<![CDATA[My Yorkshire RSS Feed]]> <![CDATA[My Yorkshire]]> <![CDATA[Take a Tour of Bradford with C H Wood]]> Our latest digi story on My Yorkshire focuses on some fascinating photographs of the 1954 Rugby League Cup Final reply at Odsal Stadium (look for 'Fact Fiction Fact' in the stories list) which were taken by the renowned firm of C H Wood.
 
Bradford Museums, Galleries and Heritage now own the C H Wood collection  - between 200,000 and 300,000 pictures, representing the best photographic record of life in twentieth century Bradford.
 
C H Wood specialised in industrial and advertising photography, and was employed by most of the big textile, engineering and other manufacturing firms in the area.  He also did news and fashion photography, being technically a very good photographer, and extremely skilled in his ability to handle light, composition and people.
 
To take a tour of the C H Wood archive online, just click the Associated Web link below.
]]> <![CDATA[The Legacy of Hope]]> Holocaust Memorial Day is commemorated annually on 27 January, the date in 1945 when Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated.  We invite you to pause and remember the victims and those whose lives were deeply affected by the Holocaust, by listening to the stories of two survivors:

Iby Knill recently related her experiences as a young Jewish girl in Czechoslovakia and Hungary during the Second World War, to Year 10 Pupils in Bradford. In June 1944 Iby was transported to Auschwitz-Birkenau, which she later left by volunteering for labour at a hospital unit.  Iby was eventually freed by Allied Forces whilst on a march from the camp on Easter Sunday 1945.  Watch student Abbie Whitworth's digital response to Iby's story.
 
Heinz Skyte and his brother escaped to England in 1939, but at the outbreak of war they were designated 'enemy aliens' by the Leeds authorities and sent to an internment camp in Canada.  Watch our series of 10 short videos in which Heinz relates his experiences in Germany and England during the years immediately prior to and following the outbreak of the Second World War.
 
Find out more about the Legacy of Hope on the Holocaust Memorial Day website (link below).
]]> <![CDATA[Nothing Compared to the Winter of '47!]]> If you're fed up of the snow and ice, just remember that the current wintry weather has been with us for only a month.  In 1947, snow fell somewhere in the UK for 55 days in a row between January and March!
 
Thousands of people were cut off in their villages by snowdrifts up to seven metres deep. Rivers and lakes froze and there were even blocks of ice spotted at sea.   Snow covered most of the land every day for more than two months.
 
In the Yorkshire Dales, Nellie Porter, who was heavily pregnant at the time, witnessed sheep having to be hacked from the ground where they'd become frozen in, and roads blocked by deep snowdrifts meant their farm was cut off for days at a time. 

Listen to Nellie's story:  The Winter of '47, and see amazing images from the 1950s of snow drifts in the Yorkshire Dales.
]]> <![CDATA[Leeds City Museum 'Makes a Difference' in 2009]]> The Leeds City Museum has won a 'Making a Difference in Yorkshire and The Humber' Award in the category of 'Building Cultural Spaces'.  The award recognises where there has been a significant impact through cultural activities.
 
The photo shows (from left to right) Binny Baker, Head of Access at the Yorkshire Film Archive; Ed Torsney, Creative Director of Mojo Media; and Gabrielle Hamilton, Curator of Community History at Leeds Museums & Galleries.
 
The community engagement programme at the City Museum, funded through Renaissance Yorkshire, the Regional Museums Hub, has involved working in partnership with the Yorkshire Film Archive to create a series of themed film exhibitions documenting contemporary life in Leeds - Steps in Time, Faith in the City and A Greener City.

The Faith, Voluntary and Community Sector in the city has been an integral part of this programme and the films have given a voice in the museum to local community groups across the city, representing and celebrating cultural diversity.  Displays of objects lent to the museum in the Community Cases in the Leeds Gallery curated and interpreted by different community groups  have complemented the film exhibitions.

Work continues into 2010 with the launch of A Greener City in January.
 
The 'Making a Difference in Yorkshire and The Humber' Awards celebrate the achievements of local authorities around the region, recognising the hard work and commitment of individuals and teams in making a real difference to the lives of people across Yorkshire and Humber.  Congratulations to everyone involved! 
]]> <![CDATA[Sharing European Memories at Leeds City Museum]]> On Friday 20 November 2009, young people from two West Yorkshire schools performed in a multimedia event at Leeds City Museum as part of the Sharing European Memories (SEME) project.  Visitors from Poland, Italy, Spain and Norway, also taking part in the collaborative EU-funded initiative, were amongst invited guests along with parents and teachers of the students.
 
