The Brampton Museum Blog

I have a history degree and my dream as a visually impaired historian came true. I am doing voluntary work here at the Brampton Museum, where previously I thought that any museum work would be out of my reach because of my disability.

1825–2025

"He opened the door to knowledge for all those who cannot see."¹
This is the writing on a plaque attached to the wall of Louis Braille's home in Coupvray, France:

2025 

An ordinary year like any other, but for the visually impaired community it is a very extraordinary year indeed.
This year marks the 200th anniversary of the invention of the Braille code by Louis Braille in 1824/5.
Worldwide celebrations are taking place to honour the code and its inventor, led by organisations such as the EBU (European Blind Union) and RNIB (Royal National Institute of Blind People).

An Innocent Chat

As it happens with these things, from word to word an idea is created. So, here I was researching the Newcastle silk mills and Clare (who is the Collections Officer and my volunteer supervisor) and I started chatting more... well, about me and my CV. Mainly we talked about academic and creative writing. Clare had asked me where I had used those skills, and this is where the diversion from Newcastle silk mills began.

I mentioned that my Undergraduate Dissertation was in History and that I wrote about the evolution of Braille, and that as it happens this year marks 200 years since Braille was invented by Louis Braille. Then Clare mentioned that the Museum has some items donated by a son of a blind man, but they don't quite know what they are — and asked whether I would like to see them. I said, "Yes, I would like to see them."

So, a week later here I was (the Newcastle silk mills slightly forgotten), examining the donated items and listening to Clare explain who the man was. The items belonged to a man called Fred Collingwood and were donated by his son Neil after Fred passed away.

Then Clare said that there is some Braille which, obviously, nobody can read... So I had a look at it and it turned out to be a letter from 2009 from St Dunstan's, which is today better known as Blind Veterans UK. On seeing this, I immediately said to Clare that he must have been a war veteran or at least involved with the army service in some way — as otherwise he wouldn't have been a member of the charity. This is the only prominent condition they state in plain text: you must be involved in the army in some way, which doesn’t necessarily mean going to war.

Clare said she was not sure but she'll enquire more about it from Neil. He did reply and confirmed I was right — Fred served in the army during the Second World War. He had lost his sight due to a Nazi mortar shell.

So, to kill two birds with one stone, we decided to put Fred's items on display and combine it with the Braille200 celebrations.

All in all, this hasn't been an opportunity wasted — it's really amazing what can sometimes come out of an innocent chat!

Bibliography:

¹ Lennard Bickel, Triumph over Darkness: The Life of Louis Braille. (London: Unwin Ltd, 1988)

Klaudia’s Braille 200 accessible display complete with braille label and recorded audio description is on until 9 September 2025 in our ‘Remembering Things’ Gallery.