Castleford Museum sneak preview!

Castleford Museum is really taking shape.  Many of the museum structures have been made, delivered and installed.  The objects have been selected and case layouts considered.  The graphic panels are just about ready to be sent to print.

As a special sneak preview here are some images of how the museum will look with the structures, cases and panels in place…

This is what you will see as you first enter the museum space on the third floor of the Castleford Forum Library and Museum building

  

Here you can see an example of the panel designs and the specially commissioned images of Iron Age Castleford. The large case will house an amazing and unique chariot.

A huge empty case! This will be filled with pottery and glass including some spectacular glass walking sticks.

A glass walking stick that will form part of the glass and ceramics display.  These incredible glass sticks show the skill and craftsmanship of the glass workers.

Wakefield Art Walk

Our special 1920s event – All in a flap at Wakefield Museum – is nearly upon us.

The flapper dresses have been prepared, the accessories chosen (check out the incredible scarab beetle necklace with legs!!!), the bow ties are ready to be tied, the feathers are set to be added to fascinators and a selection of roaring ‘20s hits chosen. 

A necklace made from real Egyptian scarab beetles

The scarab beetles' legs are visible on the reverse!

Create Café have designed a 1920’s inspired menu for the occasion:

Wakefield Art Walk special 

Wednesday 31^st August 4.30-7pm

2 Courses with a tea or coffee - £10

TO START

Soup of the day with fresh bread £4

Thai Coconut Broth £4

Greek Salad with Feta Cheese £5

1920’s Inspired special – BBQ Ribs

BBQ Ribs first became popular when Henry Ford, in collaboration with Thomas Edison and EB Kingsford, began commercial manufacturing by making them from sawdust and wood scraps from Ford's auto plants in Detroit. The Kingsford Company then built the town Kingsford, MI. The company was later sold, and today Kingsford converts more than one million tons of wood scrap into briquets a year. So Ford not only brought the world affordable cars, he created an industry that made backyard barbecue easy.

MAINS

Chargrilled Halloumi with Chargrilled Veg and Salsa £6

Grilled Salmon, Chargrilled Leeks & Fennel, Lemon Dressing £6

Chicken Noodle Salad with Thai Coconut Dressing £6

1920’s Inspired Special – Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich

Philadelphians Pat and Harry Olivieri are often credited with inventing the sandwich by serving chopped steak on hoagie rolls in the early 1930s. They began selling this variation of steak sandwiches at their hot dog stand near south Philadelphia's Italian Market. They became so popular that Pat opened up his own restaurant which still operates today as Pat's King of Steaks.

TO FOLLOW

Bakewell Tart with Pear and Almond Compote £3.50

Warm Triple Chocolate Brownie with Cream £3.50

Treacle tart with Orange Yoghurt £4

1920’s Inspired Special – New York Vanilla cheesecake, rhubarb syrup £3.50

In 1912, James Kraft developed a form of pasteurized cream cheese. Kraft acquired the Philadelphia trademark in 1928, and marketed pasteurized Philadelphia Cream Cheese which is now the most commonly used cheese for cheesecake.

DRINKS – All £2.50

For tonight only, we also have a selection of 1920’s inspired non-alcoholic drinks. We have put this list together by thinking of the traditional drinks that were consumed in this era and then adjusting them to be non-alcoholic versions. Not easy as most drinks in the era were Prohibition drinks meaning they were very short and very alcoholic…..!

Planters Punch – (Lemon Juice, Sugar, Orange, Pineapple, Grenadine)

During this era, "rum-running" became a "legitimate" trade in the United States. Smugglers used station wagons, trucks and boats to heist rum from Mexico, Cuba and Puerto Rico. The Bronx was a rum based cocktail very popular in the 1920’s.

Mojito - (Lime Juice, Fresh Mint, Sugar, Soda)

This Cuban drink became popular in the mid-19^th century, but it really became famous in the mid 1920’s when the recipe was adjusted to include Bacardi, and it became the national drink of Cuba, and spread into America.

French 75 – (Lemon Juice, Sugar, Soda)

The drink was created in 1915 at the New York Bar in Paris—later Harry's New York Bar—by barman Harry MacElhone. The combination of gin and champagne was said to have such a kick that it felt like being shelled with the powerful French 75mm field gun, also called a "75 Cocktail", or "Soixante Quinze" in French. The French 75 was popularized in America at the Stork Club in New York.

We look forward to seeing you all there!

Free entry and activities

Wednesday 31 July 5pm – 7.30pm

New Young Curators' Club

We are excited to be launching a new Young Curators’ Club in September.

This free club will give young people the opportunity to get involved in the museum, handle real museum objects, discover interesting historical facts and try new craft activities.

Over the summer, young people are also invited to two drop-in activities to meet the session leader, find out more about the club, pick-up a members’ pack, and try a new craft activity to take home.

No need to book, just drop-in!

Free drop-in activities for 8-13 year olds
Learning Zone within Wakefield Library
17^th August and 31^st August

Saturday 17 August – Monster Pebbles – 10am to 12noon

Using the Sandal Castle stone gargoyle as inspiration, have a go at creating your own painted stone monsters!

Saturday 31 August – Butterfly Bonanza – 10am to 12noon
Taking a look at the butterflies in the Waterton Collection, and drawing inspiration from Waterton’s Nature Reserve, create your own butterfly feeder to take home.

Young Curators’ Club

• Are you aged between 8 and 13?

• Do you enjoy discovering interesting historical facts and trying new crafts?

Why not join the Young Curators’ Club?

The Young Curators’ Club will start on 21 September and will take place on the third Saturday of each month, from 10 am to 11.30 am.

Email for an information pack.

Scissors, Paper, Stone

Wakefield Museums recently secured funding from Arts Council England to commission an artist to create an installation using museum objects in an innovative and exciting way in a special showcase in Wakefield One – the building in which Wakefield Museum is based.  

We were looking for an artist to use our collections as inspiration to create a beautifully engaging display. We asked artists to submit ideas that would allow people to engage with museum collections in a different way. 

We received loads of fabulous proposals that used the objects (we suggested a decorative Victorian bath or some stone heads) in some really interesting and unusual ways.

In the end we selected a proposal to use the stone heads in a piece called ‘Scissors Paper Stone’ by artist Rachel Sim.  Rachel is a recent graduate from the Royal College of Art.  Her work offers a graphic interpretation of cityscapes using various methods of printmaking to reflect her personal view of architecture and contemporary urban experience.

In Scissors Paper Stone, Rachel will explore the themes of renewal, reinvention and the passing of time in Wakefield.  She will create a series of sketchbook drawings of the architecture, patterns and textures of Wakefield.  These will inspire structures and prints that will be formed into a 3D installation -a cardboard city. The stone heads (from buildings in Wakefield) will then be placed on plinths within the cardboard city, allowing the viewer to peak through and spot them.

The installation will be in place from autumn this year.  So watch this space for more updates.

For more information about Rachel Sim, visit her website.

Behind the scenes for Castleford Museum

Some of the rarest and most important pieces going on display in the new Castleford Museum are the remains of an Iron Age chariot. 

After over 2000 years in the ground they are very fragile and had to be sent to a specialist conservation lab at York Archaeological Trust to get them ready for the exhibition. Here is one of the finished tyres in its protective sealed box being loaded into the van to come back to the museum stores. The next step is for a specialist mount maker to create some sort of cradle to hold it all in place.

Inside this box is an Iron Age tyre!

Buried in the chariot was the body of an Iron Age man. His remains are also very fragile and the conservator’s next job is to prepare the skull for display.

 

Archaeological conservator, Mags Felter from York Archaeological Trust

This skull was buried with the iron age chariot and is now very fragile

Imagine... Castleford Forum Library and Museum

This is the top floor of the new Castleford Forum Library and Museum, it may not look special yet but imagine….

A brave warrior being immortalised in a grand chariot burial

A roman soldier in full armour, making his way to Castleford and missing the home cooking of Rome

The heat of a glass works – hot enough to melt the soles of your shoes

The anguish of a community ripped apart by closing mines, over time finding pride and strength in their town.

The roar of a crowd as Castleford beat Huddersfield 11 – 8 in the Rugby League Cup 1935

The great and good of Castleford in their fancy frocks playing marbles on a ‘Reet Night aht’

These are some of the stories you will encounter at the new Castleford Museum opening later this year; Imagine….

All in a flap - and the winner is...

The votes have been cast.  The scores have been counted.  We have a winner!

Thank you for voting on your favourite flapper dress! 

Come to Wakefield Museum on Wednesday 31 July (5-7pm) to see all 3 dresses, and see which one has gone on display along with carefully chosen accessories.

To celebrate the change in our displays, we are going all 1920s for the evening, and everyone is invited to come and get into the spirit!

Picture taken from a 1920s birthday card in the museum collection

Inspired by three gorgeous 1920s flapper dresses in our collections this event is bound to be hotsy- totsy!

The joint will be swinging, with a Charleston inspired Zumba, a fascinator workshop, bow-tie tying demonstrations, a display of vintage inspired headpieces, and much more.

So don’t be a sap, pop on your glad rags and head on down for a swell time.

Flapper Dresses
The public has been casting votes as to which 1920s flapper dress should go on display at Wakefield Museum.  For tonight only all three dress will be displayed, with our social history curator on hand to talk about the dresses and the museum collections.
 

Fabulous Fascinators

Join in with a drop in workshop to make a 1920s inspired hair fascinator.  Plus bow tie tying demonstrations for the gentlemen!

Milliner extraordinaire

Knottingley-based milliner, Deborah Walton will be showing some 1920s-inspired hats in her collection, and will be available for hat advice!

Photo Credit: Jessie Leong Photography

Charleston Zumba
Get with the swing of things with a taster session of Charleston Zumba from Sports and Active Lifestyles.  Sessions are at 6.30 and 7.00pm.  Sports gear not necessary!

A 1920s card in the museum collection

The Great Gatsby

“Can’t repeat the past?…Why of course you can!”  F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

Need some literary inspiration…take a look at some of the classic novels written during this period in a novel book display from Wakefield Libraries.

Mocktails @ Create Café

Indulge yourself with a 1920s style mocktail at Create Café.  Create café will also be offering a special menu for the evening.  Charges apply.

Life in the 1320s!
Plus visit our temporary exhibition Food For All Seasons to meet our infamous peasant Alice Gerbod and find out what life was like in the 1320s!

All events are free unless otherwise stated.

Drop in to Wakefield Museum between 5.00pm & 7.30pm.