The young people presented their original poems and songs, took part in a World War Two sing-a-long and featured in the event's centre piece - 'Eye Spy' - a multimedia installation by artist Shanaz Gulzar with projections, films and digital stories of the student's work (pictured left). 
 
The Sharing European Memories (SEME) project aims to promote intergenerational dialogue between young and old, and the results are being shared across Europe in an effort to increase understanding of what war means to different cultures.

Castleton Primary in Leeds covered the Second World War, including both the conflict in Europe and the Home Front, and as well as interviewing people with memories of the Second World War, they took part in a 'sleepover' event at Lotherton Hall, near Leeds, which was used as a military hospital during the First World War and had troops stationed in the servants wing during the Second.
 
Year 10 students from Bradford Academy looked at the experience of conflict since 1945, focusing on the Cold War, including the nuclear threat at home, and the experiences of soldiers who were drawn into European and world conflicts as peacekeepers under the United Nations.  They visited three local museums, the Peace Museum in Bradford, the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds and the York Nuclear Bunker, and met a range of witnesses to conflict including a Holocaust survivor, ex-servicemen from The Duke of Wellington’s Regiment, a recent refugee and peace campaigners and activists.
 
Follow the link to see digital stories from both schools.
]]> <![CDATA[Remembrance Day marks its 90th Anniversary]]> The Two Minute Silence oral history project, based at the University of Huddersfield, aims to capture the thoughts of people as they mark the annual Remembrance Day silence, which has its 90th anniversary on 11 November 2009.

Through the personal experience and testimony of people, young and old, and from a variety of backgrounds and cultures, they hope to explore the continuing significance of the silence as a way of reflecting on global conflict and the value of peace.
 
How do you remember?  You can listen to audio clips on My Yorkshire of Max Easterman, broadcast journalist, reflecting on his family's connections to the First World War, and his memories of Remembrance Day when he was a child.

 

Then watch the short video featuring poetry written by the schoolchildren at Spring Grove Junior School, Huddersfield reflecting the themes of war and peace mixed with testimony of an Iraqi woman's thoughts on the silence.
 
There are lots more audio clips on the Two Minute Silence project website - see Associate Link below.

My Yorkshire also hosts several digital stories created by Leeds primary school children inspired by their meeting six World War Two veterans and local people who lived through the War.
]]> <![CDATA[Silver Screen Week at Fairfax House, York]]> Fairfax House opens its doors and remembers the era when this building was a cinema in a special Silver Screen Week to be held in September 2009.

From 13th to 20th September to mark the 25th year anniversary since the building opened as a House Museum, Fairfax House will be running a special cinema week and screening old films that were shown when the House when it was run as a cinema. The building was owned between 1921 -1965 by the St George’s Cinema Company and during those years the City of York was awash with cinemas – there were 10 cinema buildings in total in fairly close proximity to each other.

Sunday 20th September

THE SMALLEST SHOW ON EARTH (U) at 12.45

A young couple inherit a cinema which is falling apart and run by a comically incompetent staff.

]]> <![CDATA[Call to the past in Holderness]]> An oral history project in Holderness is looking for people to submit their memories of life in the area during the 1960s.
 

Project officer Lyz Turner is gathering stories for a series of DVD films to be screened in the area and archived online at museums in Withernsea, Hornsea and Hedon.  Part of the Renaissance Partnerships digital storytelling project, the films will be touring Holderness with the aim of broadening people’s understanding of what life was like in the area.

 

Lyz is concerned that significant events and stories of the past could be forgotten if they are not recorded.


'The community that grew up at that period are dying,' said Lyz, 'People that lived there at that time have these wonderful stories; they know what it was like to grow up there.  We need to gather these memories because we’re losing generations every day. I’ve already lost people that I spoke with, so it’s incredibly important that we get their stories.'

Her recent project, Time On My Hands was a DVD compilation of films that captured memories of the early 1900’s to the Second World War period.  For the new project, Lyz is looking for stories related to the entertainment life in Withernsea, memories of the pottery industry in Hornsea and domestic life in Hedon.
 

If you’d like to submit your story or to find out more contact Lyz Turner via Withernsea Lighthouse Museum on telephone: 01964 614834, mobile: 07828 870342 or e-mail: lyzt@msn.com .

 
To watch three video extracts from the Time on My Hands project visit the BBC Humberside website (see associated web link below).
]]> <![CDATA[Belonging: Coming Home - community programme starting at Museums Sheffield]]> Yemeni community project October 2008 – March 2009

Belonging: Coming Home is an exciting new project that involves the Yemeni community in creating a new long-term display for the Museum at Weston Park.


People from the community will work with Museums Sheffield staff to explore what “coming home” means for Yemenis. The display in the Museum’s popular Sheffield Life and Times gallery will draw on the community’s photographs, objects, music and stories to share fascinating insights into Yemeni cultural identity, traditional and modern, in Yemen and in the UK.


