Curate Your Own

C U R A T E Y O U R O W N

A multimedia arts project celebrating peoples stories through artefacts, words, audio, photography and moving image

Curate Your Own session at

The Place Café, Airedale

C U R A T E Y O U R O W NC O N T E N T S

Foreword 4

Introduction 5

Curiosities, Toys and Trinkets 8

Jewellery and Decorative 13

Sound, Musical and Moving Image 18

Everyday Objects 22

Photography and Art 32

The People’s Museum 46

This book is dedicated to the memory of Emily Harper,

fondly known as Little Em, who fell asleep 97 years young.

3

Museums are spaces where people can come

to get a sense of their place in the bigger

picture of history. Objects reflect back the

experience of our own lives, or those who’ve

lived before us, ensuring a continuum in a

larger society and culture. The artefacts

in a museum can trigger memories, like a

collective memory box, often validating

people’s own personal everyday experiences

as important and worthwhile.

For me, one of the highlights of the Curate

Your Own project was meeting the project

participants, many whom said they do not

visit museums very often, and seeing the joy

and excitement that the everyday objects on

display in our museum evoked in them. There

were moments of pure joy where faces lit up

while looking at objects, or handling items,

and memories were shared and celebrated.

Curate Your Own has beautifully captured a

sense of excitement and interest in exploring

Foreward John Whitaker

the importance of people’s own history. The

museum are pleased to have supported

One to One Development Trust in delivering

the Curate Your Own book, film and virtual

museum project.

The staff in all of the Wakefield, Pontefract

and Castleford Museums are here to welcome

you. We would like to invite you into the

museums to look, reflect, learn, enjoy quiet

time and answer any questions you may have.

John Whitaker

Curator

Wakefield Museum

“Memory is the diary we all carry about with us.”

- Oscar Wilde

The Importance of Being Earnest, 1895

Mary and Wendy enjoying the exhibits 4

Curate Your Own has been a wonderful

project working with people to create an

online virtual museum, a book and two short

films. The material has been gathered through

sessions in reminiscing, storytelling, film

making and photography run in community

venues. Participants brought along objects to

the workshops to talk about, which led to the

building of a collective memory box and that

became known as ‘The People’s Museum’.

Trips were organised to Wakefield and

Castleford Museums. Under the expert guide

of curators John Whitaker at Wakefield

Museum and Dave Evans at Castleford

Museum, the participants had fun hearing

about the collections and exploring their own

stories and memories in the context of the

museum collections.

Further contributions to the project were

gathered through social media by promoting

the collaboration between One to One

Introduction Judi Alston

Development Trust and Wakefield Museums

asking people to tweet, Facebook or text

photographs and stories about their special

objects. This encouraged a wider interest

in the project and a different cohort of

participants.

The People’s Museum is a creative,

experimental environment that is inspired by

the stories and artefacts that came forward

through Curate Your Own. We would like you

to join Poppy the museum cat, to explore it

online at your leisure. This book is a catalogue

of some of the items and stories available

from the online version of the project.

There is a fundamental inquisitiveness in

the human condition that enjoys hearing the

stories of other people and getting glimpses

into other peoples lives. Curate Your Own

celebrates these snap shots of life from the

everyday to the more curious.

Curate Your Own has encouraged its

contributors to take a moment out of their

normal routine, to stop, self-reflect and think

about an object that signifies something

special in their life, then creatively share its

story. Thank you to everyone who has taken

part in this project and supported it.

Judi Alston

Creative Director

One to One Development Trust

March 2014

5

Poppy who sadly passed away during the

project at the young age of 16 and inspired the

People’s Museum virtual cat.

A quirk of Natural History collections is that specimens

without ‘providence’ (i.e. those that lack background

documentation), are often of little scientific value and

consequently fall out of circulation in museum displays.

In 2009, shortly after completing a degree in Zoology, I

picked up some collections management work sorting

through several thousand zoological specimens which

had been languishing in a store room for over 50 years in

the biology department of my old university.

