Access Edition: Celebrate Newcastle at Brampton Museum

Here ye here ye! Appetite and friends at the Brampton Museum cordially invite you to a day of medieval entertainment and fantastical fun to celebrate 850 years of Newcastle-under-Lyme becoming a borough! Celebrate Newcastle will be taking over the land of the Brampton Park and Museum.

Join us on Saturday 3 June from 11am to 4pm for this medieval family fun day! Find everything you need to know to plan your visit right here.

Listen to an audio description of basic information about the event here.

You can also download and print our event timetable, including details of BSL and AD performances here.

PERFORMANCES

Magical Storytelling | Story Tent on Croquet Lawn | 11.15am – 11.45am | 2.15pm – 2.45pm | The storyteller will take you on a magical adventure, brewing potions, defeating mythical creatures, and saving the village.

Time Travelling Medicine Man | Medieval village | 11.30am – 1.30pm | 2.15pm – 4pm (Audio Described and BSL performances taking place at 2.50pm) | Owain Leech, Medieval Surgeon, will be happy to treat aches, pestilence and battle injuries using the latest medieval techniques.

Trigger Warning: This display contains medieval surgical and medical equipment including bone saws and trepanning equipment, leeches and blood letting equipment and replicas of  human skulls with a variety of injuries demonstrating the wounds medieval weapons would cause, also how diseases and illnesses were diagnosed using urine and poo.

Medieval Tailor | Medieval village | 11am – 1.30pm | 2.15pm – 4pm | What did ordinary people wear in 1173? Take a look at some reconstructions and have your photo taken looking your medieval best | Access the Easy Read document for the Medieval Tailor here

Epico the Dragon | Wooded area near to croquet lawn | 12pm – 12.30pm | 1.30pm – 2pm | 3.20pm – 3.50pm (Audio Description and BSL is available for this performance) | Sir Aurelious Jones will chose a hero to master three tests, tame the beast and become a true knight. Will you be the one to teach Aurelious the importance and values of friendship? | Read the script for Epico the Dragon here | Read the Easy Read for Epico the Dragon here | Watch a clip of the performance 

Stilt Walking Knights & Quip the Jester | Roaming | 12.30pm – 1pm | 1.45pm – 2.15pm (this performance is Audio Described) | 2.45pm – 3.15pm| The nation’s tallest knights, are here to rescue fair dragons and battle fiery maidens. Quip the Jester performs a bizarre brand of courtly chaos with his not-so-medieval monocycle and mischievous juggling foolery | Access the Easy Read document for the knights and jester here

DJ Dances of Old | Museum Activity Space 1.15pm – 1.45pm | 2.45pm – 3.15pm | 3.50pm – 4pm | Come see the medieval dancers perform inside the museum! You can even join the fun yourself out on the lawn at the end of the day  

Stone Sculpting | Croquet lawn | 11am – 1.30pm | 2.15pm – 4pm | Try your hand at creating your own stone sculpture to takeaway. Children taking part in this activity music be accompanied by an adult

Medieval Tile Making | Croquet lawn | 11am – 4pm | Have a go at creating your own medieval tile

Medieval Village | Brampton park | 11am – 4pm | Tours of the village taking place 12pm & 12.30pm (AD and BSL tours taking place at 12.30pm) | Take a stroll through the middle ages, and experience our world of Norman life. From authentic cooking, to the songs of the time, the reenactors create a fully functioning and fully alive encampment that will showcase the life of the civilians and military alike. Tours taking place 11.45am & 2pm

Medieval Fashion Show | Brampton Park | 11am – 11.20am | An overview of 12th century fashion, explaining the different meanings and importance of the cut, the colour and fabric of 12th century clothing 

Medieval Combat | Brampton Park | 12.30pm – 1.15pm | 2.15pm – 3.30pm (Audio Description and BSL taking place at 2.30pm) | In a re-enactment of medieval combat, experience the sights, sounds and even smells of a medieval battle close up as two sides clash in competitive combat

Have a go archery | Brampton Park | 11am – 4pm | Children and adults alike can try their hand at archery! Using period bows and shooting at hanging dummies and shield targets, each participant gets 6 arrows to try and score as many hits as possible

Hurried Histories | Museum activity space | 2pm – 2.20pm (BSL is available for this performance) | See key Historical events of the past come to life in this dramatised re-enactment by Historia Normannis 

Shire Court | Museum activity space | 11.30am – 11.50am (BSL is available for this performance) | Shire court gives audiences the facts and fun of medieval crime and punishment as though they were sat in court themselves

Calligraphy & Brass Rubbing | Croquet lawn | 11am – 1pm | 1.45pm – 4pm | Have a go at Medieval Calligraphy and Brass Rubbing with Brother James

Wandering Minstrels | Roaming | 11.30am – 12pm | Minstrels Trouvere will be playing medieval music in and around the park

Trigger Warming: This performance includes loud bagpipes and drums. Noise cancelling headphones are available from our Appetite HQ

Medieval Minstrels ‘Five Centuries of Music’ | Museum activity space | 12.30pm – 1pm | Enjoy a whistle-stop musical history tour featuring a fascinating range of instruments

Come back for updates on times of performances and those with enhanced accessibility features.

PLANNING YOUR VISIT

FINDING HELP

Our Appetite Staff and Volunteers will be wearing blue Appetite clothing and will be happy to offer directions and event information.

There will be an Appetite HQ located on the Croquet Lawn close to Brampton Museum. Head to the blue gazebo with the Appetite logo to find out more about our access provision or if you need any assistance.

