Hey Blog! One Friday in February, I went to Derby Museum and Art Gallery (DMAG) to attend the opening of the revamped archaeology and nature galleries!

DMAG is a museum I have attended for a long time now. It was the place where a lot of groups and activities went on when I was younger and I used to roam around the museum taking in all the exhibits. It’s near the cathedral and contains artefacts from ancient Egypt to the mediaeval, from Derby to the other side of the world. It also has a large and interesting art gallery, as is in the name. But the galleries for the archaeology department and the nature department hadn’t been updated in any significant way for years, so last year the museum decided to give them a change.

Previously, the archaeology part felt very like a 1960s chronologically ordered nutty-old-professor-trying-to-explain-to-a-bunch-of-schoolkids local, white-walled small museum. There was some fascinating stuff, from the bronze age log boat to the carved stone sarcophagus to the gold noble of Henry the Fifth, but it was set out in a way that was only interesting to people who were already interested; that is if you didn’t already understand the history and value it you would skip straight to the Viking swords and miss the other cool stuff like flints and tiles with Roman dogs’ pawprints on. The nature section was fascinating, though again it felt very formal though without the mass of information you get at bigger museums, with a hippo skeleton and drawers upon drawers of specimens of rocks and beetles and other wild stuff, as well as Mr Fox, the one taxidermy animal that was not in a case for people to touch. He’s now retired, and his “retirement party” was the excuse to get a whole bunch of people together for the reopening!

The party was a large one. There were people from all the derby museums, from organisations that have funded the new galleries, and people like us who had come up with an idea for an exhibit – Derbyshire Scout Archaeology team strikes again! Back in 2022 the Youth Committee had turned up to help design a temporary exhibit while the gallery was being refurbished, but eventually this never materialized while the gallery was closed. Instead, a small section was devoted to the idea of youth engagement in archaeology and how the DSA has furthered this. Included are a few badges and some information about us, so hopefully more Scouts will be inspired to join us. As Dad was staying around to pick us up after work, we couldn’t stay long, so I spent most of my time while not on tour listening to the speech and talking to someone from the Museum of Making about one of their projects to create bronze spearheads. But what about the galleries now?

Apart from regular turnover of artefacts and exhibits, nothing was removed. Quite a lot was added. There is a lot more colour, now, and the order of the galleries is changed so you’re meant to walk in the other direction, but the best thing is they have been melded into a combined, two-room Science and Nature gallery. I would not have thought of this – but it has been expertly handled and the look of Birds-of-Paradise specimens near the ceiling looking down on Roman dice is one that I’m sure will stick in the head of many viewers! If only we hadn’t had to leave so soon; it’s a pity I didn’t have half the time to look around that I would have wanted, but I hope to go back soon and have a proper look around the place. By the brief glimpse, it should be very good indeed!

Hey Blog! I am so sorry to all of you. It’s been ages since I posted anything – far longer than I would have liked – and that’s mostly my fault. I have been doing a number of exams and the accompanying study has made it hard to find time to write and post anything as well as make time for myself. Though to be honest, I have had time, just not chosen to use it effectively. It’s been about three months when I promised they would be every week, so please accept as apology one post a day for the coming week. Some will be things I’ve done in real time, and some will be about past events. I’ll begin with the last one I wrote before the long break – which follows.

Hey Blog! Yesterday we went to Nottingham to have a look around the caves there!

Just a train ride away, the city of Tigguo Cobauc is a brilliant destination. You may be wondering where that is. Well, it’s Anglo-Saxon for “place of caves”, or “place of cavy dwellings”, and is the name given to the village of Nottingham in works by Alfred the Great’s biographer, who lived only a few years after his death. Yep, it was known for the underground dwellings over a thousand years ago, and probably a long time before that. The geology is interesting: there is a sandstone ridge under the main part of the city, providing a source of soft stone which is easily workable into caves. There are no natural caves in Nottingham, so everything is the work of centuries of human residents who have built below just as they have built above. The largest publicly accessible system is now the city of caves tour exhibit, which is the one we went to yesterday.

