Wednesday, February 7, 2018

Family fun across West Yorkshire museums and galleries


February half term is nearly here.  We are extremely lucky in West Yorkshire to have a fantastic range of museum and gallery sites run by Local Authorities.  There are castles, art galleries, museums,  a watermill, an abbey and more! Many have free entry and those that charge are extremely good value for money. You can see penguins, half a pig, a caiman under the floor, a ferocious tiger.  There are indoor and outdoor sites, spend an hour or a whole day.  You can take part in organised workshops, play in family friendly interactive areas, get crafty, learn something new and see amazing treasures.

Bradford Museums and Galleries


Cartwright Hall Art Gallery

Cliffe Castle Museum

Bradford Industrial Museum

Bolling Hall


Find out what's on at Bradford Museums and Galleries: http://www.bradfordmuseums.org/whats-on


Example event:


Mask Making Workshop With Artist Becky Truman

Cartwright Hall Art Gallery

18 February, 1pm – 3pm


Celebrate 250 years of Circus with aerial artist, costume designer and sculptor, Becky Truman.
Places are very limited. Cost £10 per person. Suitable for 5 years plus. All children to be accompanied by an adult. Please book on 01274 431212 or e:
cartwright.hall@bradford.gov.uk



Calderdale Museums


Bankfield Museum

Heptonstall Museum

Shibden Hall

Smith Art Gallery


Find out what's on at Calderdale Museums: https://museums.calderdale.gov.uk/whatson


Example event:


Sparks! Half Term Fun – Potion making

Bankfield Museum

21 February, 11am – 12pm; 1pm – 2pm; 2pm-3pm


Find out about the healthcare of the Victorians and create your own special potion. £3.50 per child book: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/calderdale


Kirklees Museums and Galleries


Tolson Museum

Oakwell Hall and Country Park

Huddersfield Art Gallery

Bagshaw Museum

Batley Art Gallery


Find out what's on at Kirklees Museums and Galleries: https://communitydirectory.kirklees.gov.uk/communityDirectory/whatsOn.aspx


Example event: 


Half term activities – bird theme

Bagshaw Museum

20 February, 11am – 1pm, 2pm – 4pm


Be inspired by the objects on display and get creative with our bird themed children’s activities and crafts. Don’t forget to stop and say hello to Snowy the Snowy Owl.
£2 per session. All ages welcome. No booking required.



Leeds Museums and Galleries


Abbey House Museum

Leeds Industrial Museum

Kirkstall Abbey

Leeds Art gallery

Leeds City Museum

Lotherton

Temple Newsam

Thwaite Mills Watermill


Find Leeds Museums and Galleries Visitor Information here:  https://www.leeds.gov.uk/museumsandgalleries/home  


Example event:


Explore Wildlife World at Lotherton

The first areas of Lotherton’s new wildlife park opened on 21 November. Meet playful Humboldt penguins as they splash about in their pool. See our flamingos in their new habitat and say hello to newly arrived tapirs and capybaras. Enjoy a great value family day out, with a country house, fashion galleries, bird garden, cafĂ©, woodland walks, adventure playground, and much more!  [There is an entry charge to Lotherton and bird themed half term events:  http://www.leedsinspired.co.uk/events/love-birds-lotherton-0]


Wakefield Museums and Castles


Castleford Museum

Pontefract Castle

Pontefract Museum

Wakefield Museum


Find out what's on at Wakefield Museums and Castles: www.experiencewakefield.co.uk/februaryhalfterm


Example event:


Iron Age warriors
22 February, 10am - 3pm
Castleford Museum


Meet an Iron Age warrior and scare your enemies with celtic style face paint.  All ages welcome, free, no need to book


With such a variety of venues and activities everyone will find something fun to do over the February half term.


To find out more about these venues and keep up to date with news follow us on Twitter


@WFMuseums
@BankfieldMuseum
@BradfordMuseums
@KirkleesMuseums
@LeedsMuseums

 

 

Tuesday, February 6, 2018

Women Who Want Votes

100 years ago today the Representation of the People Act was passed. This meant that women over 30 who owned property were given the right to vote .


This is a photograph from The Express, Saturday July 1913, showing a large crowd in Outwood.  The newspaper article sates:


"The non-militant suffragette pilgrims belonging to  the National Union of Woman's Suffrage societies are progressing on their long tramp..... After a brief halt at Outwood they made their acquaintance with Wakefield, which possesses a very active band of women workers, who will never be happy until they get the vote which has been so long denied them."


The article goes on to talk about banners along the route:

"All along the route there were large crowds of people, and the women displayed all kinds of banners and devices.  On one were the words 'Law Abiding' on another 'Justice for Women'"

The crowds made their way into Wakefield:

"...the crowds got denser, and nearly all the space available was occupied in the Bull Ring"

This is a copy of the full newspaper article:



In celebration of the Vote 100 anniversary we'd like to highlight two objects from our collections that we are very proud to display in our museums. The objects are very different, but represent campaign for change:

A woman’s right to cues!

Sheila Capstick achieved national fame in the 1980s when she took action against Wakefield City Working Men’s Club. Women were not allowed full membership at working men’s clubs and when Sheila was banned from playing snooker it was time for action.

Campaign T-shirt, Wakefield, 1979.  This  is on display at Wakefield Museum.
Along with reporter Brenda Haywood they started ERICCA  - Equal Rights in Clubs Campaign for Action, which began by picketing Wakefield City Working Men’s Club and sparked a national campaign which ran throughout the 1980s. Campaigners picketed clubs across the country and eventually Wakefield City Working Men’s Club lifted the snooker ban.

Despite ERICCA’s efforts in the 1980s, the Club and Institute Union (CIU) only changed its rules and granted women equal rights and full membership in 2007.

Pontefract’s Secret Ballot
Pontefract took centre stage on 15 August 1872 when it held the first parliamentary secret ballot in Britain. This was the first time that people had voted for a Member of Parliament by marking an ‘X’ on a ballot paper next to the candidate of their choice - the system we take for granted today. Until then voting had been a public act which allowed corruption and intimidation.
Edward Leatham, Pontefract-born banker and MP for Huddersfield, led the campaign to reform voting after outrageous corruption in the 1868 General Election. In July 1872 the Ballot Act introduced secret voting. Three weeks later a by-election was called in Pontefract.
One of Pontefract’s two MPs, Hugh Childers, was promoted to the cabinet and so stood for re-election. Unusually he was challenged by the ambitious, young Lord Pollington.


The election attracted national attention, especially when Josephine Butler – feminist and social reformer - took advantage of the parliamentary election in Pontefract to further her aims to repeal the Contagious Diseases Acts (which allowed the police to detain women they suspected of prostitution to control venereal diseases in the armed forces – no evidence was required).  It was the first female-led feminist campaign in Britain.


The election was hastily organised, but polling day went smoothly with none of the drunken and riotous behaviour that usually accompanied elections. Childers was victorious and Josephine Butler eventually succeeded in getting the Contagious Diseases act repealed. We still use the same secret ballot voting method today.
We have two of the ballot boxes used in these elections in our collections:

One of the ballot boxes used in the first secret ballot.  You can see the remains of where the box was sealed shut with wax and a Pontefract cake stamp.  You can see the boxes on display at Wakefield Museum and Pontefract Museum (Pontefract Museum is currently closed for redevelopment - it will be reopening in May 2018)


Thursday, February 1, 2018

Treasured Ring


We are very excited to have acquired a stunning gold ring.

It is a late medieval gold ring from the 15th/16th century AD. It has an inset garnet and 9 further lobes with a letter inscribed on them. These are probably to help the wearer keep track of the 10 prayers that make up reciting the Catholic rosary.





The ring was found by a metal detectorist near Pontefract and acquired under the Treasure Act.

The Treasure Act sets out a clear process to save treasures for local people. Local museums are notified of all potential treasure finds in their collecting area. If the museum wants to save the find for the local community it can by paying the finder / landowner a reward based on the market value of the find. Last year saw the 20th anniversary of the Treasure Act

For more information about 20 Years of Treasure and some of our other objects acquired this way, see our previous blog : 20 Years of Treasure blog