Documenting Together: Looking Back at the Documenting Northern Lincolnshire’s History Project

Jenny Kirton, Social History Curator

December 2025 saw the completion of a two-year long documentation project at North Lincolnshire Museum.

Documenting Northern Lincolnshire’s History aimed to connect communities with our collections. The project was made possible by National Lottery Heritage Fund. Our goal was to work with volunteers to document and digitise our local history collection. We would uncover local stories to share with audiences along the way.

A remarkable initial response from our local community gave momentum to our project. Our volunteer team reached unprecedented numbers. We welcomed forty-two participants over the course of the two years. Our initial goal was to recruit six volunteers. But this level of engagement altered our goal posts. With our army of volunteers, the possibilities for our project were transformed.

Participants contributed all kinds of historical interests and expert knowledge. With three to four volunteer sessions taking place a week, hidden gems were uncovered at an impressive pace. For example, our team came across a playscript that was likely penned by a local folklorist named Mabel Peacock but was credited to a mysterious ‘Lucian Wetherell’.

Project Volunteer Holly examining playscripts from the Peacock family archive.

The impact of this collaborative style of documentation was immediately clear to our wider team. The variety of perspectives led to a better researched and more relevant local history collection. The work has also shaped the stories we share. We are continuing to reinterpret our local history collection through community input and with the ongoing support of our volunteer team.

Searching for Stories

A highlight was exploring some of our farming-related ephemera with the Museum Maker volunteers. The group responded with their own farming stories. They shared these stories alongside objects they selected as part of our exhibition.

A man wearing dark clothing and glasses is sat on an old grey Massey Ferguson 35 tractor. — Museum Maker Volunteer Peter sits on a Massey Ferguson 35 tractor following a talk by farmer Jonathan Vickers.

Working collaboratively led to lots of ‘overlapping’ when documenting the local history collection.

As we worked through the materials, historical figures kept brushing up against one another. Folklorists Ethel Rudkin and Mabel Peacock each have dedicated enthusiasts within our team. We have members working on Rudkin and Peacock’s respective archives. So, you can imagine the team’s excitement when they located a copy of Mabel Peacock’s County Folklore in Ethel Rudkin’s folklore library. That the copy was brimming with Rudkin’s annotations in the margins was a delightful bonus.

On another occasion, one member set out researching a 1920s diary belonging to a local woman named Marjorie Duff. In the entry, Duff recounted her trip to Scunthorpe Music Festival. On the next table, another participant was poring through the programme to the very same festival.

These happy coincidences were possible partly due to the sheer size of our team. The other key reason was the infectious enthusiasm that came to define our volunteer sessions. This enthusiasm saw us working in tandem, even when focussed on different materials.

Lee photographing objects from our Local History collection.

Dan studying a blueprint plan before preparing an object description.

Sam sharing artwork inspired by the collection materials.

During volunteer sessions, we spoke at length about the importance of storytelling. The tasks were encouraging participants to recognise their own stories within North Lincolnshire’s historical context. We kept returning to the same idea: all our stories matter.

We landed on some categories that united all our research: community spirit, creative storytelling, and community voices.

These categories formed the basis of our exhibition, Stories from the Stores. The exhibition launched in May 2025 for a duration of six months, bringing many of our stories into the spotlight for the first time.

Holly and Tyla install a case ahead of the Stories from the Stores exhibition.

On-line version of the Stories from the Stores exhibition.

Stories from the Stores

On-line exhibition showcasing the work of the volunteers on the Documenting Northern Lincolnshire’s History Project.

Read the story

For the Museum Team, the project has meant the collections are more discoverable. It has helped to reiterate that the collections we care for belong to the community. For participants, the project has helped them connect with their local history. It has helped them to recognise their place within that history.

Project Officer Jenny with volunteers Michael and Adam, presenting their work at a conference at Leeds City Museum.

Oliver recording his Curators Choice film with Nova Studios.

Our Museum Team are Grateful to All Involved

Firstly, to our volunteers – more than thirty of you – thank you for embracing the project and reinvigorating collections documentation at North Lincolnshire Museum. It has been a joy to welcome the team to the museum community. Thank you also for the incredible 4,358 hours of volunteering you contributed between February 2024 and December 2025. You surpassed our initial goal of 2080 hours by rather a lot. Your dedication has been inspiring.

We are also grateful to all those who engaged with our project:

The Museum Makers, a weekly group aimed at adults with additional needs.

North Lincolnshire Sanctuary Group.

Attendees of Scunthorpe Pride 2024 who contributed short recordings and written quotes to the North Lincolnshire Museum collection.

Farmer Jonathan Vickers who kindly shared his experiences with our team.

Family members of Michael Gorne who generously gave their time to record their grandfather’s remarkable story.

Community members who contributed their memories and photographs of 2012 community opera Cycle Song, along with organisers who supported our research into the project.

We are grateful to creatives including:

Andy Abbott who created a sound collage with our Museum Maker team.

Erin Wilson-Clark who worked with the group on illustrations.

Poet Sharena Lee Satti who worked with the North Lincolnshire Sanctuary group on poetry inspired by the collections.

We are grateful to those who lent their knowledge and specialist expertise:

Local Studies librarian Tim Davies who supported us with research, particularly regarding the Peacock family.

TownsWeb Archiving who worked with us to digitise photographs from our collection.

The team at System Simulation who helped us develop our CollectionsOnline portal.

Dr Lynda Skipper and students at Lincoln University who delivered an insightful preventive conservation training programme for our volunteers.

The team at The Authentic Spark for their brilliant exhibition interpretation training.

The team at Naomi Korn Associates who delivered essential copyright training to help prepare Museum staff for sharing our collections more widely.

Artist Tracy Satchwill for inspiring us to think about the collections in new ways.

Know Film, Nova Studios and R&R studios for collaborating with us to produce films and photography.

The team at Irving Patrick Consultants who conducted on-going evaluation of the project, writing up mid-point and final reports.

Finally, thank you to the National Lottery Heritage Fund, for awarding the grant that funded the project and to thanks to National Lottery players for buying the tickets that fund the grants.

Our project has come to an end, but our wonderful volunteer team are continuing to work to make the collections more discoverable and uncover new stories.