Two days at Olympia

As I have been telling you all, the Who do you think you are show? was at Olympia this weekend, I trotted along as an Exhibitor. Sounds very grand, benefits being the Exhibitors' entrance is nearer to the station than the main entrance and there is a roped off area for eating lunch. On Friday I found I had gone to the wrong hall - the entrances are side by side - would a wedding exhibition have provided more laughs? We are talking bridezilla and meringue dresses here, one day of froth for one hopes a life time of married bliss.

Looking at the above I have used a capital E for Exhibitors as looks right and makes it sound important. Given the number of people with Exhibitor badges many must have been handed out. Anyway, yesterday  remembered the camera, with its new battery so here's a peep at the stand. There were two of us volunteers,  with the Heritage Manager and yesterday we were joined by the Archivist. Quite pleased to have been asked to help, there are a large number of volunteers working in Local Studies, although I'm not sure who else besides us two were librarians in a previous life.

Quite a few visitors to our stand were local people, many of whom didn't know about this treasure trove on their doorstep, nor did they know about the Building our Borough exhibition that closed recently. It is my understanding that some of the plans will be exhibited in the local libraries but of course it will be just those relating to the vicinity rather than the whole borough.

The free booklet that accompanied the exhibition, we gave them away on the stand as the website address is there so researchers can find out more online.

After lunch took some pictures of the scene from the balcony, after downloading I was struck by the beauty of the building which I assume may have been built in the 1930s judging by the interior of the adjacent car park. Not sure about the shocking Schiaparelli pink carpet, perhaps it was meant for the wedding show.

As our stand, number 36, was under the balcony it was not possible to picture it from above, however this gives an idea of the venue and the crowds. There were plenty of workshops but I hadn't planned to use the occasion for my own family research but to be available on the stand. However, has made me realise that I need to record information and organise paperwork even if I didn't buy any fancy folders and inserts.

An enjoyable if very tiring couple of days, missed seeing England win but a great result.