New At The Museum

He put together an extensive collection of photographs tracing the history of the former Rosemead School, up to its closure in 1995, which was on view at the family fun day on Saturday on the old playing fields, soon to become a new public open space.

And he has been hard at work preparing silver denarii Roman coins, part of a hoard found a couple of years ago at Climping, for permanent display in the museum.

Identifying the coins, helped by enthusiast and volunteer Tyndall Jones, has been a particular labour of love, as Rolf has a special interest in Roman artefacts.

The silver coins were exhibited for a short time in the summer when they were first acquired by the museum, but were then safely stored away so they could be studied in more detail and catalogued.

"It's a fantastic collection. They are from the period AD 81 to 161 and are in very good condition.

"One, from the time of the emperor Trajan, shows the monument Trajan's Column. Another, from when Hadrian was emperor, has a scene of him visiting Egypt."

Rolf is also eagerly looking forward to the arrival of more coins from the Climping hoard later this month. The rare, gold staters, issued by a local tribe in this area at the time of the Romans, will be on permanent loan from the British Museum.

Then there is the long process of learning about the thousands of other items in the museum's collection. "That is the only way of finding out what the museum is about, and what direction we are taking with it."

Rolf arrived in Littlehampton after progressing through a number of posts at Warrington Museum, where he started off in 1998 as a volunteer, leaving last month as museum assistant.

Along the way, he took a three-year museum studies, distance learning course from Leicester University he already had a degree in archaeology from Bournemouth University. When he graduated at curator level four months ago, it was the spur to begin looking around for a more senior job.

That also meant leaving home in Warrington, to where he had moved with his family at the age of 14, in 1988. Rolf was born in Scotland, but the family spent 11 years in Holland before returning to the UK.

His first impressions of Littlehampton are very favourable. "It's great. It's got everything you could want, from modern facilities to the historical side of the town.

"I just love being down by the sea and the town itself has a lot of potential and is definitely going somewhere."

Archaeological digs towards the end of his schooldays and while at university fired his enthusiasm for the ancient world.

"It's an amazing feeling, finding things and realising you are the first person to touch an axe head or a fragment of pottery for 2,000, 3,000 or 4,000 years."

Away from the museum, his interests include sport and socialising, and he is looking forward to getting to know Littlehampton and the surrounding area.