Past Exhibitions
Mysteries at the museum
28 January – 30 March 2025
There are countless mysteries in our collection, and we needed your help to solve them.
Our museum service was formed over 100 years ago and since then we’ve collected, recorded and displayed thousands of objects from pottery to paintings, from shoe buckles to stuffed owls. When accepting an object there are a few things we need to think about. Have we got anything else like this? Does the object have a good local story? And so on.
Over the years and especially in the early 1900s, the story, which is key to explaining why objects have been collected, was not always recorded. This means that sometimes it can be unclear what an object is, why an object is notable or, for example, the names of people who appear in a photograph.
It’s our job to make sense of these museum mysteries. One of the ways we have done this in recent years is through tapping into community memory on social media. Campaigns on Facebook and Instagram have helped clear up some mysteries but there are plenty more we need help with. So, we invited you to look over the objects in this exhibition and think about what story each object may hold.
This exhibition was upstairs in The Arches, part of the Terrace Gallery.
Stuff: things that make us human
25 January to 30 March 2025
For a long time, people thought that making tools is what separates humans from other animals. History books used to talk about ‘man the toolmaker’, but we have discovered that many other animals – not just apes – also make and use tools. And the phrase doesn’t even include women!
What makes humans different? We have attachments to our things that no other animal seems to: we give it meaning and it holds memories. We can love it, and we use it to show who we are, Humanity’s unique behaviour is all based around our stuff.
This exhibition drew from all the Museum’s collections, from art to archaeology, from costume to natural history.
Wild Hitchin
19 November 2024 – 19 January 2025
The ‘wild’ is all around us. This community exhibition was formed from the contributions of many people, who all love nature. Throughout the exhibition participants highlighted some of their favourite wild places, and some of the plants, animals and amazing landscapes you can see, just beyond your front door. Carrying the title ‘Wild Hitchin’, the exhibition used Hitchin as a central starting place and looks at areas both inside and outside town. It took you on a journey to show you some sites within a few miles of Hitchin town centre that you may like to explore in your own time, and perhaps even discover a wild place you were unaware of!
This exhibition was upstairs in The Arches, part of the Terrace Gallery.
The Snowman™
5 October 2024 – 12 January 2025
In 1978 Raymond Briggs’ story of The Snowman™ was published. The book was narrated entirely through beautifully dreamlike hand-drawn pictures, capturing the innocence and wonder of childhood. In 1982 the story was adapted for the small screen and has been shown at Christmas every year since. The award-winning film has become an integral part of the festive period and is enjoyed by children and adults alike.
The museum was thrilled to present some of the original hand-drawn cels and celluloid sheets used in the TV adaptation, as well as a facsimile of the original manuscript, and a selection of the early books. There was dressing-up for the little ones, a reading corner, and other activities for children.
© Snowman Enterprises Limited 2024
The exhibition features a flying snowman (which is slightly noisy), the soundtrack to the film playing constantly, and a rotating light that projects snowflakes onto the wall and ceiling.
Good Vibes: Remembering Hitchin’s House Parties and Sound Systems from the 1960s to 1990s – An exhibition to celebrate Black History Month
1 October – now extended to 10 November 2024
For Black History Month 2024, North Hertfordshire Museum presented a fascinating look back on how this popular feature of the local cultural scene began and evolved. The exhibition shares the stories of those 
who were there, of how migrants from the Caribbean arrived in Hitchin with customs and traditions to build community togetherness through socialising at house parties. Rejected from pubs and social venues by the racism of many owners and customers, the new Black citizens decided to continue their traditions in the front rooms and sometimes basements of their homes, creating an opportunity for people to enjoy food, drink and music together.
The exhibition, which combines stories, pictures, music and objects assembled by the community, highlighted some key figures from the House Party and later Sound System scene, remembering popular parties hosted by people like Miss Lou at her home on Dacre Road and Mr and Mrs Johnson’s parties at Periwinkle Lane. The exhibition then told the tale of how the new generation moved into creating their own Sound Systems. These systems featuring towering speakers and amps were constructed by self-taught engineers. People like Clint Bucknor of Amegus Downbeat told about how Sound Systems really put Hitchin on the map, with different ‘sounds’ and their followers coming from places as far away as Birmingham to do musical battle in town. The exhibition highlights one aspect of the Caribbean community’s resilience as it grew in Hitchin.
This exhibition was upstairs in The Arches, part of the Terrace Gallery.
Bal Singh and the Khalsa Football Academy
6 August – 29 September 2024
This exhibition looked at Letchworth’s award winning Khalsa Football Academy (KFA), its founder Bal Singh, and highlights its Striving for Unity project, which has helped combat racism across the country and further afield. The striking poster panels in this exhibition show, on just a small scale, how far the positive message of Bal and the KFA has travelled, through their Striving for Unity project. Has the project visited the stadium of your favourite team?
