Cultureshock

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Video transcript

This is a story inspired by an ordinary thermos flask, in the stored collections at Beamish Museum.

Picture the scene, if you will - it is a chilly, rainy, day in a windswept car park in Hastings. The year is 1989 and I am eight years old, sitting in a damp Montego with my mum, dad, and sister. It is yet another of those occasions where the Knight family's educational history trips have been delayed by bad weather. My little sis is bored, I am sulky, Mum is cross, and Dad is frazzled, and the prospect of us viewing the exact spot where King Harold was shot in the eye is looking increasingly unlikely. There's only one thing to do in a situation like this...bring out the picnic!

Out come the sandwiches, the crisps, the malt bread and the penguin biscuits, but, most importantly of all, the main event and the key piece of kit for any intrepid British holiday-maker...the thermos! Straight away, we're happy again - it doesn't matter if it's cold or raining because we've got tea!!

At first sight, this old thermos does not suggest excitement, interest, or cherished childhood memories. It is battered, slightly rusty, and has seen better days, but when I saw it sitting in the museum store in Beamish, waiting it's turn to be catalogued and shelved amongst all the other objects, it spoke to me! All of a sudden, I was eight again, back in that car with the scratchy grey 1980s upholstery and the steamed up windows. I could smell the pungent ham and pickle sandwiches my mum made, taste the fruity eccles cakes that were always my dad's favourite, and feel the warmth of the steam from the open flask of tea.

The thing is, we are a picnicking family - we'd have a picnic anywhere; in cars, in the caravan, on the beach, by cathedrals, by Cornish tin mines, in castles, by ancient stone monuments. On one memorable occasion, we picnicked in the monkey drive through at Woburn Safari Park whilst the monkeys slowly and carefully peeled the trim from Dad's beloved car! When I look back at family photograph albums, it seems like every day was a picnic day. There were times when it was fun, times when it was tricky, and times when it was just plain embarrassing, but whether good or bad, picnics to me mean family, and adventure. Packing a thermos is an essential part of having an adventure - it's as important as having practical warm clothing, or a rugged, capable vehicle! When you've got your flask of tea you can go anywhere you want, in any weather; those endless picnics in strange places made me who I am today, fed my interest in history, and, ultimately, brought me to what I do today in museums.

So when I look at that old thermos, I remember those times, and those adventures. And I wonder where this one has been, and who it was used by; I wonder what adventures it has been on, and I wonder what the future holds for it, and for me!