Nidderdale Museum

09/04/2025

Looking for something fun to do during the school holiday? There is lots to see and do for everyone at the Nidderdale museum (including kids!)

27/12/2024

Come and see us this weekend …. for extra festive fun!
And please also like/ follow our new page.
Nidderdale Museum, Pateley Bridge

We're open again this weekend (and all following ones too).... and there's even more to enjoy!

04/12/2024

Christmas starts here 😁! The Pateley Bridge Late Night Opening on 6th Dec has loads going on... and we're playing our part. Free entry for our free Xmas mini-trail (though a few of our favourite rooms).. and free prizes.
And of course so much to enjoy with the other Xmassy events on in town: music, singing, lights, craft stalls, reindeer, owl (yes!), bell ringing, dressing up.... and even Santa!

Visit Pateley Bridge for an evening of Christmas fun, the museum is open from 4.30pm




❤️

04/09/2024

FREE ENTRY on Saturday, Sept 7th (and extended opening too - 10.30-16.30)!
Please also follow our new page (Nidderdale Museum, Pateley Bridge) as the old one has a limited life

Nidderdale Museum is taking part in , it will be opening for free on the 7th September. The museum will also be open from 10.30am to 4.30pm.

With a wonderful collection of objects telling the story of Nidderdale, there is truly something to inspire all our visitors.

❤️

01/09/2024

FREE ENTRY on Saturday, Sept 7th (and extended opening too - 10.30-16.30)! Thought you should know :)
Please also follow our new page (Nidderdale Museum, Pateley Bridge) as the old one has a limited life

Heritage Open Day (next weekend)
Nidderdale Museum is taking part in Heritage Open Days, it will be opening for free on the 7th September. The museum will also be open from 10.30am to 4.30pm.

With a wonderful collection of objects telling the story of Nidderdale, there is truly something to inspire all our visitors.

❤️

09/07/2024

Dear All, volunteering at the museum is all sorts of fun. We’ve got lots of different roles and activities to enjoy and you don’t need to commit any more time than you’re comfortable with.
By the way, we do have a new page (for good reasons I promise) so please like or follow the new page which can be accessed by clicking the page below.

03/05/2024

Curling stones, electric hair curling machines and butter churns
What on earth are polished granite curling stones doing in Pateley Bridge? Amanda Brown visited to find out what's going on.

After all, Pateley is a good drive from the nearest ice rink and probably a few 100 miles from a curling club. Looking at the curling stones in the Nidderdale Museum though is also a salutary reminder of how much the climate has changed in the last century.

The stones once belonged to the now-defunct Pateley Bridge Curling Club when the sport was popular on Gouthwaite Reservoir and Glasshouse Dam in the early 20th century during ‘proper’ winters when Arctic blasts froze the water enough for the curlers to take to the ice. By 1929, opportunities to curl had become few and far between and the stones ended up under 4ft of water in the boathouse at Glasshouses until they were recovered in 1979.

The museum, housed in the old workhouse behind Pateley’s High Street has so many objects and titbits of information like this across the 11 rooms that not only reflect how Nidderdale once was but also how life in general has changed. After all, you only need to look at the electric hair curling machine in the hairdresser’s window to see that change hasn’t all been for the worse.

Don’t go to the museum expecting to be wowed by the latest AI-powered immersive experience – the nearest you’ll get is the video telling the story of the building of the dams at Scar House and Angram – but the old-school simplicity is part of its Yorkshire charm.

It just tells it how it is, without any great fanfare, using donated artefacts, photos and archive material re-creating slices of social history including an old cobbler’s shop, the general store, the Victorian parlour, or the story behind the Nidd Valley Railway.

Curated, and cared for by volunteer staff, the museum is a great way to while away a few hours. Whether it’s looking at a butter churn that once belonged to ‘the Queen of the Dairymaids’ Mrs Mudd; discovering how forged metal sheep horn burns were used by farmers to create distinct markings on their flocks; or simply appreciating the incredible engineering feat of the dam builders, for its size, the museum punches way above its weight.

Do you remember riding on one of the odd 'horses' like the one in the photo? It's outside Nidderdale Museum. When I saw it, I was right back to childhood, with socks that wouldn't stay up.

12/04/2024

Again, please please do 'follow' our new page (by clicking on the link below, for 'Nidderdale Museum, Pateley Bridge').

Do you know anything about Miss Pateley Bridge?

We would love to hear from you if you have any memorabilia, photographs or information about the event and the winners.

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29/03/2024

Again, please please do 'follow' our new page (by clicking on the link below, for 'Nidderdale Museum, Pateley Bridge').

The Easter holidays have arrived, so the museum has broken tradition and will be open for the Summer season a little early.

The Museum will now be open Tuesday to Sunday 1.30 - 4.30 pm every day (except Mondays unless its a bank holiday). Visit Pateley Bridge in the morning or go for a walk in the surrounding beautiful countryside and visit the museum in the afternoon for a perfect day out with family, friends or just treating yourself.

❤️

18/03/2024

Again, please please do 'follow' our new page (by clicking on the link below, for 'Nidderdale Museum, Pateley Bridge').