Thursday 23 May, 2pm to 3pm at Southsea Library
Portsmouth - home of great writing. Part of Adult Learners' Week. Portsmouth has always been a city of great stories and great characters. Sherlock Holmes was conceived here, Charles Dickens was born here and everyday some of the best tales are told here. 'Portsmouth: Home of Great Writing' will introduce you to some of these stories and characters. This fascinating talk will be led by Laura Weston.
Book a place at any Portsmouth City Library. For further information, please call 023 9268 8999 or email southsea.library@portsmouthcc.gov.uk
Friday 24 May, 10am to 11am at the Portsmouth History Centre, Central Library
Tour of the Portsmouth History Centre. Part of Adult Learners' Week. Join us for a fascinating free tour of the Portsmouth History Centre; home to Portsmouth’s local studies archives plus the Arthur Conan Doyle and Charles Dickens collections.
Book a free place at any Portsmouth City Library. For further information, please call 023 9268 8046 or email portsmouthhistorycentre@portsmouthcc.gov.uk
Information about SHARING SHERLOCK - THE STORY OF A POMPEY LAD project can be found in the MAYHEM! Magazine. The article has been written by Vanesha Peach, one of our volunteers.
WHAT`S NEW ?
Exhibition Coordinator, Portsmouth's Conan Doyle Collection
Portsmouth City Council, Portsmouth, Hampshire
£8,000 for 40 days
Portsmouth City Council has recently been awarded £90,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund to deliver Sharing Sherlock, The Story of a Pompey Lad. This funding will allow us to significantly increase and improve access to the Conan Doyle Collection for Portsmouth residents and the wider region. We are looking for interested persons with the relevant experience to develop and deliver the 10 touring exhibitions with community and school groups input, while also managing a team of volunteers.
The Conan Doyle Collection was bequeathed to Portsmouth City Council in 2004 by Richard Lancelyn Green, a leading expert on Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes. For more information about the Conan Doyle Collection, please visit www.conandoylecollection.co.uk.
For the full brief detailing how to apply, please email Lancelyngreencollection@portsmouthcc.gov.uk or contact Laura Weston on 02392 83 4184.
Deadline for submission: 2nd April 2013
Looking for volunteer? 20 March 2013
We are now looking to recruit volunteers as a part of the Sharing Sherlock project, recently funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund. We would like anyone interested in working with the Conan Doyle Collection to develop and install 10 small exhibitions with community groups and schools. If you are interested, please email lancelyngreencollection@portsmouthcc.gov.uk for an application form and volunteer role profile.
Calling all community groups and schools! 20 March 2013
Would your group or school like to take part in the Sharing Sherlock project? We are seeking 10 groups to develop and learn how to curate their own exhibition, using the Conan Doyle's fabulous collection! The exhibitions will then be shown across Portsmouth and further afield! For an informal chat or more information, please contact Laura Weston on lancelyngreencollection@portsmouthcc.gov.uk
Saturday 23 February 2013, 11am to 3pm
OPEN DAY at Southsea Community Centre
Sharing Sherlock – The Story of a Pompey Lad
Join our Deerstalker Hat workshop and learn more about Sherlock Holmes and the Arthur Conan Doyle collection.
St. Paul's Square
King Street
PO5 4EE
Friday 15 February 2013 - Article published by The Portsmouth Evening News
Super sleuths
ELEMENTARY Michael Gunton, the senior archivist at Portsmouth City Museum, with pupils from Mayville High School Jed Hawker, Jack Fletcher, Freddie Gidney, Kristian Schafer and Joe Powles dressed as Sherlock Holmes. Picture: Allan Hutchings (13370-463)
ARMED with deerstalkers and magnifying glasses, these pupils look just like the detectives they are learning about at school.
Pupils at Mayville High School in Southsea have been holding a themed week about mysteries.
And as part of their education, they were visited on Monday by Portsmouth City Museum archivist Michael Gunton, who looks after the city’s Arthur Conan Doyle collection.
Tracy Holmes, from the school, said: ‘Michael was fantastic and he knew so much, which he shared with all the kids.
‘The kids were buzzing.
‘We’re trying to make the theme fit in with all areas of the curriculum.
‘We’re still sleuthing now.’
