Recommend and Repeat

We have just launched a campaign to encourage visitors who have had a great time at our museums to recommend us and come back and visit again.

These credit card sized prompts ask visitors to make a recommendation, they can be picked up at our museum sites.

Word of mouth and recommendation is a crucial and important method of attracting new visitors.  Encouraging repeat visits is important too, it is often said that 20% of your visitors make up 80% of your visits!  We work really hard at the museums to continuously improve the visitor experience, from providing exciting and relevant exhibitions and displays, to hands-on opportunities for children and friendly and welcoming front of house staff.

Follow us on  Twitter @WFMuseums

Read our recommendations on Trip advisor and add your own

Castleford Museum & Library

Wakefield Museum

Pontefract Museum

Tell your friends and family what a great place our museums are to visit and keep coming back again and again....

Collections Highlights: Addingley's liquorice tin

Wakefield Museums hold over 120,000 historic objects that have been acquired on behalf of those who live, work in or visit the Wakefield district.

Many of the objects are on display at our museum venues, but we can't display everything at once! This series of blog posts will highlight some of the collections, both on display and off, by showing a photograph and some information about the object.

 

We'd love to know your thoughts about the objects featured in this series so if you have a memory linked to an object or if you can add some more background information about them please do leave a comment for us.

Addingley's liquorice tin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This box is about 120 years old. It dates from a time when Pontefract had 10 or more 'spice' factories. Today Addingley’s has gone but Wilkinson's lives on in Pontefract as Trebor Bassett and Dunhill's as Haribo. Pontefract Museum probably has the largest collection of old liquorice packaging anywhere. Small tins, like this one, had the advert on the outside. Larger tins often had plain tops and the advert on the inside of the lid. This was so that they could be set out open in shops to tempt customers.

Apart from the company name, one of the ways to date this tin is by the style of the advert. The swirly plant forms are typical of the 'art nouveau' style. It came from Paris around the 1900s. This 'nouveau' or new style was a real change from what went before. Going back to nature and the shapes of plants, insects and birds was a break with the past (the front of Pontefract Museum and its tiled entrance hall are great examples).

Another way of dating this tin is from the picture of the castle. The ruins of the castle were turned into a park and open-air museum around 1890. Rockeries and follies were added to make the site more 'romantic'. One of the towers was half taken down so that the road (North Baileygate) could go round the castle. The other change was to knock a hole through the wall of the keep so that you could see the distant church of Saint Giles framed by the castle ruins! People looked at history in a very different way then and they thought that this damage improved the site. Twenty years later the wall with the hole collapsed. This tin shows us a bit of local archaeology that no longer exists.

You can see lots of examples of liquorice packaging and other tools of the trade at Pontefract Museum

Displays of packaging.  The picture on the right is of a 'Thumper' using a Liquorice stamp to decorate Pontefract Cakes

Visit Pontefract Museum on 12 August 11am - 2pm and take part in a free family workshop - Luscious Liqourice .  Make a liquorice themed paper collage to take home.

Your FREE Summer Holiday Planner!

The school holidays can seem like a long time to keep the kids occupied, so we’ve put together an easy planner with an idea for every day – and most of them are free!  

Download your own copy here

There’s so much to do across Wakefield, Castleford, Pontefract and beyond, brace yourself to spend a whole summer without hearing those immortal words: “I’m bored”

Click on image to enlarge

Click on image to enlarge

Oh! What a Lovely War!

Join us for an evening of persuasion and propaganda!

Oh, Oh, Oh What a Lovely War!

We have now changed our A Call To Arms exhibition to show a whole new selection of WW1 recruitment posters from our collection.

To celebrate this chance to see a whole new set of diverse and powerful posters, we are holding an evening of First World War music and song and patriotic crafts.  Try to resist the persuasive powers of our own Recruiting Sergeant. 

Drop in between 5pm and 7.30pm on Wednesday 29th July

This event is part of the Artwalk Wakefield

Wakefield Museum's Young Curators' Club

The Young Curators Club (YCC) is for children aged 8-13 years old, meeting in the Learning Zone at Wakefield One on the third Saturday of each month - and it's free!

Trying the hats and wigs in the museum gallery!

This club gives young people a chance to learn about the collections we hold and display - and to get involved in how they are interpreted and used! 

The YCC gives young people the opportunity to get involved in the museum, handle real museum objects, discover interesting historical facts and try new craft activities - as well as help us develop new trails and activities for use in the museum - and make new friends!

Last year, Young Curators worked with an artist to create a display of paper costumes, influenced by our fashion exhibition last year - and this September they will be working with another artist - Fabric Lenny - to help create some new designs for the outside of the museum!

Future plans also include curating their own museum case - from selecting objects to researching and interpreting them for display.

Young Curators have tried all sorts of things - even made butter!

Young Curators have been busy creating some new trails and summer activities for Wakefield Museum.  Pop in, and have a go at one of the activities created by the team!

