Sheffield’s, Kelham Island, was created by the building of a goit, fed from the river Don to serve the water wheels powering the workshops of the area, at the height of its industrial output, when inventions of technologies such as crucible steel gave a cutting edge over other towns. Since that time, it has become [...]

Long, long ago, in this fair shire, there lived a Saxon chief by the name of Wade. Wade and his wife, Bell, were of giant stock; so huge in stature that no town could contain them, so they made their home on the expanse of the North Yorkshire moorlands. They were kindly rulers, both fine builders, [...]

Flamborough’s headland is the most north-easterly point in England and its origins as a settlement go back many thousands of years, with archaeological evidence uncovering flint tools and arrowheads dating from Neolithic civilisation. We know that the Beaker People, from about 2,000BC, lived in the area of Beacon Hill, where fragments of their distinctive pottery [...]

Mortimer the mammoth guards the entrance to Hull and East Riding Museum.  Situated in the peaceful grounds of the beautiful, Mandela gardens, which are in themselves a lovely way to idle away a sunny afternoon or linger over a picnic, this gem of a place is packed with information set out in a family friendly and interesting way. I personally think [...]

Hull’s Museum Quarter is a real treasure trove for all ages. The Streetlife Museum is billed as a transport museum and is principally the collection opened on a different site in 1925 by Hull’s first curator, Thomas Shepperd, but much has been added since, to encompass all aspects of transport and social history in Hull [...]

For my last post on the Quilt exhibition, I’m going to give an irreverent, tongue-in-cheek look at some of the contemporary quilts on display. The definition of a ‘quilt’ in the contemporary quilting world is simply this; ‘Three layers fastened together in some way so that the fastening penetrates all three layers’. It is a definition [...]

As printing techniques developed, the British market was flooded with a wide range of printed textile cottons and panels commemorating special events or causes became popular. Women began to include these panels in their patchwork, revealing an engagement with politics and public debate. One such example was the Queen Caroline quilt loaned to the Victoria and [...]

I would never want to live in London, but I do enjoy the occasional visit when duty takes me that way and we try to fit in as many extras as we can. This time, high on the agenda was a visit to the Victoria and Albert museum. One blog post isn’t enough to share [...]

Hidden away in the steep, lush Eskdale  valley, just outside the hamlet of Littlebeck,  past the overgrown quarry workings and mysterious pools, is a cave. Carved out of an enormous boulder, the large room has a circular seating arrangement capable of accommodating about twenty people. On its roof are two, remarkably comfortable, carved, stone chairs.  [...]

Glaisdale is an area that was important to the mining industry of the nineteenth century. Iron ore was abundant in the surrounding hills and in 1869, the village boasted three blast furnaces. The iron for  Sir Charles Barry’s Westminster Bridge came from here.  So important was the place as a trading centre that an Irish [...]