Email or call Jon: 0114 2782686; jon.bradley@museums-sheffield.org.uk


]]> <![CDATA[Before Rebecca Adlington's success in Beijing, our last woman swimmer to win Olympic Gold was from Yorkshire]]> Nineteen year old Rebecca from Mansfield was the first British woman to win an Olympic swimming gold medal for 48 years - the last was from Huddersfield! 

At the 1960 Rome Olympics, Anita Lonsbrough who was also nineteen years old, won Gold in one of swimming's most closely fought races.

Her main rival for the women's 200m was German swimmer Wiltrud Urselmann. Just when Anita, and the audience, had thought victory was certain, Urselmann stormed back in a last desperate push. Even the watching BBC commentators became frantic at the unfolding struggle. Anita fought off this attempt and stormed to victory.


Two years later in 1962, she became the first female Sports Personality of the Year and is the first swimmer to have been awarded the MBE.


Anita features in an exhibition currently at Tolson Museum (moving to Dewsbury Museum from 18 October until January 2009) called 'Our Sporting Greats'.


To watch a video clip of Anita's nail-biting victory and hear her talking about how it felt to be a local hero - just click this link.
 
You can watch other videos of Kirklees Sporting Heroes too:
 
 
 
]]> <![CDATA[Yorkshire's hidden heroes and heroines]]> The British Library has launched a campaign with the Yorkshire Post to uncover Yorkshire's hidden heroes and heroines. To mark its forthcoming exhibition - 'Taking Liberties - the struggle for British freedoms and rights' - the Library is looking for local people from the past or present who have made a difference by standing up for the rights most of us take for granted.

Whether you know someone who has spoken out against racism, campaigned for the environment, or was involved with a historical movement like the Suffragettes, visit http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/highlights/Freedom-fighters-Give-unsung-champions.4361797.jp or email your nomination to yponline@ypn.co.uk.

Yorkshire's nominated hero - or a suitable representative if the hero/heroine is a historical figure -will be invited to the British Library in London with hidden heroes from across the UK to attend a presentation ceremony and view the exhibition. For more information about the exhibition itself, go to http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/whatson/exhibitions/forthcoming.html
 
]]> <![CDATA[YFA Online - over 50 hours of film showing our region's rich heritage]]> Yorkshire Film Archive Online (YFA Online) is a new and exciting project supported by the Heritage Lottery Funded. The Yorkshire Film Archive will be opening up its collections and making hundreds of films available online. YFA Online will take the form of an interactive online resource comprising over 50 hours of moving image showing the changing face of Yorkshire over the past one hundred years. The project will include preserving original fragile film footage, increasing access to information through cataloguing and contextual information, and providing a real opportunity for the people of Yorkshire to contribute their own stories.

 

What’s your story? YFA Online wants to find out more about the films – from you!


During the development of YFA Online you can contribute your valuable local knowledge by coming to any of our local screenings and events, which we’ll be organising with the Sheffield Showroom, Rural Arts North Yorkshire, Hull History Services and the National Media Museum in Bradford. Or you can join our online Film Forum, where we’ll be featuring a different film each month.

Click here to view Yorkshire Film Archive Online's Film of the Month

 

Within the 50 hours of material, approximately 2 hours of footage will be targeted to support curriculum study. YFA Online will include short selected moving image clips which will be available for registered teachers to download and use in the classroom complete with additional extras and specially designed supporting activities.

 

YFA Online will be officially launched in summer 2010 - from family life to transport, rural life to wartime you will be able to explore the online archive by theme, location, by decade or by a simple keyword search, you will also be able to get interactive by adding ‘Your Story’ for others to enjoy!

 

YFA Online will not simply be another online resource, we aim to ensure that the carefully selected films are what the people of Yorkshire want to see – so whether it is Queen Victoria visiting Sheffield in 1897 or family film of a seaside holiday in Filey in the 1950’s or footage of the regions great industries, like textiles, steel or mining. Whatever the subject, the new Yorkshire Film Archive Online promises to be an informative, emotive and enjoyable resource that will help to preserve and make accessible the moving image of the region for the lasting benefit of the people of Yorkshire.

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion and Film; 'My World My Things' exhibition opens]]> An exciting new exhibition experience has just hit Bradford City Centre. 
 
'My World My Things' follows five Bradford based young people during shopping trips to buy a new outfit. They purchased two identical outfits - one to wear, the other becoming part of this exhibition.
 
Produced by Bradford Museums, Galleries and Heritage in partnership with the Yorkshire Film Archive and Mojo Media, this exhibition explains how the participants choices reflect their personalities.

