Live in the middle of nowhere? Find it hard to get out? Don’t worry – Caroline Lindsay speaks to the teams delivering a valuable range of mobile services across Courier Country who are more than happy to come to you.
For the last 17 years, Dave Shields has been known as the MAC man. MAC – Fife Cultural Trust’s award-winning mobile museum and gallery – offers a unique service in Scotland, reaching the parts other museums cannot reach and inspiring people young and old with unique interactive exhibitions and collections.
“Basing an exhibition around a theme to tie in with Fife’s rich history and culture, and using artefacts from museum stores, we go all over Fife, to nurseries and schools, sheltered housing and care homes,” explains driver and facilitator Dave.
When MAC (Museum and Arts Coach) first started 21 years ago, it was housed in an old adapted double decker bus. Today, however, it’s a specially commissioned 14-tonne lorry, adorned with colourful artwork, and fully accessible, with lift and induction loop.
While Dave has enjoyed all the exhibitions he’s facilitated over the years, certain favourites stick in his mind.
“Waste Watchers – looking at recycling and saving the rainforests – was brilliant and got the older generation as well as younger kids all contributing their ideas,” Dave remembers.
“And I enjoyed putting my imagination to work with Art Detectives. Here, we put art on the road, looking at paintings more closely and encouraging folk to interpret them.
“We had copies of a lovely picture called Spring Moonlight by John Lorimer, depicting a mother dancing with a child while the nanny stands in the doorway. I made up little stories and made visitors to MAC think more deeply more about the painting.”
Earlier this year, Wow! Incredible Inventions & Marvellous Machines took a light-hearted look at light, sound and movement and the way science has transformed our homes. Dave enjoyed reactions from young and old alike – the grimaces from youngsters as they took a sniff of carbolic soap and memories of Monday wash day as older folk fondly recalled putting laundry through a mangle.
But one exhibition in particular stands out in his memory – 7 Pit Wynd. Commemorating Fife’s coal mining heritage, the interior of MAC was turned into a set for a 1930s’ miner’s cottage.
“We got the children to dress up in bunnets, aprons and waistcoats and had a singer, carpet weaver, basket weaver and a patchwork quilter, as well as Archie the miner and Charlie the pit pony. The kids were amazed to learn that children as young as five would be sent down the mine, and hearing that the pit ponies couldn’t see properly for the first few days when they left the dark mine for their summer pastures fascinated them.
After 17 wonderful years on the road Dave, 65, is now retiring and handing MAC’s keys over to new driver Tom Adams. But he takes a myriad of happy memories with him.
“It’s been a fantastic privilege bringing history and culture alive and sharing it with folk who might not otherwise get the chance to experience it,” he smiles.
Keeping the flame alive for another important facet of our heritage is the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service Mobile Museum. The world’s first municipal fire service was created in Edinburgh in 1824 and its influences can still be seen today.
Kelly McMeekin, heritage development officer, explains: “How the fire service (SFRS) has evolved, and our relationship to it, are of national importance and form part of our cultural and social identity today. Through the mobile museum we are preserving the stories of everyday people with exceptional jobs, sharing them for future generations.
“We wanted to ensure that the heritage of firefighting in Scotland was accessible to everyone,” she continues.
Short films, oral histories, vintage uniforms and pieces of operational equipment all explore the important contribution SFRS has made to Scotland’s communities.
“Some of the staff onboard will have been operational in their careers and so they are very adept at making the whole experience come to life, sharing real life experiences and insight,” says Kelly.
Visitors to the museum love dressing up in the replica First World War uniforms while other popular elements include a short film on communications – the fire service were using the first mobile phone of sorts to communicate with – and the dementia-friendly ‘museum in a box’ containing specially-chosen nostalgia items that evoke memories.
“People from all walks of life have connections to the fire service but a visit to the mobile museum is also a chance to interact, have a wee chat and stay connected to the world,” Kelly smiles.
Just as heritage, art and science should be a part of everyone’s lives, so should reading. Mobile librarian Scott Brown is so passionate about bringing books to the far corners of Highland Perthshire that he drives 22,000 miles a year to Loch Tay, Glen Lyon, Rannoch and Glenshee. His dedication was rewarded when he was recently named Mobile Library Champion of the Year 2017.
Proud to work for Scotland’s oldest mobile library service – the first van carrying hundreds of books began making its way around Perth and Kinross in 1921 – Scott believes that the service’s popularity is down to moving with the times.
“We need to think of new ways of attracting people by adding schools to our timetables, and new services like providing hearing aid batteries.
“Occasionally I might even deliver groceries to some of my elderly customers if the weather is bad,” he smiles.
The van, which is wheelchair accessible, contains more than 1000 books from fiction and non-fiction, large print and children’s books to audiobooks and local interest books. Scott reveals that favourite authors include James Patterson, Quintin Jardine and Peter May.
While he admits the weather can be a challenge in winter, stopping to have a bit of banter with his customers is a highlight of the job.
“It’s more than just books, it’s a meeting place, a place to catch up, a place to air views and a friendly face – all aspects that can’t be measured on statistic sheets,” he reflects.
From books to barks, and mobile dog groomer John Russell promises to transform customers’ pongy pooches almost in the comfort of their own homes.
Dog lover John explains how he found himself in the dog grooming business following an accident working offshore.
“I gave up my job and started looking round for something else,” the Dundee man explains. “I spotted this mobile dog grooming van, fully kitted out, for sale on eBay in Brighton, so I headed down there and bought it.”
That was 17 years ago and John, 64, now has more than 1500 contacts on his books in the Tayside area.
Ably assisted by son Ryan and grandson Dale, and with “At your bark and call” as their motto, Courier Country’s canines are in safe hands as they’re carefully shampooed, blow dried and groomed inside John’s mobile parlour.
Although it depends on the size of the dog, the whole process takes around 45 minutes.
Two-year-old Japanese Akita Crystal, who belongs to Nicky Drapajlo, has been one of John’s clients since she was two months old. “She’s a real poser,” laughs John.
Getting the full beauty treatment once a month, she knows the drill off by heart. First, the dead hair is blasted and combed out, and ears and face cleaned with special wipes, before she’s washed with banana and mango shampoo. Water is constantly pumped from underneath so the dog is never standing in dirty suds – the tank in John’s van holds up to 90 litres of water.
“I love meeting people from all walks of life and having a blether,” John reflects. “When I first started, customers’ kids used to come and watch and their parents would tell them to stop bothering me. But I always said: ‘No, leave them be,’ as they were my customers of the future – and now I’m doing their dogs,” he smiles.
“I love the fact that I can transform what I call ‘bags of jute’. People are so grateful and tell me they were ashamed to take their dogs out before – they often can’t believe it’s the same pooch.”
But there’s one customer who’s not too keen. John’s own dog, bichon frise Coco, is not a fan of the van. “It’s just a bit too handy for her!” laughs John.
Info
MAC is currently touring Fife with Moving Stories, Fife’s Great War, exploring the experience of the First World War from a Fife perspective: www.fifedirect.org.uk
The P&K Mobile Library Service is part of Culture Perth and Kinross Libraries: www.culturepk.org.uk
Scottish Fire and Rescue Service Mobile Museum: www.sfrheritagetrust.org
John Russell Mobile Dog Wash: Call 07980469967.
