High House Chapel
Musings from the Curator
Travelling today from Durham to Liverpool to attend a dementia
training course at the House Of Memories and that almost 3 hour
trip gave me precious time to let my mind wander (anybody
remember a Beatles song?) We are coming up to an incredibly busy
period in the next 12 months whilst we strive to garner the funds
from various sources, prepare the stories we want to tell, check our
artefacts and probably the most stressful – create new displays and
place them in the Museum so that they make sense. Hoping to give
our visitors a sense of what it is to be living and working in the dale
throughout history.
We have a small team of incredibly passionate volunteers who have
no recognisable qualifications in heritage. They are resilient and
talented and take on tasks that would probably daunt most
professionals, but we are going to be stretched to the limit and will
need every ounce of resilience and strength. So anyone out there
that can help please do so!
After that heartfelt appeal it is interesting to note that the stories are
coming together, the layout of the Museum is beginning to appear
out of the dust of construction. I am starting on the Kitchen and
Bedroom areas in the old manse building with plenty of ideas of how
to convey what it must have been like in the late 1800s to live in the
dale. For instance, the railway had not reached Wearhead, so the
choice of fuel for the range would have been either peat or wood.
We still need a bed and coverings from that period but that brings
another problem or should I say a ‘solution in disguise’; where to
store it. .
The travelling time has allowed me to start to define what is unique
about our Museum.
We have the Methodist Tapestries – a fantastic collection of
‘tapestries’ created mainly by amateurs but with unbelievable talent;
We have our family history collection with nearly 80,000 records
detailing the life and times of Weardale Folk (we do indeed include
Tow Law in our records);
3 of 23
We have an unique organ that is taking on a life of its own and
creating excitement within the organ fraternity;
We have a kitchen and bedroom, which from 1985 to now has been
a handling collection and so it will continue;
We are also housed in a 1760 Methodist Chapel with over 250
years of history (the first in Weardale and one of the oldest in the
world) allowing us to tell our visitors how Methodism brought social
reform and led to the formation of the Cooperative Movement,
Unions and the Labour party.
If that wasn’t enough we are about to start on another exciting
journey as we recreate the railway terminus at Wearhead in OO
gauge. This will be both a static and a functional exhibit where we
can explain how a railway terminus worked and show how the
arrival of steam changed the dale. When combined with our Lego
models they will prove to be a draw for ‘boys’ of all ages.
So time to wrap up my thoughts here in a room in Liverpool –
missing the Dale.
Best wishes and keep healthy.
Mike (Curator) Weardale Museum
Where Next? The Journey Con�nues…
With the fifth phase of restoration and refurbishment of High House
Chapel and the adjoining Manse almost complete, you might
imagine that the Trustees and volunteers could pause for breath.
Not quite!
Our attention is already turning to the next crucial stage: checking,
double-checking and, no doubt, triple-checking the remaining works
needed to complete this remarkable transformation, while at the
same time planning how our five-fold expanded Museum will look,
feel and welcome its first visitors.
There is still much to do. Progress towards opening remains largely
dependent upon securing the external funding needed to complete
the project, so we cannot yet confidently put a date on the moment
when we will finally open the doors. What we can promise is that
we are doing everything we can to make that day a reality.
And there is a great deal to look forward to. The completed project
will include a nearby car park, while the Chapel’s original car park
will become home to a Changing Place facility and new Visitor
Centre replete with modern input and output facilities and providing
the main entrance to the transformed Museum.
What began as a three-year project is now in its seventh year, with
Covid being the principal cause of delay. It has undoubtedly been a
demanding, challenging and, at times, tiring journey. But it has also
demonstrated just how much can be achieved through
determination, resilience and the extraordinary commitment of our
volunteers and supporters.
From the restoration of an important historic building to the creation
of a much larger Museum, every completed phase takes us another
step closer to welcoming people back through the doors.
There are challenges still ahead, particularly the continuing task of
raising the funds we need. But we have come far too far to stop
now.
To everyone who has supported the Museum, volunteered their
time, encouraged us, donated or simply continued to believe in what
we are trying to achieve: thank you. You are part of this journey too.
The journey continues and, with your help, so will the
transformation of Weardale Museum
Volunteering
While the museum is closed we are still working to keep the
museum alive. Volunteers can help in many ways so if you have
some time to spare, no matter how little contact us: volunteer
coordinator
Trustees
The museum charity is managed by a board of trustees. With more
work to do as the museum develops there is a need for more
trustees, some with specific expertise.
The most important role which is vacant on the board of trustees is
that of secretary.
This trustee will provide legal advice about charity law and the
development of the business associated with the charity.
For other trustees an enthusiasm for local heritage is the main
requirement with a commitment to working towards the opening of
the new Heritage Centre. Help with any of the volunteering roles
would also be very welcome.