I found this specimen of a chameleon hidden behind a

bunch of ropey looking frog dissections and decided it

was a keeper. However, because it lacked the necessary

paperwork, the Professor overseeing the work decided it

could not be kept and would need to be ‘deaccessioned’

(museum speak for ‘chucked out’). In the end, though,

he decided to gift it to me as a reward for my hard work

on the project. I now work for an amphibian and reptile

charity and have used this specimen in a number of talks

on adaptation. I’m always happy when I get to do this

because, perhaps rather ironically for a long-dead lizard,

it feels like I have given the specimen a new lease of life!

Vanna Barber Chameleon

Bringing young and older members of the community together in Curate Your Own worked well. This communication between the generations builds a strong sense of community and cohesion. 68% of the participants said they ‘enjoyed spending time with people of different ages’.


Curiosities, Toys and Trinkets

“Makes my heart smile seeing the old folk light up over their past memories.”

Holly Ellis

6

I found him in a junk shop. Felt sorry for him.

Everyone hates him - I love him. I’ve rescued

him from the scrap yard.

Anne Thorley Doll

Hannah Furlong Pot Horse

I desperately tried to win this pot horse

on a tombola aged five but ran out

of money so the lady gave me him.

He became the first ever present I

gave to my grandma, who looked

after him until her last day... and

now he stands in my room looking

after me.

I got this item nearly 16 years ago after my

great nannan died. When I was young she

would tell me things about when she was a

little girl (she was born in 1904) and what a

rough life she lived. It’s special to me for two

reasons: firstly, it belonged to a very special

person who was loved by everyone and she

lived until she was 94! Secondly, it reminds

me about the different

times in history we

both grew up in, how

change has to happen

and that we have to

accept change even if

we don’t like it.

Rebekah Eyles Flower Girl

I have no idea where this doll came from,

she’s just always been with me. She reminds

me of my childhood and times when there

was no need to worry, just

time to play, that’s why

she means a lot to me.

This is Bonny Lad. My husband, Frank,

bought him for me when I was 32; we’d just

got married and were living in Scotland.

We moved with the pits as Frank was

a miner, Bonny Lad has always

come with us and lives at the

end of the fireplace.

Nancy Holme Scottish Decanter

I never had a dolly when I was little, we

couldn’t afford one. When my sister and

I were in our teens, my mother bought us

each a little celluloid dolly, I don’t think you

can buy them now. My mother knit all these

clothes and I have treasured this dolly my

whole life because she did it with her own

hands. I’m sorry she’s passed on now,

bless her.

Irene Hargreaves Doll

This clown doll is so special to me. My granny

and granddad had a craft business where

they made little peg dolls. My granddad

used to make the wooden parts and paint

their faces, and my granny would make their

clothes and hair. We’d spend hours helping

make them and have wonderful fond

memories of being little and helping

out at craft fairs. This doll takes me

back to a special place in my heart,

my grandparents instilled in

me a creativity and love

of making things.

Clair Mason Clown

8

Nancy at the Addy, Knottingley

The Three Wise Monkeys, ‘see no evil, hear no

evil, speak no evil’, belonged to my nan, then

to my Auntie Eileen, and then when she died,

my mum gave it to me.

From being very young I’d always been

fascinated by this ornament and now love

the representation it signifies across many

different cultures and centuries. I always

wondered which wise monkey I could be.

Judi Alston Three Wise Monkeys

When I was 14 or so, my local friends went

to the local school but I didn’t. I heard them

talking about a boy everyone fancied:

his name was John Mackie. There was

excitement one evening because we were

all going somewhere and he would be there.

He was about a year above us all at school.

I had never seen him but everyone else was

interested in him.

We went to the event and at

some point he came over, sat

down and started chatting – to ME!

He was cool and he wore John Lennon

specs.

He walked me home that night

and asked if we could go out the

following day. We went into town

together and he bought me this little

wooden Viking figure. Our romance didn’t

last very long, but it always felt sweet

that he took me out and bought me

Irene Rhodes Viking

something – despite the attention he was

receiving from all the girls at his school he

asked me.

That was 44 years ago. My little Viking

survives, missing one horn from his helmet

and his arm that was originally carrying a

spear. He is faded and his glue is all but

gone so bits of him are always

dropping off, but he survives.

He has never had a name

but my granddaughter

saw him for the first

time and said he

should be called David.

