Over the last year we have gradually been able to return to business as usual.
The Park Run, Tea and Cake, Gardening Club and events in the Memorial Garden have all restarted and numbers attending have been growing. The museum has had further works on the roof and a new boiler installed. Some of the rooms had to be closed while work goes on but it is hoped that all these can be reopened soon.
And the Christmas Fair is back hopefully without the restrictions of last year and better weather, as we had to close early last year due to Snow (sorry to mention Christmas so soon but our fair is at the end of November, 27th November to be exact).
Celebrating 100 years
In May this year we celebrated 100 years since the Tolson Memorial Museum was opened. A pleasant evening was held in the Woodhead Hall. We were all welcomed by John Munro playing Jazz and had presentations about the museum from Nathaniel Smith, Head of Service – Deborah Marsland and Ann Denham. Guests included several members of the Tolson Family who are very supportive of the work of the Friends. A supper was then enjoyed by all. A Jazz band entertained in the Heritage Memorial Garden the following afternoon.
Events in the Memorial Garden
We have this year been able to hold several events in the memorial garden on Sunday afternoons the most recent being a local band Millstone Rock and the return of the popular singer Laura Stimpson the weather has not always been kind to us but all who attended enjoyed the performances. There are still 2 events to come in September, Gledholt Male Voice Choir and Mikron Theatre see next page for details. Both of which have been popular in the past and we are looking forward to seeing them again. We also have the Annual Motorcycle Show due in September, this will be as usual on the forecourt of the Museum.
Events
About Friends of Tolson & Ravensknowle
The Committee of Friends of Tolson & Ravensknowle meet once a month to plan the programme for the local community and support the work of the Museum. We look after the Heritage Memorial Garden. We would welcome any one who is interested in working with us.
For more information please contact Volunteer Ann, Friends of Tolson & Ravensknowle. m: 07803159506 email: secretary@friendsoftolson.org
The Yorkshire Post of 29th May 1922 announced that the Tolson Memorial Museum had opened on Saturday 27th May. It reported this occasion was in the ‘presence of a large gathering’ which included Mr Legh Tolson. It was Mr Legh Tolson who had donated this estate, his former residence, to the people of Huddersfield which was to be the Museum. This wonderful gift had been given as a memorial in memory of his two nephews who had died in the recent World War. Mr Tolson was presented with a ‘gold key’ to commemorate the occasion. This splendid key is today in the Gallery in the Museum.
The article also reported how the museum was to be planned and organised. A previous article had named Dr Woodhead, head of the Biology Department of the Huddersfield Technical College as the planner of this scheme. The first curator in this new Museum was to be Seth Mosley. Today both men are celebrated in the museum.
The Friends have organised events on the weekend of 14th and 15th May to celebrate this occasion.
On Saturday there is an evening when the achievements of the museum will be celebrated. Deborah Marsland, Head of Museums Service, Kirklees, Nathan Smith, Assistant Curator who has recently been engaged with research in the museum will both talk about the museum. The evening will be introduced by Ann Denham of the Friends who has recently been researching the history of the museum. Refreshments will be served. Guests will be welcomed into the museum by a jazz group playing in the 1920’s style.
On the Sunday afternoon in the Heritage Memorial Garden there is to be a 1920s jazz concert, to which you are not only invited to attend, but also to come in your best 1920’s clothes. We have the Denholme Jazz Group to entertain us and there will be a prize for the best 1920’s outfit—so get your flapper gear out and come and join the fun. This is a free event, just come along.
These are not the only celebrations that the Friends plan this year. Events to plan the launch of publications about the Museum are planned. These to include an extensive book on Seth Mosley, a history of the museum and a children’s book on the work on the environment in the museum. Hopefully these to be sometime in the autumn.
Events
Sat 14th May – Celebrating 100 years of Tolson Memorial Museum
Woodhead Hall 6.30 for 7pm – 9.30 Booking essential. £5
Tea & Cake 2pm – 3.30 2nd Wednesday afternoon in the month
Free events – just a donation towards refreshments.