This exhibition was in The Arches, part of the upstairs Terrace Gallery
Hitchin’s Toy Story
13 July – 22 September 2024
‘Raffo Pape and Woodward’ with their team of inventive designers have been quietly creating and developing product concepts for the children’s toy industry from their discreet design studio in Walsworth Road, Hitchin. Some of their toys were commissioned directly by the manufacturers, but after 1980, they realised that toy companies are always looking out for new ideas from external inventors and designers. They sell these self-initiated designs under licence through Marketmatch, a separate marketing company.
For over forty years, their designs have been made and sold through major companies like Fisher Price, Tomy, Playskool and Matchbox. Their projects include work on brands such as Action Man, Play Doh, ELC and Thomas the Tank Engine. Their designs have sold in at least 115 countries of the 192 recognised by the United Nations. The partners have always encouraged new talent, working with university design students, some of whom returned to become full-time members of the team. At its peak, it consisted of seven or eight designers, a student and an administrator.
This family-friendly exhibition featured a colourful display of original sketches, artworks, videos, production toy samples and prototype models from their back catalogue. You may recognise many of them. There were also concepts and prototypes for products that didn’t quite make it. It highlighted the entire design process, from original concept through to final manufacture and marketing.
PERFORM TRANSFORM
PERFORM TRANSFORM was a programme of heritage, arts and technology activities in museums in Watford, Stevenage, Hitchin, Letchworth and Royston, uncovering and sharing stories of local residents with two years of events, residencies and exhibitions in the community, museums and on new digital platforms.
It offered an opportunity to bring together artists, local museums and local communities to challenge the relationship between heritage and a sense of place and belonging. The mission of this project challenged inequality to cultural access and supported members of our communities who experience disadvantage, to overcome barriers and offered a programme with tangible skills development and improved sense of wellbeing.
The project included:
- Arts, storytelling and technology activities as the toolkit to engage with and interpret of heritage themes;
- Tactile engagement with museum collections, to stimulate discussion and individual responses to themes;
- The creation of a new app as a way to celebrate communities’ stories, museum collections and interpretations of heritage with the wider public.
The exhibition features work inspired by the activities in North Hertfordshire Museum.
PERFORM TRANSFORM was managed by BEEE Creative, supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and is being produced in collaboration with Watford, Stevenage, North Hertfordshire, Royston Museums and Letchworth Heritage Foundation.
This exhibition was upstairs in the The Arches, part of the Terrace Gallery.
Camden Town to Garden City: work by Gilman, Gore and Ratcliffe
Spencer Gore, Harold Gilman’s House, 1912 Government Art Collection
9 March – 30 June 2024
A major exhibition of paintings and drawings by three members of the famous Camden Town Group who worked in Letchworth in the years before the First World War, with loans from museums across the country including Tate, the Government Art Collection and the National Museum of Wales.
The exhibition looked at Harold Gilman (1876-1919), Frederick Spencer Gore (1878-1914), and William Ratcliffe (1870-1955), and specifically at paintings they made while living in Letchworth, the world’s first Garden City. Many of these works have never been shown in North Herts since they were painted over a century ago.
Lord Chris Smith of Finsbury, Chair of the Art Fund, said: ‘There is no better place in the world for an exhibition of the works of Harold Gilman, Frederick Spencer Gore and William Ratcliffe than the North Herts Museum.’
W Ratcliffe, The Red Curtain, 1916
Sir Michael Palin, actor and comedian, and fan of the Camden Town Group of artists, said: ‘What I find so appealing is the attention to detail. They show us, with honesty and precision, the fine detail of everyday life at the turn of the twentieth century. Their subjects are bedrooms, kitchen tables, teapots and mugs. Apart from being beautiful works in themselves, they offer a wonderfully vivid snapshot of our social and cultural history. What people washed in, what crockery they used, how they decorated their rooms. These are very English paintings. They move me most of all because I recognise a truth there. They have captured a corner of English life in a way few others ever tried, and they should be treasured for that.’
Hide and Seek in Dreamscape: An exhibition of art by Yoshie Allan
7 May – 2 June 2024
In this exhibition, Hitchin-based visual artist Yoshie Allan shares her playful imaginary world, cultivated since childhood and inspired by the shapes and creatures found in nature. Yoshie employs a diverse array of art media including modelling paste, fabric collage, acrylic paint, gold leaf, and ink.
Work by Yoshie Allan
Visitors are invited to engage in a delightful game of discovery, spotting various animals hidden within the artworks. The more creatures you uncover, the more magically appear before your eyes!