TOILETS

There are two accessible toilets inside the museum.

A Changing Places toilet is available in Newcastle Library, which closes at 4pm on Saturdays. The library is located at Castle House on Barracks Road. It is an approximately five-minute walk from Brampton Park.

BLUE BADGE PARKING

Blue Badge Parking is limited at the museum itself. There are two blue badge spaces directly outside the Brampton Museum plus an additional five spaces.

There are two other car parks in Brampton Park. One is at the end of the drive to the museum, just off the main road, and the other is near the play equipment. Both offer free parking for up to four hours and are a short walk through to the event space.

WHEELCHAIR ACCESS

Celebrate Newcastle is a wheelchair accessible event. Matting will be placed on grassy areas to make moving around the event easier. The museum is also fully wheelchair accessible.

AUDIO DESCRIBED PERFORMANCES

Audio Description will be available at the event. An Audio Description Kit can be signed out from Appetite HQ. We can also offer Sighted Guidance to anyone who may need it. Check next to performance details above for times AD performance times.

BSL INTERPRETATION

BSL Interpretation will be available at the event. Check next to performance details above for times BSL performance times.

NOISE CANCELLING HEADPHONES

Noise cancelling headphones will be available from the Appetite HQ. You can sign these out and return them once you have used them.

ASSISTANCE DOGS

Dogs are welcome in the park. Assistance dogs can also go inside the museum.

SEATING

There will be backed seats available in the performance areas for anyone who needs them. If you can’t see one available, ask a steward who will be happy to help.

EASY READ DOCUMENT

You can download our Easy Read document for the event in both Word format or as a PDF.

PHOTOGRAPHY AND FILMING

Please note that we will have photography and filmmaking taking place throughout the event. If you do not wish to be captured on film, please make sure to let one of the Event Stewards know so that we can inform the crew members.

Our events take place in public spaces and are attended by large numbers of the public who will take their own photos. Appetite is not in control of all photographs and videos taken at the event, only the official photographers.

If you have any questions about access at Celebrate Newcastle, please email craig@appetite.org.uk or call 01782 381373.

Check out our social media pages for more details in the run up to the event. Don’t already follow us on socials? Here’s where to find us:

Facebook: @appetite.stoke  |  Instagram: @appetite_stoke  |  Twitter: @appetitestoke

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Meet the Artists in Residence at Newcastle Common

Staffordshire artists William Ntiamoah and Daby Obiechefu are doing a two-week residency at Newcastle Common as part of the TRIBES: Matabeleland to Staffordshire art exhibition exploring themes of African and Afro-Caribbean heritage, and Afrofuturism.

But what is an artist’s residency? And what is Afrofuturism?

The idea behind an artist’s residency is for them to be inspired by a new environment. Artists tend to work in the same space for most of their time, and a change of surroundings can help them to feel a fresh energy when starting new work.

Afrofuturism is another way of looking at the future of Africa and black people. It’s about looking back to what we know of African culture and history, then looking forward to the future where more Western industrial influence might prevail and imagining how they will blend together. What will that look like? How will images that we are familiar with today as uniquely black African change as technology is introduced?

Daby and William said: “It’s really important for us to have two-way conversations with new people. Without them, and the thoughts shared by visitors, a residency would achieve nothing. We want anybody who is interested in our work as artists, or in the themes we are exploring about and how that might be changing, not to be shy in coming to chat with us. We want you to inspire us!”

Both artists will also be delivering a free workshop as part of Newcastle Common’s week-long programme of half-term activities. And they are hoping that the people who come along will create their own art in residence to be displayed alongside their own, which will be on show at Astley Walk and open to the public 3-5 November.

WILLIAM

William’s first solo exhibition is called Look the Other Way, currently on show at Chapter’s Café at Keele University, is a collection of 10 oil paintings showcasing the everyday life in Africa we never get to see. You can see his work there until 14 November.

During his residency William will also be preparing pages to use as part of his zine workshop. What is a zine? A zine is a DIY magazine that anybody can make using their own drawings, writing or by using found materials such scraps of pages from other magazines or printouts.

The finished zine will be digitized and available for everyone to view online. And elements from the zine might even make it into the final pieces that William creates as part of his residency. So who knows, if you visit the workshop, your ideas could end up on display as a work of art!

DABY

Daby’s work is usually focused on her thoughts and feelings, and she portrays them in her art. For this residency she is inspired by Afro-Caribbean culture and heritage. This will carry over into the sgraffito workshop that you can join for free during October half term. What is sgraffito? Sgraffito is a type of ‘scratched art’, whereby a top black layer covers something more colourful beneath that can be revealed by scratching away the black with a skewer.

During her residency Daby will be preparing the sgraffito cards, which have representations of traditional African patterns as the colour underlayer. She is looking forward to seeing what images people choose to scratch into their card. What inspires them about Africa? Will it be animals, or food? Whatever the pictures that are created, they will be put on display next to her own artworks from the exhibition.

Meet the Artists in Residence: 20, 21, 22, 27, 28 & 29 October, 11am-3pm

Daby – Sgraffito Workshop: Thursday 27 October 1-2.30pm

William – Zine Making Workshop: Saturday 29 October 1-2.30pm

View the Final Display: 3, 4, 5 November 11am-3pm

To see details of all the half-term workshops at Newcastle Common, go tour What’s On page or see our Facebook page @appetite.stoke

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