The Museum contains the following permanent exhibitions:
and the following exhibitions during 2004:
The Family Business in North Craven: a Century of Service
The new exhibition for the 2004 season is entitled 'The Family Business in North Craven: a Century of Service' and shows how the family business occupied a position at the heart of a local community which was still largely self-supporting until the mid-20th century. For generations, together with the church and the pub, the family business was at the heart of the local community. This exhibition illustrates through photographs, advertising material, objects and other memorabilia the huge range of goods made available to the local community. Within walking distance of home, you could buy anything from a houseful of furniture to a bag of sugar!
An illustrated twelve-page souvenir leaflet has been produced to accompany the "Century of Service" 2004 exhibition. The text (without photos) of the leaflet is available in the Literature section of this website . The entire lefleat (A4 hardcopy including photos) is available from the Folly Museum of North Craven Life (price 30p) during normal Museum opening hours, or (price 70p incl p&p):
(Cheques payable to 'NCBPT' please, electronic payment unavailable)
Education in Malhamdale 1400-2003
This exhibition traces the history of education in the dale from the early chantry school in Kirkby Malham church through to the present, amply illustrated with documents and photographs.
Malhamdale is fortunate in having at least one school giving formal education for about 500 years, beginning with the Chantry School in Kirkby Malham Church to the United School serving the Dale today. Some eight schools have operated in the Dale during that time with as many as five being open at the same time for a short period around 1870. In addition there was a school which operated sometimes at Lee Gate Farm and sometimes at Bordley, although it is outside the parish of Kirkby Malham.
The schools have been of many types, defined largely by the way in which they were financed. There have been endowed schools, a subscription school, a board school, a provided school, a voluntary aided school, etc. dependent upon the social or legislative situations at the time.
The display gives only a flavour of the research conducted by members of the Malhamdale Local History Group. There is a much fuller history of the schools together with photographs and copies of documents in the folder accompanying the exhibition.
For further information on Malhamdale Local History Group, please see their website at: www.kirkbymalham.info
The Settle-Carlisle Railway: Scenes from the Line
This new exhibition, opened on 7 August 2004, has as its centrepiece a 4mm. scale model of Settle Station in Midland Railway days. The model was bequeathed to the Museum of North Craven Life in 1991 by the family of the late Mr. Norman Wilkinson, who constructed it over a number of years during the 1950s and 1960s. Norman Wilkinson was born in Huddersfield in 1907 and attended Giggleswick School from 1922-25, and it was during this time that he developed his interest in the Settle-Carlisle line. He retained a lifelong love of the area and, after moving to the south-east, enjoyed many family holidays in Austwick, Giggleswick and Settle. He was a great friend of the well-known author and railway historian O.S.Nock and took a full part in the centenary celebrations of the Settle-Carlisle Railway in 1976, displaying part of his Settle Station model on that occasion. Norman Wilkinson died in 1990 and the complete model, which is nearly 5 metres in length, was brought to Settle in 1992, where it was placed on display in the museum's former premises in Chapel Street. The model, together with its painted backdrop, has recently been cleaned and restored with the help of members of the Friends of the Settle-Carlisle Line. It is hoped shortly to make part of the model operational, with a working shunting engine.
Also on show is a fine sequence of black and white photographs of the line and a varied collection of memorabilia and artefacts from Midland Railway times. The exhibition complements the museum's permanent display on the construction of the line, which can be seen on the floor below.
Please note that this new exhibition is located in a room on the top floor
of The Folly. It is regretted that there can be no wheelchair access to this
floor, but the staircase is easily manageable.
Temporary Exhibitions for other years may be found by clicking on the relevant links below:
