Heritage Open Weekend 2024

Heritage Open Days: Saturday 14^th and Sunday 15^th September 2024

This year’s Heritage Open Weekend is sure to be a good one! Events include:

• Moot Hall: The Council Chamber will be open for viewing on Saturday and Sunday. Appleby’s copy of Foxe’s ‘Book of Martyrs’ published in1632 will be on display in the Moot Hall Exhibition Centre, and local historian Barry McKay will be available on Sunday from 11am-1pm to provide more in-depth knowledge about the volumes.
• St Lawrence’s Church: The Church committee at St Lawrence’s have put together a children’s Animal Safari, which will be running both Saturday and Sunday, and on Sunday at 1pm, there will be a talk and display of 16th and 17th Century needlework.
• St Anne’s Almshouses: The grounds of the Almhouses will be open, with one of the longest live-in residents will be on site to show you around and tell you more about its history.
• The Colour Makers House is open and holding paint demonstrations at 11am and 1pm. They make pigments and paints from naturally foraged earth and rocks.
• Drybeck Hall: Only open on Heritage Open Weekends, this family home was acquired by the Tufton family, who inherited Lady Anne Clifford’s estates. Guided tours will be on the hour.
• Eden Valley Railway: New for this year, they will be providing free tours of the signal box, tours of the yard and admission into the model railway exhibition.
• In the Public Hall, a Gypsy and Traveller Cultural Evening has been organised on Thursday 12^th September in honour of this year’s theme, Routes-Networks-Connections. Visiting speakers are Billy Welch, Shera Rom (Head Gypsy), and Bill Lloyd, Traveller Representative.
• Also in the Public Hall, the Cumbria Vernacular Buildings Group are hosting Buildings of Boroughgate talks at 11am and 1pm on Saturday 14^th.

The Masonic Hall has unfortunately had to pull out of this year’s Heritage Open Weekend due to dry rot in the building.

Appleby Town Council will also be launching a new Heritage QR code trail. There are currently 12 locations on the trail, with more to follow – look out for the QR Codes and scan to see historic pictures and listen to a short audio clip. Trail maps can be collected from Appleby Tourist Information Centre and the train station.

To find out more details about the Heritage Open Weekend, you can pick up a leaflet from the TIC or visit the Heritage Open Days website at www.heritageopendays.org.uk