The caves are not deep, or large, nor do they form long passageways. The most common use is a family cellar, though there are a number of wells, pub cellars, and occasionally a house dug entirely into the rock. Think Hobbit hole, then take off the round door, and dig into Nottingham sandstone instead of The Hill. Part of the tour we went on was around a mediaeval house, which had been turned into a tanning workshop in the Tudor period. This was then forgotten about and rediscovered when the shopping centre, now demolished, was built over it. Initially, the developers’ plans were to fill the entire structure with concrete, but a quick piece of archaeological investigation confirmed this was an almost perfectly preserved tannery, with everything except the smell – which would have been substantial when it was operational, partly composed of barrels of human urine and dog faeces. Luckily, the realisation of its rarity prevented any development, and the site is now protected, as a scheduled monument.

However, even since the 1500s, the caverns have continued to be used. Most recently, in the 1940s. Some of the properties of sandstone are its crumbliness, which made it easy to dig through in a hurry; and its shock-absorbent factor, which made it able to withstand high pressures – like the concussive blast of a bomb. All in, the perfect thing to make air raid shelters out of as soon as WWII broke out – even better, as the sand removed to make them could be used for sandbags to protect homes! This was the last major expansion of the networks, but was hardly ever used, as the city was only bombed eleven times during the war (and it is likely that ten of those were because the pilots couldn’t identify Derby, which was a more important target due to the aircraft production factories there!).

It’s quite a system. Every detail, carefully wrought out of the rock centuries ago, makes up the story of the history of the town. I’d love a house where I can dig out my own secret bunker; perhaps I need a house in Nottingham! It’s a fantastic place to visit and I can thoroughly recommend the café round the corner. Do pay a visit, as they are fascinating!

Over the years, watching TV programmes have been some of the best inspiration. Time Team and Digging for Britain = archaeology obsession. Sewing Bee = sewing obsession. Bake Off = baking obsession. Fake or Fortune = art obsession. Yes, the last of these. A remarkably good programme. The premise of it is simple – someone sends in an application of an artwork that they think could be by a famous artist, and the enormous BBC team tackles documents, pigment analysis, provenance, old photographs, technical details, and many other elements of the painting and the artist’s life. The professionals then send their evidence – either a certain, well-assembled file of conclusive proof or an incredibly sketchy and slightly hole-ridden list of conjectures with which to persuade the official body of experts who consult each and every artwork to determine whether it is genuine. Many times the attempt fails – the work is a fake, or authentic but not by the master artist in question. But there are also times when it is a lost treasure, which people have been missing for years.

Inspired by the program, I have been on the hunt for art. It still seems incredible there are quite so many lost masterpieces hanging around on people’s walls, but nevertheless there are a good number in public galleries. This means you can go and visit them, and two locations in London that are both referred to as good places to look are the Cortauld Institute and the National Gallery. I strenuously urge a visit, to both, but perhaps not on the same day. After wandering around looking at paintings all morning and afternoon, you need to go back to your Youth Hostel and have a rest before dinner.

On the type of art, specifically painting, that I like best – well, it’s a bit like music. Most modern art is, to put it tastefully, abstract, undefined, and uncertain. This means the best art (in my opinion – art is subjective of course) is probably before the mid-20^th century. However, on the earlier end of the spectrum, I think much of the best art is after the Renaissance. It is probably overly simplistic and grossly offensive of me, but it seems almost all art pre-about 1700 is either of old men or religious scenes, and in large doses this is quite a lot of old religious gentlemen. I admire the precise, photographesque exactitude of old art, but consider that almost too perfect and much rather the more relaxed styles of the later periods. However, the opposite, where the artist has stopped caring about any relation to reality, is also less appealing to me. Perhaps my favourite period is the impressionist movement, but I’m not sure. What I am certain of is that I can’t paint half as well as any of them.

It was a nice trip to London, with some fantastic art, and I sincerely hope there will be more like it in future!

Hey Blog! I’m going back to the very first weekly post I uploaded here, and giving you an update. Things have come a long way since then!

My week now looks something like this.

Monday: Chemistry, and Physics, online classes with Southwest Science School, iGCSE level. After this, English Language and or Literature (with Mum), and/or Maths (online program, usually done with Mum, but most of the time I understand it perfectly and there’s no need to discuss).

