Editor’s Pick of the Week: Ghosts in Ripon and sprightly oldies in HarrogateParanormal income boosts Ripon attractionsNew Ripon museum will dig deeper into the city’s historyRipon museums awarded £2.6 millionRipon Theatre Festival event puts crime and punishment in the spotlightRipon museum artworks to tell stories of people with disabilities

Life in Ripon’s workhouse was hard enough for abled bodied people, but what was it like for those with mental or physical disabilities?

Tomorrow, between 10am and 12.30pm, people of all ages and abilities are invited to work alongside disabled artists Kate Lovell and Aisling Gallagher to produce artworks that ‘respond to the language of disability and its evolution through history’.

Taking its inspiration from the lives and experiences of people with disabilities who were inmates of the former Ripon Workhouse, the interactive event titled ‘Reclaiming Lunacy’ is free to attend and has been made possible with an £11,000 grant from Historic England’s Everyday Lottery Fund.

Saturday’s art session follows research carried out as part of the project, by the museum’s curatorial volunteers, who uncovered unseen histories of disabled people who were at the workhouse between the Victorian era and the early 1900s.

As well as being artists, Ms Lovell is a theatre-maker and writer, while Ms Gallagher is a director and creative access practitioner.

Rachael Warren, marketing manager at Ripon Museum Trust said:

“We are thrilled to be welcoming Kate and Aisling to Ripon Museums to run this open session and make a start on creating a new display which will explore the lives of disabled people at the former workhouse.

“These are important stories to tell and we are thankful to Historic England for enabling us to tell them”.

The Everyday Heritage grant scheme was launched by Historic England earlier this year to support community-led projects and further the nation’s collective understanding of the past.

Read more:

 

 

Ripon’s museums seek new director

Following the departure of its director of museums, Helen Thornton, Ripon Museum Trust has begun the search for her successor.

Ms Thornton, who was director for four covid-affected years, has left the heritage sector to take up the post of town clerk for Baildon in West Yorkshire.

The trust, which since 2020, has been awarded financial support totalling more than £500,000 from Arts Council England and the Heritage Lottery Fund said in a statement it was seeking a new director “to provide inspiring and collaborative leadership”.

It added the successful candidate would be “a transformational leader” with “proven management and leadership experience, that will enable Ripon Museum Trust to realise their potential to become a museum with a national profile”.

The new director will be involved in shaping the strategic direction and delivery of the The Workhouse, Prison & Police and Old Courthouse museums at a pivotal point in the trust’s 41-year history, amid a development phase bid to the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Richard Taylor, chair of the board of trustees said:

“Ripon Museum Trust is a close-knit community with strong values of fairness, ambition, community, team-work and learning. We are really excited to be recruiting for this role and look forward to welcoming a new director of museums at this important part of our journey.”

Read more:

 

 

Free entry to Harrogate district attractions starts tomorrow

Several Harrogate district attractions will be offering free entry in the days ahead as part of National Lottery Open Week.

The lottery has raised more than £47 billion for good causes since it started in 1994. To thank players, it runs an annual week in which organisations it has funded are invited to provide free entry and special offers.

This year’s open week begins tomorrow (Saturday) and ends on March 26.

The following offers in the Harrogate district apply to anyone who presents a National Lottery ticket or scratchcard, digital or physical.

For the terms and conditions click here, and check the venue listings for dates, times and other terms and conditions. You can search for events here.

Read more:

 

Storm Otto leaves Ripon building owners counting the cost

Two well-known and well-used Ripon locations are awaiting repairs after sustaining damage in last week’s Storm Otto.

At the Workhouse Museum in Allhallowgate, part of a chimney stack was brought down by Friday’s high winds and at the nearby bus station, four perspex panels from the roof of a shelter were dislodged by the gale.

Both locations have been made safe and remain open for museum visitors and the travelling public.

Ripon Bus Station shelter damaged by Sorm Otto

The bus station shelter pictured before firefighters removed the damaged perspex roof panels

Helen Thornton, director of Ripon Museum Trust, told the Stray Ferret:

“Storm Otto damaged a lot of property in the district and part of a chimney stack on the west wing of the main workhouse building came down and made two holes in our roof, which have been covered with tarpaulin to minimise any rainwater damage.”

“We are in close touch with our insurers to get an appropriate and timely repair and, as a listed building, we will ensure that this is carried out sensitively, including re-using as much of the stonework as we can, getting the right chimney pot design and so on.”

Workhouse area cordoned off after storm damage

The cordoned-off area at the Workhouse Museum

Ms Thornton added:

“We have cordoned off the area below the damaged roof and spoken to the other users of the site. Thankfully, we can remain open as usual to museum visitors, groups and schools.”

Following the damage to the roof panels in the bus station shelter, North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue issued a statement saying:

“Ripon crews attended the bus station to make a bus shelter safe for the public. Large pieces of perspex had fallen off the roof. Crews removed all perspex using a ladder and small tools.”

 

Read more:

Ripon museums secure more than £400,000 from Arts Council

Ripon Museum Trust has secured three-year funding from Arts Council England worth more than £400,000.

The trust operates the Workhouse, Prison and Police Museum and Courthouse museums, which welcome around 30,000 people per year.

The grant means the trust will continue to be funded through the Arts Council’s national portfolio scheme. It will receive £142,576 each year for the years 2023-26.

The funding will help pay for jobs as well as a programme of community engagement, creative programming and improvements.

Last week Harrogate Theatre , which had received just over £140,000 a year from the national portfolio scheme since 2015, announced it had missed out on an award this time.

Richard Taylor, chair of the trust, said:

“This crucial grant funding allows us not only to continue to provide a range of inspiring experiences but to also look ahead to how we can find new and innovative ways to inspire and engage our visitors both digitally and in person.

“This is good news for Ripon and the wider community of North Yorkshire. It will help to raise the cultural profile of our city and everything it has to offer.”

Applications for funding were determined against criteria laid out in the Arts Council’s Let’s Create strategy, which requires organisations to demonstrate how the work they do will contribute to the principles of inclusivity and relevance, ambition and quality, dynamism, and environmental responsibility.

Trust director Helen Thornton said:

“It is hugely exciting to be part of Arts Council England’s next portfolio and to be able to respond to Let’s Create. It’s a vote of confidence that what we are doing here has real impact and potential to grow our cultural offer.

“We hope to be able to reach out to and work with new communities, strengthen and develop what we do for our local communities, our volunteers and the general visitor – to ensure they have a really creative and inspiring time in our museums”.

Read more: