So that's clear then

We are becoming very familiar with intermediary organisations - or 'bridge' organisations are they are now known. These are the sorts of bodies which get between you and a main funder and syphon off money which could go to the frontline in the interests of 'coordinating' and 'bringing together'. In reality, they are stepping into the gaps left by the bonfire of the quangos who have had to reduce staff and reach, and in so doing have retired into their ivory towers. See our earlier post

We were offered the following summary paragraphs about one bridge organisation today:

• In places of least engagement, it will strengthen networks and working relationships to develop innovative solutions to the variety of challenges that these areas face
• It will be looking to support and build strong connections and relationships across the region to ensure they provide the best possible offer to ... in our region

I am glad we have cleared that up. Looking to seems particularly carefully chosen in the second. Is anyone any the wiser as to what do they actually do ...?

Greater fleas have little fleas upon their backs to bite 'em ...

The Regions

We enjoyed the Independent's '50 Best Museums and galleries' which identified the following regions of the the UK:

Wales: no argument here. It is the standard by which everywhere else is measured even though no one actually knows the size of Wales, even if you live there: there is North Wales and South Wales and lots of lambs in between. Still, it is good to know that Ruritania is half the size of Wales.

South-west and London: this is the well-known region which runs from Lands End to Ilford. Out of the twelve museums and galleries selected in thie region, nine are in London and three in the south-west: one in Bath, one in Bristol and one in Exeter. Good call, that's one within three hours' drive.

South-east and Midlands: anyone going near London will have to shut their eyes for a bit.

North: no argument here either. You start to notice it in North London where the signs used to say Hatfield and the North and Aylesbury and the North West. I have never quite worked out why these two particular towns were singled out: they seem an odd choice. You know you have arrived in the North, not when you pass Watford but when you reach the M18 Doncaster bypass where a sign used to say simply The North. When you see angels you are beginning to run out of North ... and are heading for ...

Scotland and Northern Ireland: a real gem of political correctness. Had we been back 2000 years with the Picti and Scoti then this might have been credible but I wonder if they have noticed that the plantation of Northern Ireland by Lowland Scots five hundred years ago did not go down terribly well and has been a source of tension ever since?

Wars have been fought for less. Perhaps it is not only Apple who needs a geography lesson.

Why we love curators

It looks as though we have had a month off ... let's call it a holiday or a break when it has actually been because September has done its usual trick of disappearing in a flash. However, we are back and here are two reasons why we love curators: museum ones, that is.

It is difficult to know where curators come in the hierarchy of reincarnation. Are they auditors or accountants who have lived blameless lives or somewhere below risk assessors? While individually charming and knowledgeable, they can occasionally show a devotion to paperwork and process which makes the USA Immigration Service look relaxed and imaginative.

Consider the example of a local museum building which used to be a bank. Like most such buildings, it has a strongroom with a wonderful thick door, dials and handles. Does the museum store its priceless Ming vase in the vault? its original Leonardo? its unique 14th century hand-crafted book? No. After much trouble de-activating the alarms, skipping past the infra-red beams and cracking the combination, the ambitious and inventive burglar will find ... the curator's paperwork. Nuff said?

Paperwork is evidence of title and so they can perhaps be forgiven but, more worryingly for scholarship, they can be equally jealous of knowledge and interpretation.

We had identified a large collection of historic images in a large remote museum and offered to help digitise and catalogue them. There were real reasons for wanting do the work soon: the material was fairly unstable and would therefore be at risk of decay, and the pictures were of things local to us and of a period for which there were local people who might be able to help identify the scenes.

Back came the answer: they were not a priority for funding - well all the more reason to allow us to help - and there was not sufficient curator time to analyse the images.

We did not actually want a curator; we were offering to do the work ourselves, with volunteers. How a curator, sitting in a remote office, could possibly identify the images was not explained. People on the ground might have done so, from memory or from other publications but that would not be of an acceptable standard. Could we have a look at the images and come up with some suggestions for the curator? No, not acceptable. We even offered to assemble a partnership bid to a funding body to do the digitisation work.

So the images will no doubt sit there, to give the museum their due, probably stable in the expensive cared-for environment, while the people who might have been able to say what the images showed quietly leave this earth.

What will the curator of the future say when faced with the images: 'if only ...' perhaps?