Artist profile:
Yoshie Allan is a self-taught visual artist, illustrator, and pattern designer from northeast Japan. Yoshie established herself as an illustrator and collage artist in Tokyo in 2006, where she began showcasing mixed media works. Yoshie has lived in Hitchin for over a decade, moving from Fukushima with her family following an earthquake in 2011.
Her diverse portfolio spans several published picture books, advertisements, textile and wallpaper patterns, and various collaborations, including with the design duo ‘Sas and Yosh’. Creating large scale works, such as a thirteen-metre mural at the Lister Hospital and bespoke wallpaper for The Radcliffe Arms in Hitchin. Her work has featured in exhibitions in Fukushima and Tokyo.
Her journey is one of creativity and laughter.
This exhibition was in The Arches, part of the upstairs Terrace Gallery.
Richard ‘Dick’ Walker, Hitchin’s Angling Legend
13 February – 14 April 2024
Richard Walker (1918-1985) was born and raised in Hitchin and was honoured with a Blue Plaque on the house where he was born, now 32 Fishponds Road. His grandfather introduced the four-year-old Richard to angling, a specific type of fishing using a fishhook and rod, and he refined his craft at Bearton Pond.
Throughout his life, Walker pioneered many new approaches and invented new technologies to allow people to catch larger fish, and inspired many young people to take up and continue their angling journey. He was dubbed ‘the most influential angler’ by the Canal and River Trust and avid fisherman Chris Tarrant met him once as a little boy, saying recently that Richard ‘completely changed the face of freshwater fishing.’This exhibition, in The Arches, brings together material loaned from Richard’s family and other kind contributors including photos, many of his books, and magazine articles, either written about him or by him.
Diane Arbus A young man and his pregnant wife in Washington Square Park, N.Y.C. 1965 ARTIST ROOMS Tate and National Galleries of Scotland © The Estate of Diane Arbus
Artist Rooms: Diane Arbus
2 December 2023 – 25 February 2024
This was a rare opportunity to see the work of Diane Arbus (1923-1971), one of the most original and influential photographers of the 20th century. Presented in partnership with Tate and National Galleries of Scotland, the exhibition drew from the remarkable collection of Arbus’s work in ARTIST ROOMS, featuring some of her most iconic black and white portraits. North Herts was the final and most southerly venue in this nationwide tour, which travelled to Barnsley, Dumfries and Shetland.
Born in New York in 1923, Diane Arbus is considered one of the great figures of American photography, pioneering a bold new photographic approach which bridged the gap between documentary photography and fine art. She began photographing in the 1940s, and her first published images appeared in Esquire magazine in 1960. Over the next ten years Arbus produced an extraordinary body of work in which she documented the lives, appearances and emotions of people, celebrating the extraordinary in the ordinary.
Through her commitment ‘to photograph everybody’, she was drawn to marginalised people and communities, and the sub-cultures of post-war American society. Arbus built up relationships of trust and respect with her subjects to produce powerful portraits of astonishing intimacy. Captured in her singular vision, her images of couples, children, circus performers, drag artists, middle-class families and celebrities reveal a gap between how people want to be perceived, and how they actually appear.
A highlight of the exhibition was the rare limited-edition portfolio printed in her lifetime: A box of ten photographs 1969-71. Arbus gave considerable thought to what this portfolio should be and how it should look, selecting a set of ten images comprising some of her most iconic portraits, including: Identical twins, Roselle, N.J. 1966 and A Jewish giant at home with his parents in the Bronx, N.Y. 1970. For Arbus, the ten images represented who she was as an artist and how she saw her work in the world, a legacy that became more solidified with her tragic death by suicide in 1971.
ARTIST ROOMS is a national collection of modern and contemporary art jointly owned by Tate and National Galleries of Scotland. Its programme reaches audiences across the UK and is developed through local partnerships.
Museum in stitch: work by New Horizons Textile Group
12 December – 28 January 2024
This exhibition displayed new works by members of New Horizons Textile Group, which they were inspired to create after visiting the galleries at this museum. During visits to the museum each member chose their own starting point from the extensive collection. We hoped that visitors would enjoy identifying the source of inspiration for each piece.
New Horizons Textile Group was formed in January 1993 by a group of enthusiastic and forward thinking textile artists. The group regularly exhibit their work and have held well received exhibitions in a variety of settings including museums, National Trust properties and the Festival of Quilts.
Over the thirty years since it was set up the group has become more diverse in its textile work and members are encouraged to develop their skills in design, technique and workmanship through mutual encouragement, support and workshops. The group strives to keep abreast of the wide range of materials, techniques and methods being used in textiles.
Membership is by invitation with the group meeting twice monthly in a local village. Meetings are an opportunity for members to exchange ideas, discuss forthcoming exhibitions, work on current projects and critique each other’s work.
This exhibition was in The Arches, in the upstairs Terrace Gallery.
