Ryedale Folk Museum

Volunteers are at the heart of the museum, they started the museum in 1964 and continue to contribute to our special character today! So we thought how nice it would be to share with you the areas in which they support the museum, and to say a BIG thank you to each and every one of them! Front of House, where it all begins! “The museum’s volunteers provide a vital contribution from working with school children to providing office support among many other tasks. I am in constant admiration of their spirit and enthusiasm.” – Tony Clark (Trustee) The Office “Our office volunteers provide a vital behind the scenes contribution to the running of the museum. From writing letters to answering the telephone, we are grateful for their often unseen involvement." - Helen Dean (staff member) Fat Betty’s “Our cafe volunteers always provide service with a smile, helping us to be Yorkshire’s friendliest museum.”  – Maureen Wass (staff member) The Blacksmith “Robin has been volunteering here sinc...

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 50 years we are working on gathering photographs from our visitors of their trip to the museum. So no matter how long ago your visit was please send your captured memory to emma@ryedalefolkmuseum.co.uk with permission to put it on our website and declaration that you own the copyright

To thank our volunteers for all their hard work we put on a bbq after work within the museum grounds. As you can see fun was had by everyone, however I forgot to put the flash on my camera - so not the best images!  Our Housekeeper with wood turner Philip Greenwood. Accounts Manager Helen enjoying a sausage! Head of Front of House, Maureen and volunteer Judy tucking in. Max's (the Clydesdale horse) owner and friends. A couple of the Trustees among the volunteers here. Peter from our Chemist Shop and Robin our Blacksmith. Collections Team Leader Helen, showing her team of volunteers how its done. Some of the workshop and allotment teams. Wendy and Wendy looking after the BBQ. Learning Manager Emma taking a break from helping cooking. Our Director - the head of operations, including ensuring the food is up to scratch!