Exhibitions
We host exhibitions as an outreach event usually taking tapestry
panels and a shop. Tasks associated with these events include
Transport to and from the venues
Setting up the exhibits and shop
Stewarding -talking to visitors about the tapestry project and the
museum, past, present and future.
Taking payments for the shop
Packing up the exhibits and shop
Pre event publicity, posters, social media, The Hub, Stanhope
window
Marketing
We need to keep the local population, existing volunteers and all our
followers informed about the museum restoration and it’s future. If
you have marketing experience, particularly modern methods of
communication through social media you could be a great help.
We would like to have more coverage in local press or broadcast
media. Can you write a press release that will grab the attention of
journalists?
Retail
We want to have a great retail offering when the museum reopens
with locally made goods. If you know lots of local crafters or makers
and would be able to recruit them to be one of our suppliers then
talk to us about volunteering.
Family History
Do you remember Dan Snow’s brilliant 2016 TV series “Operation Gold Rush”?
In the back cupboard of our family history resources we have our own Gold Rush story, it is that of John
Wilkinson of St John’s Chapel. He is mentioned in John Lee’s book as having made his fortune during the
1897 Gold Rush in the Klondike and he was already known to us because a founder member of the Museum, Gertie Wilkinson was married to Randolph, John’s grandson.
A few years ago it came to our notice that Eric Wilkinson, Gertie’s nephew and John’s great grandson
Gertie in the cottage kitchen had created a Powerpoint Presentation about his great grandfather’s adventure, would the Museum be interested in having it printed. For the last few weeks I have been working with Eric to produce a book.
Not to give too much away John Wilkinson, a young man made redundant by the lead mining collapse, left
Weardale, his wife and two infant children in 1881 to seek his fortune in the USA. Working as a coal miner near Vancouver in 1896 he and three other young men decided to go prospecting for gold in the Yukon. They arrived just as a huge discovery triggered off the Gold Rush of 1897 and within a year they had made a fortune.
The story is rich in details of the trials they endured and full of amazing photographs taken at the time of their adventure.
Introducing
www.weardaleatwar.org.uk
It has taken a few years to develop but with much appreciation to Allan Dyer, our IT consultant, this new “Weardale People” website has now gone live.
With content now being added by Les Blackett and members of our Family History Service Team, the site will eventually hold details of every Weardale service person who lost their lives in conflict.
Initially WW1 casualties are being entered. Eventually all conflicts will be accessible.
If you can contribute any additional information please contact
Tapestries waiting to be mounted and framed
Our tapestries advisor Tracy who receives the finished tapestries from our embroiderers and mounts them ready for framing has had a very busy year after moving house and with all of her commissioned work and teaching commitments. We hope to get them on display next year.
Presentations and Exhibitions
2026 has been a busy year for exhibitions and talks while our chapel is undergoing restoration.
Our volunteers have clocked up many miles and many hours in the process and we thank them
for their service.
Our talks have taken us to Howden le Wear, Chester le Street, Eaglesfield, Kirk Merrington, Hexham, Summerhouses, Dunbar and Bishop Auckland while Exhibitions have been staged at Chester le Street, Gateshead, Blanchland, Ushaw House, Allenhead, Lanchester and St John’s Chapel.
2027 promises to be much the same.
We have been asked to talk to Alnwick Creative Stitchers and exhibit at Ben Rydding (Ilkley).
We are aware that our Collection is in demand further afield and Ben Rydding is a journey too far for our volunteers to handle.
However we are developing a LOANS policy for the Tapestries where the venue bears the costs of packaging, collection / return and transport of the Tapestries.
This is a new venture for us and we are keen to see how it works out.
Textiles in the Weardale
Museum by Sue Hinde
Note ‘textiles’ in the title of this piece. Although I am concentrating a lot of effort on
quilting, I am not forgetting the other important textile skills and crafts that occupied the (mainly)
women when not engaged in all the other domestic, food production and home making
etc. tasks which were all crucial in supporting the family and ensuring the wage earner got to
work every day.
In the new museum there will be a small area dedicated to ‘quilting-in-the-frame’ (see later),
but all the other textiles will have their place and be celebrated
equally. I envisage a ‘textile trail’ which will encourage visitors to go to all corners of the new
museum and manse in search of the different ones. I also envisage offering or organising workshops in the various techniques where we can learn about them and experience them
for ourselves.
Watch, as they say, this space ….
“Quilting in a Frame”
“The process of stitching together by hand, soft wadding sandwiched between two fabrics, in elaborate, often regional, ‘quilting’ patterns which create a textured, quilted, and hardwearing surface for bed coverings and clothing textiles.
This ‘quilting’ traditionally universally utilised a flat wooden quilting frame which facilitates a unique ‘rocking stitch’, a sewing method where the needle is balanced rather than held, which generates
characteristic small and even stitches.
