What a great day it was on Saturday, when Lowestoft Folk took part in the annual Lowestoft Festival.
Lowestoft Museum brought banners and displays, whilst Lowestoft Folk ran craft activities and story telling sessions – and unveiled the Cabinet of Surprises (a working title) to the public for the first time.
The Cabinet was introduced to Lowestoft Museum volunteers earlier in the week during a special training event.
Each drawer contains an item relating to something or someone in the Museum, including a bottle of crushed mouse and a special ‘spy’ book.
There is a Lowestoft Folk Storybook, containing lots of anecdotes collected during the project, including the one about crushed mouse, and an audio hand set, with chapters of the Lowestoft Folk Story recorded by Liam Carroll – who was also present on Saturday to tell stories to the public.
Over 80 people took part in the activities and story telling – with many more exploring the Cabinet; people were fascinated by the different stories, although they didn’t seem too keen on crushed mouse as a cure for measles.
“It was very enjoyable – I really loved the craft, it was something different,” said one participant, and another parent told us, “My son has really enjoyed it – really creative, fun thing for the kids to do.”
Over on the story-telling rug, Liam regaled audiences ranging in age from toddlers to grandparents.
“The children loved the story and were interested from start to finish,” commented one parent.
One of the children who took part in the Lowestoft Folk project visited with his father, who told us: “He [his son] really enjoyed doing the project and is very interested in history. I’m learning about local history through my son – it’s him teaching me!”