11th May. Growing together – Gardening for health. Anne Merry
Anne is part of the Social Prescribing Team working in the Heritage Memorial Garden.
8th June – Visit to Mining Museum.
This was to be our excursion two years ago but was cancelled. Please let me know if you would like to attend. The tour of the museum offers the opportunity of a trip underground, however there is plenty to see if you would prefer not to go underground. This must be booked at the meeting in May.
13th July – The Welcome Centre Emma Greenough, Manager.
Behind the scenes of this establishment that is supporting those in need.
Heritage Memorial Garden
Events in the Heritage Memorial Garden are free though a collection is taken. There is limited seating on the wall so please bring a seat or something to sit on if you can. Refreshments are available before each event and in the interval.
Sun 15th May. 2pm – 4pm. Downholme Jazz. Prize for the best 1920’s outfit.
Sun 5th June. 2pm – 4pm. Sheply Band.
Sun 12th June 2pm – 4pm. Emley Brass Band.
Sun. 3rd July 2pm – 4pm.
Mondays at the Museum
Free wellbeing activities between 11:00am & 3:00pm. Starts 9th May. Connecting heritage, health and community.
Tolson Memorial Museum, Huddersfield HD5 8DJ.
A 4-month pilot collaboration between Tolson Museum, Tolson PCN Social Prescribing team, Local Services and Huddersfield Mission.
Gardening in Heritage Memorial Garden
In the Garden we are working with the Social Prescribing Team and now meet on Monday from 11am 9th May. We are still working to produce a ‘colour’ garden. Another of the individual gardens is to be cultivated to grow plants that can be eaten. The main part of the garden is still to be mainly a flower garden but with the emphasis on plants that will encourage bees and butterflies. Come and join us.
NB Friends of Tolson & Ravensknowle AGM Sunday 19th June 2pm
About Friends of Tolson & Ravensknowle
The Committee of Friends of Tolson & Ravensknowle meet once a month to plan the programme for the local community and support the work of the Museum. We look after the Heritage Memorial Garden. We would welcome any one who is interested in working with us.
For more information please contact Volunteer Ann, Friends of Tolson & Ravensknowle. m: 07803159506 email: secretary@friendsoftolson.org
2022 A Year of Celebration for Tolson Memorial Museum
Important things are happening in the Tolson Memorial Museum.
We were delighted to tell you that the roof was repaired, not a small job, and as a result the Bird Room is dry and will be open to visitors soon. But that is not all. The Museum is to get a new boiler. There has been a temporary boiler for many years, but it is to be replaced with a permanent one in the near future, that is in the next month or two. This may affect the planned programme of the Friends of Tolson, however I will keep you informed.
The events in the Museum in March and April will go ahead as planned, and the programme throughout the Spring and Summer in the Heritage Memorial Garden will go ahead. We have a programme of bands, singers and Micron Theatre are coming in September.. And you will be pleased to know that the wall that had been vandalised in the Garden has been repaired. It is really good to be the bringer of good news.
As I write the sun is shining and the daffodils, crocus and snowdrops are all out in the Garden. Once again we must think about working in the Garden. The gardening programmes tell us that we should be cutting the buddlia, I am not sure if we have one? Thinning the perennials, we have planty of them. Cutting back the roses, we have one! However there is much tidy up to do and we must make a list of what we need to buy. One of the Heritage Garden Beds is planted as part of the Kirklees Woven project which means that we cultivate plants that are used in the dying of yarn or textiles. As many of the plants in the colour garden are annuals we need to get organised with sowing seeds. Any help with this would be welcomed.
On Easter Sunday the Tolson junior parkrun will have been happening at 9am every Sunday morning for six years in all weathers. We have only missed 2 or 3 mornings when path was waterlogged! This is a real achievement. We have a dedicated team of volunteers who give their time on a Sunday morning so that the Parkrun can take place. It is quite an achievement. If you have children or grandchildren aged between 4 and 14 bring them along at 9am on a Sunday morning. It is safe and enjoyed by all, and after the run the Friends provide refreshments in the hut on the bowling green.
