Severn Rising 2222 - Interactive video game at George Marshall Medical Museum

Severn Rising 2222 is an ambitious imagining, through gaming, of what the City of Worcester might look like 200 years in the future, where Worcester has been flooded, humans have left, and the city is consumed by nature.

Dominated by the River Severn which flows through it, Worcester is already at the mercy of nature, and regularly experiences flooding which leads to residents and wildlife alike modifying their lifestyle. The Severn Rising 2222 project challenges the residents of Worcester to learn more about climate change, pollution and the direct impact it will have on their community.

This game can now be played at George Marshall Medical Museum during opening hours (Monday to Friday 9am-5pm) on the last stop of the game’s Worcester tour! Play it until Friday 13 October.

Leave the game designers some feedback to be in with the chance to win some vouchers for Worcester independent businesses.

If you’d like to know what you can do for the environment, check out the game designers’ helpful tips on their website: https://thesevernrising2222.co.uk/environment

The creators Andy Round and Sarah Millin installing the game.

Guest post by Leon McAnally: Dark Tourism

While the term Dark Tourism may be becoming more well-known through mainstream media by Netflix documentaries such as Dark Tourist as people wishing to immerse themselves in the events that have led to tragedy. However, do people really know the meaning of the term dark tourism?

When people first think of dark tourism and attractions linked to death, suffering and tragedy it’s predominantly places such as the Paris Catacombs and the Second World War concentration camps like Auschwitz that are first associated with the term. However, within Britain there is a long tradition of dark tourism that has actively taken place ranging from those who have participated in religious pilgrimages to see the likes of the relics of St Cuthbert to public executions and faithful manmade and natural disasters such as the Great Fire of London 1666 and the Lynmouth Flood.

In addition to Britain witnessing many devastating events, there are numerous museums that tell us of a darker period of British history through its exhibits and artefacts, such as the medical museums of Surgeons’ Hall Museum, Edinburgh and the Hunterian Museum, London, that demonstrates how medicine and healthcare has developed overtime, such as when surgery procedures were performed without anaesthetics. 

The term dark tourism has been adapted by attractions to market a darker chapter of their history, however there are many more attractions that are linked to death, suffering and tragedy within the UK that aren’t necessarily first thought of when we think of dark tourism. 

Leon McAnally due to publish his book: ‘A Guide to Dark Attractions in the UK,’ wants to give those interested in dark tourism a book that allows them to seek out more places that are linked to death, suffering and tragedy which tell us about Britain’s dark heritage.

While there are many popular attractions like Shrewsbury Prison and the Tower of London, there are many other attractions that are overlooked by tourists such as the George Marshall Medical Museum that exhibit an assortment of death masks from the early 19th century. It is also the way in which an attraction has been perceived such as the Barts Pathology Museum that is known for displaying over 4000 medical specimens, that don’t just teach us about death and disease but show us how close society is to death.

Alongside his book covering many museums and their artifacts his book also covers many iconic landmarks such as prisons, castles, and cemeteries. His book also tells the story of personal graves and tombs, nuclear bunkers, execution devices, memorials and many more. The book will not just take you to places that have witnessed the scenes of calamity, but also take the reader back to the Roman period, the Medieval period, and the Victorian to demonstrator how beliefs of different periods can now be perceived as dark tourism. His book will also look at disasters that have taken place in the 21st century like the 7/7 London bombs and how we have come to remember those tragically caught up in such calamities.

With his book covering over 280 places within Britain, he aims to fascinate others enough by sharing with them more about Britain's dark heritage. His hope is that the reader will share these attractions with friends and family, or when discussing about Britain while on vacation. What better way to capture the mind of someone else than telling them of Britain’s dark history!  

Check out their website: https://dark-attractions-uk.mailerpage.io/

Guest post by Museum Studies Masters Student - Nahm (1/3)

Hello everyone! 

My name is Kanruthai Chongraks. People simply call me Nahm, it is my nickname. I am originally from Bangkok, Thailand. Currently, I am doing my master’s degree at the School of Museum Studies at University of Leicester. As part of my course, I had an opportunity to come to Worcester and work across both museums in summer for my placement which has just come to an end.

My background is Language and Culture with a major in Japanese. There is no such thing like GCSE or A-level in my country and I don’t recall any medical history topics in school, so it is quite new to me. However, I always enjoyed visiting medical museums in different places and that is why I chose to come here. Working with objects I had no idea what they were or what they were for required me a lot of research and study, not only in history but language as well. I have learned many new words while working here, some of which I don’t even know what it is in my language.

Also, this placement opportunity introduced me to Worcester, a place quite different from my familiar surroundings. A bit struggling with the spelling of its name at first, I soon discovered Worcester’s loveliness and truly enjoyed my time here.

Despite a few initial challenges, my placement broadened my knowledge and experience in various aspects of museum operations, including collection management, exhibit design, objects handling and visitor experience. I was very fortunate to not just sit in the office or be in the museum. I had a chance to explore the city for a walking trail, help run a workshop at AgeUK, visit the newly opened Three Counties Medical School, attend a talk by the museum’s volunteer, do my work at The Hive and in the boardroom at the Infirmary.

Most important task of my eight-week placement was designing displays at each site. At George Marshall Medical Museum, I curated a small temporary display entitled ‘ART & ANATOMY’, which introduced the crucial role of art, including illustrations and drawings in the study of anatomy. The display showcases the stories of Henry Carter, the illustrator of the famous Gray’s Anatomy book and Alan Mann, a local pharmacist known for his passion in art and remarkable anatomical drawings. You can find this exhibit next to the apothecary’s shop, right below Blossom’s horns (of Edward Jenner fame). Don’t miss it when you visit the museum!

At The Infirmary Museum, I had the privilege to redesign a display dedicated to Lt. Col. G. H. Goddard, which focuses on medicine during wartime, as we received a new load of objects generously donated from his family. The trench coat on display has been replaced with a charming mess dress uniform together with miniature medals of Lt. Col. Goddard. The display is now holding more objects, spotlighting his life and work as an officer in the Royal Army Medical Corps during the Second Boer War and the First World War, as well as his contributions to the St. John Ambulance in Worcestershire after his military service. Thanks to his collection, we are able to reflect more about medical practices on the frontline in the early 1900s. 

In the final week of my time with the museums, it was a great honour to welcome the Goddard family, who generously supported the museum with their donations, for a private viewing of the new display I had worked on. Along with the museum staff and volunteers at the museum who had been exceptionally supportive throughout my placement, joined us to celebrate the result of my endeavour.

Despite being described as small museums with limited teams, I had an incredibly enriching experience here. This was a unique opportunity that I might not have had in larger institutions and I cherished every moment of my summer in Worcester. If you are considering gaining work experience in a museum, I do recommend Worcester medical museums. And if you haven’t recently visited the museums, please make sure to drop by and explore my displays at both sites. 

This placement has been an unforgettable journey of my life and I couldn’t have asked for a better experience!