Colonel Gascoigne’s Medal Room

The Medal Room at Lotherton was Colonel Gascoigne’s study where he kept his collections of books, stamps and medals. The medals were mostly shown in shield-shaped frames on the walls and two of them survive.

With help from the Friends, six more frames have been carved to match and used to display a range of military medals from the Museums’ collection.

 

The Drawing Room at Lotherton

This is Lotherton’s biggest project in recent times. The silk damask on the walls of the Drawing room had faded and degraded after a hundred years and more. With help from the Friends, it has now been re-woven and re-hung with curtains and blinds made to the original design.

The drawing room re-opened in mid July 2012 and is well worth a visit.  Part of the original faded paper has been left to highlight the conservation work that has taken place – it’s fascinating!

Join us for exclusive invites to exhibitions

Queen Elizabeth II by Cecil Beaton at Leeds City Museum

Join the friends of Leeds museums and Galleries and be invited to exclusive events at Leeds City Museum.

The current exhibition ‘Queen Elizabeth II by Cecil Beaton’ is on loan from the V&A in London and was well received there by the thousands of visitors who attended.

This exhibition, in the Queens Diamond Jubilee year, tells the fascinating story of a magnificent collaboration between crown and camera and catches Elizabeth II as Princess, Monarch and Mother.

The exhibition carries a small admission charge; however members of the friends have been invited to an exclusive event later this month which will include a glass of bubbly and some nibbles followed by a privative view of the exhibition free of charge. This is just one example of the benefits that membership can bring.

Inside the exhibition space at Leeds City Museum.

The Hoard remains in Leeds

A Display of the West Yorkshire Hoard © Leeds Museums and GaAlleries

Leeds Museums and Galleries have successfully acquired the West Yorkshire Hoard, and it will now stay permanently in Leeds!

Along with our contribution, generous grants from the National Heritage Memorial Fund, The Art Fund, The Headley Trust, Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society and the Goldsmith’s Company, as well as almost £14,000 in public donations, ensured that these amazing finds will now stay in their home museum.

A huge thank you to everybody who donated to the appeal, it really made a huge difference and without your help these nationally significant finds would not have been saved for the public.

You can still see the West Yorkshire Hoard on temporary display in The Leeds Story gallery in Leeds City Museum.

What happens now?

Now the objects are staying in Leeds, the museums service are working on developing a new permanent display for the objects within The Leeds Story gallery.  They will be involving partners such as the Institute for Medieval Studies at Leeds University to develop ongoing research which will feed into the interpretation of the finds.  Leeds Museums and Galleries also hope to develop a small publication on The West Yorkshire Hoard by the end of the year.

If you want to find out more, Curator of Archaeology, Katherine Baxter, will be giving a free half-hour lunch time talk on the hoard in The Leeds Story Gallery as part of the Festival of British Archaeology, on Tuesday 24th July 12.30-1pm.

 

A display of the West Yorkshire Hoard © Leeds Museums and Galleries

 

 

Members get going with IT training

Jean gets to grips with the Internet as she researches Stratford-upon-Avon ready for her trip

Jean gets to grips with the Internet as she researches Stratford-upon-Avon ready for her tripJean, Joyce, Maureen and Nadine got to grips with their mice, double clicks, jargon and internet shopping at Leeds Library this week as they took part in IT training especially for members of the Friends.

Organised by Leeds Museums in conjunction with Leeds Library Service, the first of two pilot sessions took place at Leeds Central Library and we welcomed four ladies who were both nervous and excited to get started.

For those of you out there who are anxious or feel that computers and the internet aren’t for you, ask them how it went and you might be surprised to find that you too, want to try your hand.  Jean, Joyce and Nadine all have computers at home but never switched them on as they felt they might break them.  By the end of the session they were dragging and dropping and clicking and pointing along with the best of them.  First time experiences included shopping for books on Amazon, booking cheap train tickets, researching trip destinations to London and Shakespeare’s stomping ground, Stratford-upon-Avon and finding a website to buy hard to find cast iron candlestick holders by a specific designer.

We will see what everyone remembers next week when we take a look at websites like this and Leodis, the photographic archive of Leeds.

Maybe this is something to ooffer to members again in the future, but in the meantime don’t forget that the Leeds Library Service offers free IT training that you can access from the Central Library or even your local branch.  Don’t be afraid to ask your librarian about what is on offer – everyone starts somewhere.  There is also a dedicated number to call for enquiries which is 0113 2476016 and the staff are all hugely helpful and approachable.