Tea & Cake
Free events. Donation for refreshment.
Holme Valley Mountain Rescue Service
2pm Wed 9th March
Members of the rescue service team
How we come to have a Huddersfield Museum
2pm Wed 13th April
The Tolson Memorial Museum
Ann Denham, Friend of Tolson & Ravensknowle
Mothering Sunday
27th March 2022
Woodhead Hall, Tolson Memorial Museum
Cream Teas
1pm or 3pm
£5 per person.
Must be booked – secretary@friendsoftolson.org
Easter Egg Hunt 2022
Easter Sunday 17th April
Woodhead Hall, Tolson Memorial Museum
1pm — 3pm
Come and get your trial sheet and enjoy the hunt round the park. £1 per child.
About Friends of Tolson & Ravensknowle
The Committee of Friends of Tolson & Ravensknowle meet once a month to plan the programme for the local community and support the work of the Museum. We look after the Heritage Memorial Garden. We would welcome any one who is interested in working with us.
For more information please contact Volunteer Ann, Friends of Tolson & Ravensknowle. m: 07803159506 email: secretary@friendsoftolson.org
There will be a full programme of speakers and entertainment at the Tea & Cake Meetings in 2022 in the Woodhead Hall, Tolson Memorial Museum.
The Tea and Cake meetings start at 2pm on the second Wednesday of each month. The only variation in the programme is that on the day of the meeting in June a a visit to another museum or park is organised. We should have paid a visit to National Mining Museum in June 2020. Earlier that year at the March meeting we had an excellent speaker from the Museum. who talked about the latest developments at the Museum. We were just not able to follow this up with a visit. However, hopefully, we shall get there this June.
We are starting this year with a talk about the Woodhead family. A well known Colne Valley family who among other things founded the Huddersfield Examiner long ago in 1850. The Examiner is still giving us local news every day, one of the few local newspapers still in business.
Museums and buildings in the heritage sector have been hit hard by the pandemic and so have ‘Friends of Museums’. Tolson Memorial Museum was closed for a while but is now open at weekends and holidays.
People often tell me that they went to Tolson Memorial Museum when they were children and how interesting it was. Well it still is, and your support in going to pay a visit is really needed now. Our museums are part of our heritage and one of the results of the pandemic is that in some areas some struggling museums have closed. We must not loose our very important local museum.
The Friends of Tolson & Ravensknowle belong to the British Association of Friends of Museums. This keeps us in contact with Friends groups of other museums. During the pandemic many Friends groups were not able to keep in contact with their supporters which has meant the loss of some members. We managed to keep this newsletter going to keep contact with you. I think that I only missed one edition and we have had a moderate increase in our membership.
We were also fortunate that our committee were able to hold meetings by zoom. It took a bit of getting used to and not all our committee could access this medium but it kept most of us in contact. We were back to face to face meetings in October which was wonderful. We were able to continue gardening a lot of the time — even to holding a meeting in the Garden which was useful. Museums that have access to outside parks and gardens are able to more easily keep contact with their friends and helpers.
Programme 2022 in Tolson Memorial Museum
May 2022 is a special month for Tolson Memorial Museum. It will be 100 years since the Museum was opened. After two years of planning and gathering exhibits and negotiations with Huddersfield Corporation the Tolson Memorial Museum was opened in May 1922. The house, which is the museum, was built by John Beaumont. In memory of his nephews Robert Tolson and James Tolson killed in WW1 Legh Tolson donated the house to the people of Huddersfield. The key he was presented with is in the museum.
We plan a weekend of events on the weekend of 14th and 15th of May in the Museum and in the Heritage Memorial Garden. It will be really great to once again hold events in the Museum. Unfortunately we cannot have our usual St Valentines Day or Mothering Sunday Cream teas this year as the Morning Room and study are not open to the public. It is also not possible to hold a spring craft fair. We hope that this is just a hiccup and that we will be able to organise these events in future years.
