.jpg)
A MOBILE phone and a stress reliever are among the artefacts placed in a time capsule buried on Buxton & Leek College’s redeveloped Leek Campus this term.
Inspired by a Victorian time capsule unearthed by the builders as they demolished the old Carr gymnasium on the site, students have sent their own message to their successors in a new capsule designed to be opened in 2065.
Assistant College Principal Alison Loxton performed the honours in burying the purpose-built capsule in the courtyard at the centre of the £8.5 million redevelopment on Tuesday. And students and staff have contributed items such as the mobile phone, a white sheep designed as a stress reliever bearing the College logo and website address and a USB stick containing student pictures and interviews to give in an insight into present day college life.
The items were chosen through a student competition and winners were Andy Tideswell who chose a mobile phone to symbolise how technology would have changed from now until then, Destiny Tatton opted for coins with Queen Elizabeth’s face to show her era, Jack Bullock suggested an assignment on government politics in 2015 to show how the country used to run, Daniel Lawrence a College prospectus to enable future students to see the courses on offer back in 2015 , Liam Bonsall chose a picture of the college before the new buildings were erected, and Jonathan Clowes a photo of Leek’s Olympic Gold Medallist with the gold postbox to show Leek’s achievements being celebrated in 2012.
Organiser David Shemilt, Buxton & Leek College’s enrichment officer, explained: “There was a lot of interest in the old Victorian time capsule which the builders unearthed. It was a glass bottle sunk into the old building’s foundations and contained newspapers with details of the official opening of the Carr gymnasium by royal visitor Prince Albert, the Duke of York, in July 1900. There were some old coins including a crown and a farthing and newspapers the Leek Times and Leek Post.
“We thought it would be nice to get students and staff involved in the redevelopment project by creating our own time capsule to reflect life in 2015/2016 and so organised a competition for them to come up with ideas on its contents.”
Staff winner was Recruitment and Marketing officer Laura Swanwick who chose the sheep shaped stress reliever. The winners were chosen by a student vote and the original 1900 time capsule has been re-buried on the redeveloped site along with the 2016 version.
