Ryedale Folk Museum

Volunteer Jim Wood demonstrating traditional hay rake making to visitors: Carrie

Volunteer Jim Wood was checking up on our resident bees yesterday and taking care of the hive.  He is confident that it will be a thriving hive in a few weeks and all is looking good!  Have a look at the great photos and the short film below to see what he was up to.  I can confidently say that honey fresh from the hive is delicious!

Ryedale Folk Museum praised by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation!  Click here to read the article.

Spring has sprung at the museum. Below are some pics of the site this April - Our new pigs and very scary scare crow included! Our pigs this year are the rare Berkshire breed. Every year the museum rears rare breed pigs, these two new arrivals are a welcome addition. CG.

On Sunday 27th March I was lucky enough to have been invited as representative of Ryedale Folk Museum to the AFMC annual mess luncheon in Pickering.  I was invited as 'guest of honour' and enjoyed wonderful hospitality and a delicious three course meal!  AFMC have been working with Ryedale Folk Museum for some years now and have helped to make Junes 1940s weekend event a really wonderful feature on the museums calendar.  This years event 4th -5th June will feature re-enactments, activities and more.  There will also be an evening 1940s village hall dance with live performance from Miss Marina Mae.  Tickets for the evening are available now, see the website for details or give the museum a call. I would like to thank AFMC for all their help and support during our events and for all their wonderful contributions over the years. CG.

In early March the tractor which stands proudly outside the entrance of the museum was re-instated after a brief absence.  It has been tweeked, painted and polished and now looks better than ever!

Sunday 27th March 2011 will see the museum run by students from Lady Lumleys for the Tractor Run and Fun Day. The day will help raise money for the Harrison Development Project. Details of the event are on the website and Kev will be serving his famous barbeque sausages in buns. There'll be face painting, crafts, demonstrations and lots more. Tractor Runners will also be treated to a pie n pea supper after the run.

Film Maker Tony O'Reilly has made a short film about Ryedale Folk Museum. It is a fantastic piece featuring staff, volunteers and visitors from the Museum. Click the link to watch it online: http://vimeo.com/20481094

To hear Maurice reading some of his poems and to get a preview of his work click the video below: To hear Maurice explain and discuss his model tractors and other vintage farm machinery click below: The exhibition will be available to view until the 7th April 2011. "I never imagined them to ever be in glass cases, it was just a bit o'fun when it started." Maurice Atkinson. C.G

Some of the activities happening onsite over the weekend.  Our free entry day on Sunday the 14th was a great success with over 400 people in attendance.  We are now all getting ready and gearing up for next weeks half term activities.  Staff and volunteers will be manning the cooking and craft workshops and preparing trails on site.  CG

Member of staff Emma Colclough took these great pictures of the snow at the Museum. It hasn't showed any signs of melting yet so sadly we have had to cancel the Christmas Weekend Event. These pics are great though and it does look like a real winter wonderland.

On Friday 19th November the model village at Ryedale Folk Museum was officially declared complete and open!  The volunteers have worked on restoring the village since its arrival in 2008.  For more history of the project see volunteer John Nicoll's previous blog post - http://ryedalefolkmuseum.blogspot.com/2009/06/john-nicoll-workshop-volunteer.html   The official unveiling of the plaque was performed by Anne Mcintosh MP.  See the video below: C.G

BBC Radio York made a 5 pt short documentary about Ryedale Folk Museum which was broadcast on the week of 27th September 2010. This is part 1 of the broadcasts put to photographs from the Museum. CG