Cliffe Castle

I'm loving being retired and able to visit all sorts of interesting places during the week. I'm determined to make the most of the many free attractions locally. One such is the museum called Cliffe Castle in the nearby town of Keighley. (Say that: Keethley!) I thought I'd written about it before on this blog but I can't find any posts... an omission indeed, as it is a very interesting place packed full of exhibits.

It has to be said that the building isn't the most attractive, to my eyes anyway, and the surrounding park has seen better days. It has some lovely trees but little else to recommend it. The local council have invested recently to improve the interior of the museum and, judging by the work going on, they are putting some effort now into the grounds, so things may improve.

Cliffe Hall was originally a mansion, built around 1830 in the ornate Gothic revival style beloved of the Victorians. It was bought in 1848 by the Butterfield family, who had been renting it. Henry Isaac Butterfield set about extending and transforming it by adding a ballroom, towers (one later demolished) and a conservatory, renaming it Cliffe Castle in 1878. Henry's granddaughter eventually inherited the mansion. As she had married and become the Countess of Manvers, she lived in an even grander home at Thoresby Hall in Nottinghamshire. Many of Cliffe Castle's furnishings were taken there. She really had no need of the Keighley property. She eventually sold it to Keighley Corporation in 1949 and it became a museum.

The Butterfields of Cliffe Castle

The Victorian owner of Cliffe Castle, Henry Isaac Butterfield (see above), was a wealthy industrialist whose family originated in this area. They had woollen mills locally and extended their business interests to America. In 1854, Henry married Mary Roosevelt Burke, a relative of Theodore Roosevelt. (He was 35 and she was just 16.) They actually lived mostly in France but that didn't stop Henry from expanding his mansion here and later his son Frederick used it as his principal home. They gave lavish and very formal dinner parties, as was fashionable at the time. The house was stripped of personal assets when it was sold to Keighley Corporation in 1949 and ceased to be used as a home. However, descendants of the family have recently bequeathed some of the furniture and fixtures back and they have been reinstated, among them the amazing green malachite fireplace shown below. Some of the downstairs rooms are arranged much as they would have been when the family used them. They are very ornate and packed full of precious items, as most well-to-do Victorian homes were. The photo above, taken in 1895, is almost life sized, sited through a door, and it all very much gives the impression that this is a home and the family are gathered in the conservatory (the 'Winter Garden') for a photograph!

Cliffe Castle's main entrance

Cliffe Castle's glasshouse

In Victorian and Edwardian times, when Keighley's Cliffe Castle was the home of the Butterfields (see my earlier post here), it was famed for its extensive glasshouses, in which they grew fruit and exotic plants. They fell into disrepair in the 1920s and only a small area was conserved. Recently, the whole park has been improved and restored, thanks to Heritage Lottery funding. Among the works has been a huge project to build new glasshouses, informed by plans, paintings and old photographs of the originals. Part of these is now an airy café and the rest holds plants and displays. The old aviary has also been restored.

It will look better when the planting gets established, but it is a vast improvement on what was here before.

The glasshouse holds a large collection of fly-eating plants, Sarraceniaceae, which are native to the wetlands of SE USA. With the bright sunlight shining through them, they looked rather attractive.

The aviaries hold a few cockatoos and other small birds, and some guinea pigs too. They, along with the rather nice adventure playground, make the museum and park an attraction for families with small children. I thought the little fellow below was quite attractive, though the birds are not easy to photograph due to the mesh screens that are necessary to prevent little fingers getting nipped.

Cliffe Castle park

A friend of mine, Ann Davies, has just had an exhibition of her paintings at Cliffe Castle, Keighley. (Click the link to see them.) She's made detailed studies in pen and watercolour of the glasshouses there, which have recently been rebuilt. I went along to see the exhibition just before it closed and also had a lovely stroll round the newly renovated grounds.

The carpets of pale mauve crocuses looked very pretty and were proving an attraction both for little girls and dogs to run through! They will soon look a bit squashed at that rate.

The museum used to be a grand mansion belonging to the Butterfield family (see HERE for more about that) and some of the features in the grounds have recently been restored as they were in Victorian times. There are elaborate lamp-posts and a rediscovered fountain and fishpond that had at one time been filled in.

The park has some beautiful mature trees and good views from the perimeter across the Aire valley.

Cliffe Castle Park's refurbishment

It seems a long time ago now but when I was fairly

newly retired, I visited a local museum in Keighley called Cliffe Castle. At that time it was undergoing extensive work in the grounds (see here). I've been meaning to go back to see what they did to it and I managed to fit in a visit one day over the summer, when it was very hot and I didn't want to travel too far.

Some of the work has involved recreating a replica of the Victorian lake and fountains in the grounds. (Rather green with algae, due to the hot summer). They had been removed in the mid 20th century. They have also improved the steps and terraces. Sadly, even though the work has only been finished for a few months, many of the decorative urns reinstated on the plinths have been vandalised. It's both shocking and annoying that some people seem to think it fun to spoil things. Rather sad.

