Ryedale Folk Museum

Ryedale Folk Museum's very special Christmas weekend event: A great weekend for all the family. The 1st – 2nd of December will see the Museum in full festive swing with activities, demonstrations, crafts, cooking, stalls, music and all round festive fun. Hope to see you there to help the museum close for Christmas with a bang! FREE ADMISSION

This year our ever popular Halloween Party has spooky goings on and fun for all the family  - the museum comes alive once more between 6 and 8pm on Wednesday 31st to provide a Halloween Party with a difference. Moonlit activities around the museum buildings. Warm clothes and a torch recommended. £ 3.75 a head - tickets available from the Museum.

Today at the museum workshop it has been a hive of activity - literally. The 2 Johns, Andrew and meself have been busy restoring a Bamford wheel driven tractor mower to its former glory. We also dug out a heather honey press which was duly wire brushed down and coated with a thin layer of oil to prevent further deterioration. John Paul has done a grand job putting together some info for visitors about the machinery exhibits to show folks how they were used on the farm back in the day. Have a look at these pics.  John Nicoll and Richard busy on the mower The 2 Johns At A Tricky Point  The mower back in the shed Andrew, Richard and The 2 Johns by Jonathan S

Hallo Everyone We decided to have a bit of a tidyup with the museum's blogs. The Archive and Collection Blog has not been updated for ages, and we felt that people were more likely to visit the Museum Blog, so all the old posts from Archive and Collection have been imported here. Jonathan S

Ryedale Folk Museum finally achieves best in category! Yorkshire in Bloom: Gold Rose Award & Category Winner : Visitor Attractions   ‘Hard on the heels of their recent successful opening of the Harrison display, the Fold Yard and the ever popular T G Willey photograph and camera exhibitions, Ryedale Folk Museum are thrilled to announce that they have been chosen, out of all the entries, to receive a Golden Rose Award and to top it off, best in category in the extremely prestigious Yorkshire in Bloom competition . All this to crown a successful season .’ Kevin Simms Museum Director.   After many years of entering Yorkshire in Bloom, Ryedale Folk Museum has finally achieved Best in Category! Out of all the attractions that entered the museum is extremely proud to have won in its category from the whole of Yorkshire. After the opening of three new collections it really does top off a great year, and it couldn’t be done without our team of volunteers.   ‘We couldn’t o...

Today, there was much activity in the museum workshop, especially on the old MF 135. John Paul was fitting a new speedo on this tractor as the old one had been broken for ages. I gave him a hand, but unfortunately we discovered the cable had broken between the speedo and gearbox, so we ordered a new cable as well. We also shifted a bit of machinery around with the view to a bit of restoration of tractors and implements to their former glory. Speedo with 0 hours on the clock Volunteers John Paul & John Nichol One Ruston & Hornsby Seed Drill  I found this documentary on You Tube about Massey Ferguson production in Canada, the U.S and Britain. They don't make em like they used to eh? Jonathan S

Join us at the Museum this weekend for our popular Second World War living history event - Europe at War !

On a glorious summer's afternoon Eric Knowles of the Antiques Roadshow opened the Harrison Building and the Highlights of the Harrison Collection exhibition. Everyone was entertained by the guest of honour's speech and the exhibition got off to a great start ! The Highlights of the Harrison Collection exhibition is open daily - entry is included in the museum admission ticket.

Last weekend we held our Games in the Park event with some wonderful demonstrations of skipping, drumming, morris dancing, maypole dancing, horse riding, rope making, Cajun dancing, scouting games, childrens crafts, poetry, printing and much much more!     'Informative & fun'   'Loads to do for all the family, a great day out'   'I loved the drummers, I didn't want to leave'   As part of the weekend we also had some poetry workshops here are a couple of examples of the work some of the children did written about Max - the resident Clydesdale horse:   I fly to heaven, a rich paradise, a golden sky, a thousand stars touched never by human hands, instead by hoof, carried over land, far into the blue. Upon a deep, warm horseback. Security, high above, serenity, deep below. A foreign love.   A first draft from Meave and Charlotte, both aged 13. Max Whipping his hair proudly back, trouting gracefully without lack, His body moving ch...

