Page 46 of 'The Derbyshire Countryside', with title 'On conducting'. Within the text are several drawings showing how the baton should be moved.

Front cover of the magazine 'The Derbyshire Countryside', which features a green silhouette illustration of a farmer sewing seeds. It is dated 'July 1931, Vol.1 No.3, Price 3d.'

How's this for information you wouldn't expect to find in a magazine called 'The Derbyshire Countryside': lessons in how to be a conductor!

#SearchroomSurprise #conducting #music #1930s

Cream coloured archive folder tied with archival tape showing a small cartoon sheep face poking out.

A very different type of #SearchroomSurprise: a happy face peaking out of this file of church minutes 😄
Just a shame it was a sticky post-it note, which are not archival friendly and can cause a lot of problems during cataloguing!

Hand drawn plan of lands around Sharrow Lane and Mount Pleasant in Sheffield, with the heading "Plan of an estate belonging to the late George Lee Esq., M.D., John Fenton Esq., and J. S. and E. Rotherham, deceased", featuring three colourful heraldic coats of arms and hatchment combining all three and two others.

Another #SearchroomSurprise - a small sketch of land in Sheffield owned by late George Lee Esq. M.D., John Fenton Esq. and JS and E Rotherham, including several coats of arms. The three individual coats of arms feature on the hatchment underneath the plan.

#archives

A plain volume, bound with a parchment cover. There is some black lettering on the cover, but it is no longer legible.

A small watercolour landscape, featuring a river, cows in a field and a mountain in the background.

When you open up a rather ordinary looking rental from 1737 and the first thing you see is a lovely watercolour lying loose between the cover and the first page 😍

#SearchroomSurprise #art

Photograph of a brown file labelled "Bag C 587-(1) Reports on the Alport mines (printed) 1841-49, 1858; resolution 1843" and with a handmade pocket on the front labelled "Bag C 587 (1) - 1 in this pocket".

Photograph of the same file, with a small parchment bound book poking out of the pocket labelled "Alport Reckonings 1806".

When documents play hide and seek 😄
We thought this was quite sweet when we were looking for something else in the same box.

#SearchroomSurprise

Close-up of the pattern of a 1930s folder, showing an abundance of painted flowers in pinks, blues, yellows and greens.

Image of the whole folder, including ties.

For all you stationery lovers out there, just look at the gorgeous pattern on this 1930s folder!

#SearchroomSurprise #ExploreYourArchive

Collage of photographs of the volume, including the brown leather cover, and colourful illuminated letters.

A lovely #SearchroomSurprise - this beautiful hand made history of Ashover won the Women's Institute first prize at the county federation's handicrafts exhibition in 1931.

#history #archives #1930s