I have been discovering new channels – new to me, at least – on YouTube. I have been much taken, for example, by a couple of large and well-known museums that have embraced video to allow somewhat deeper explanation of their collections.

Part of what I enjoy about such channels is the care and attention that objects receive when undergoing conservation. I watched one video from the Victoria & Albert museum where a conservator worked on gently repairing an 18th century fan. I wanted to share it with you, but I can’t, oddly, find the video on the channel now. You will have to make do with this video instead, where a portrait is being carefully removed from a modern frame.

You can see a whole load more videos like this on the V&A YouTube channel. In fact, the missing fan video has now resurfaced. Here it is:

The British Museum also has a channel.

Watching these videos is something I find relaxing and educational. Often, the thought strikes me conservation and restoration is just the kind of work I would love to be involved with.

Yet, when I was at school, back in the 1970s, careers guidance never mentioned “museum conservation”. It was office work, typist, accountant, hair dresser, car mechanic, the armed forces… The thought of steering my educational qualifications towards becoming a conservator would never have entered my head. I had no inkling that such a career even existed. A whole different life might have been mapped out for me if I had known.

I now find, at my advancing age, that I am disappointed I won’t get to be a museum conservator. I will have to make do with the careful repair and restoration of models I manage to break instead!