My Last Car Exhibition 14 th July – 2 nd September 2012   Live performances daily from 30 th July – 5 th August (12-2pm) Do you remember your first car? How about your last?   My Last Car is an epic road trip that looks at our relationship with the car through a series of poignant, funny and uplifting tales. It explores all that the car means to us at the end of a great transport era . ‘The performance…was incredibly touching and thought-provoking (without being in the least bit eco-preachy, if you know what I mean). I found myself veering between moments of smug pride for never having owned a car, to feeling like I’ve missed out on an awful lot of life because of that, to having tears in my eyes at the incredibly moving and personal stories that the play told.’ –      audience member, Bentham Explore the world of the automobile in all its complexity through live performance; discover an exhibition of a Rover 316 carefully di...

Games in the Park 18 th – 19 th August   Playground favourites brought back to life Join us as we celebrate games from yesteryear in a Yorkshire-wide scheme inspired by the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games Indulge in nostalgic activities or try something new! Morris dancing British skipping team Merrils Traditional Victorian playground games Hiring Fair – including ‘bat the rat’, ‘chuck a duck’ and sheep hoopla! Games in the Park is part of New Worlds , which is a strand of imove , a Cultural Olympiad programme in Yorkshire www.imoveand.com @imoveand   imove has been funded by Legacy Trust UK , creating a lasting impact from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games by funding ideas and local talent to inspire creativity across the UK . New Worlds is a partnership between Alchemy; Bradford Council’s Department of Regeneration & Culture; Harewood House; National Centre for Early Music; National Media Museum; The Northern School of Contempo...

Last week we saw another new evening event go by with plenty of laughter and yummy noises! 'Come and learn the history of Yorkshire's confectionery story with Sophie Jewett from the celebrated York Cocoa House. Explore the route of the confectioner dating back to the early arrival of sugar and cocoa into the wealthy kitchen. Then get hands on making your own medicinal sweets, chocolate drops and more!' Tonight we see 'From Tree to Bowl' An evening demonstration of wet turning by well known wood turner Philip Greenwood.   Come and watch a natural edge bowl being turned from wet wood; learn how to care for your wood, keeping your timber and converting it at home. Come and learn from the expert- Philip is on the register of professional turners, demonstrator, tutor and writer for worldwide publication ‘Woodturning’ magazine. Other up and coming evening events: Thursday 16th August- Rare and Unusual ( Edward Harrison and the Harrison Collection) Friday 24th August - ...

– Cooking through time - a talk by Edward Harrison with items from the Harrison Collection. 7pm, Doors Open 6-30pm.  £ 6  a head.

Don't miss Ryedale Folk Museum's biggest and most exciting event of the year. Plenty of action and noise and fun for all the family ! Come and see the fantastic displays of vintage tractors and engines at the Museum as well as cooking in the cottages and other traditional crafts.

Drop by for our WELCOME CRAFTS Craft Fair this weekend - 11am to 4pm both days. This is an indoor Fair in our Manor House building selling local handcrafted goods - admission to the fair is included in museum admission price.

The 'MODERN SMITHING' event featuring local blacksmith David Stephenson has been postponed due to   illness. We are sorry for any inconvenience. This event will be rescheduled at a later date.

Lots Of Changes At The Museum It's been over a year since I was last at Ryedale Folk Museum, it was nice to go with my little lad Tom in half term and see what has been happening. There were some new pygmy goats which Tom liked, and one of the Buff Orpingtons had made a nest in Max's stable. Barbara and Joan were in residence with handicrafts and there was a nice exhibition of quilts in the Manor House. Building work is advancing well on the new Harrison Collection building and it was nice to see plenty of visitors when it was raining. Jonathan S

EVENT POSTPONED - a unique opportunity to see talented Blacksmith and Copper Repousse artist David Stephenson. Watch these two traditional techniques in action and see how David applies them to contemporary sculptural and functional pieces of work. Limited numbers, book early to avoid disappointment. EVENT POSTPONED - will be rescheduled for a future date

As part of our new programme of adult courses we ran a Blacksmithing day course. Everyone had a great time and even the sunshine came out! If you are interested in coming on a blackmsithing course please get in touch with the museum on 01751 417367 or emma@ryedalefolkmuseum.co.uk. Courses run all day and cost £60 per person. We also have the local Blackmsith David Stephenson providing an evening demonstration this Thursday with Blacksmithing and Copper Repousse work, again this is a pre-book event and is £9 per person.