Wednesday 23 January 2013, 6.30
Maria Konnikova
MASTERMIND:
How to think like Sherlock Holmes
An original and entertaining look at how we can use our brains to their full potential.
Portsmouth History Centre
Central Library, Guildhall Square,
Portsmouth, PO1 2DX
Tickets £3. Please contact the box office on 023 9268 8037 or email libraries@portsmouthcc.gov.uk
Happy New Year, all of us at the Conan Doyle Collection hope you have a healthy and prosperous 2013!
Portsmouth – The Home of Great Writing
We have lots of great things planned for 2013, work will start on the Heritage Lottery Fund:
- 10 local exhibitions to be designed by community and school groups
- Exhibiting these in community settings
- 5 Handling boxes
- Study packs
- Online exhibition
- Premiere of the Conan Doyle Collection film, date to be confirmed...
For Conan Doyle related talks, activities and events, please do stay in touch and find us on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/conandoylescasebook
For information on what is happening elsewhere in the city please go to:
http://homeofgreatwriting.com/
Sharing Sherlock - The Story of a Portsmouth Lad
We recently heard that our funding bid was successful, and we have been awarded £90,000. This means that the Conan Doyle Collection can reach a much wider audience and provide a real legacy for the future.
There will be 30 outreach and education workshops run for schools and residents of Portsmouth, producing 10 touring exhibitions which will give communities a better understanding of the literary heritage of Portsmouth and the themes from the collection.
A new enhanced website with an online exhibition will be produced, study packs and handling boxes will be devised for schools and there are also plans to recruit 20 volunteers, each of who will become key members of the project, receiving training to support on various elements including the delivery of the schools workshops and the development of the online exhibition.
Stuart McLeod, Head of Heritage Lottery Fund South East England said: "Portsmouth has an outstanding collection of material about the life and work of Conan Doyle and his most famous creation Sherlock Holmes. This project means local people and schools can access the literary treasure trove about the world's most famous detective."
Set of six Conan Doyle postcards
On 24th June 2012, Portsmouth celebrated the 130th anniversary since Conan Doyle arrived in the city, devising a Sherlock Holmes Day and creating a set of six commemorative postcards. The text on the back is amalgamated from quotes sourced from Conan Doyle and paraphrased from the author.
“With its imperial associations, Southsea is a glorious place; Portsmouth a town where I know nobody, and nobody knows me...”
Now available at £4.50 per pack (including p&p) from Portsmouth City Council:
https://ip.e-paycapita.com/AIP/itemSelectionPage.do?
link=showItemSelectionPage&siteId=091&language
Please click on the link above and follow:
Miscellaneous > Conan Doyle > select ‘Arthur Conan Doyle postcards’
Please include the full postal address for delivery and email/telephone number.
Stephen Fry leads tributes to 125th anniversary of Sherlock Holmes
A Study in Scarlet written in 1887
Stephen Fry, patron of Arthur Conan Doyle Collection Lancelyn Green Bequest, said "I25 years of the world’s most recognisable, enduring and influential detective. A century and a quarter of Sherlock Holmes. When Doctor John Watson, having been invalided out of the war in Afghanistan, found himself drifting towards Piccadilly Circus in London “that great cesspool into which all the idlers and loungers of the Empire are irresistibly drained” he little knew that a chance encounter with an old army friend in the Criterion Bar would lead him to the great meeting with one he would later describe as “the best and wisest man whom I have ever known”.
"Holmes is imperishable. Sometimes his reality, manners, traits, habits, turns of phrase, style of dress, his violin, cocaine, tobacco, deerstalker and magnifying glass obscure the achievements of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, a man quite as remarkable as his best known creation. It is Conan Doyle we honour, thank and remember. The collection of his papers in Portsmouth is a fabulous treasure that Sherlockians, admirers of Doyle’s writing and those curious to find out more are grateful to know exists. It is carefully and professionally curated in the town for whose football club he once played in goal.
"So raise a glass to the greatness of Doyle and the eternal glory of Sherlock Holmes, ushered into this world 125 years ago."
Links for the press
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-20425752
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/sherlock-holmes-first-edition-goes-on-display-8339417.html
http://news.sky.com/story/1014467/sherlock-holmes-celebrates-125-years
Saturday 24th of November 2012 - Sherlock Holmes event celebrating the 125th Anniversary of A Study in Scarlet at Portsmouth Central Library 11am - 3pm
- 21st of November 2012 - 6th Postcard launched
The sixth postcard and the last of this collection, shows Arthur Conan Doyle’s first baby daughter Mary Louise who was born in February 1889.
