Shutting the doors on the Silhouette & Costume Exhibition.

It was with mixed feelings that we finally shut the doors on our Silhouette and Costumes Exhibition after 7 weeks.

Feelings were mixed, because while it will be good to have one's weekends to oneself again, there is something rather sad about the fact that the RTH will no longer be showing off its best face to eager - and flattering - visitors each weekend. Though fanciful, it's rather tempting to believe that the old house preens itself on praise and enjoys showing itself off.

We also made a lot of new Friends over this past couple of months; and recieved offers from others to come and volunteer their time with us.

So many people commented favourably on the large friezes that were made and put up on the walls along the staircase, that we have stuck to our decision to leave them in situ until after Xmas.

The amount of work which goe into the Brighton and Heritage Open Days weekend is always prodigious, so that the weekend itself becomes the culmination of an entire year's work for those involved. And, next week,  they will start all over again for Brighton and Heritage Open Days 2015.

Visitors seemed so delighted with the quality and diversity of the images on display that we are now hard at work on a project that will enable various venues in different parts of the country to present this exhibition on their home turf.

It has been the interns who have mainly been working on this project. For, while we had a little hiatus after our summer interns had gone, we are once more up to scratch with six new arrivals over this past week.

This time we have three students who are still at school. Matteo, Federica and Angelica all come from the same school in Naples. They are part of a programme to encourage students not only to get out and see the world; but also to explore all the different opportunites that exist out there and which might be new to them.  It sounds like a very sensible plan.  These three will, however, only be with us for three weeks before school starts again.

Also from Italy, but up in the far North in a region which once was part of Austria, we have Davide, who has just finished school and wants to study IT at University.

Chris, from Germany, and Spanish Almudena, will be with us almost until Xmas, as they are both slightly older than the others and not constrained by school calenders.

The film show last week was slightly more sombre than anticipated, dealing as it did with World War I.  However, it was very absorbing and everyone seemed both to enjoy it and to learn a new factoid or two about early cinema.

To-night's showing will be The Gelignite Gang and is a full-length film, shot on location in Brighton.

As everyone was still drawing deep breaths after their exertions for either BHODs or the Exhibition (or, for some, from both) last week, we didn't have our usual weekly Volunteer's Meeting last Thursday. Understandably.  

However, we've all had time for recouperation now, and shall back at our usual pace from now on.