So let him be David. But

his surname will always

be Mackie.

10

Clair Mason CatsHere are my two bling

cats. I love them! I had

a massive cull of all my

things but these got to

stay. I love cats and my

two real cats have been my

constant companions for the

last 16 years.

My bling cats, well, they please

my eyes and heart. The way

they glimmer in the sun makes

me smile. I think I must have

been a magpie in a former

life because I am partial to all

things shimmery.

Doreen Zacharow Acrobatic Doll

My dad bought me this wind-up doll when I

was one, so she’s 78 years old now. I thought

she was great, although I was never allowed

to wind her up in case I broke her.

My mam stopped me playing with the doll

because my two sisters and I, and my mates,

used to go up on the Rec, where the swings

were, and climb up to try and do acrobatics

like the doll was doing. My mate finished up

with broken leg and a dislocated shoulder.

11

Members and volunteers of

The Addy Luncheon Club visit Wakefield Museum

Tracey Yates TeddyTeddy was made for me by my auntie. He

was a gift to me at my birth. This means

Teddy is now... cough... years old – which

I’m told is very good for a bear with very

little stuffing! He’s gone bald in patches

from being loved so much, and his nose is

dirty and stained, from years of having Vicks

VapoRub put on it whenever I had a cold.

Teddy went everywhere with

me: he has been on planes,

trains, boats, bicycles and

even roller-skates, usually in a

rucksack. Now he resides on the

top of my bookcase. He’s so

fragile these days and I worry

he may fall apart, but the

little girl in me is sad that

he isn’t hugged anymore.

Debra Atkinson DollTo make the hair my gran used to wind wool

round a knitting needle and then leave it a

little bit, before taking it off and chopping

it up for little curls.

My granddad used to paint the faces

and make the doll, then my gran used

to make all the clothes and things

on her sewing machine, like a little

pillow and things.

They used to go to craft-fairs,

and make scenes with props, like

old washing mangles, and have peg

dolls working on them.

13

This was my mother’s locket, I don’t know

where it came from but it has a foreign face

carved in it. I’m 91 so it must be over 100

years old. I got it when she died, and inside

there are photographs of my mum, and me

and my husband. He was in the Navy, we met

in Belfast but he was from Knottingley. My

mother loved him and this locket is what I

treasure most now.

A lot of participants said that they didn’t think anyone would be interested in their artefact or story. ‘You don’t want me to take a picture of this silly old thing do you?’; ‘Why are we filming this, no-one will be interested’ – but the rest of the group listened on expectantly saying, ‘Yes we are, come on!’

Jeanie Humphries Locket


Jewellery and Decorative

“It is wonderful for everyone to get together doing something different and a chance to reminisce.”

Shelly McIntyre

Amelia Treasure Bracelet

It’s a bracelet from my great gran. She was

struggling to pay the bills, so she started

getting lodgers, and then she had a really bad

accident where she fell off a bus and lost her

leg. She had to have a wooden leg put on.

She kept on with the lodgers and made a bit

of money and that’s how she bought this. It’s

not proper gold, but it has got maybe a little

bit in it…

14

Douglas Chance Medals

I was a coachman for the Queen, serving for

35 years. This is from the Queen herself, that’s

a personal medal, very few people get that

one. RVM – Royal Victoria Medal it was first

brought in by Queen Victoria. That one was

when I rode on the coaches on the Jubilee,

and that was after my first 20 years in service.

It was funny how I got the job – it was a bet.

I was in racing stables as a jockey and my

mate said, ‘I bet you 10 quid you can’t get an

interview for the palace’. I said

‘right, you’re on’. So I wrote for an

interview, expecting nothing at all, but I got

a letter from Buckingham Palace to go for an

interview.

There was a fella there called the Master of

the Horse, I used to go hunting with him and

my bosses when I was 14 years old. He was

with the Queen and, when he saw me in the

yard, he said, ‘Jingles!’

I turned round, and the Queen said to him, ‘do

you know him?’ He said, ‘yes, Ma’am’. She said,

‘why do you call him Jingles?’ He said ‘I gave

him that name when he was 14 years old, and

he used to hunt with me down on my estate

with Captain Gerald Balding’. Then the Queen

said, ‘I’ll always call him Jingles from now’. All

the years I was with her she always called me

Jingles.

15

My great grandmother was posthumously

charged with murdering her child when

she drowned herself and baby. This rosary

belonged to another daughter, my granny,

who also had a hard life. Her faith was her

comfort and I treasure this because it was her

fingers and thumb that smoothed away the

figure on the cross.

Helen Watkiss Rosary

Jeanette Homer MedalThis is my dad’s Carlsberg Trophy Darts

League Winner, 1971, Robin Hood & District.

He always wanted to be a professional darts

player – he never got there, but he won loads

of big trophies and went all round the country

playing at clubs.

Fran Campbell Jewellery Box

This is a little jewellery box that my son, Andy,

made me years ago. Much treasured. It has the

original cotton wool in which is yellowing a bit

now!

This medal has the Carlsberg logo on it. He

used to make his own flights out of paper,

folding them like origami – you used to make

your own and have them weighted, because

they’re all different weights.

16

Sarah from Airedale enjoying

the Men in the Mirror exhibition at Wakefield Museum

Wendy Gordon Necklace

This is my ‘head’ necklace which I bought

about 20 years ago. I’d like to say it was

from somewhere exotic but it’s from a shop

in Wells, although I believe it was carved in

South Africa. I fell in love with the serene look

on the head. It’s carved in an aromatic wood

which smells delicious when it gets warm.

I’ve worn it lots over the years and it has

accompanied me on many adventures.

I treasure it and it’s one of the few things I

own that I’d be heartbroken if I ever lost.

This is my Eumig Viennette Super 8 cine

camera that I bought at the age of 11 in 1976

for £105. I bought it from Tasker’s camera

shop in Barnsley. This was my second cine

camera as I had begun my filmmaking life

using a 1960s Bell & Howell standard 8

camera, but I soon outgrew that

one and needed something

with a little more

‘power’. To pay

for it I had two

paper-rounds

and worked in a

joinery on Saturday

mornings.

I had had an interest in making films

from an early age and was always

fascinated how television

programmes were made. I used

to build models of sets on my

bedroom windowsill, complete

with stage lighting, and pretend to

make TV shows. I filmed friends

Dean Hinchliffe Cine Camera

and family, I made animations using Plasticine

models and I filmed air-shows at RAF

Finningley. I didn’t film nearly as much as I

would have liked because each film cartridge

cost about £7.50 and was only three-and-

a-half minutes in

duration. I now

have a small

archive of our

early life to

look back on

and I have fond

memories of making

those short silent films. For

me, however, I think the most

important thing about this

camera is that it pretty much

defined how my life was

to pan out for the next

(nearly) 40 years as I

pursued a career making

films and working in the

media industry.

Curate Your Own has gathered artefacts, photos and recorded stories from a diverse range of participants, 17 to 97 years old. The collection spans nearly 150 years.


Sound, Musical and Moving Image

“It was very interesting and unexpected to see things that I knew about from my past.”

Emily Harper

18

I found him in a junk shop and felt sorry for

him. Everyone hates him – I love him. I’ve

rescued him from the scrap-yard.

Holly Ellis Xylophone

Lorraine Mitchell RecordMy dad used to like rooting round the second-

hand shops and I remember so clearly the

excitement of my mother when she found

this album and asked dad if she could have

it. I could only have been about 10 so this

was 44 years ago. We took it home and,

as soon as I heard it, I understood why she

loved Josef Locke so much. (He was an Irish

tenor who sang in operettas like The White

Horse Inn and Pirates of Penzance. On this

album he sings Violetta – the ‘Cornetto’ song

– in English and I’ll Take You Home Again

Kathleen, and When You

Were Sweet Sixteen). He

did his own orchestration

and the songs have

such drama in their

presentation. I played the

album recently and the

passion still brings tears

to my eyes. I feel it is the

one thing that identifies

the part of me that is my

mum.

19

My grandfather’s banjolele. He used it to

accompany himself whilst breaking wind.

True!

Tony Wade Banjo

Don Atkinson BBC Microphone The reason I treasure the AXBT microphone

is that it is the symbol of British broadcasting

and is the microphone used by past Kings

and statesmen, plus other famous people

in the BBC’s history. So many archive BBC

photographs of shows, like The Goon

Show, and others have this microphone in

prominence.

Fortunately I obtained it by swapping another

antique mic for the one in the picture. It

still works and sounds rich and round and

is a tribute to British manufacturing too.

The microphone was manufactured for the

BBC in the UK and is a type called a ribbon

microphone.

I suppose it is possible that someone like

Winston Churchill or King George VI may have

spoken into this one. I believe it came from an

outlet called BBC redundant stores who sold

off old BBC stock.

20

Sample Caption on Photo Trying on bloomers staff and volunteers from The Addy

The hot water bottle belonged to my nana

and granddad. It’s a reminder of childhood

visits to their house in the 1960s. They had an

outdoor toilet, no bathroom and no heating

in the bedrooms, but they were very happy

times.

Nana helped us bake scones and coffee

kisses. This was her measuring spoon.

Jacqueline Sharp Hot Water Bottle & Weighing Spoon

Colette Welby Clock

This is the clock that used to hang in our

lounge when I was growing up, marking the

passage of our lives. I used to imagine it

belonged on a ship... It no longer works and

the braid has frayed but still it tells me of a

time in my life, shared by those who are no

longer here.

Many of the project’s participants had not been to a museum before, or only ‘years ago as a child’. This engagement into the museum for local residents (and subsequently their families) is exciting, encourages aspiration and promotes confidence.


Everyday Objects

“What a great project, brilliant trip and opportunity to see new things, meet new people and enjoy a lovely time.”

Hannah Inanvschak

22

Terry Campbell Bowl

Doreen Zacharow Brass Bag

This bowl is very special to me – it brings

back lovely memories of my mum and dad

every time I look at it. For as long as I can

remember this beautiful and colourful bowl

was on display on the shelves at their house

in Halifax. I don’t know just when or how they

obtained it (or if it is of any monetary value),

though it must be very old now. It now has

pride of place in our home in Lincolnshire.

Once I went with a friend to her sister’s house

and we got talking about stuff, and she says

‘do you like handbags?’ I says ‘yes’, and she

says ‘I’ve got one you can have’. Well, I’d never

seen anything like it, I were 36. She opened

it up and I took it like and, when I used to

have it, I hung it up on a hook at the side of

my fireplace, and everybody passed remarks

about it. I had plenty of offers to sell it, but I

says no.My grandfather’s (Pop) shaving mug that

sat on their bathroom windowsill with his

shaving brush, razor and full of creamy white

soap. I can remember the smell. It was odd

to me as a child as my dad (the Hippy) had a

beard so didn’t shave and this represented

something I had no connection with – being a

girl – and from my Pop’s generation of ‘short

back and sides/clean shaven’. He always had

another shave Sunday evening when he and

nan went out to the pub and this was when I

often would see him using it. Now it sits in my

bathroom and connects me to him and his

generation.

Louise O’Neil Shaving Mug

23

A warm welcome from Wakefield Museum’s curator John Whitaker

25

Hazel Richardson A Letter

I found this with all my mum’s paperwork

after she died as she’d left it for me and my

sister. It’s her handwriting, and it’s a prayer

and a message. I’ve laminated it to try and

keep it in one piece, it was fading and getting

broken. It’s quite poignant

‘Dear Father, whose will it is that their

children should dwell in peace and unity, help

us to live bravely and cheerfully, and to show

loving kindness to all. Grant that we may do

the work that was given us with willing hearts

and give us the wisdom that we may find

happiness in the small things of life, and make

us faithful in all we do.

‘Farewell, dear children, my life is passed. I

loved you dearly to the last. Weep not for me,

nor sorrow take, but love each other for my

sake. Love, Mum.’

I don’t read it very often but that is something

that nobody gets their hands on that, that’s

mine.

Navigating over

Charles Waterton’s

famous caiman

Debra Atkinson Coupons & Badges

My gran used to save us all these coupons,

most of them expired in 1990, and these were

what we used to buy and sell.

We’d line our dolls up as customers, and

me and my sisters used to fight to be the

shopkeeper.