Tuesday: Biology online class, again with Southwest Science and again at iGCSE. More English and maths. Yes, I know, a bit repetitive but that’s what’s needed at the moment. Helping at Beavers as a Young Leader in the evenings. Hopefully going forward there is another volunteering opportunity, which I need for my Silver level on Duke of Edenborough’s award, though the day and time is not fully confirmed yet.

Wednesday: Sometimes, a day out with friends. About once a fortnight, piano lesson. (Practice is every day, or supposed to be, and about 40 minutes). Usually a continuation of the rest of the week’s studies, and revision of one or two sciences.

Thursday: More of the six subjects for this year’s exams. Explorers meetings or DofE in the evenings, the former usually either active or creative, the latter mostly planning the route and the equipment needed for the expedition.

Friday: Anything I haven’t done yet in the week. Last year, cricket training was on Friday evenings, however this year it’s expected to happen on Tuesday evenings once we can play outside, as in the under-17s I’ll be training with the seniors. Feeling old already. The plan is a slightly easier and more relaxed day to end the week, but in reality it’s more likely to be the maddest, most rushed day of all as I am desperate for everything to be done before the weekend.

Saturday: There is often something extracurricular on this day, i.e. YAC, Scout camps, days out. Sometimes, however, I just want to laze around at home, reading. This is the best day for anything interesting which does not involve academic study or keeping up with friends and relations.

Sunday: Most often the quietest day. I should be done with everything, and the most common day for family outings. Currently, as it is winter, cricket is indoor and happens on Sunday afternoons.

Hey Blog! It’s the beginning of the year (well, a little later than I planned – resolution no. 1, must get organised, is not fully working yet!), so I think I’ll give you a post on what I’m anticipating and looking forward to in this new year of 2026!

In October, specifically on the 14^th, it will be five years since I started Home Ed in a Shed. The blog began as a diary of home education and my other activities, and was begun to coincide with the start of “secondary” education. This period will be ending on the 26^th of June, and I am considering resolving the weekly (or, more recently, sporadic) posts at this point. Therefore, I plan to make this term count!

Top things on my list of this year – EXAMS. A bit like marmite, for most people – for me, both sides in one. I both love them and hate them, or rather, hate the amount of time and effort that needs to go into studying for them, especially the essays. You’d think that writing the blog has helped me get better at essays – it has in some ways, but not in the way the examiners want. And I can’t write as fast as I can type – let alone think – making it hard for my brain to keep to one cohesive line of thought. However, in recent days I have seen a marked improvement in my English essay writing, so I’m hopeful it will be at top form by the time of the exams. And yes, I am taking six separate subjects, which is more than double that in exams and therefore trips to Birmingham for the exam centre. The only problem with this is I will be too old for the free Premier Inn breakfasts by this time, so what I’m going to do when we stay overnight there I don’t know!

Other activities: Sailing week in April, the same one as I’ve been on before but this time I have Competent Crew so will be able to take on some more tasks. Should be fantastic, but…

Immediately afterwards (and I mean on the same day – off the boat at lunchtime and get straight on a train to arrive in time for the evening) is my Silver DofE practice expedition, in advance of the qualifying expedition in August! There are eight of us going in two groups (because it’s maximum five in a group), so for some reason we decided to be the Fellowship of the Ring and walk to Mordor for our expedition challenge. Mad, I know.

The usual Scouting, archaeology, wildlife, history, etc.

After the exams – this is like saying “after you’ve escaped the labyrinth,” as at the moment I can’t see even one week ahead, let alone after I’ve got through. And the minotaur (read: exams themselves) is waiting at the entrance. But, if we follow this storyline, there are a whole load of other monsters waiting after I’ve come out, which would equate to the choices due to be made once I have a little bit more time. Particularly on my future.

