Withernsea Lighthouse Museum

Withernsea’s Lighthouse was built over a period of 18 months back in 1892 because of the high number of shipwrecks that were occurring at Withernsea when vessels couldn’t see the lights at either Spurn or Flamborough.

Rather unusually it was built a quarter of a mile back from the coast with much of the town closer to the sea than the lighthouse. However when the lighthouse was built there were only sand dunes and a mere in front of it. The houses you see today were all built after the promenade was extended along the sea front.

The octagonal lighthouse was not designed to be lived in – the tower has no dividing floors only the spiral staircase leading to the Service and Lamp Rooms at the top. Attached to it are two cottages, these were the lighthouse keepers’ homes and now they contain a museum with displays about the lighthouse and town. In 1936 when the oil light was electrified it had a range of 17 miles.

The original light was an 8 wick paraffin lamp, housed within an octaganol revolving lens. The lens itself weighed an incredible 2 tons and floated in a trough of 3 gallons of mercury.
The controlling mechanism that turned the lens required winding daily by hand, but in 1936 the light was electrified and the paraffin lamp was replaced by a 100 volt, 1500 watt bulb; equivalent to 800,000 candle power!
In the event that the first bulb failed, a second was on standby which was also backed up by a third which would be lit by a bank of 26 rechargeable batteries. There was also a standby generator and the old paraffin lamp was kept as a reserve.
The lighthouse continued to shine it’s beam until the 1st of July 1976 when, after 82 years of invaluable service, the light was no longer needed.

Leeds Industrial Museum, Armley Mills

Once the largest woollen mill in the world, today Armley Mills tells the story of Leeds’ rich industrial heritage.

Weston Park Museum

Museums Sheffield was created in 1998 as an independent charity to take over the running of the city’s non-industrial museums and galleries from Sheffield City Council.

Our first major project was the launch of the newly-built Millennium Gallery in 2001, a cornerstone of Sheffield’s Heart of the City regeneration project.  The Millennium Gallery set the tone for our work over the following decade; fundraising for and delivering major improvement projects to enhance the city’s galleries and museums.

Major successes have included:

• The £19m redevelopment of Weston Park museum, culminating in nomination for the Gulbenkian Prize and winning the Guardian Family Friendly Museum Award 2008
• Achieving ‘Designated Collection’ status from the Department of Culture, Media & Sport for the city’s unique metalwork collection
• Fundraising for the acquisition of significant artworks and historic objects for the city, including the Bill Brown cutlery collection and The Kiss by Marc Quinn
• Fundraising for largescale refurbishments and redisplays of the Graves Gallery, Ruskin and Metalwork Collections
• Becoming an Arts Council Major Partner Museum for the period 2015-2018
• Securing a £650k HLF grant to improve Weston Park museum in 2015-17
• Welcoming over a million visitors annually across all sites

As we look to the future, it’s clear that museums and galleries across the country face tough economic challenges in the coming years.  We hope to meet these challenges head on, and will continue to champion the culture which now forms an essential part of the life of our great city.

Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet

Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet is a unique eighteenth century industrial works. Catch a glimpse of life at home and at work at a rural scythe and steelworks dating back to the 18th century.

Abbeydale Works was once a producer of agricultural tools and the largest water-powered industrial site on the River Sheaf. It is now a group of Grade I and Grade II listed buildings and a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

See the Manager’s House and Worker’s Cottage, waterwheels, workshops, tilt hammers, a grinding hull, steam engine and the last complete surviving crucible steel furnance in the UK!

Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet has been restored and transformed following a 3 year £1million Heritage Lottery Funded restoration project completed in 2016.

Kelham Island Museum

Located in one of the city’s oldest industrial districts, the museum stands on a man-made island over 900 years old.

Kelham Island Museum was opened in 1982 to house the objects, pictures and archive material representing Sheffield’s industrial story.

Our interactive galleries tell the story from light trades and skilled workmanship to mass production and what it was like to live and work in Sheffield during the Industrial Revolution.

Follow the growth of the steel city through the Victorian Era and two world wars to see how steelmaking forged both the city of today and the world!

Graves Gallery

The Graves Gallery is the home of Sheffield’s visual art collection. Situated above the Central Library, away from the noise and traffic of the city centre, the Gallery is a peaceful haven for visitors to enjoy the city’s art and a programme of temporary exhibitions. Famous names on show at the Graves include Turner and Sisley, while more recent artists include Damien Hirst, Bridget Riley, Sam Taylor-Wood, and Marc Quinn. Local heroes include George Fullard, Derrick Greaves and Stanley Royle.

Falconer Museum

Founded in 1871, The Falconer Museum is one of the oldest in the district. Situated in the heart of Forres High Street, the museum houses a wealth of treasures relating to Moray’s distant and more recent past. Permanent displays include social history, geology, natural history and archaeology. The new temporary exhibition for 2018 is entitled ‘Birds & Wirds’, why not pop in for a wee ‘keek’?

The Falconer Museum is named after two Forres born brothers, Hugh and Alexander Falconer. Hugh Falconer (February 29, 1808 – January 31, 1865) became prominent within the scientific community. A real Victorian polymath, Hugh was a contemporary of Charles Darwin, spending much of his scientific career in India. His paleontological work led to new ideas about the antiquity of man. He was also instrumental in introducing tea as a cash crop to India.

Alexander Falconer (1797 – 1856), Hugh’s big brother, became a merchant in Calcutta but later returned to his homeland. After his death he bequeathed £1000 in his will for the establishment of ‘a public museum in Forres for objects of art and science inclusive of a library and lecture room.’ He is buried at St. Laurence Church, Forres.

The Falconer Museum plays a very active role within the local community having family drop in sessions, talks, new exhibits and events. 

Tate Liverpool

Tate Liverpool presents displays of work from the national collection of modern and contemporary alongside special exhibitions. The collection embraces all media, from painting, drawing, sculpture and prints to photography, video and film, installation and performance. Entry is free except for special exhibitions. Open every day.

Guildhall Museum, Rochester

A fascinating local history museum for Medway, housed in two historic buildings.

The Guildhall Museum is a fun place where visitors can discover the history of Rochester and Medway in a museum for all the family. Colourful and attractive displays in two stunning historic buildings feature the local, social and maritime history of Medway.  Highlights of the museum include the beautiful ornate 17th century Guildhall Chambers, a walk-through part reconstruction of a Medway prison hulk on three deck levels, the Charles Dickens Discovery room, a fully furnished reconstructed Victorian Drawing Room and the world famous 18th century Seaton Tool chest which belonged to Benjamin Seaton of Chatham.

Tate Britain

Tate is an executive non-departmental public body and an exempt charity. Its mission is to increase the public’s enjoyment and understanding of British art from the 16th century to the present day and of international modern and contemporary art