Apologies for absence were received from Kate Argyle and Brian Howard.

It was noted that there were no Declarations of Interest declared at the meeting.

The minutes of the meeting held on 19 April 2016 were confirmed.

The Chairman reported that the publication of the Boroughwide Cultural Strategy from John Knell was deferred until the Great Yarmouth Town Centre Initiative Masterplan was unveiled in August/September this year.

• Production of map showing Heritage & Cultural sites for website and in printed format

Paul Patterson and Alan Carr would be meeting to produce a joint interactive map for Tourism, Culture & Heritage.

• Great Yarmouth Bike Project

Simon Elliot reported that he would be producing six heritage route cards which detailed cycle routes which took in places of interest along the way. He hoped that these could be uploaded as a GPX file to GPS devices and made into an Android App for use on mobile devices.

Mr Elliot reported that the CIC would launch this initiative at the Wheels Festival on 4 September 2016. He would also be undertaking an initiative with 4 local schools to encourage schoolchildren to get on their bicycles with their families and visit cultural/heritage sites in the Borough and record their visits in a journal which they would share with him during a school assembly.

Mr Elliot reported that he hoped to launch a Disability Cycle Trail next year and that future bicycle heritage tours could be themed, for example, The Rows, War-time and Maritime. 

The Chairman wished Simon well in his endeavours.

• Local Press

The Chairman reported that he had recently submitted an article regarding heritage in the Borough.

• Tourist Kiosk and Booking Office in Town Centre.

Mr Elliot suggested that until a permanent Tourist Kiosk had been secured that a "Pop-Up" kiosk could be funded in Market Gates this summer. The Chairman reported that, unfortunately, there was no funding available for this.

The Chairman reported that he would be meeting with Jonathan Newman and Dr Davies to put together a business case to secure a Tourist Kiosk in the Market Place next year.

• Encouraging Schools to include Heritage in their curricula

The Chairman reported that Kate Argyle was undertaking some sterling work with local schools. Dr Davies reported that 23 local schools had been involved in the Herring barrel Trail initiative which would be launched shortly. 

Mr Hanley reported that Ofsted required schools to include, support and promote heritage/culture in their curriculum if they wished to raise their grading from Good to Outstanding. Mr Hanley reported that visitor numbers had increased last year at the Time & Tide Museum, from Aprril 2015 to March 2016, visitor numbers rose from 6,658 to 7,511.

• Heritage Open Days

The Chairman reported that the next Heritage Open Days would coincide with the Maritime Festival in September. 

Mrs Mileham reported that GOSH would be holding a Heritage Day in Priory Gardens on Sunday, 11 September 2016.

• Branding

The Chairman reported that he would be meeting with Councillor Williamson on 7 July 2016  to discuss this issue.

• Measuring Attendance

The Chairman stressed the importance of recording attendance figures and the Museum Service had just received a request for these figures from Charlotte Paddock.

• Vintage Tea Event

The Chairman reported that one school had hosted a Tea Dance which had been well received and more events were planned in the coming months.

• St. Georges Day

The Chairman reported that no events would be staged to mark St.George's Day.

• Ghost Walks

Mr Hanley reported that the Museums Service had received several requests from Paranormal Groups to stay overnight in various museums, for example, Norwich Castle and Gressenhall Museum and that this was a new revenue stream. Mr Elliot reported that paranormal studies was a growth area and the Museums Service should tap into it.

• Michael & Mary Leys

Mrs Mileham reported that Mr Howard had forwarded some information to the Chairman regarding a possible walking trail along the ley lines from Ormesby St. Margaret to Hopton. Mrs Mileham reported that at a recent visit to Great Yarmouth Library, she had viewed a book relating to the Gorleston Psalter (London, British Library, Add. MS49622), which was a fine East Anglian manuscript of the period 1300-1330, and offered textural and visual models with reference to St.Andrews Parish Church in Gorleston. Mrs Mileham suggested that the book should be copied and displayed. Dr Davies asked whether the book could be digitalised by the British Library. Mrs Mileham agreed to investigate the matter further and report back.

• Gorleston's Standing Stones

Mr Elliot asked where the Standing Stones were purported to have been sited. Mrs Mileham reported that they were purported to have stood on the former train station in Gorleston.

• Food Festival

The Chairman reported that a Food Festival would not take place this year due to the Town centre Initiative work taking precedence at the Council.

• Maritime Festival

This would take place on 10 & 11 September 2016.

• Walk of Fame

The Chairman reported that he hoped to progress the Walk of Fame which had been suggested by Peter Jay as part of the Seafront master Plan.

The Chairman reported that it would not be possible to hold a Heritage Week this year due to the lack of volunteers and available funding.

The Chairman reported that he would be producing a newsletter outlining the aims of the Cultural Heritage Partnership for distribution to raise awareness of the group.

A range of highly acclaimed National Speakers had been lined up and the conference theme was "Wish You Were Here". The one day conference would be held on 20 October in St.Georges Theatre.

In the evening, an historic film of the seaside will be shown with a fish and chip supper. on Thursday, 19 October it was hoped to hold a talk on some of the paintings in the Time and Tide Museum along with refreshments. The conference fee was £25 per delegate which included refreshments. The event was self-financing and supported by the Council.

The Chairman reported that the recent Arts Festival had been a success. The Carnival had involved 400 participants and the parade route had been extended with thousands of spectators watching en route. The parade had finished at the library gardens/Salvation Army citadel where over 700 local residents attended a Community Fayre. The Minster and St.Georges Theatre had also hosted successful events. The Marketplace hosted a celebration of the Queen's 90th birthday on Saturday, 11 June with live music and acts throughout the day along with stalls and selling of cakes and buns. Seating was provided for the public who stayed and enjoyed the entertainment as opposed to just walking through. 

The Chairman reported that planning for next years event was already underway and would involve participation from the French. The Chairman reiterated how difficult it was to get information out to the public.

• Time and Tide Museum

Mr Hanley reported that the current exhibition "Halfway to Paradise" at the Time and Tide Museum had been extremely well received. The temporary exhibition Seaside Rocks which had the quality of a national exhibition but with local links, was proving popular with local schools, which indicated that getting the temporary programme correct was imperative. The next exhibition would focus on Domestic Life in the 1950's and would run from 22 October 2016 to 5 March 2017.

• Young Historians/Archaeologists

Dr Davies reported that the Young Historians would be holding a pop-up exhibition at the Time and Tide Museum on 23 July 2016.

• GOSH

Mrs Mileham reported that GOSH would be hosting a community stand at Gorleston Cliff Top Gala on 31 July 2016 and she offered to distribute Cultural Heritage leaflets to promote the aims/work of the Partnership.

The next Awareness Group meeting will be held on Tuesday, 11 October 2016, at 11 am in the Supper Room, Town Hall, Great Yarmouth.