The Ken Wilson Award 2008This year’s winner of the Ken Willson Award, given annually to a young person who lives or works in the Dales and has contributed in an outstanding way to some aspect of the Dales environmental heritage or to an aspect of Dales life, is Amy Ball, Assistant Curator of Archaeology at the Craven Museum and Gallery in Skipton. 
During her tenure Amy has already created inventories for the Craven Museum archaeology collections and engaged the help of three volunteers to help her catalogue the collections. In addition she has designed and delivered a National Archaeology Day event with a record number of attendees and is launching her second such event this month in July. In the course of her work Amy has worked with the museum’s education officer and delivered a number of talks to community and school groups. She also has been successful in winning funding for a project: Archaeology in the Landscape that is aimed at taking the archaeology collections into the community to form part of community events in Settle and Gargrave during 2008/9, as well as for school activities. Amy has also set up an official Young Archaeologists Club (CAB registered) which is hugely successful and now has a waiting list. Finally Amy has designed a display of cave material from the Giggleswick Scar Project, which illustrates nationally important finds from early cave excavations and the results of new research by members of the North Craven Historical Research Group. Her major exhibition in May focused on ancient technologies which she produced with the children of the Young Archaeologists Club. She also enjoys running a family fun day every year to celebrate National Archaeology Week. In her curatorship at Craven her second post), Amy is “incredibly professional, very creative and pays real attention to detail,” her excellent IT skills enabling her to deliver top quality work that is both accessible and educational. She is also a great team member and is able to communicate her own passionate interest in archaeology and the stories it can tell at any level. 
Born in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, Amy’s interest in history and archaeology was awakened when studying for Latin GSCE and later Classical Studies at A level, plus school trips to Pompeii and Greece. After a BA in Ancient History and Archaeology at the University of Birmingham (2000-20003), she developed a particular interest in the museum field. Graduating with merit from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne with an MA, she then volunteered for the Finds Liaison Officer at the Museum of Lancashire and at the local heritage centre in her home town of Lytham. Her first post at Fleetwood Museum, as part of a Heritage Lottery funded project, was to document information, and photograph the collection relating to trawlers. Part of the project involved creating a website to display the information and digital photographs gained during the project. Already friends at school, Amy and her husband Chris became closer during A levels with a shared interest in ancient history, marrying in 2006. Chris now works as a legal recruitment consultant, after studying ancient history at university, and continues to have a great interest in archaeology and history. On receiving the Award Amy stated, “I am thrilled to have won the Ken Willson Award. Working with archaeology and the heritage of the Yorkshire Dales is fascinating and it is wonderful to be recognised for the work I have done.” The Craven Museum has indeed been fortunate to have a young officer with such initiative who has such empathy with young people and the ability to harness and channel their enthusiasm in such satisfying directions. |