My granddad used little off-bits of wood to

paint up as sweets and put them in jars, and

we used to have my gran’s big scales, those

you had to put a weight on to weigh things.

We used to sell little badges, anything that we

could find to sell, like this I Love Wimpy party

badge and Naughty Uncle Wally & Wendy.

My dad found these shoes in the wall of an

old hospital that he was knocking down. I

think they are really old – apparently in the

olden days they used to put shoes into a

wall for good luck as a custom. What was

weird was when my dad got home he was

working on our house and knocked one of

our walls down and found a baby’s shoe

buried in the wall. It was really weird.

Mary Iverson Shoes

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Mary and Amelia sharing stories at The Place Cafe, Airedale

Jeanette Homer Crochet Patterns

It’s my grandma’s coffee grinder. I have no

idea how she got it but I do think it’s very old.

She was strict and very old-fashioned. All the

rules and manners that I learnt were more

from my grandmother than my mum. I used to

stay at my grandma’s a lot and I learnt to cook

with her.

Vicky Verster Coffee Grinder

Jeanette at

The Place Café, Airedale

I like crocheting because it’s colourful, making

blankets out of knit squares is a great idea as

it gets rid of all your scraps of wool, and it is

functional as well.

In the old days it gave us something to do

on winter nights, it used to take our mind off

being cold because we didn’t have central

heating. We had ice on the inside of the

windows. But now we can’t afford to put our

central heating on, so we’re making these

kind of things again.

28

The Barber’s Boy

Sarah Ellis Plate

Fran Campbell Bible

This is my very first Bible. My mum bought it

for me when I was 10 years old. It has lovely

coloured pictures in and, though pretty worn

now, it always reminds me of my mum.

I have a thing about spoons, I collect spoons.

Don’t ask why, just for some obscure reason

they appeal to me. I have about 200 at home

but I can pick them all out straight away.

Spoons are historical – when the grandkids

come they get them out, often they pick the

ones with the pretty pictures, and you can

indirectly teach them a little bit of history.

Hazel Richardson Spoons

This is a 1960’s cheap plate that came from

Woolworths, it was popular at the time. When

my daughters were little they used to eat their

tea off it. Now it hangs on the wall and is quite

iconic as a piece of retro chic.

29

Sarah exploring Wakefield Museum

Rachel Wilcox Plate

Martin YoungBook

A marvellous tome, and a recent acquisition

of mine in a ‘J.R. Hartley’ manner... a glorious

compendium that has been both in my life,

and out of it, over the decades. But I am

pleased to report that this first edition from

1936 is now firmly in my grasp, and so it will

remain. A most treasured item, indeed.

I’m a traditional barber and have been a

collector of male grooming items for 47

years. This is a famous dressing called

bear’s grease, and it came from the oil of

bears, a very repugnant smell that had to

have perfumes and oils added to it. This is

from 24 Old Bond Street, London, and it

cost 2 shillings and six pence.

This is a dessert plate from a tea set I

inherited from my grandma, Isabel. It’s called

Bird of Paradise and was made for Harrods by

the Plant Company in their Tuscan range.

She was given it as a wedding present when

she married Leslie in 1935. I am particularly

attached to it because my grandma taught

me to cook and to enjoy making ‘proper’ food.

Her anecdotes and recollections of food,

meals and recipes also prompted my love of

food history and collecting old cookery books.

Although they don’t get used very often, I do

occasionally use them when I make a real old-

fashioned high tea.

David GriceMale Hair Product

31

This is a screen print by Martin Young, bought at an art fair in Glasshoughton in 1996.

It was the first piece of original art I bought. I have continued collecting art ever since

and this print has always been on the wall in our houses.

Marcus Romer Billy Casper

Evidence of the impact of Curate Your Own has been gathered through evaluation, questionnaires and interviews. 76% of the participants from community venues said that they ‘wouldn’t have come to a museum if it hadn’t have been for the Curate Your Own trip’ and 96% said they ‘hoped to return with family or friends’.


Photography and Art

“Never been anywhere so magnificent!”

Harry Swallow

32

Douglas Chance Photograph - Queens Carriage

The Queen wouldn’t stand any clutter. If you spoke to her, you

spoke to her as down-to-earth, nobody taking the mickey, nobody

trying to be Jack the Lad. She’s too wise for that one.

