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...

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 National Science & Engineering Week we have been sharing our top 5 gadgets from the collection on our Facebook and Twitter pages. So I thought I would collate them on here for everyone to enjoy! Gadget #1 -  The Pulsocon This ‘Pulsocon’, also called the ‘Macaura Blood Circulator’ was simply a hand-held vibrating massager, which was applied to the body as a cure for a range of different illnesses including constipation, rheumatism,  paralysis, asthma and heart disease. The operator would hold the gadget with the flatter end pressed against the patient’s body, they would then turn the crank handle quickly to create strong vibrations. These strong vibrations were supposed to awaken subconscious organs, and improve blood-flow around the body.   Gadget #2 – The Mechanical Hairbrush!  Used as beautifully illustrated in the image, however it looks like its removing hair rather than just brushing it!  Gadget #3 – The Wig Powderer!  A tube would...

In the run up to Valentines day, we are sharing our top 10 reasons why we love our location!  Reason Number 1   Being within the beautiful Hutton Le Hole and the North York Moors National Park! (Image Chris J Parker NYMNPA) Reason Number 2 Community celebrations, traditional village shows and fairs! Reason Number 3 The unusual grazing residents! Reason Number 4 The amazing nature & wildlife. Reason Number 5 The amazing local crafts! Reason Number 6 The amazing variation of coast, woodland,moors, and countryside! Just a short drive to The AONB: Howardian Hills, Dalby Forest, Scarborough and the North York Moors! Reason Number 7  The country pubs and breweries! Reason Number 8   The amazing locally hand made food! Everything from pies to chocolate! Reason Number 9 The strong heritage in the area! With the wonderful Beck Isle Museum & the North Yorkshire Moors Railway just down the road. Reason Number 10   The wonderful art festivals! Helmsley Arts Cen...

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

PLEASE HELP OUR CAMPAIGN TO CREATE  A COMMUNITY DESIGNED WILDLIFE SCULPTURE TRAIL. VISIT US ON FACEBOOK! CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE We need your help to secure funding to create a Wildlife Sculpture Trail within our grounds, and reconnect children with nature. We have been shortlisted for The Peoples Millions grant, and will go head to head with other projects to try and win the money. We need your votes to realise the creation of a wonderful new Wildlife Sculpture Trail which will be community designed and will encourage reconnection with the wild landscape, whilst engaging peoples creativity. By engaging local people in the design process and with the final hands on trail we hope to encourage and nurture an interest in their surroundings. The process of making chainsaw sculptures will provide schools and visitors the opportunity to watch them being made and we hope this will capture the imagination and engage people with art. With limited opportunities locally of this nature it...

Join us for our family fun evening on Halloween! You can pre-buy tickets from the museum or just turn up on the night!    

Yorkshire Dry Stone Walling – Taster Day Saturday 21st September 9.00am – 4.30pm Only £65 per person Would you like to try your hand at dry stone walling with professional dry stone waller Hugh Boyd? The perfect opportunity is our taster day, come and learn how to take down and re-build a dry stone wall within the museum grounds. Course Timings : 9.00am – 4.30pm 9.15am – 9.30am Arrive at wall/Discussion – Health & Safety 9.30am Commence to take down wall and use of lines. (Explanation given as to the construction and terms used in Dry Stone Walling) 11.00am Break 11.15am Dig out and relay of foundations stones. 12.15am First buildings stones laid. 1.00pm Lunch/discussion 2.00pm First through stones laid 3.00pm Second level through stones laid 4.15 pm – 4.30pm Top Stones on –wall completed/discussion Minimum age 18. Limited places so book now! email emma@ryedalefolkmuseum.co.uk or call Emma McKenzie on 01751 417367

This weekend saw our Heritage Cycle Day, where participants went on a tour of the Moors by bike, enjoyed a bit of lunch, a bit of culture and a lot of hills! Everybody seemed to have fun and we received some great feedback from the event: ‘Really good ride with interesting local info. Thanks to all of you who organised and helped out.’ ‘Thoroughly enjoyed the whole ride as well as the info on local heritage and folklore. Brilliant, thank you.’ ‘A nice day out. Thanks!’ ‘Too many hills, although brilliant! J J ’ ‘A very good experience would love more heritage/cultural rides in the North York Moors. Thank you.’ ‘Great day out and a brill ride. Thanks’ ‘Fantastic ride. Thanks’ ‘Great views! Deadly Hills J Thank you’ ‘Thanks very much. Well organised and some lovely views J ’ ‘A lovely ride we’d love to do it again! Thank you!’ ‘A very enjoyable day with challenging climbs!... but I survived.’ ‘Very well organised and very enjoyable ride. Well done Ryedale Folk Museum J ’ ‘What a fantas...