Culture Volunteers - Sharing Stories at Moseley Old Hall
The National Trust sites in Wolverhampton are keen to engage with as many different people as they can who might benefit from volunteering. It can be a great way for anyone still trying to find their place in the UK to make new friends, improve language skills, and get to grips with aspects of British culture and personality, to help them feel more at home.
Working in partnership with the Culture Volunteers project, and supported by the team at the Refugee and Migrant Centre based in the city, the doors of Moseley Old Hall were opened wide to welcome a group of refugees and migrants currently living in Wolverhampton. The house has an historic record of providing refuge and is known as the Elizabethan farmhouse that 'saved a king'. Here, you can see the bed on which King Charles II slept and the priest hole where he hid from Cromwell’s troops after fleeing the Battle of Worcester in 1651.
It’s not just the farmhouse that attracts visitors though, or needs a bit of help from volunteers. The property has a formal garden, orchard, and is surrounded by areas of woodland and meadow, all of which need looking after too.
Members of the group interested in volunteering to help in the grounds began their tour in the formal garden, making their way beneath the garden archway heavily laden with this year’s grape harvest.
Then it was into the woodland, where there was time to investigate the magnificent tree house …
… before a stroll across the meadow which supports a number of beehives. The honey produced isn’t available for sale, but in a good year it makes a nice treat that is shared out amongst the volunteer team.
Next, it was on to the pear orchard to learn about maintaining the fruit trees there. The group were invited to pick a pear (or two!) to take home and cook. Perry pears that are grown here. Suitable for cider making and cooking it’s not recommended to try eating them raw, not if you want to keep your teeth intact!
There are medlar trees here too. A popular fruit in Elizabethan times, our volunteer guide told us that they were commonly known as ‘Dog’s A***’s’ because of what they look like from the err …bottom! You can make up your own mind on that one.
The tour finished back in the more formal and ornamental parts of the garden, admiring the lovely lavender terraces, some of which have recently been replanted.
Talking about nature, the garden, the herbs and their uses showed there was already common ground between the visitors and the current volunteer team. Something that can be built on to benefit everyone involved.
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The Culture Volunteer WM project was funded by Arts Council England and the DCMS. The project took place in the Black Country, Stoke and Birmingham. Culture Central led the project, with CBC responsible for delivery in the Black Country region
During the Culture Volunteer WM project, we were lucky to be able to work with the team at Wolverhampton’s Grand Theatre. There hadn’t been any volunteers at the theatre for roughly ten years, so it was big step to take for them to get them back on board. 71 people came to the recruitment days and there’s now a lovely team of 30 volunteers. The following film tells a little of that story …