We are however putting together a programme of events in the Heritage Memorial Garden. We have already several bands interested in entertaining us on a Sunday afternoon and Mikron Theatre are booked to come in September. The Motorcyclists are also looking forward to coming for their gathering in September.
Tea & Cake
The Woodheads of Huddersfield
2pm Wednesday 12th January.
Tolson Memorial Museum.
Family influences. By Pam Cooksey
Story of some exhibits in the museum
2pm Wednesday 9th February.
Tolson Memorial Museum.
Talk by assistant curator Nathan Smith
About Friends of Tolson & Ravensknowle
The Committee of Friends of Tolson & Ravensknowle meet once a month to plan the programme for the local community and support the work of the Museum. We look after the Heritage Memorial Garden. We would welcome any one who is interested in working with us.
For more information please contact Volunteer Ann, Friends of Tolson & Ravensknowle. m: 07803159506 email: secretary@friendsoftolson.org
First I would like to thank all of you that responded to the ‘Friends’ request to tell us what you thought we should do after the vandalism of the ‘There, but not there Soldier’. The overwhelming view was that we should get the soldier repaired and put back. This will happen. There was also a request for a bench in the Garden and we will look into this but clearly the priority is to get the Soldier repaired.
A very supportive local resident launched an online collection towards the cost of repairing the soldier. I understand the ‘Friends’ are going to receive this collection at the Remembrance Service in the Heritage Memorial Garden at 10.45 on Thursday 11th November. It is good to be able to hold the service once again and we are delighted that the Rev Margaret Fossey will lead the service.
The Museum will open after the service to serve coffee. We will also be joined by by pupils from at least one local school.
Until last month we had not been able to have events in the Museum however we had been able to start up the Junior Parkrun and we have kept on with gardening in the Heritage Memorial Garden. The Friends help provide marshals at the Parkrun and afterwards provide refreshments in the hut on the bowling green. The hut is not in good condition and we are starting once again to explore a suitable replacement.
The Junior Parkrun is for children aged 4-14 and is held at 9am every Sunday morning. It is lovely to see the youngsters once again able to enjoy exercise in the open air.
We have also been regularly working in the Heritage Memorial Garden, there has been a lot of weeding as were not able to work in it last year. There have regularly been seven of us working for an hour on a Thursday morning. We finished last week by planting lots of bulbs so there should be quite a show in the spring.
We were delighted to welcome David Collins as our speaker at the first T&C meeting in October. He gave us a very entertaining talk about the establishing of the Skelmanthorpe Heritage Textile Centre.
I am really thrilled to announce that we are able to hold the Victorian Christmas Fair on Sunday 28th November. It will be rather different as we are not able to use the Morning Room and Study in the Museum. This will mean some of the stalls will be outside in gazebos or a marquee! However Father Christmas will as usual be in his Grotto in the school room.
Remembrance Service
10:45. Thursday 11th November.
Heritage Memorial Garden.
Led by Rev. Margaret Fossey.
Museum will be open for refreshments afterwards.
Tea & Cake
Huddersfield Film Society Show
2pm. Wednesday 10th November.
Tolson Memorial Museum.
More local pictures for you to enjoy.
Christmas Miscellany
2pm. Wednesday 8th December.
Tolson Memorial Museum.
Poems and music to celebrate the season.
The Woodheads of Huddersfield
2pm Wednesday 12th January.
Tolson Memorial Museum.
Family influences. By Pam Cooksey
Victorian Christmas Fair
11am – 4pm. Sunday 28th November.
Tolson Memorial Museum
Craft Stalls, unique gifts, home made goodies, Refreshments.
Free entry.
Visit Father Christmas in his grotto.
About Friends of Tolson & Ravensknowle
The Committee of Friends of Tolson & Ravensknowle meet once a month to plan the programme for the local community and support the work of the Museum. We look after the Heritage Memorial Garden. We would welcome any one who is interested in working with us.
For more information please contact Volunteer Ann, Friends of Tolson & Ravensknowle. m: 07803159506 email: secretary@friendsoftolson.org
