Setting the Cogs in Motion for Mechanical Advantage

Inspiration Day

The first stop on our creative journey was an exciting Inspiration Day at Derby’s Museum of Making. The building was formerly the first fully-mechanised factory in the world, making it the perfect starting point for this year’s adventures through music and mechanical engineering.

Each group enjoyed a tour around the museum, where they were able to speak with volunteers from the Museum and ambassadors from Rolls-Royce while exploring examples of gears, pulleys and levers across the different floors. They were able to watch the grasshopper beam engine in operation, marvel at the jet engine suspended above the atrium, and discover a huge array of weird and wonderful artefacts. A gold clock made for Prince William’s wedding proved a huge hit, as did a slightly macabre display of doll arms (although we’re not sure if they’ll make it into our songs!)

They also got hands-on in the Studio, where they were able to create a pulley system to lift a heavy load and test different levers using frames built by the Museum’s talented makers! They learned that the jet engine they saw on the tour, which weighs a whopping seven tonnes, was actually winched into its current position using a pulley: how amazing is that?

The third session of the day was a music workshop, where the young people were able to meet the musicians they’ll be working with throughout the project. They enjoyed finding out more about Isobel’s and Gareth’s instruments, learning some of the songs they’ll perform at Derby Theatre in April, and creating some exciting body percussion rhythms that just might feature in the concert too…

Our thanks to the wonderful facilitators, volunteers and makers at Derby Museums, particularly Rachael and John from the Schools team, for hosting us at the Museum of Making for such an inspiring day!

Workshops

After all the excitement of the Inspiration Day, the team visited each school for a half-day of games, discussions and reflections on what they’d seen so far, to take their first steps towards their unique songs. We had so many ideas that it was difficult to narrow them down and choose which stories to tell: self-fixing cars, bicycle rides, and plane engines on their maiden flight all made the shortlist!

So how are these shaping up? Well, with two more workshops to go I don’t want to spoil the surprise too much, but it looks like we’ll travel through time, learn from the past, and take a ride by rail. And the Museum of Making had better watch out, as there may be a spy trying to steal something from the Silk Mill…

Written by Natalie Edwards, Creative Projects Producer

“I’m not normally energised, but I am today!”
– A pupil from Firs School