingredients. The book was written in 1597 by John Gerard who was born in Nantwich and contains over 2000 plants along with woodcut illustrations. Gerard describes every plant in detail as well as their use in cooking and medicine. We transformed some of the illustrations into flower cards for colouring in, and a ‘create your own’ herbal remedy activity sheet. The Grosvenor Museum lent us some replica Tudor tableware to dress our display, and they also joined us on the day to make ‘Tussie Mussies’ (sweet smelling posies).
The Chester Young Producers have been researching local folklore in our collections. Alongside their themed displays on ghosts, the Cheshire cat and botany, was a photo booth with dressing up costumes and props. With the magic of green screen, people were transported into a scene from one of our historic photos of Chester.
There was a great turnout on the day at Exchange Square, and with so much going on the atmosphere was electric! A busy day with 190 visitors taking part in the activities or chatting to us about the remedies and displays. It was so much fun for us and our visitors that we can announce the pop-up apothecary is on tour in libraries this summer!
You can book tickets for these children’s events at Hope Farm Library or Helsby Library by going to What's on in our Libraries - Cheshire West and Chester Council or contact Macclesfield Library and Wilmslow Library directly.
By Katie Owen, Local Studies Adviser
