Lurker At The Threshold


Liz Ringrose

30 April 2002 14:52

Will the real St Ives please stand up...

Hello Jelly and Friends [He hasn't got any friends. We are only here because we have to work for him to pay our rent for somewhere to live. The Shauns would be quite happy to just live out on the Island but Orm and the Soup Dragons might not blend in as well!]

Thank you so much for providing this excellent site (the only one that told me where the library is, for starters). In landlocked Leicestershire it is a total joy to read about St Ives in such detail. We have the Cornishman delivered here in Leics and until now this has been our only "link" with the town until we arrive for our annual holidays in June. But now I can add your site to my "favourites" board.

To the serious stuff. Do you think there are any newspapers or old photos I can come and look at (somewhere in officialdom) to get a "flavour" of the town during that year? I'd be most grateful to know.

Kind regards

Liz Ringrose

Reporting Team

30 April 2002 15:47

Your best sources for piccies are likely to be the St. Ives Museum (Brian
Stevens is the main man there) or the St. Ives Trust (who lurk upstairs in the library). There is a link to St. Ives Trust on my useless links section. I don't think that they have put that much actual archive material on the net but they may have useful info or contacts you can use to soften them up before you raid the place in June.

I don't think the Museum has its own site but I think it might have a little bit in one of the officious (sic) St. Ives sites (again try rummaging through the links pages in Spooky St. Ives).

Sorry I can't go into more specific detail but I've got a doc's appointment and then work in the next half an hour so have to leg it.

Just one favour. If you do get in touch with the Trust, Museum or whoever in St. Ives can you please give our little site a mention as the Reporting Team never get any local publicity!

Liz Ringrose

01 May 2002 11:01

RE: Ladies who Lurk / The League of Gentlemen?

Hi

Thank you very much for the info. I spoke to someone at the St Ives Trust. Even though she made me feel as though I should sit up straight and fold my arms, she was very helpful and informative and I shall pay her a visit in June. On the other hand I didn't get on so well with the museum. Shades of Royston Vasey ... Perhaps it's a "local" museum for "local" people. I asked for Brian Stevens but he wasn't there. The woman seemed vague and unwilling to tell me anything. [Ah, that will be the Visitor Information officer] Is he away on a top secret mission perhaps? [Quite probably but we're not allowed to say] I asked if he was the only person who could help me and she said yes, but she didn't know (despite asking her husband!) when he would be in. So I'm definitely going to see them in June. In the meantime I'll have to keep trying for Brian. She was so disconcerting I forgot to give the Reporting Team a plug - but will do at a later date! I have, however, sent your web address to loads of friends around the planet. [Which one?]

Thanks again.

Liz.

Reporting Team

01 May 2002 20:09

Welcome to the unreal world!

I was always taught (although I don't normally practice) that if you can't say something nice about anyone don't say anything at all. So, I gave you the contact info without elaborating ...

You're absolutely right. And you must be quite intelligent because I like to flatter myself that I am quite intelligent and I reached rather similar conclusions on my experiences with both august (as in we only bother in August) organisations!

I am actually a life member of the St. Ives Trust because when I was
researching the street names bit I was constantly pestered by an officious woman called Janet Axten (whom from the description was who you spoke to) on the subject of making a contribution. I wouldn't mind that but it was the combination of school mistress authoritarianism and Little Englander mentality that put me off. I am still laughing in my cynical little way because their attitude put me right off so I just forked out the cash for life membership so I can access the records whenever it suits me. They on the other hand, with their attitude, have failed to co-opt someone with IT and internet skills. Oh, and an honours degree in History, too!

Which was much my reaction with regards to the St. Ives Museum. Nice try, pity about the people who are running it. I was going to give it a section on the website but they, in their infinite wisdom, have decreed that no photos can be taken. So, you can't exactly give the public much of an idea as to what's in it, can you? Oh well, that's their funeral.

PS. I assume you know that visitors get their e-mails reviewed on the
website by the Reporting Team but they like to do edited versions to protect the details/sensibilities of the senders. Do you want your project mentioned? If so, in what context (we're not above plugging good causes for Spooky St. Ives supporters!)?

Liz Ringrose

01 May 2002 21:11

Does being a life member of the St Ives Trust entitle you to lurk in the
library? Years ago I worked in a library for eighteen months (the only time I seriously considered suicide), and there were a variety of lurkers there. I am now totally intrigued by this museum and their secret exhibits.

I didn't know emails were reviewed on the site. Have looked around the site and couldn't find any.

Last year we stumbled on the St Ives "Open Gardens" weekend. What a hoot that was - gawping into everyone's perennials and getting a slice of cake at every stop. The only disappointment was the vicarage where we turned up quite late in the day and got a frosty reception from the chap in the dog collar. Do you know if there's another one planned for this year?

Liz.

PS. One of my cats was sick on The Cornishman this week [Yes, it has that effect on us, too!] so I don't know what's happening with the bollards. [Well, you're in the same position as most of the residents, town council, etc!]

Reporting Team

02 May 2002 08:19

You can lurk in the archive centre upstairs to your heart's content (and the library below but you still need to join in the conventional manner if you want to borrow books). However, your right to lurk does not guarantee you a deranged archivist-free session.

The e-mails are on the next page after the news bulletins in the News, Views and Abuse section (or you can locate them using the site map index page.

I have not seen any news/notices re. the garden thingy so far, will let you know if I see owt. The bollards (well, some of them) have been moved in a Herculean effort 12 inches to one side. The town feasted for several days in celebration!

Liz Ringrose

02 May 2002 15:50

RE: Ms Axten comes up with the goods

Hi there

Ms Axten has finally replied to my email and looks forward to meeting me in June! She has 1961 Newspapers that I can rummage through and I'll let her know nearer the time when I want to go in and lurk. She even told me the opening times of the library.

So, thanks again, guys for pointing me in the right direction.

How am I ever supposed to get on with the project now I've discovered Spooky  St Ives?? I thought I'd read the site from cover to cover (so to speak) but have now found the emails and have done bugger-all work this afternoon. 

I'd look forward to you linking up with the glucosamine site. The internet makes strange bed fellows! [Yes, it's a bit like the Glastonbury festival that way!] Also love the guy who would appreciate leaflets sending - wouldn't we all. I'll have "Forthcoming events at the Sloop" and "Chondroitin's effectiveness in connective tissue renewal around knee joints" please. [We're just waiting for the new batch to come back from the printers].

Regards, Liz.

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