Interlude here: I have noticed, there is all sorts of advice and support for people going through every difficult time in one’s life, except the one I’m at right now. There are prenatal groups, and postnatal groups, and people at the hospital to help with having a baby; there are marriage counselling and divorce counselling, and relationship advice everywhere you look online, even if you don’t look; there are people to help you choose your job/pressure you into accepting their offers of a job, there are people to persuade you to leave your job and give you support in financial difficulties; there are mid-life crisis centres and later-life crisis centres and near-death experiences to help with when you are actually more likely to die; the only thing there doesn’t seem to be any advice on is what to do when you’ve finished standard education and have no clue what to do next. You think a job is probably a good idea, learning more about the world is essential, friendships are more vital than anything (predominantly to stop you from going insane), but you want to relax and not need to do anything for a bit and perhaps devote yourself to deciding your future in a calmer manner. Oh, and you need to pay for staying alive, your parents, while they love you very much, also want to get you out of the house so they can have some peace for the first time in the better part of two decades, and you have no clue what to start doing. Let’s call it a young-life crisis. That is an accurate depiction of what is going on in my head, veiled behind any other thoughts, but there constantly this year.

Right, rant over. The decision I need to make is, quite simply, whether I should start looking for some kind of apprenticeship immediately, or go for my version of a gap year, and doing my own version of community voluntary service, taking some longer holidays, doing some volunteering, maybe getting a few contacts in my fields of interest, getting some more experience, exercise, expeditions, expect expedient explosive exploration but ideally not expiring. Gosh, what a lot of alliteration. This year of other learning would, I hope, provide some information to use in my future. The question remains, how to fund this – especially when I need to raise several thousand for the Jamboree – and what can I do in the local area – as, again, to remain on the list for the unit, I have to remain resident in Derbyshire. So, I have a choice to make.

I hope I make the right decision, and in time. Apparently, you only regret the things you didn’t do. So I’m off to do some things now. See you all soon.

Hey Blog! Today I’ll tell you about that classic winter activity, common in any country where the rivers and lakes actually get cold and freeze (oh wait, not this one then. Annoying global warming!) – ice skating!

Like the best traditions, skating is well-tested, and has been used as a mode of transport since the ice age. Reindeer shin bones have been found bearing the unmistakeable scratches and attachments for being worn on the feet and skated with. Over the last millennium, metal skates have quickly come into fashion and are now found across the world in all the ice rinks in every major city. But apart from providing a tremendous opportunity to fall over if unpractised, and an incredibly cool way of moving about on a surface that doesn’t often form in this country, what is it that ice skating does?

Science alert! Skating is a bit like going on a hovercraft. Both involve moving fast over a denser surface supported on a small cushion of a less dense material. The skating version relies on the ice being compressed by your weight over a very small area. These formulae: pressure = force divided by area; weight = mass times gravitational field strength; and pressure = gravitational field strength times height times density, give the reason for this.

Weight, which is a force, is always the same on an ice rink, as neither mass nor the strength of gravity change. Therefore your force is the same. Decrease the area your force affects (by making the edge of the skate as thin as possible) while keeping the force, your weight, the same, gives an increased pressure exerted. The final formula therefore calculates the density of the water. Increasing the pressure while keeping gravity and height the same, increases the density. Ice is less dense than water – that’s why the ice in your drink floats and why the Titanic was able to crash into an iceberg and sink – so the denser ice becomes water. Hence you have a thin cushion of water on top of ice (which instantly freezes when you release your weight) which is what you float on. So yes, when you are ice skating, you are walking, well, skating, on water!

Skating is also fast for this reason. Hovercraft are able to go much faster than conventional boats because there is less friction between air and boat than between water and boat. Similarly, there is less friction between water and skate than between ice and skate. Because of this, skating is by far the fastest method to go over ice (unless you happen to have a specially trained pack of huskies and a dogsled. Surely someone has to have such a thing stashed in their shed?). Indeed, one person I saw on the rink this year was sliding from one end to the other in about five seconds – which is much faster than I could do walking. Therefore it is not just a way of keeping your footing, but also of going at greater speed.

The first time I realised the allure of skating was when I read the fourth book of the Swallows and Amazons series, Winter Holiday. After learning that sailors could become skaters and explore frozen lakes, I waited in hopeful anticipation of a proper winter. Proper winters, it turns out, do not come. So I remain bound to the ice rink until I ever go to a more meteorologically interesting country, like Canada or Iceland. However, at that point I had not been on an ice rink since I was six, and was outside the Natural History Museum in London, on a visit to the UK. With tiny feet in tiny skates, a stabilising plastic penguin that was about as big as I was, and a firm hold on the handrail, I managed to go around the rink a few times. I didn’t try again till last year.

