
Being a volunteer at the RCAHMW
Anything to do with archaeology is full of surprises, and being a volunteer at the Royal Commission is no exception. Humble tasks, such as identifying duplicate stock, take on quite a different dimension when, sorting through a pile of nondescript pamphlets, out falls a heartfelt handwritten letter and another window of experience opens up. It’s like stumbling into a room where a warm, private conversation is going on between friends. Or you work your way through to the bottom of a box of journals from forty years ago, to find a plain unremarkable folder. What you find inside takes your breath away as you realise that what you are looking at is a set of first edition etchings, delicately designed and elegantly executed. You gaze at them in wonder. A postcard falls out of a book, taking you back to Welsh seaside towns in the 1950s, with the tang of the sea and the sweet smell of candyfloss. In moments like these I find myself connecting appreciatively with the archival work done by the Commission, where care is taken to respectfully preserve and give a new home to the life of this nation through the experiences of its residents from the past. Here I am aware of other people’s lives speaking to my own and I find it strangely enriching. This is the unexpected, and perhaps the biggest, surprise of all.
Carmen Mills, RCAHMW volunteer
PhD Candidate Fine Art
Aberystwyth University
24/11/2016