WEARDALE MUSEUM CELEBRATES 40 YEARS
By David Heatherington
THE Weardale Museum: Looking Back over 40 years : Part 1 Told by founder member David
Heatherington 18th May 2025 marks the 40th anniversary of the opening of The Weardale Museum.
How did the story begin? It all began with Bill Proud, a retired miner from West Blackdene who
had a wonderful collection of minerals which he enjoyed taking to shows and village halls around the
region in the back of his Morris Minor van. Bill a keen lover of local history and an admirer of William
Morley Egglestone had helped set up the Weardale Field Study Society in 1979 and he led on topics
to do with geology. Bill’s wife Jean who supported him in his interests was the Society Steward at
High House Chapel which in 1983 was receiving a make-over by The Community Task Force.
The chapel was being spruced up but what was to become of the old manse next door which had
stood empty for several years after the last caretaker’s had it condemned. The Task Force could not
work on somebody’s house. One evening as Bill and Jean sat chatting about the situation Bill said “It
would make a nice little museum”.
And so the idea was born and what the great Weardale Historian William Morley Egglestone failed
to achieve in 1901 Bill was able to achieve in 1985, a Museum for Weardale. Bill was not a Jonathan
Ruffer, a rich philanthropist with a vast fortune to spend but he shared the same sense of vision
about preserving the heritage of his beloved Weardale.
He was fortunate that Rev David Nixon and Maurice Makepeace from High House Chapel strongly
supported the idea and though there were others from the church who disapproved worrying that
their chapel would become a museum piece the idea found favour.
A public meeting was called for 13 January 1984 in Ireshopeburn Institute to discuss the setting
up of High House Chapel Museum. Nineteen attended and a committee of eleven was appointed to
take the scheme forward. Bill would at last be able to get his mineral collection out of his garage and
the back of his van and find a proper home for it.
The group started off with no money and for that first 18 months was often in debt but they had
been gifted a building ( terms to be decided) and labour from the Community Task Force to bring the
building into use. Without these two key ingredients none of it could have happened.
While grant applications were written there was a need for ready cash. Donations were sought in
cash and in kind and a Friends scheme set up but the main source of income was from Community
events. – photo exhibitions, coffee evenings, Agricultural Show trade stands , slide shows, oven
bakes, music evenings , film shows, craft fairs, organ recitals, talks, – no other organisation could get
a look in.
Despite all of these activities we often ran out of money and depended on loans first from the
bank and then from Trustees. The 17 months leading up to opening were hectic , there was so much
to do and the Trustees were meeting every two weeks.
The Community Scheme had to be renegotiated to include the manse building, permissions had
to be sought with Methodist Church, deeds and lease drawn up, plans for the layout to prepare,
planning permission for a change of use, charity status to apply for, solicitors and bank accounts to
organize.
While the Task Force was preparing the fabric of the building different members of a sub
committee were tasked with planning the stories to be told and building a collection. Apart from Bill
Proud’s wonderful collection of cased minerals we had nothing else by way of a collection.
Old artefacts were not easy to come by as Beamish which opened in the early 70s had harvested
a good many of them. Bill Proud would organize a Lead Mining & Quarrying section, Ian Forbes had
old Farming implements he could give, Ken Fairless was our Railway man, Fred Peadon would tell the
story of Burnhope Reservoir, Barbara Backhouse and Nellie Dawson would tell the story of High
House Chapel, Peter Bowes would create models to tell how the Weardale Forest was cleared and
Gertie Wilkinson would lead a team to create a domestic kitchen.
There were no computers, no world wide web, no email or social media to take news to the
people, but there was a good network of regional newspapers with dedicated local reporters and a
strong readership . Posters were more commonly used and community events were a good way of
spreading local news by word of mouth.
At the end of January 1985 The Community Task Force handed over the empty shell of the
building to the Museum Trustees for refurbishing and thoughts turned towards Opening Day, but a
few days later, on 11th February, we recorded the sad death of Trustee Secretary and Project Leader
Maurice Makepeace. A bitter blow.
A Victorian kitchen range rescued from a cottage in West Blackdene was installed as the
centrepiece around which Gertie would design her domestic kitchen scene. A system of electric
storage heaters was fitted to the building. Joiners at the local cement works set to work to build and
then fit over 20 metres of bench and cabinet furniture. 30 metres of display boarding to cover the
walls had to be erected.
Even as invites were being sent out for an official opening on 18th May we were painting walls
and display boards, fitting locks to cabinets, writing by hand the captions and descriptions which
would accompany photographs and objects.
At last Opening Day arrived and over 300 guests and visitors attended. A special service was held
in the chapel after which everyone adjourned to the car park where David Bellamy (the well known
botanist and TV personality) cut the tape with the help of Joe Rowell a Friend from the south coast
and Sarah Bennett an 8- year-old school girl from St John’s Chapel. Guests took it in turn to visit the
Museum, listen to Pudding Poke Buskers entertain them in the chapel or enjoy refreshments at the
neighbouring Rancho Del Rio.
It was a fantastic and exhilarating day but I have a special reason for remembering 18 May 1985.
At the end of all the commotion I asked Jean Coulthard to be my wife and she said yes.
(Part 2 coming soon….)