Each year, the Explorer troop I am part of goes on a few Christmas activities. One of these is usually skating. The past two years we have been to the local ice rink, and skated with varying degrees of success. I started a bit unsteady, but slowly managed to grasp the technique. To my mind, it’s more like walking backwards flat-footed yet going forwards than anything else. The effort isn’t going into pushing your toes to go forward, it’s in stopping your heels sliding too far and falling over. Hardest, I have found, is stopping. You need to be keeping going on one foot, while dragging the other sideways, to stop quickly – therefore I find it easier to just stop propelling myself and drift, which takes longer but stops you the same way. However, I would consider myself in need of practice but understanding of the basics. Maybe I’ll try again soon!

Hey Blog! This time I’ll relate an event I went to a few weeks ago and one which has given me a lot of ideas about my future!

The Creative Careers day at Derby Museum of Making was excellent. There were eight makers attending, and while we had about an hour and a half, it was impossible to go round them all. I’d need a lifetime to study each of their crafts, so the time we had was only adequate to scratch the surface of a few of them. The first maker I met was the blacksmith.

Blacksmithing is an ancient art. Smiths were highly valued throughout history, and while there is now less demand for high-quality, hand-crafted ironworking as there was in the past, there are still plenty of people pursuing this trade. The blacksmith we met, Jack, started as an apprentice quite near where I live now, and is now taking commissions from across the country, besides honing his skills and managing family life. He’s also really supportive of other people who are even considering it as a future activity, and has encouraged me to build a forge in my garden. Sorry Mum, the veg bed in the lawn may have to go!

Not only that, but he has an awesome collection of hammers and other tools. One of the most interesting things I learned was the idea of patterns on the heads of hammers, which are used to make patterns in the steel that would be very hard to get otherwise. Another interesting thing was the idea of different traditions of metalworking: when you think “forge” you probably imagine a stone box with a roaring blaze inside, and a large man at a regular shaped anvil of the kind that is perfect to drop on roadrunner’s head, possibly or possibly not working on a large, glowing blade. In other traditions, the forge is more like a pit filled with wood/charcoal and the anvil has a completely different shape. Perhaps the most comforting thing out of our conversation was understanding that you don’t need to decide your future when you’re only 15, you can still work things out as you go along. (And yes, I have been told this before, but I never take it on board, so maybe this time I will be able to accept it.)

Next, we went nextdoor to woodworking. I know about wood, and have extensively recounted my turning exploits before. However, it has been ages since I tried planing. This technique relies on sliding the plane, (a mounted blade that removes tiny flat shavings from the wood) across the plank/other wooden item, to smooth and flatten it. We have got one (and Dad used it the other day, strange coincidence) but I had forgotten and not seen it in years. Therefore I was very eager to learn more about how to do it, and I’m glad to say it went well. Yet another ability in my arsenal which I can practise – and who knows how it might come in handy with my woodworking!

Time was fast running out. We realised we would be unable to make it to the milliners or the potters, but we did just have time to visit the lacemaking table. This is a very fine art – and all the finer for the fineness of the threads it uses! Also interesting are the bobbins, the specialist dowels used to hold the thread and flip them across the pattern to make the lace. Many are fantastically decorated, hand-turned and painted with incredible detail. Maybe I have another outlet for my turning – apparently the practice at making bobbins can increase one’s skill a great deal.

I’m sad we didn’t get to go round all the makers and learn all about it. Yes, you would need a full lifetime to learn each craft, another lifetime to perfect it, and that’s beside any other learning you do. However, next year there will be another opportunity and I hope to take it then, to see some more creative careers and maybe choose the one I’ll start with in my journey through making.

Hey Blog! Today’s post will be about a fantastic opportunity offered to me and one which I will hopefully have a great deal more to tell you about in the future!

I realise, if I relate the details first, you will instantly guess. So, to have the joy of telling you, here it is: I have been chosen to be part of the Derbyshire contingent on the 2027 World Scout Jamboree in Poland!