Researching new museum activities

Creating a new digital trail for the museum

Places are available for new members to join us! 

• Are you aged between 8 and 13?

• Do you enjoy discovering interesting historical facts?

• Can you help to develop activities for other children your age to use in the museum?

• Would you like to join the Young Curators’ Club?

Email for an information pack.

We meet on the third Saturday of each month from 10 – 11:30am in the Learning Zone in Wakefield Library.

Future sessions* are to be held on;
August 15th
September 19th
October 17th
November 21st
December 19th

*Please note that you will need to join the YCC in advance - these dates are not drop in workshops.

Summer Holidays!

There's lots on this Summer!

Marble Madness 
Get creative with our marble madness activity. Paint with marbles, learn how to play and come and see the marble trophy!

All ages

10am-1pm

Monday 20 July 
Castleford Forum Museum
No need to book!

Summer starts here . . . .

Join us in this summer holiday inspired workshop. Looking at pictures and objects from the collections we will create some summer themed crafts.

Ages 2-5 years old

10:30 - 11.45am and 1:30 – 2:45pm

Tuesday 21 July 2015

Wakefield Museum Learning Zone

Booking Essential on 01924 302700 or email 

Wainwright Watercolours
Learn about Albert Wainwright and be inspired to create your own watercolour painting of the spectacular view from the Museum window.

10am-1pm
Tuesday 21 July 
Castleford Forum Museum
No need to book!

Amazing Animation

Using iPads, with the museum collection as inspiration, come and join us to create your own short digital animation. 

Places are limited so book early to avoid disappointment

Ages 6 – 11years old

10:15 – 11:45am and 1:30 – 3pm

Thursday 23 July 2015

Wakefield Museum Learning Zone

Booking Essential on 01924 302700 or email 

Seaside Holidays

Factories like the ones in Castleford used to shut down for a week in the summer so the workers could go on holiday to the seaside! At this drop-in workshop, you can make some seaside holiday crafts to take home!

Suitable for all ages

11am-2pm

Thursday 23 July 2015

Castleford Museum

No need to book.

Pottery Stamping
Would you like to design your own tile with our stamps and paints? Come in the museum and see the pottery collection that have been stamped, then create your own version. 

10am-1pm
Friday 24 July 
Castleford Forum Museum
No need to book!

Roman Intaglio 
A Roman intaglio is a carved gemstone for jewellery. Create your own by carving into clay. Come and learn more about these jewellery pieces, can you spot them in the displays?

10am-1pm
Saturday 25 July 
Castleford Forum Museum
No need to book!

Digital Drawing

Join us to see how objects we use in everyday life have changed over the years.  Using some of our museum objects as inspiration we will create some digital artwork using iPads and our imaginations.

Places are limited so book early to avoid disappointment

Ages 6-11 years old

10:30 - 11:45am and 1:30 – 2:45pm

Wednesday 29 July 2015
Wakefield Museum Learning Zone

Booking Essential on 01924 302700 or email 

Clouds

Luke Howard was the man who identified and named the different kinds of clouds – and he lived in Pontefract! At this drop-in session, you can make some weather pictures to take home.

Suitable for all ages

11am-2pm

Wednesday 29 July

Pontefract Museum

No need to book.

Wings and things

The Waterton collection has many birds within it. Taking inspiration from this collection we will create our own brilliant bird related crafts and see if we can paint with feathers.

Ages 2-5 years old

10:30 - 11.45am and 1:30 – 2:45pm

Thursday 30 July 2015

Wakefield Museum Learning Zone

Booking Essential on 01924 302700 or email 

Golden Lion

Pontefract Museum has a magnificent golden lion on display. At this drop-in workshop, you can find out more about this amazing creature, and make some lion crafts to take home!

Suitable for all ages

11am-2pm

No need to book.

Friday 31 July 2015

Pontefract Museum

Creative Illuminative Calligraphy
Get creative this summer; try your hand at Calligraphy and Illumination! Learn about their history, uses and see examples of beautiful writing and illuminated letters. 
10am - 3pm
Monday 10 August
Castleford Museum
No need to book!

Make your mark!

The Roman 4th Cohort of Gauls stamped their symbol onto the roof tiles of their buildings. Be like them and fashion your own design to stamp on to a sign, tile or even jewellery. 

10am - 3pm
Tuesday 11 August
Castleford Museum
No need to book!

Luscious Liquorice

Pontefract has been making liquorice sweets for almost 300 years! Come along to find out more about the extraordinary liquorice plant, and to make a fabulous liquorice-themed paper collage to take home.

All ages welcome.

11am-2pm

Pontefract Museum

Drop-in session – no need to book.

Wednesday 12 August 2015

Fifties Fun

Looking at images and objects from the collections we will discover how children in the fifties had fun. We will then create some of our own homemade toys/games to take home.