This craft is of cultural importance to a wide range of groups in the UK, but particularly to working class women in rural communities, Methodist and non-conformist religious communities in England and
Wales”. (Heritage Crafts)
CRITICALLY ENDANGERED
If there were no longer any pandas in China we would be shocked, sad, dismayed, perhaps even horrified.
But this is the situation we have in Weardale!! Not pandas, of course, but with North Country quilting – traditionally known in the Dale as Durham Quilting*.
Traditional Durham quilting – created by people like Elizabeth Sanderson, Amy Emms, Florence Fletcher, Mary Lough, Elsie Walton, Dorothy Osler, Lillian Hedley over the last 120 years (and before) and worked with the rocking stitch on a wooden flat frame is now rarer than pandas.
Bizzarrely, patchwork and quilting is quite popularly undertaken today by individuals for pleasure and ‘facsimilie’ Durham quilting style quilts can be made with free motion and long arm electric sewing machines – but the traditional hand craft has all but disappeared and Heritage Crafts has it red listed as critically
endangered.
Is there anyone left in the Dale doing it? Certainly not according to Heritage Crafts data, and there is literally only a small number – less than half a dozen – doing it, teaching it and keeping it alive, across the country.
Weardale Museum is therefore in a strong and unique position to develop as a centre of knowledge, inspiration and expertise (I am cautious of using the term excellence- that might come in time) as is my
ambition.
This can be built around the real people who lived in, and who made Weardale (in my view) the spiritual home and the actual home of Durham quilting (I am sure other areas might argue with this, but I am sticking to my opinion!) Where else can people go once they have read the excellent books, watched the YouTube clips and seen the lovely quilt collections at Bowes, Beamish, the Quilters Guild etc. – to touch, feel, physically
experience and emotionally connect with the real thing?
Unfortunately, it looks like the museum might be closed for nearly another year, so 2027 is going to see us have a bit of a ‘quilt fest’ throughout the Dale with half a dozen events planned. Some of
these events will also feature the other textile skills – more in the next newsletter. If you are interested to find out more, be involved, have any stories or connections with the traditional quilters or are
interested in the other home crafts that were done, please get in touch with me
(Note – The academic debate as to whether it is ‘North Country’ or
‘Durham’ quilting is for another time)
PS: In the Spring newsletter we featured the ‘mystery quilt’ and we
thought we had a bit of a possible lead. Unfortunately, so far, that
has not come to anything – but the quilt itself is a great discussion
item and will be used for workshops.
I am also delighted to say that we have ‘found’ (they were not actually lost, but were unknown to some of us) 3 quilted alter cloths which were made by Amy Emms. We are hopefully going to be able to celebrate this heritage with these churches.
We are also discovering other traditional quilters that we hope to celebrate along side of Amy Emms – some earlier (much earlier) and some later, which demonstrates how deep this heritage goes.
Could You Help Secure the Museum’s Future?
As we look forward to an exciting new chapter for Weardale Museum, we are also thinking much further ahead: how can we help ensure that the Museum remains secure for our children,
grandchildren and generations still to come?
One idea we are exploring is a Weardale Museum Endowment Fund. Rather than being spent immediately, donations to an endowment can be invested to provide continuing support for the
Museum over the long term.
Anyone could contribute. It might be a small personal gift, a donation in memory of someone who loved Weardale, a legacy left in a will, or a larger contribution from a family, business or charitable
supporter.
Over time, those individual gifts could grow into something very special: a permanent fund dedicated to helping protect Weardale’s heritage and keeping its stories alive.
Perhaps the greatest legacy we can leave is ensuring that the story of Weardale continues to be told.
WEARDALE MUSEUM
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING – ONLINE
Monday 23rd November 2026
1900 – 2000
AGENDA
Apologies for absence
Matters arising
Chairman’s report including – Adoption of Annual Report
Treasurer’s Report – Acceptance of Annual Accounts as examined by Allen
Sykes, Accountant
Museum Trustees
12 Trustees have indicated their willingness to stand for re-election:
Phillippa Rowe – Chair; John Jackson – Treasurer; Mike Beer – Curator; Allan
Percival – Development Lead; John Norman; Dr Owain Gardner: Phillip Newbold;
William Wilson; Susan Hinde, Richard Lawrie; Prof. Sarah Austin; Daniel
Blackett.
Appointment of up to 3 Trustees and Further Nominations
Reports by Mike our Curator, David our Methodist Tapestries Collection Designer & Artist
Phil our Phase 5 Restoration Site Manager, Allan our Development Lead
Any Other Business
The Weardale Museum is inviting you to its Annual General
Meeting.
Time: Nov 23, 2026 07:00 PM
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89339979195?
pwd=nKjztA5JDglTGkSo1q4ElxQQWExN3q
Meeting ID: 893 3997 9195 Passcode: 545553