I’m not used to smiling. We were never allowed to. You never smile

on State occasions.

Margaret Carr Photographs - Family

My niece took this photo of my brother just before he died. His

name was John Robertston and it’s the only photo I have of him.

My other photo is my great grandson, Noah Carr, who I’ve only

seen once. He has a little brother now, but I may never see him

as they live down south somewhere. I just wish them to be happy

and rich.

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Hazel Richardson Photographs - FamilyThis is my grandma, her surviving

brothers and all her sisters in about 1902.

Unfortunately, the two other brothers

died in the First World War. One was on

Her Majesty’s ship Good Hope during the

Battle of Corona, and it was blown up and

he didn’t survive. The other brother was at

Arromanches in the trenches and he never

came home. It is a very special picture – it’s

my family, and it means something. It’s not

often you see a whole family like that.

This is my mother, my grandma, my sister

and myself in Blackpool. We were going up

the Tower and I remember sitting on the floor

of the lift screaming, as I didn’t want to go.

I don’t do heights and I didn’t want to go up

the Tower – I still don’t like heights, even now.

I didn’t like Blackpool, I didn’t like the piers.

I could see down and they had to walk me

more or less from one end of the Golden Mile

to the other until they found proper steps. I

wouldn’t go down the wooden steps because

I could see through, and I would sit on the

promenade and scream.

Hazel at the Addy, Knottingley

Barbara Wells Photograph – Friends

This is me. I was born in Ferrybridge and it

was a proper village back then, I mean there

weren’t the motorways there are now.

I’m sat with my auntie’s dog, Blitz, a big

Alsatian – they wouldn’t allow that nowadays.

June Copely Photograph - Daughter

This is my daughter and the photo is about 49

years old. I took her to a studio in Pontefract

to have the photo taken.

I like this photo and the frame, which my

nephew’s wife bought for me for Christmas.

Sadly my nephew’s wife died of cancer a few

years ago.

Emily Cohoon Photograph – South Africa

My son-in-law and daughter work in this

village, he works in the mines. It’s my

granddaughter and me in the photo.

I’ve been nine times, the first time when we

were there, my husband died. It’s a gorgeous

country and I really like it, it’s beautiful but I’d

miss home too much to emigrate there.

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June and Sam sharing memories at Wakefield Museum

Helen Monks Wall of Photographs

Piccies of our family on my dining room wall, includes my

three, and goes back to my mother’s grandparents and my

hubby’s grandparents.

This is who we are, they watch over us while we eat.

We were really really lucky because at that time most people we

knew didn’t go on holiday they just did day trips. My Dad bought this

for a few pounds, it was like an old railway carriage but thats how

caravans looked back then.

That’s my Mum, my sister and my brother, and I don’t know where I

am. We used to walk from Sewerby on the sands down to Bridlington.

Once I found ten shillings that was brilliant, you know in those days, it

kept us going for the rest of the week.

Maureen Ward Photograph - Caravan

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Harry at the Addy, Knottingley

Harry Swallow Photographs - Cut Throat and Brimham Rocks

This is in the 1950s when I’d left the marines and I couldn’t live at

home as it felt like the walls were closing in on me. I hitchhiked all

over with my mate Dan who was an experienced axe man, then

we came across a timber merchant who took us to his yard. We

worked there for four years and our boss built us a hut.

Dan was a bit of an idealist. We both had ambitions of changing

the world, which turns out to be an impossibility. We had a lot of

adventures. This photograph is Dan giving me a shave. Cut-throats

aren’t as dangerous as you might think. You must keep it sharp on

a leather strop, up and down. If it’s blunt, then you’re liable to cut

yourself.

I started climbing as a schoolboy, but then the war came

along. I lost 18 years, not just ’cos of the war, but because

afterwards I couldn’t settle down. There’s nothing fake about

rocks, they take thousands of years to get to that stage,

eroded by wind and rain. I don’t think there’s any rock climbers

can actually tell you why they climb.