Random treasures of Cliffe Castle

Cliffe Castle Musuem in Keighley has to be my all-time favourite museum. It is crammed full of all sorts of quirky treasures, so many that it would take a lifetime to really see them all. Some of the rooms are furnished as they would have been when the house was a Victorian mansion, home to the Butterfield family. Then there is huge gallery full of stuffed birds, reptiles and animals, a relic of Victorian times that could and would not be replicated nowadays but that I find, nonetheless, absolutely fascinating. You can, for instance, get a close view of the exquisite markings of a barn owl's feathers, realise how large our naturalised brown hare is and see the delicate skeleton of a snake.

Then there are wonderful geology specimens: rocks and crystals with subtly gorgeous colours and intricate structures. Then still more human handiwork: paintings, ceramics, textiles, clothes, stained glass, tools... so much to marvel at. The displays range from the traditional glass cases to much more interactive, colourful and user-friendly exhibits, with many geared to young people. It's a real treasure-trove.

This colourful exhibit is a timeline, exquisitely embroidered as a collage/tapestry, with a rainbow display of related exhibits in the glass domes.

Nearby is this glassy-eyed creature. I forgot to note exactly what it is but I think it may be a coleocanth. Yikes!

Can you believe your eyes?

If you're local, do please consider visiting Cliffe Castle museum to see Ilkley Camera Club's exhibition, starting this Saturday April 29th until July 16th. (Museum opening times here). I have three prints on show. There are also talks/slideshows by some of our members on Saturdays:

6th May – Keith Allen

Planet Earth and its wonderful birdlife – a photographic tour

20th May – Nick Hodgson
Around the World in 80 Images – my passion for travel photography

27th May – Peter Farmer LRPS
Glorious Churches – getting the best from your camera

3rd June – Sharon & Tim Sawyer
Our Workflow using Lightroom & Photoshop

17th June – David Stradling
My photographic journey from Landscapes to Portraits

24th June – Richard Spurdens DPAGB EFIAP/GOLD
Portrait Photography – using Lightroom to process portrait & fashion images

1st July – Len Downes
Band Aid – overcoming the problems of Gig Photography

15th July – Larry James
Composition

We've had to move to Keighley as the Manor House museum at Ilkley, where we've always had our exhibitions before, has closed down. Cliffe Castle is a very interesting place in its own right though and well worth a visit. Our exhibition coincides with a display on Fairy Folklore, exploring local tales and beliefs about the fairy folk, including the Cottingley Fairies. The first photo of these 'fairies' was taken in 1917. To celebrate that centenary, part of our exhibition shows photos we entered into a competition called 'Can you believe your eyes?', which includes photos that are not truthful but look as though they are, and some that are truthful but look so odd that you could think they are fabricated.

In the glasshouse

A Bird of Paradise plant, Strelitzia reginae. You can see how they got their name! 

The extensive glasshouses at Cliffe Castle were rebuilt as part of the recent renovations, and follow a similar plan to the original Victorian ones. It was fashionable for well-to-do Victorian gentry to have glasshouses on their estates for growing exotic plants and fruit, and the Butterfields' were more vast and ostentatious than most. The planting now is lush and exotic and there is a whole shed full of cacti and succulents, which look extremely well cared for. I'm not a huge fan of them but, looking at those on display, I was actually fascinated by the many different shapes, sizes and intricate structures. I began to understand their appeal to collectors.

William Morris & Co

One of my favourite exhibits in Cliffe Castle Museum is the display of William Morris & Co stained glass rescued from various local mansions and churches. It's exquisitely detailed and wonderfully rich in colouration. I particularly love the pre-Raphaelite style faces.

William Morris and his fellow Arts and Crafts designer Edward Burne-Jones set up a company to undertake stained glass commissions, in the latter part of the 19th century. After their deaths just before the turn of the century, work was continued by John Henry Dearle, who had worked for the company for many years. The company ceased soon after the outbreak of WWII, after Dearle's death.

The panel above, dated 1921, showing angels with harps, came from a war memorial in Temple Street Methodist Chapel. (My apologies for the unavoidable reflections bottom left.) The panel below, part of a larger window showing the crucifixion of Christ, depicts Jesus welcoming and blessing children. It's by Burne-Jones, dated 1871, and came from St James Church, Brighouse, which was demolished in 1971.

