On Sunday September 15, the Friends of Haworth Art Gallery took part in this event. It was part of the National Heritage Week events across the country. The theme was Routes, Networks, Connections.
We had some artefacts out of the gallery stores which had come from Russia, China, Ireland and Vienna. Guests to the gallery were invited to place a dot on maps of the UK and the world showing where they or their family originated. There were quite a few stories of family members uprooting, with many settling in Lancashire. The Russian icons amazed visitors and we used the occasion to fundraise to have these conserved. Also on display was the 1921 photograph album of the gallery – again many people were interested and surprised how little the house had changed. We had out the replica album that one of our members had done, so the photographs could all be viewed without having to touch the original.
Our usual heritage games were well used, as was the puppet theatre. The tombola and the bottle stall attracted lots of people, as did the Guess the Name of the Teddy. The ukulele lessons in the Billiard room proved popular as did the picnic lunches served by the gallery kitchen.
A most enjoyable day and there was lots of positive feedback from visitors. It was int1resting that quite a few visitors were new to the gallery and, along with the good comments, people said they would be coming again so when was the next event? It was the last day of the current exhibition too, so it was another opportunity to view the paintings.