Ages 2-5 years old

10:30 - 11.45am and 1:30 – 2:45pm

Thursday 13 August 2015

Wakefield Museum Learning Zone

Booking Essential on 01924 302700 or email 

Just three
Can you create a fabulous painting of our museum window view, using only 3 colours? Which will you choose?

10am - 3pm
Tuesday 11 August
Castleford Museum
No need to book!

Amazing Animation

Using iPads, with the museum collection as inspiration, come and join us to create your own short digital animation. 

Places are limited so book early to avoid disappointment

Ages 6 – 11years old

10:15 – 11:45am and 1:30 – 3pm

Friday 14 August 2015

Wakefield Museum Learning Zone

Booking Essential on 01924 302700 or email 

Charcoal Art

Castleford artist Henry Moore made some amazing charcoal art – this is your chance to try your hand at it, and create a fabulous charcoal picture to take home!

Suitable for all ages

11am-2pm

Friday 14 August 2015

Castleford Museum

No need to book.

Muse-ic
Ever wondered what kind of music the Romans listen to? What kind of instruments they had? Well now is your chance to learn the answers to all these questions and make your very own Roman Trigonum! 

10am - 3pm
Saturday 15 August
Castleford Museum
No need to book!

Fantastic Fifties!

Come to Wakefield Museum to find out about what life was like 60 years ago! You can learn about the fashions and the fads of the 1950s, and make some fabulous 50s crafts to take home!

Ages 6-12 years old

10:30am-12noon and 1.30-3pm

Tuesday 18 August 2015

Wakefield Museum Learning Zone

Booking Essential on 01924 302700 or email 

Aromatic Art

Spices in the past were a luxury for the rich. Come and join us using herbs and spices to create fragrant art you can enjoy.

Ages 2-5 years old

10:30 - 11.45am and 1:30 – 2:45pm

Wednesday 19 August 2015

Wakefield Museum Learning Zone

Booking Essential on 01924 302700 or email 

Architects 
Calling all budding architects! Can you help us design our Roman Fort? 

10am - 3pm
Monday 24 August
Castleford Museum
No need to book!

Gardeners 
Do you know which type of land is the best to build on? Learn which plants the Romans had and help us create the foundations of our Roman  base! 

10am - 3pm
Tuesday 25 August
Castleford Museum
No need to book!

Back to School

Come and see objects from the collections related to the Victorian schoolroom. Try your hand at writing on a slate and using a quill and ink.

Suitable for ages 3-12years

10:00am – 12:00noon

Wednesday 26 August 2015

Wakefield Museum Learning Zone
No need to book!

Back to School

Come and see objects from the collections related to the Victorian schoolroom. Try your hand at writing on a slate and using a quill and ink.

10:00am – 12:00noon

Thursday 27 August 2015

Castleford Museum
No need to book!

Builders 
View drawings and diagrams of what the fort would have looked like to help us assemble our own garrison.  Find out what materials the Romans had available too!

12:15pm - 3pm
Thursday 27 August
Castleford Museum
No need to book!

Decorators
What colours do you think the Roman’s would have used to decorate their forts? Find out how paints were made at our decorating session!  Help us decide on the colours to paint our Roman fort and put your steady hands to the test! 
10am - 3pm
Friday 28 August
Castleford Museum
No need to book!

Finishers
The day has arrived! We have a fort….but no people. Learn about the different kinds of people and where they stayed. Then help us to colonise our model with people, animals and lots of other Roman objects before the big reveal!

10am - 3pm
Saturday 29 August
Castleford Museum
No need to book!

Please email if you would like to be added to our mailing list and be the first to hear of our future events!

Aviary in the Atrium

As part of the Nightingale Festival, Wakefield Museums commissioned artist Andy Singleton to create an Aviary in the Atrium, inspired by Charles Waterton's last diary entry in 1865.

Andy Singleton has created two stunning and intricate display cases in the atrium space at Wakefield One:

Photo: Nick Singleton

Photo: Nick Singleton

Photo: Nick Singleton

Photo: Nick Singleton

The detail in these display is incredible, come and visit to see for yourself.


Andy Singleton also worked with a group of school children from The Waterton Academy Trust (Walton Primary Academy, Normanton Common Academy, Normanton Junior School and Lee Brigg Infant School)  to create an installation of 150 birds. 

Pupils from across the four schools made their own birds, following a demonstration by Andy.  Hundreds and hundreds of amazing birds were hatched.  so it was a difficult job to select just 150, to represent 150 years since Charles Waterton's death.

As part of the pupil's experience they had a tour of the museum displays and a special peak behind the scenes.  They helped to select the birds and worked with Andy in creating a swirling flock.

Selecting the birds for display

Behind the scenes

Creating the display

The three atrium cases are a beautiful celebration of Charles Waterton's love of birds and wildlife.

For full details of Nightingale Festival events please see Nightingale Festival 

@WFMuseums #Waterton150

 

Charles Waterton