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Mosaic British Dragonflies

Between September and December 2023, a team of Museum Council students from Years Seven to Ten chose and created their own mosaics of different British Dragonflies, under the expert guidance of local mosaicist Clare Goodall. The mosaics have now landed on the Ford Corridor outside wall for everyone to admire, with an information board about the dragonfly species.

From left to right, the dragonflies are:

Common Darter, Yellow-spotted Emerald, Golden-Ringed, Southern Migrant Hawker, Emperor, White-faced Darter, Norfolk Hawker, Southern Hawker.

From left to right, our student artists are: Beatrix Maskill, Martha Jackson, Anya Blackwell-Baker, Maya Rowbottom, Friday Scott Buck & Annie Jones, Anita Green, Eleanor Chung, Duru Atilgan.

Thank you to everyone who took part in this project celebrating the beautiful species of dragonflies around us.

Historical Fiction Talk by Linda Proud Smith

We were privileged that Linda Proud Smith, author of historical fiction, delivered a talk as part of our History of Medicine in 30 Objects Project to our Year Nines. Below you can listen to her talk:

World Building: Imagining the Middle Ages

Listen to Mr David Gimson speak about the experiences of someone who lived in medieval times below:

"Stories through Objects" Radio Series: Episode 11 The Trojan War

Over the next few weeks, the Rumble Museum is making a series of shows called "Stories through Objects" for Radio Cherwell, the Oxford Hospital Radio Service. Each show explores a different story, and use objects from our collection and songs to journey through the themes, characters and places in the stories. The shows are aired each week at 1.30pm on Fridays and then repeated at the same time on Mondays.

Our ninth show is themed on The Trojan War. You can find the voice audio, playlist and featured objects below.

Show 11: The Trojan War

A godlike hero skilled at killing, struggles to control his anger over a stolen prize and a lost friend. Explore this show below!

Audio (without songs):

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Songs featured:

Brothers in Arms - Dire Straits

Temporary Like Achilles - Bob Dylan

Bright Eyes - Art Garfunkel

Trojan Horses - Agnes Obel

Objects from our Collection featured:

Corinthian Helmet

Athena Bust

Birds of Cheney: Red Kite

Red Kite Facts

Red kites are medium-large birds of prey. They have been saved from extinction by a national protection programme, and successfully re-introduced in England and Scotland. They can often be seen hovering above motorways, as their main diet is carrion (flesh of dead animals). They also eat earthworms, and small mammals. They are surprisingly light, weighing less than a duck.

Red Kite Stories

One of Aesop's Fables is called "The Sick Kite". In the story, the ill kite asks its mother to pray for it at the temples. However, its mother replied that since the kite had stolen sacrificial animals from temples, the kite would not be able to receive any help. In ancient Egyptian mythology, the god Isis sometimes takes the form of a kite to bring the dead back to life.

Listen to a red kite here:

Birds of Cheney: Pied Wagtail

Pied Wagtail Facts

Pied wagtails get their name from their constantly moving tails. Experts are not completely sure of the reason for this continual movement. They are often seen darting across lawns and grass looking for insects. They often roost in reed beds, but also places like hospitals, sewage works and factory rooftops. Their black and white ("pied") feathers make them easy to spot in urban areas, but more difficult to see in natural settings like flowing rivers.

Pied Wagtail Stories

A Japanese creation story tells how the creator god sent down a water wagtail to make habitable land in the otherwise watery world below. The bird packed bits of earth together by stamping its feet, and by bashing the earth with its tail. So it was believed by the Ainu that their islands were raised up from the ocean by the wagtail.

Listen to a wagtail here:

Birds of Cheney: Sparrowhawk

Sparrowhawk Facts

Sparrowhawks are small birds of prey. They have short, broad wings and a long tail, which helps them fly through trees. They are pale underneath, and darker on their upper parts. This is an example of camouflage called "countershading". They have horizontal striping, which is often seen in woodland predators. The common cuckoo looks like a sparrowhawk which helps protect it from small birds when trying to enter their nests. The oldest known sparrowhawk lived for over twenty years.

Sparrowhawk Stories

The sparrowhawk features in a number of traditional tales. In Australian aboriginal mythology, the moon possessed fire, and refused to give it to mankind. Eventually a sparrowhawk and a pigeon take it from him and give it to humans. In Mayan mythology, human bodies were made from the dough with the animal Coyote was making when it was killed by a sparrowhawk.

Listen to the sparrowhawk here:

Birds of Cheney: Ring-necked Parakeet

Parakeet Facts

Ring-necked parakeets, also called Rose-ringed parakeets, are medium sized parrots. They are native to Africa and Asia, but have established themselves in many parts of the world. They usually eat fruit, berries, nuts, buds and seeds. They can mimic human speech and have been popular as pets since Greek and Roman times.

Parakeet Stories

An Indonesian folk tale called "King of the Parakeets" tells of a flock of parakeets who were being trapped by hunters. The king parakeet ordered his flock to play dead, and they all escaped the cage except him. He sang beautiful songs, and his owner decided to keep him. One day, he played dead inside the cage, and his owner was very sad, and held a big funeral, and the parakeet was able to fly back to his forest.

Listen to a parakeet here

Birds of Cheney: Long-tailed Tit

Long-tailed Tit Facts

Long-tailed tits are tiny birds, weighing less than a one pound coin. Their very small size makes them vulnerable to the cold, and in harsh winters, up to 80% of their population can die out. They make their nests from lichen, moss and spider egg cocoons. The spider silk makes the nest strong and flexible, able to stretch as the young bird inside grows. The nests often fail, and birds without nests will often become helpers at another nest.

Long-tailed Tit Stories

There isn't a particular story about a long-tailed tit, but one of the Grimm Fairy Tales tells of a battle between the "Tom tits" and a bear. A bear one day heard the song of the tom tit, and was told by a wolf that that was the sound of the king of the birds. He went and found the nest, and insulted the little birds inside. After that, the tom tits gathered a great army of birds against the bear, who lost the battle, and had to apologise.

Listen to a long-tailed tit here:

Birds of Cheney: European Robin

Robin Facts

Robins are small songbirds. It was once thought that they were part of the thrush family, but they are now regarded as Old World Flycatchers. They are drawn to people digging, as this turns up earthworms to eat. They also eat berries, fruit and seeds. Their nests are made of moss, grass, leaves and feathers.The male robin is very territorial, and they have been known to attack their own reflections.

Robin Stories

Robins are strongly associated with Christmas, probably because Victorian postmen used to wear red jackets, and were nicknamed "robins". A British folktale explains the robin's red breast with the story that robins used to be completely brown, but a robin flew to Jesus when he was on the cross, and sang in his ear. The blood from his wounds was said to have turned all robins red-breasted from that day on.

Listen to a robin here:

Birds of Cheney: Magpie

Magpie Facts

Magpies are part of the crow family, and are one of the cleverest animals, able to recognise themselves in mirrors. They were originally known as "pies" (meaning "pointed"). "Mag", short for "Margaret", was added as it was a general term for a woman, and the sound of the bird was said to sound like women chattering. Adult birds moult completely once a year beginning in June or July.

Magpie Stories

Magpies are common in folktales.A traditional rhyme, "one for sorrow, two for joy", imagines that the number of magpies seen can bring good or bad luck. The magpie features in a Rossini opera "The Thieving Magpie", where a servant is sent to the gallows, blamed for the theft of items which in fact the magpie has taken. This echoes a common belief that magpies are attracted to shiny objects.

Listen to a magpie here: