Bramhall Hall
Stockport, Cheshire
Bramhall Hall is typical of the Tudor timber-framed manors found across Cheshire. Restored by the Victorians, it is owned by Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council which has four other historical sites: The Hat Works, The Air Raid Shelters, Vernon Park and Chadkirk Chapel. The uses and activities on offer are wide and varied and by no means limited to history, heritage and tourism, though these are well catered for. All the sites offer well-planned school history programmes. In addition, an Out of Schools Club is funded by Stockport LEA and the New Opportunities scheme. With schools selected on the basis of free school meal statistics, the club was initially planned to run for three years, with museum staff working in the schools or on site. A challenging project has been developed for disadvantaged young people. Various activities lead into role-play around a moral dilemma set in the historical context of each site, with follow up work addressing attitudes and behaviours. Evaluation suggests a great success. It is difficult to imagine a project of this size and scale succeeding without the network of support provided by a local authority.
The Community Heritage Education Officer develops outreach projects with a variety of organisations. One example is funded by Sure Start: a mother and toddler group from a deprived estate meets at Bramhall for a Parenting Skills course. Other special activity sessions are run for nursery and playgroups, single parent and carer groups are targeted, other courses are designed for improving mental health in the community. A serious attempt is being made to communicate with those who may think a museum is not for them.
Bramhall monitored the schools visiting their site and found that those with a higher proportion of free school meal entitlements were not visiting. With funding from the New Opportunities Fund and the National Children’s Fund they targeted schools with 22.5% or more on free school meals for their out of school programme. This funded transport costs and museum staff, while teachers came voluntarily in their own time. The project has been a great success. JR
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