The first information I had of this opening was back in the summer, when there was news of a selection day for the big event. I was very much in two minds, but decided that it was only a selection day, I had never done one before, and why not?, so I signed up and went.

It was a bit weird, just 50-or-so Scouts and Explorers in a room, playing games and testing activities, going outside to build marble runs and do a ‘minesweeper’ challenge, all while being watched by the leaders to decide who should go. There were only 36 places… and nearly a hundred applicants attended over two selection days. Only one in three could go. I was not expecting a place, nor even sure that I wanted to go – I am already terribly busy and have had similar experiences in the past, though not of this scale, overseas, or with Scouting. Besides, I was expecting them to give the place to another one of the hundred.

The selection was an interesting experience, because I felt everyone there was equally deserving and some more so than me, which is something I have not often felt. Nevertheless, I was glad I had attended, and then did not think much of it, until an email came to say I had been offered a place!

As I said, this was unexpected and I was completely at a loss what to do. At first, I didn’t know what to say, and then kept changing my mind constantly. Even till five minutes before I replied “yes” (well, more like 5 seconds!) I was unsure whether or not to accept. Eventually, I realised that this was just too good to miss, and if I were to turn it down I would regret it. Maybe I will still regret it, but it’s less likely. And even if I do protest about the amount of effort I need to raise the money to go, it’s unlikely to be in earnest.

Because the price is considerable. Paid in instalments, the first one is £500 – the parents’ deposit, if you will – and then each participant, on their own, needs to raise about £3000 over a year and a half. I have never earned £1000 in six months – the most I’ve ever made is a bit more than £200 – and while I won’t discuss the current finances of my wallet, purse, small leather bag containing solely 1ps under the bed and large plastic tub which holds the proceeds of my woodturning sales, I definitely do not have this much.

Therefore, I have been busy woodturning in the garage, and have over 30 mice in production, besides varying my stock with this year’s Christmas special – Christmas trees! They will be on sale at the local festive fair at the end of the month, so make sure to get there early while stocks last! Commissions also accepted, though they may take longer. Do come, the money will be going towards my jamboree fund and I will definitely be telling you more about this awesome opportunity over the next two years!

Hey Blog! This post is about one of the greatest composers in history, and one whose music I rather enjoy. This is about Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Mozart was born in 1756, so his music is quite old. A bit more than 200 years old. And he died in 1791, so he was only in his mid-thirties when he died. What makes him incredible is the fact that for thirty of those years, he was composing music. Yes, he started at age 5 – and while that is only three years younger than I started learning piano, by the time he was fifteen he had already written multiple symphonies, operas, toured Europe and performed for a large portion of nobility on the continent. I, however, have done none of these.

Mozart is one of the most well-known composers as well. He wrote in the classical style, which comes after the baroque period and before the romantic period. Baroque has short notes and slightly sharper pitch, mostly consisting of straight harmonies; romantic has longer, more spreading and richer notes, usually layered over each other. Mozart, as a classical composer, has lots of fast-flowing notes but also some longer ones, and his harmonies are excellent. I am currently learning one of his pieces (Sonata, movement 1, K.547a) and the majority of it is fast, clear passages, but there is a section of awesome harmony and lots of accidentals!

Which brings me on to why I like Mozart’s music. Firstly: it gives my fingers a challenge! I can play very fast – apparently faster than my piano teacher – and most music does not contain the speed and multitude of notes that Mozart gives me. Secondly: it is complex in theory but a delight to play. This is good, as it means I can learn it without too much trouble but if I wish I can go into a lot more detail learning the chords and how the keys work together. It is bright, fresh, and dancing, and seems as present now as it was in the 1700s. While I appreciate a great variety of composers, Mozart is one of my favourites. (I never have a favourite, but Mozart comes close!)

My piano is going well. I’m even starting to compose myself. Maybe you’ll be hearing about my music one day!

P.s. “It’s Mozart!” is an in-joke with some friends. We were doing a quiz and someone mentioned that if there is ever a question on music, Mozart is almost always the answer as he did pretty much everything. So next time someone asks you a question in the pub quiz music round, try going for Mozart. You will have a higher-than-average chance of being right!