Ruth Carroll and Armourgeddon are long-term friends. Ruth was a regular visitor with her late husband as they battled for supremacy with a bow and arrow. We cannot possibly tell you who was the better archer but the term ‘Girl Power’ may give you a clue!

Ruth has recently retired from a job that gave her a fascinating insight into history and access to one of the most famous homes in the UK. Ruth was employed as an Activities Assistant for disabled adults by Leonard Cheshire Disability based at a hotel for disabled people and their families next to the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk- The Park House Hotel.

The charity was originally known as The Cheshire Foundation Homes for the Sick. In 1976 it became the Leonard Cheshire Foundation. In July 2007 it changed to its current style, Leonard Cheshire Disability.

Group Captain Geoffrey Leonard Cheshire, Baron Cheshire, (7 September 1917 – 31 July 1992) highly decorated with the Victoria Cross, Order of Merit, Distinguished Service Order and Two Medal Bars as well as the Distinguished Flying Cross was a British RAF Pilot during the Second World War. Cheshire started the charity in 1948 with a residential home for disabled ex-servicemen at Le Court, a large country house near Liss in Hampshire. By 1955 there were six Cheshire homes in Britain and the first overseas project was also started in Bombay, India. By 1992 there were 270 homes in 49 countries.

Each of these "Cheshire Homes", as they came to be called were similarly set up; local communities came forward, assembled a group of volunteers, found whatever suitable accommodation they could, set up administrative committees and set about raising funds for development. This gave each Cheshire Home a "local" structure closely knit to the community they were serving while being affiliated with an international organisation.

Park House enables disabled guests and their carers and/or companions, to have a holiday in the Norfolk countryside together. By providing as little or as much help as is required, Park House aims to give everyone a choice. 

Ruth spent her time in Sandringham learning all about the history of the area, her interest initially peaked by hearing stories of The Men of Sandringham who headed to WWI. Through this interest in history, she discovered a fascination with tanks and museums- never more suited to Armourgeddon! Park House was the home that the late Lady Diana was born in and her Nanny is still an employee there to this day. Although Ruth is tight-lipped about what she knows, the twinkle in her eye as she talks of her time at Park House shows just how interesting she found the history of the former home of the UKs most loved Princess.

After presenting Armourgeddon with a Gas Mask a couple of years ago and coming to visit the museum to see it in situ this year, Ruth was confused to not be able to find her piece of history on display. When asking Tracy andStuart where it was, they began to converse about their thoughts and ideas for the space and what they hoped to achieve in the museum- if only there was an 8th day in the week. Ruth offered to become curator and that brings us up to today- with Ruth focusing on the area we call the ‘Inner Sanctum’ first, re-framing pictures, working through the artifacts and ensuring that everything is labeled and explained and any research conducted on what an item is or was used for. 

Already Ruth has unearthed information on the picture of the Unknown Soldier, finding him to be an Australian serviceman through the detection of the Rising Sun badge on his hat and lapel. Proudly worn by soldiers of the 1st and 2nd Australian Imperial Force in both World Wars, the 'Rising Sun' badge has become an integral part of the digger tradition. The distinctive shape of the badge, worn on the upturned side of a slouch hat, is commonly identified with the spirit of ANZAC. Our unknown soldier looks to be wearing the third pattern of the Rising Sun commissioned in 1904 and worn through until 1949.

Ruth’s next project once the inner sanctum is as she wants it to be is to unearth more information on the WWII bombing range that we use as the tracks for our Tank Paintball Battles, to use some of the advertising posters from various military recruitment campaigns on the walls throughout the museum and to work with the local newspaper archives that we have stored in boxes and frames throughout.
We will check back in with Ruth in a couple of months time to see how she is getting on.