Nidderdale Museum

Nidderdale Museum stands in Pateley Bridge, a market town set in the Yorkshire Dales. It occupies a former workhouse built in 1863, now filled with displays about rural life. The building itself is part of the town’s history, once used by Ripon and Pateley Bridge Rural District Council. The museum is run entirely by volunteers, with two hundred members supporting its work. It opened in 1975 after local enthusiasts gathered to preserve Nidderdale’s past. Bernard Jennings, editor of *A History of Nidderdale*, became one of its first trustees. In 1990 it won the National Heritage Museum of the Year Award for its resourceful exhibits. More recently, in 2017, its volunteers received the Queen’s Award. Visitors find eleven rooms arranged around themes like agriculture, transport and costume. A Victorian schoolroom, cobbler’s workshop and lead mining tunnel recreate earlier times. There is also a 1930s hairdresser’s shop, a general store and a parlour. A reference library holds books on local history and family research. The displays show how people once lived and worked in Nidderdale.