Bridgnorth exhibition pays tribute to a female unsung hero of Shropshire

Shropshire Star

An exhibition at Bridgnorth Library pays tribute to a lady who gave her working life to the county, unearthing hidden treasures literally beneath our feet.

Transcript

00:00So we're here at Bridgnorth Library and we're here with Librarian Emma Spencer, that's right isn't it?

00:07My name's Emma Spencer, I'm Library Operations and Development Manager here at Bridgnorth Library

00:13and we've been really excited to have a display in time for Women's History Month, which March is Women's History Month

00:26and we like to celebrate women who have made a difference and the particular lady we've got today is Lily F. Chitty

00:35so the display that we've been given is in collaboration with Shrewsbury Museum

00:40and the lovely thing about this display is it was put together by the Young Collective

00:45which is a group of young people based at Shrewsbury Museum and Ludlow Museum

00:52and they have curated information about Lily F. Chitty

00:58so Lily was born in 1893, she passed away in 1979

01:04but she was one of the counties forming most people in terms of the history of Shropshire from the Stone Age and the Bronze Age

01:19and in 1926 she was our county contact for the Ordnance Survey and the British Museum

01:29so she was very knowledgeable, if you see here she did actually chart the Stone and Flint implement finds across Shropshire

01:38so she was very much on the board of the Shropshire Ancient Monuments

01:45so she was championing those monuments and making sure that they were preserved for posterity

01:53so we have a lot to thank her for, her collections are based at Shrewsbury Museum

02:00and her documented work, all her research is kept at Shropshire Archives

02:07what we love about working with the Young Collective is that the Young Collective themselves designed some retail items

02:15so you can, if you love what you see, you can research more about Lily and her life

02:20but also there is a painting that you can buy, a copy of one of her paintings of Mitchell's Fold

02:27there's a lovely tea towel, but the Young Collective themselves had an awful lot of input in designing and creating these items

02:35so it's just lovely to be involved with

02:38it's great isn't it, it's a name I'd not heard of before but she obviously fell in love with the county

02:43and when she came here to study she stayed here for the rest of her life

02:47it's a name I won't forget though, it's a great name just on its own isn't it

02:52so really we own a lot to her, a lot of the information that we've got from archaeology side of things

02:58and who knows if some of those monuments perhaps wouldn't have been as well respected if she hadn't have done her research

03:04Emma, you're so busy here, I was looking at your notice board, we'll flash up a couple of images of that

03:09you've got so much stuff going on, music events, art exhibitions, people can come in and get involved in crafts

03:16it's really a bustling library isn't it

03:18we have, thank you, yes we've got lots going on

03:20funnily enough in about 10 minutes time I'm just about to lead a slow stitching session

03:27so it's about being mindful and just taking your time out from the busy world

03:33and just making something that you might want to keep for yourself or give to a loved one

03:37but that's what we're all about, it's encouraging people to come into libraries

03:41it's a safe, neutral space and particularly this time of year you can come and keep warm

03:47you can have a hot drink, you can meet friends, you can find out things you never knew about

03:52it's all about combating loneliness, it's just somewhere at the heart of the community where people know they can come

03:59they can find out a myriad of information

04:02we've actually got the elections team here this morning

04:05so the prospective councillors are all declaring their interest to be a councillor

04:13so they're doing that, they're registering that

04:16we've got social work meetings here today

04:19and alongside the crafty stuff we've also got chair exercises this afternoon

04:25so we have part of our warm welcome initiative

04:28we're doing that right the way through the winter months until the end of March

04:33so yes, we've got so much going on

04:35great stuff, so get yourself down here guys, check out what's happening

04:38and this exhibition's on until the end of the month?

04:40the end of the month

04:41great stuff, thanks ever so much Emma

04:43thank you

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