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Barbara Wells Photograph – Carnival

I was only about four and we had to walk

round in a circle while these ladies in the

middle picked out who they wanted to be

as the maids of honour. The other three girls

were all friends of mine from Ferrybridge,

they had been chosen and I thought ‘oh well,

that’s it, I’m not going to be chosen’, and then

I was called in. We went to the Carnival, we

were in a horse-drawn cart owned by Carter

Linley, we wore mauve, the Carnival Queen

was Sarah Bottomley, and they had a fish and

chip shop in Ferrybridge Square. That was

80 years ago and it was the first Ferrybridge

Carnival.

June Copely Photograph - Mother

I keep this photo at the side of my bed. It’s

my mother Ethel. Crampton was her maiden

name, and then Dickinson. She spent a lot of

her life in Goole because her grandparents

had barges on the canal and they used to do

the coal. She was born in 1892 and died when

she was 82. She was a lovely mother.

Looking at this brings my husband, Eric

Abbot, back to me and makes me feel happy.

We went to Eckington Hall with others for

a medieval banquet, where we ate the food

with our fingers and drank Mead out of these

container things. There were no knives and

forks, or anything like that, it was really good.

It’s 10 years since he passed away. I still miss

him, but you can’t do any other can you?

Mary Abbott Photograph - Banquet

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Emily Harper Photograph - Brother

He was a lovely lad, was our Tom. I think him and his mate were

both drunk when they went to Pontefract and joined up for the

army. My mother said ‘they shouldn’t have signed you on’ in

the state they were in. I know he was drunk because he came

home and my mam’s bed was down in the room, he got in the

bed and was sick at the side of it. I went in to see if he was all

right, stood in the sick, and fell down on my back. My mother

played hell with him. He got sent to India, got malaria and died

– he was too young and should never have gone. My mother

didn’t have the money to bring his body back to England.

I wish I’d got the money, I’d do it.

41

I love this photo of my gran, I think it was

the 1940s. What I love about it is the old-

fashioned nurse’s uniform, like a film star from

a Second World War movie.

Debra Atkinson Photograph - Gran

I was born in 1918 and this is my mum. She

was 64 when she died.

She kept us in order. She was much more

frightening than my dad ’cause if she was sat

at the table and you were doing ’owt wrong

she’d pick up a fork and she’d say ‘I’ll put four

holes in you’ and throw the fork, we used to

dodge.

Emily Harper Photograph – Mother

Gillian Cook Photograph – Self

This is a picture of me when I was four or five

years old. My sister did tap dancing. I was

always a tomboy, but my mum insisted that I

had a picture taken with a dress on – so that’s

my sister’s tap dancing dress with an extra

special big bow. It was taken in Featherstone

Square where I was born, in front of the pit

stacks in a two-up, two-down with eight kids

in it. We had an old-fashioned sideboard with

a posh cruet and wine decanter – never ’owt

in them, they were there for show. Probably

me mam put some sherry in when the vicar

came round.

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Gillian at The Addy, Knottingley

Tracey Yates PaintingI was learning about Hildegard of Bingen and

reading a book which suggested ways to pray

inspired by her spirituality. As I emptied my

mind, pictures and feelings began to form

inside me. The painting is a representation of

what I saw.

The painting is oil on board. It took several

weeks to complete as I had to keep leaving it

to dry in layers. I don’t really feel the painting

does justice to what I saw in my mind, I’m

just not that good an artist! In some ways

the painting has preserved the memory of

my ‘vision’, but in other ways it has diluted it...

I’m not sure how possible it is to capture the

intangible.

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Debra at The Place Café, Airedale

Step into the future and explore the

Peoples Museum, an experimental

exploration of new media technology.

This dream-like environment aims to create

a new experience for exploring storytelling

through different forms of media.

The Peoples Museum

A free download for PC and Mac computers,

the Peoples Museum features all of the

objects and artwork from this publication -

and more! - set inside a colourful and magical

gallery that you can freely wander around

using the keyboard and mouse. Accompanied

by Poppy the museum cat, you can browse

the museum’s treasures in your own time.

The Peoples Museum includes high quality

audio and video clips from the project as well

as a selection of dazzling artefacts created

in 3D.

www.curateyourown.co.uk

46

47Mary and Amelia relaxing in Wakefield Museum

www.curateyourown.co.uk

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