Ryedale Folk Museum

Cornfield  Flowers Project Cornfield Flowers Project at Ryedale Folk Museum - saving rare arable flowers from extinction in North-east Yorkshire As spring takes hold and the natural world awakes from its winter slumber, the first signs of some of the UK’s rarest wildflowers are eagerly awaited in a corner of the Ryedale Folk Museum. In front of the roundhouse is the Cornfield Flowers Project demonstration field.  For much of the year, this is bare earth with little to hint at the value of the seeds that lie beneath.  By summer time though, this field will be a blast of colourful plants growing amongst a cereal crop, and provides an accessible display of some of the most endangered arable wildflowers in North Yorkshire and the UK. Demonstration field in full bloom at Ryedale Folk Museum The museum has supported our Project since its beginnings, and has been our public face throughout this time – raising awareness of the plight of arable wildflowers and providing a rare opp...

1953 – Eggs come off rationing. 1957 – The British Egg Marketing Board begins trading in June 1957 – The British Lion mark is introduced and eggs are required to be stamped with their specific grade and packing station number. 1960s – UK egg consumption peaks at nearly 5 per person per week.    1971 – The British Egg Marketing Board is replaced by the Eggs Authority, a statutory body. 1986 – The Egg Authority is abolished & The British Egg Industry Council (BEIC) is set up, funded by the industry on a voluntary basis.    1998 – Delia Smith’s ‘How to Cook’ programme features a recipe for boiling the perfect egg, sparking a huge increase in sales of eggs. 2003 – The Atkins diet hits the headlines helping to boost egg sales. 2007 - New satiety research suggests that eating eggs for breakfast can help people lose weight. How did you do?

To celebrate the museums 50 th birthday and eggs this Easter we have put together a quiz all about the history of eggs in the last 50 years.  Can you put these facts in the right order to match the timeline? 1953 - 1957 – 1957 – 1960s –1971 – 1986 –1998 – 2003 – 2007 A.    Egg sales are boosted literally overnight when Delia Smith features a ‘how to boil the perfect egg’ on her cooking show B. The British Egg Marketing Board is launched. C.  New research suggests that eating eggs for breakfast can help people lose weight D. The UK egg eating habits reaches its peak with every person eating nearly 5 eggs per  week! E. The British Egg Industry Council (BEIC) begins. F.  The British Lion mark is introduced, requiring eggs to be graded and stamped.  G. Eggs come off rationing. H. The Eggs Authority takes over. I. Egg sales increase as The Atkins diet hits the headlines. Look back here for the answers next week!

Thanks to the hard work of our volunteers and the North York Moors National Park volunteers we now have a bird hide for visitors to enjoy. The project was also made possible thanks to funding from the Jack Brunton Charitable Trust. The Bird Hide is positioned at the top of the site next to the Iron Age Round House, looking out onto the Cornfield Flower Meadow. Once the meadow begins to flower and the wildlife comes out we hope the hide will be a great place where visitors can enjoy watching nature and through information inside be able to identify what they are looking at. To celebrate our new bird hide we are having an ‘All Things Bird’ week on our social media sites. As chickens are one of the most common types of bird found we thought we would share with you what chickens we have here at the museum. We currently have 8 historic breeds of chicken and 1 duck! All are utlitiy breeds (bred for eggs or meat) apart from our Silkies who are bred for show. Marans This breed was developed in...

To celebrate our spring-watch themed holiday activities we are running a number of spring-watch themed features on our Facebook and Twitter pages, as well as our blog that you can get involved with. They include ‘5 Signs of Spring’, ‘Bird Week - watching & identifying’, ‘Egg Quiz’ and other discovery challenges. Our first spring-watch blog is a tutorial put together by our workshop volunteers on how to make your own bird box. It is really simple so why not give it a go! Step 1 : Mark out your bird box pieces to the dimensions given. Step 2: Cut out the pieces, using a hand saw, or alternatively a Bandsaw or Jigsaw. Be careful! Step 3: When all pieces are cut out place them together to make sure they fit. Step 4 : Starting with the sides and back nail your pieces together. We recommend drilling pilot holes for your nails or screws to fall into, this will reduce the risk of your wood splitting!   Step 5 : Fix the bottom in place using the same method as the sides(pilot holes an...