Blog
Behind the Scenes at Bailiffgate
Our museum blog below features updates and stories about the work of Bailiffgate Museum and Gallery. This includes both activities in the museum itself and our community projects. These my involve working with a particular street or area to gather personal stories and facts about the community. They may also involve creating a database on a particular topic. Our well-used World War One database on our bailiffgate collections website is a good example of this.
Generally a blog has been written by one of our volunteers, so that you can gain a real-life picture of what it is like to do volunteer work at Bailiffgate.
The Wonder of Ladybird Books
Have you ever held a second hand book in your hands and wondered about who used to own it and how it came to be there? While tidying up the baskets of books for our Wonderful World of Ladybird Books Artists exhibition, I became fascinated by the many stories these books have to tell about …
The Wonder of Ladybird Books Read More »
Read More
How old do children have to be to enjoy Bailiffgate?
Intrepid reporters Thea and Eva set out to investigate… Having volunteered for years at the museum and listened to so many children of all ages enjoying themselves, it was the turn of my own granddaughters Thea aged 3 ¾ and Eva aged 1 ¾ . On Saturday we visited, and I had the wonderful experience …
How old do children have to be to enjoy Bailiffgate? Read More »
Read More
Alnwick Civic Society’s Kind Donation
Pictured : Chair of Alnwick Civic Society Peter Reed (far left) donating one of the large-scale maps to Bailiffgate Museum and Gallery Chair Jean Humphrys In 2021 Alnwick Civic Society undertook a project with the Historic Towns Trust, and a number of local community groups, to develop and publish a historic map of Alnwick and …
Alnwick Civic Society’s Kind Donation Read More »
Read More
Adeline’s Magic Finger Wins the Ghost Hunt
Adeline from Cumbria was the proud winner of this year’s Bailiffgate Ghost Hunt. The competition ran over the school half term weeks of Scotland and England. Participants had to find the 24 ghosts hiding around Bailiffgate Museum & Gallery, encouraging children to look carefully all around the exhibits. The prize was a gift voucher for …
Adeline’s Magic Finger Wins the Ghost Hunt Read More »
Read More
A Delayed Publication
About 4 years ago the museum was contacted by an American author who was working on a book about the lives of sisters, Louise and Ida Cook. In the 1930s the sisters had helped to rescue a large number of Jewish people from Nazi Germany and Austria. The author, Isabel Vincent, knew that Louise and …
A Delayed Publication Read More »
Read More
How George Wilkin helped saved lives
A feature of the recent Heritage weekend was an exhibition of Alnwick residents who had turned their hand to inventing something useful. One of these was George Wilkin, who was working as a plumber in Alnwick in the mid-1800’s. This date is extremely relevant, as the great Alnwick cholera outbreak took place in 1849, taking …
How George Wilkin helped saved lives Read More »
Read More
Make new Friends, Learn new Skills
“I moved up to Alnwick in November 2019, but had visited the museum earlier in July. I was so impressed that I became a Friend and volunteer, and within a few months a Trustee and the Company Secretary. The team at Bailiffgate never cease to amaze me. Their enthusiasm, passion, camaraderie and friendliness makes volunteering …
Make new Friends, Learn new Skills Read More »
Read More
Publishing in a Covid Lockdown -Seaside 100, 2 Years On
It still feels like a bit of a treat to be able to stand up and speak in front of a live audience so I’m really looking forward to my upcoming talk at St James Centre for Bailiffgate Museum & Gallery. When my book Seaside 100 was published back in Spring 2020 the first Covid …
Publishing in a Covid Lockdown -Seaside 100, 2 Years On Read More »
Read More
Please send us your Holiday Disaster stories
I suspect all of us have a tale of when things went disastrously wrong, either when we were a child being taken on a family holiday or as the adult doing the taking. The sort of thing that was far from funny at the time, but in hindsight is hilarious. The 2022 major summer exhibition …
Please send us your Holiday Disaster stories Read More »
Read More