- 24th of October 2012 - 5th Postcard launched
This fifth postcard shows Arthur Conan Doyle second novel written in Portsmouth featuring Sherlock Holmes. Doyle wrote four novels and 56 stories starring the fictional detective. The text on the back has been taken from a reliable source that Conan Doyle wrote in those days.
- 24th of September 2012 - 4th Postcard launched
The fourth postcard shows Arthur Conan Doyle’s wife, Louise Hawkins (known as Touie). It was during his time spent in Portsmouth as a doctor that Conan Doyle met and fell in love with her. They married at St Oswald’s church, Thornton in Lonsdale, in August 1885.
- 24th of August 2012 - 3rd Postcard launched
The third postcard shows Arthur Conan Doyle with his wife and cricket team in April 1884.The text on the back has been taken from a reliable source that Conan Doyle wrote in those days.
- Since 22nd August 2012 - Follow the Magnifying Sherlock Trail (for free)
Come to the City Museum and walk in the footsteps of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and his famous creation Sherock Holmes. Ask at the reception to borrow an iPod and follow the trail around the City Museum grounds, or download the `Portsmouth Writers` ap and come along to the `Study in Sherlock` Exhibition at the City Museum to join in the fun! Free to all at any time during normal opening hours. Children must be accompanied by an adult.
- 24th July 2012 - 2nd Postcard launched - facts about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's time in Portsmouth.
The second in a set of six postcards telling the story of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's time in Portsmouth is released today.
These postcards are to be given away free to members of the public for their enjoyment and awareness of the time Arthur Conan Doyle spent in Portsmouth.
The second postcard (available now) shows Arthur Conan Doyle outside his Elm Grove home and the text on the rear has been taken from an authenticated source attributed to Conan Doyle.
Each postcard is available for one month only during this initial release so be sure to collect them all. Release dates are as follows:-
Postcard 3 - 24/08/2012
Postcard 4 - 24/09/2012
Postcard 5 - 24/10/2012
Postcard 6 - 24/11/2012
Postcards are available from Portsmouth City Museum and the History Room at Portsmouth Central Library. They are also available from local community centres and bookstores Waterstones and Blackwells.
- Planned launch Date of smartphone app 'Portsmouth Writers' 22/08/2012
The launch of our new smartphone app 'Portsmouth Writers' is planned to run alongside the 'Out to Lunch - Victorian Science Workshop' at Portsmouth City Museum on 22/08/2012 from 12 - 2 pm. Visitors will be encouraged to download the app and to take part in 'Magnifying Sherlock' Periplums' interactive navigational tour of the 'Study in Sherlock' exhibition at the museum also launching today.
- 24th June 2012 - Postcards launch - facts about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's time in Portsmouth - Update 05/07/2012
A set of six postcards telling the story of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's time in Portsmouth will be released one a month from today.
These postcards are to be given away free to members of the public for their enjoyment and awareness of the time Arthur Conan Doyle spent in Portsmouth.
The first postcard (available now) shows Southsea Seafront and the text on the rear has been taken from an authenticated source attributed to Conan Doyle.
Each postcard is available for one month only during this initial release so be sure to collect them all. Release dates are as follows:-
Postcard 2 - 24/07/2012
Postcard 3 - 24/08/2012
Postcard 4 - 24/09/2012
Postcard 5 - 24/10/2012
Postcard 6 - 24/11/2012
Postcards are available from Portsmouth City Museum and the History Room at Portsmouth Central Library. We hope to have more venues for distribution shortly so please come back soon and check.
- Sunday 24th June 2012 - Family event at Portsmouth City Museum
Magical Hats and Mysterious Words
1 - 2pm & 3 - 4pm
City Museum & Records Office
Museum Road
Portsmouth
PO1 2LJ
T: (0)23 9282 7261
To commemorate the 130th anniversary of Arthur Conan Doyle’s arrival in Portsmouth in 1882, Portsmouth’s Children’s poet laureate, Steve Tasane, is holding a workshop at the City Museum on Sunday 24th titled: ‘Magical Hats and Mysterious Words’. We are asking families to come and make your own Sherlock Holmes deerstalker hat, and create your own word puzzles, celebrating the City of Portsmouth and the stories of Sherlock Holmes, with tongue-twisting poet Steve Tasane.
- 24th June 2012 - Sherlock Day
130 years since Sir Arthur Conan Doyle came to Portsmouth to live with £10 in his pocket. He left eight and a half years later, well on his way to fame ad fortune as a writer with a young family.
There will be events and activities across Portsmouth.
We hope to celebrate a Sherlock Day every year!
- From 22nd May 2012
Catching the Unseen: Spirit Photography from the Conan Doyle Collection
Portsmouth History Centre, Portsmouth Central Library
An exhibition of photographs, archives and books from the Arthur Conan Doyle collection - Lancelyn Green bequest.
You are warmly invited to an illustrated talk about spirit photography and Conan Doyle's involvement in the Spirtualist Movement by exhibition curator Dr Patti Gaal-Holmes. The talk is on 29th May at 6pm at the exhibition in Portsmouth History Centre.
- April 2012 - 14th April 2012: Patti Gaal Holmes - Film Collection Day at Aspex Gallery - 11am - 4pm.
Patti wants people living in Portsmouth to bring in old family films ("home movies") as evidence of their lives and the lives of their family in past decades to this Film Collection Day. Patti will use material from these films for a public screening in June. Wessex Film and Sound Archive (based in Winchester) have agreed to get involved with the project and to assist with technical aspects.
Find all next events under Activities.
September 2011
Apologies for absence - we have now managed to access and edit the website again - hooray!
Laura Weston has been appointed as the Community Access Officer, tasked with getting the Collection out into the community and letting everyone know Sherlock Holmes was Made In Portsmouth! Watch this space for more information!
April 2011
Conan Doyle Projects Officer, Dr Fiona-Jane Brown left to return to
Scotland - the post has regretably not been extended due to the
budgetary cuts which affect the whole council. The collection has
a board of trustees who will be tasked with fundraising and promotion
in the future.
The archive is open for business!
March 2011
Lots of nice coverage of our archive opening in the press,
locally and nationally including a nice feature in the Portsmouth News
which showed pictures from the archive.
Pleased to welcome several classes of Adult Learners from WEA to the Conan Doyle room for a series of workshops introducing them to the author and his work. Amanda Burgess from WEA based at the Omega Centre is keen for the students to engage with this important local collection.
A group of drama students from Portsmouth University are gearing up
to present a new murder mystery play, inspired by the Sherlock Holmes
stories, featuring the great detective, his biographer Dr Watson, and
their old adversary, Irene Adler in 'The Prima Donna's Last
Aria'.
The play was presented as part of the Lost Hour activities on March 26 as we lose an hour when the clocks change to BST, and took place at the John Pounds Centre at 2pm.
A second performance took place at the Central Library's Menuhin
Theatre on Tuesday 29 March in the evening. Pictures of
Saturday's performance are on the Facebook page.
February 2011
A very successful opening by Andrew Lycett and Mrs June Lancelyn
Green. Very pleased to welcome to members of the Doyle family who
came especially for the event. A big thank you to everyone who
has worked with the collection so far and helped it reach this new
phase!
Archive catalogue report - 68% of the archival material has now been added to the catalogue and thus is available for public access. Volunteers are continuing to work on the collection to ensure that all 40,000 items are indexed - if you want to lend a hand, please contact us.
Facebook group experienced a boost this month - now up to 140 members
January 2011
31 January saw the re-opening of the Norrish Central Library
after months of closure due to flood damage. The new Arthur Conan
Doyle Research and Archive Centre is also ready in its splendid new
colour scheme for the official opening on 21st February.
Archivist Michael Gunton is available most days, but those who wish to
use the archive should phone in advance.
The new centre features a large graphical time line of Conan Doyle's
life, from his birth in Edinburgh in 1859 to his death in Crowborough
in 1930, studded with images of family photos, famous book covers and
film posters. The walls feature famous quotes from Sherlock
Holmes and Arthur Conan Doyle.
Conan
Doyle's
Casebook - our Facebook page clocked up 109 members
by the end of the month, so the word is really spreading!
Archive 2008