Providing a snapshot of shopping and fashion culture in Bradford within this present landscape of regeneration and change, this project will be archived within one of our most important social history collections. Both the outfits and films can be viewed together as part of this exhibition.
 
'My World My Things: Fashion and Film' will run until 31st August at Bradford One Gallery.
 
Watch a preview of the film now...
 
Meet the participants...
]]> <![CDATA[My World My Things; Fashion and Film]]> This Saturday an exciting new exhibition experience will be launched in Bradford City Centre. 
 
My World My Things follows five Bradford based young people during shopping trips to buy a new outfit. They purchased two identical outfits one to be wear, the other becoming part of this exhibition.
 
Produced in partnership with the Yorkshire Film Archive this show explains how the participants choices reflect their personalities. Providing a snapshot of shopping and fashion culture in Bradford within this present landscape of regeneration and change this project will be archived within one of our most important social history collections. Both the outfits and films can be viewed together as part of this exhibition.
 
My World My Things: Fashion and Film will run until 31st August at Bradford One Gallery.
]]> <![CDATA['Hay fever' hits the Dales]]> This summer something new is coming to the Dales.  An exciting Hay Time festival is being held in celebration of all that is wonderful about the traditional hay meadows and hay-making traditions in the Yorkshire Dales.
 
The festival is now running across the Yorkshire Dales National Park between May and September. It has been organised in partnership with the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust and a host of other organisations and artists.  There is a lively programme planned with over 100 events. 
 
The Dales Countryside Museum has busy been gearing up for the festival by creating banners with local groups such as the WI, Scouts and Young Farmers. Rural Arts North Yorkshire have also run willow sculpture workshops with local community groups to create outdoors displays for the festivities. All this will culminate with an exhibition at the Museum opening on 25th July and running until September. 
 
The Dales Countryside Museum has also been working with the local Wendsleydale School to collect oral histories from local people.  The recordings focus on life and work in the area, particularily in the 1950s.  The School will continue to work with the Museum to create digital stories from these recordings which will premier right here on My Yorkshire!  Watch this space...
]]> <![CDATA[New Digi Story website for Yorkshire!]]> My Yorkshire is a new regional ‘digital storytelling’ website created by the Renaissance Partnerships Initiative.
 
The exciting new My Yorkshire website will help to make material collected during museum library and archive community projects more accessible by providing an online venue for digital stories. It is hoped that it will become a hub of historical and contemporary material.  It tells the often intriguing and entertaining stories of local villages, towns and cities and the communities that live in them.
]]> <![CDATA[The curtains open for Time on My Hands]]> Time on My Hands is a joint project between Hedon Museum, Withernsea Lighthouse and Hornsea Museum in Holderness, East Yorkshire.  the aim is to collect memories and experiences from senior residents of the area.
 
Every participant in the Time on My Hands project was recently invited to collect their compilation DVD and information leaflets. Afternoon sessions were held at Hedon, Hornsea and Withernsea, where the 'stars' of the films got together again for a cup of tea and a chat (more memories)!
 
During the afternoon, everyone was shown where the archive is available in the respective museums, and how to access the other individual stories should they wish to listen to them.
 
They were also asked for suggested contacts for this year's collection, which is going to focus on the 1960's.
 
For Hornsea, we are working primarily with people who worked at Hornsea Pottery during that time.
 
Withernsea will be gathering memories from the era when the Grand Pavillion hosted dances and world famous bands that drew audiences from all over Yorkshire. 
 
And finally, for Hedon, we are researching transport and travel, and the more domestic side of life, from bottom drawer's to buying the first family car. This promises to be a most exciting project too!
 
Find out more about the Time on My Hands project and listen to some of the stories that have been collected.
]]> <![CDATA[Heptonstall Museum throws open its doors!]]> The ancient village of Heptonstall sits on top of a steep hill on the north side of the Calder Valley, overlooking Hebden Bridge.  Right in the centre of this charming village lies Heptonstall Museum, situated in the Old Grammar School Building.

 
Over the last year, the staff have been beavering away behind the scenes to give Heptonstall Museum a make-over.  On the 17th of May, the Mayor officially launched the new exhibitions with a special celebratory party.
 
The new look Museum has brand new exhibition panels interpreting the history of the local area, fabulous new displays of objects from the collections, a temporary display by the local school and a new community room.
 
The community room has the excellent addition of a computer terminal.  Here visitors can browse bite-size video clips from local people telling their own stories of work and life in Heptonstall.  This has been developed in partnership with local organisation, Wild Rose Heritage and Arts.
 
The Museum has also been loaned some fabulous Stone Age finds from an important local archaeological site.  This part of the exhibition has been produced in partnership with members of Huddersfield and District Archaeological Society.
 
]]>