We have added a new gardening event to our course programme Join Jan Hoyland, gardening expert, using her wealth of experience gained as head gardener for the National Trust & now at Castle Howard Arboretum; as she goes through the basics of propagating plants, from seed sowing, cuttings and division to more complex methods such as budding and grafting. The workshop will be a mixture of demonstration as well as practical hands on experience, covering fruit, vegetables and ornamentals, with everyone taking home some plant material to add to their own garden! There will be plenty of time to ask questions and find out the answers to your own particular propagation problems. Suitable for all levels, from complete beginners through to more experienced gardeners. To book contact the museum now, limited places emma@ryedalefolkmuseum.co.uk or 01751 417367

Come and see traditional woodcrafts in action at our WONDERS OF WOOD event on Sat 23rd and Sun 24th June – from furniture-making to paper-making including demonstrations of woodturning and carving (with a chainsaw !) – admission to this weekend event included in museum entrance price.

Join us for a wonderful day with the Quilters Guild. A small group of quilters display the museums quilts along with their own work in the Manor house this Sunday along with demonstrations and quick classes. So come along and join in! Bring your Quilters Guild membership card and recieve 50p off your entrance.

Meet the newest members of the museum family! Lola and Daisy are our new pygmy goats and are settling in well in our new fold yard area.

Tonight's talk by Jan Hoyland at the museum about the restoration of the woodland garden in Ray Wood, Castle Howard has been cancelled. Check out the rest of our evening events programme on our new website www.ryedalefolkmuseum.co.uk Our family craft activities continue today and tomorrow Friday 8th June all day.

From Monday 4th to Friday 8th June at Ryedale Folk Museum we have a range of Half Term activities based round traditional crafts, each day there will be crafts demonstrated and you can join in too! Every day there will be cooking in the cottages and a different craft demonstration - including mangle-printing, blacksmithing, quilting and rope-making. Please phone - 01751 417337 - to find out details of each day.

Don't miss our fantastic World War II enactment weekend this Saturday and Sunday. There will be Second World War displays and enactments throughout the site - including Land Army girls, 1940s sweet shop, model aeroplanes display, Army and Paras camp, Soviet Field Hospital, French Resistance fighters, Naval Commandos, Home Guard, grenade throwing and landmine clearing (!) and more - plus new this year 1940s hairdressing and '40s singing and dance by Kirkham Henry Performing Arts School.

Live period demonstrations all this weekend at Ryedale Folk Museum with the No Name Group ! They will be covering more than one period of traditional ways of living and crafts over the weekend - drop in to travel back in time ..... This is a video of a previous encampment by the re-enactors at our Museum  when they were living as Romans, Saxons and Vikings - 

This is the final post on the Dialect Questionnaire Project conducted by the University of Leeds in partnership with Ryedale Folk Museum. 158 respondents completed the questionnaire. Scroll down to see the words that no one selected… Would you have used any of the following words? If you haven’t drunk anything for a long time, you will be very... No one selected: DROUGHTY or PADDOCKED If you haven’t eaten any food for a long time, you will be very... No one selected: CLAMMED OUT, PINED or WALLOW What do you call something that you eat between meals? No one selected: BAGGINGS, BITE OF TEN O'CLOCK, BITING-ON, MINNING-ON, CLOCKS, CROUST, DOWAN, FORENOON-DRINKINGS or PACKING What do you say you’ve got when your head hurts? No one selected: THE HEADACHE What do you call a very small piece of wood that has got into your finger? No one selected: SHIVE, SPLICE, SPOAL or STOB What do you call any running water smaller than a river? No one selected: SIKE Scroll down to view the bar charts an...