Castleford Community Cases - New Displays at Castleford Museum

Castleford Museum’s latest exhibition honours inspiring local women from the worlds of education, art, politics and sport. 

Four new family-friendly and interactive displays showcase historic pioneers and the stars of the future!

Making their mark reveals how the influential art teacher Alice Gostick sparked a passion for pottery painting across the country. 

Following her example, talented craftswomen led Castleford’s proud tradition of hand decorating ceramics. 

The display focuses on the intricate work of five painters: Eva Arundel, Mrs England, Vera Ward, Ida Woodward, and Alice herself. 

The women’s beautiful pots are a rainbow of colour and pattern, each signed with their own unique maker’s mark.

Fryston Flying Pickets banner, on display in Joining ranks. 

Joining ranks pays tribute to the women who rallied together during the 1984-85 miners’ strike. Discover how they protected communities and often changed their lives in the process.

The display features key objects such as the hard-hitting ‘A-Z of a Miner’s Wife’ poster sold in aid of the Normanton and Altofts Miners’ Support group, which is kindly lent by the National Coal Mining Museum. 

It sits alongside a banner, handmade for two of Fryston’s flying picketers by their sister, and proudly adorned with Women Against Pit Closures stickers. The banner was donated to the Wakefield Museums & Castles collection in 2018 and is displayed here for the first time.  

Meg's fabulous black and silver Lee Bender jacket, on display in Degrees of style

Degrees of style tells the story of a miner’s daughter turned stylish socialite, who reinvented her life. Fashion follower Meg returned to education later in life and swapped glamorous parties for university and a career in design. 

Meg’s story is told by a close friend and the display centres on one of her prized fashion staples, a distinctive black and silver jacket by Lee Bender at Bus Stop, worn on the local 1980s dinner party circuit. 

You can also try on a range of vintage jackets for size!  

Castleford Academy girls rugby league team

Raising champions features some of the many girls’ rugby league cups and medals in Castleford Academy’s impressive trophy cabinet. Marvel at the school’s honours board, hear from former students who have made it to the sport’s highest level, and see the current stars in action. 

Former students who have made it to the sport’s highest level share their stories in their own words and explain what rugby league means to them, whilst training footage shows the Academy’s current stars in action. 

Young visitors inspired to follow in their footsteps can find out how to get started in the game, and take their celebration selfie with our museum trophy!

Share your story  

We also want to hear your stories! We are especially keen to hear about any women who were involved in the miners’ strike or worked in the pottery industry. Story sheets are available in the Museum for you to fill in with details of the amazing women in your lives.

The hand-painted coffee set by Alice Gostick and the Fryton Flying Pickets banner both also feature in our 100 Years of Collecting Online Exhibition.

Click here for full visitor and access information for Castleford Museum

Albert Wainwright: Pride Month 2023

This Pride Month, we are proud to share a fantastic new addition to our collection!

We have recently acquired a small number of sketchbook pages by Albert Wainwright (1898-1943), an influential artist from Castleford.

A friend and contemporary of Henry Moore, Wainwright produced a large and varied body of work. This included ceramics, theatrical design and book illustrations, as well as watercolours and drawings. 

Although he didn’t reach Moore’s commercial success or recognition during his sadly short lifetime, Wainwright’s reputation has deservedly increased in recent years. 

His work is also significant in its depiction of gay love at a time when homosexuality was still illegal in Britain.

Sketch by Albert Wainwright, recently acquired by Wakefield Museums & Castles. Features drawings of schoolboys, including a pair where one is tenderly reclining on the other.

Wainwright was born and brought up in Castleford. He attended Castleford Grammar School and was taught by the inspirational artist Alice Gostick. 

Gostick encouraged Wainwright’s artistic potential and her support helped him to secure a place at the Leeds School of Art in 1914. 

Gostick’s influence on Wainwright’s art continued. He became a regular at her renowned pottery painting classes, hand-painting ceramics in a traditional style known as Castleford ‘Peasant Pottery’. 

In 1927, Wainwright returned to Castleford Grammar School as an art teacher, temporarily taking Gostick’s place after she became ill. 

Hand-painted vase by Wainwright in the style of Alice Gostick

Base of the same vase above, marked with Wainwright's monogram.

Gostick also encouraged her pupils to design costume, stage sets and programmes for school productions. 

The experience was invaluable for Wainwright, who went on to work as a theatrical designer. He received over a hundred costume and scenery commissions. 

His intricate watercolour designs spanned a wide range of productions.

Poster for an exhibition of Wainwright's work at Wakefield Art Gallery in the 1980s. It features an example of his costume design.

As well as his commercial work, Wainwright was a prolific draughtsman. 

He filled many sketchbooks with illustrations and watercolours of local landmarks and characters, capturing a snapshot of industrial Castleford in the 1920s and 1930s. 

Page from the 'Castleford Notebook', 1928 by Albert Wainwright. Sketch of the cemetery on Red Hill.
With thanks to The Hepworth Wakefield.

Page from the 'Castleford Notebook', 1928 by Albert Wainwright. Sketch of factories and mines in Castleford.
With thanks to The Hepworth Wakefield.

His personal sketchbooks also include many studies of people, including androgynous figures, young men and depictions of male intimacy. 

Wainwright was gay but homosexuality remained illegal in Britain during his lifetime. It was not decriminalised until 1967, 24 years after his premature death. 

Although Wainwright’s sketchbooks were not originally intended for public view, they are a rare record of gay love in the early 20th century.

We are very pleased to have acquired some examples of these sketchbook pages at auction earlier this year. They are a valuable addition to our collection. In addition to examples of Wainwright’s ceramics, theatre work and industrial sketches already in our collection, these sketches of male intimacy will help us to tell a fuller story of his life and career. 

They reveal a sometimes hidden LGTBQ+ history. 

Sketch by Albert Wainwright, recently acquired by Wakefield Museums & Castles. Features drawings of schoolboys, including a pair where one is reclining on the other.

Albert Wainwright sadly died from meningitis aged just 45 in 1943. 

He was living in and teaching in Bridlington at the time and had achieved a name for himself within his native Yorkshire. 

Today, his artistic achievement is increasingly recognised and we are proud to celebrate his work in our displays at Castleford Library & Museum.

Click here for more LGBTQ+ stories in our collections

Click here to read more about Alice Gostick

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