Ilkley Camera Club exhibition

I was delighted to be able to go and view our (Ilkley) camera club's exhibition at Cliffe Castle, Keighley. (It's on until 14 July.) We have some extremely good, creative members, and there is some stunning work on display. Everyone can be justly proud of the exhibition, I think. Special thanks to all those who were involved in choosing the hanging order of the prints, as they look really good in their groupings. I'm always surprised at how smart my own photos look once they're printed, mounted and framed. I'm by no means one of the best photographers in the club but I continue to be excited and inspired by my membership; there's so much to learn and enjoy. We don't have weekly meetings in the summer but we have arranged a number of club outings, so hopefully I'll be able to share some of the fruits of my involvement in those.

All the photos I've entered in the exhibition have appeared on my blog at some point, but here are the majority of them again. In the photo above, mine is The Reedbed (bottom left).

Ilkley Camera Club Exhibition 2019

Local people, may I warmly invite you to visit 

Ilkley Camera Club's biennial exhibition, 

in Cliffe Castle Museum, Keighley 

from 4 May - 14 July. 

It's free and open during the museum's normal hours (see HERE). I have several prints exhibited, alongside all the wonderful work from my fellow members. 

Club members are also offering a series of 90 minute workshops, at 12 noon on eight weekend dates, as shown below. These are a great opportunity to learn and improve your own camera and processing skills. Also free. 

You may also like to note that there is an exhibition of photos by the Yorkshire Photographic Union in

Bingley Arts Centre, from 5-19 May (10am-4pm), 

which is a wonderful opportunity to view some of the very best images from photographic clubs across Yorkshire, including a number from Ilkley CC.

I'd be thrilled if you took the time to visit either or both of these events.

The poor Passenger Pigeon

Our rape and pillage of the natural world is by no means a 21st century scourge, though it is clearly reaching critical levels. I was fascinated, in Cliffe Castle museum, to read about this bird and see two stuffed specimens. It's a Passenger Pigeon, Ectopistes migratorious, once the most numerous bird species in North America. Between 1840 and 1860, there were an estimated 3 to 5 thousand million of them, migrating in flocks that turned the sky black. In 1866, one flock in Ohio was described as 1 mile wide by 300 miles long and took 14 hours to pass overhead!
Deforestation and disturbance of their breeding grounds, together with widespread hunting, led to their extinction. The last verified sighting of a wild bird was in 1902. The last captive bird died in 1914. How very sad.

Rag rug

"Flower Garden" - a prodded rug by Isobel Waterhouse

There was a time when no working-class home in this part of the country would be complete without a rag rug or two. We had a big one on the tiled floor of our kitchen when I was a child and I used to love its colours and patterns - and the way it kept my little bare feet off the cold floor!  It seems this traditional craft is having something of a resurgence, now that recycling is fashionable and people are enjoying crafts as a hobby.  I came across a lovely little exhibition recently in the Bracken Hall Countryside Centre, up on Shipley Glen, showing a variety of rag rugs and panels made by members of the Airedale Ruggers.  The group came into being 5 years ago and they meet monthly at Cliffe Castle Museum in Keighley.  Their aim is to promote, encourage and develop rag rug making as an art form and to ensure this traditional craft doesn't become extinct.  They are currently making rag rugs for the Ladies Waiting Room at Oakworth Station on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway (see my other blog).

There are two different ways to make a rag rug - prodding and hooking.  With both methods, strips of fabric are pushed and looped from the back through a close woven hessian or sackcloth backing. They are made from remnants and recycled materials - old T shirts and sweatshirts, woollen fabrics and tweeds.  The skill is not so much in the loop-making itself but in blending colours and fabrics to make not simply a rug but a unique piece of folk art.  As with quilting, family memories in the shape of significant pieces of fabric can be woven into the piece.

Back yard blues

Saltaire Festival 2019
It sometimes shocks me to realise that I've lived in Saltaire for 20 years this year, longer than I've stayed anywhere else. I love it and one of the things I love most is the sense of community, how I have a social network fostered simply through bumping into people in the street, or at events in which we have a shared interest, or even through being 'friends of friends'. One such acquaintance is Viv. I wouldn't exactly say we're close friends, as we've never been to each other's houses (in fact, I didn't even know where she lived until recently) but we've stopped and chatted at various times over the years and I'm always pleased to see her. We met a week or two ago in the village and had an amicable chat. She mentioned then that she was opening her garden as part of this year's Festival and invited me to visit, so of course I did. It was only when I arrived at her house that I realised I'd taken a photo of it before - HERE.  She's clearly a lover of blue and white. Her pretty, walled back yard had a selection of blue glassware, blue and white pottery and fabrics, as well as some lovely plants and a fine selection of succulents, nurtured by her partner.

I've never really paid much attention to succulents until recently. I was interested in the amazing display they have a Cliffe Castle (HERE), and then noticed the variety of plants in the alpine house at RHS Harlow Carr. I've even planted up a small stone trough with some this year. The leaf forms are fascinating: whorls, crinkles, spikes and layers. It's magic too when they suddenly throw up a flower, intricate and vibrantly coloured. I think I'm rapidly becoming a succulent fan.