Hitchin Camera Club: Inspired by Arbus
7 November – 10 December 2023
This exhibition showcased the talents of the photographers of Hitchin Camera Club. The members were inspired to head out and about to produce portrait photography in the iconic style of master photographer Diane Arbus ahead of an exciting exhibition of her work here.
Diane Arbus (1923-1971) is one of the great figures of 20th century photography and her photos will be on show at our museum between 2 December 2023 and 25 February 2024 as part of the national ARTIST ROOMS scheme, in partnership with Tate and National Galleries of Scotland.
Hitchin Camera Club was formed in 1972 and currently has 57 members. Meetings are held on Thursday evenings between September and May, at Walsworth Baptist Church.
You can see an online version of the exhibition here
This exhibition was held in The Arches, in the upstairs Terrace Gallery.
Samuel Lucas (1805-1870): artist, farmer, anti-slaver,
9 September – 12 November 2023
Over forty paintings and drawings by Samuel Lucas, Hitchin’s most celebrated artist during the Victorian period. The paintings cover his interest in local landscapes and wildlife, and his work as a Quaker in the anti-slavery movement.
There is an online version of the exhibition here.
The Story of Windrush Migrants:
4 October – 5 November 2023
This exhibition was curated by Learning Through the Arts. It commemorates the 75th anniversary of the arrival of the 493 passengers of the ship ‘The Empire Windrush’ in the UK.
The ‘Windrush Generation’, arriving from 1948, had heeded the call of the government to travel to Britain and help rebuild a nation which had been shattered by the Second World War. The exhibition illustrates the invaluable contributions of Windrush passengers and subsequent generations on British life.
It was held in The Arches, in the upstairs Terrace Gallery.
Hitchin Market: a picture essay of the early 2000s. Photos by Simon Maddison
5 September – 2 October 2023
“Having lived in Hitchin and shopped at the market since 1973, I wish I’d taken more photos of the market in those early years. My photographic interests are informal portraits, street life, storytelling and social documentary.
Images, both candid and posed, show the diversity of market days illustrating both the general market and the antiques and craft markets. The market has faced some challenges over the last 50 years, from the growth of supermarkets to more recently, the impact of Covid.
Footfall at times has been very low. One constant is the English weather which can make running a stall frankly miserable some days. I have sought to capture this and to recognise the fortitude of particularly the longstanding traders in these adverse conditions. My sincere thanks to all the market traders who have allowed me to loiter and photograph them, their tolerance is much appreciated. Without their friendly cooperation there would be no exhibition.” Simon Maddison.
This exhibition ran in the Arches space of the Terrace Gallery.
Structural Stories: the history of six North Hertfordshire buildings
6 June – 3 September 2023
Across 2022 and the first half of 2023, our Museum and Town Hall’s Digital Apprentice, Ellen Munson, searched out photographic archives for a social media series highlighting some of her favourite local buildings. This exhibition celebrates the history of our area and bring some highlights of her social media campaign back into the physical museum.
Ellen says:
‘During my time working at North Hertfordshire Museum, I was amazed by all the wonderful museum objects and the stories they can tell. A favourite area of the collections for me were the photographs. I was fascinated to see some of the buildings I recognised from growing up here, and how they have evolved over time!’
This exhibition was held in The Arches, in the upstairs Terrace Gallery.
The World of Peter Rabbit™ Storytime Trail
24 June – 27 August
One of literature’s best-loved characters is the star of an immersive experience for the whole family at North Hertfordshire Museum this summer.
Gather your little bunnies and hop along to The World of Peter Rabbit Storytime Trail™ . Join Peter on his adventure through Mr McGregor’s garden and crawl under the garden gate, hide in a watering can and see your reflection in a mirror pool – just like Peter Rabbit himself!
The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter was first published in 1902 and has been a firm favourite ever since. To celebrate over 120 years of Peter’s mischief, publishers Grederick Warne & Co. have created this walkthrough storytime experience, allowing visitors of all ages to join this much-loved rabbit’s adventures. As you explore the trail there are photo opportunities and activities to take part in along the way.
Hitchin Art Club – The first 80 years
6 May – 18 June
In 2023, Hitchin Art Club celebrated its 80th birthday. To mark the occasion, the museum showed a special anniversary exhibition, including information about the history of this popular group, and works by members old and new. Many talented local artists are part of the club, and their works were available to buy, starting from only £35, with plenty of options priced under £100.
Hitchin Art Club grew out of art classes held in the 1930s, which were so successful that they resulted in the formation of the club in 1943. The atmosphere is one of help, guidance and enjoyment. Members have experience across all media from paintings in watercolour, acrylics and oils, through to pastels and printing.
Wild Escape: Our Contribution to a Nationwide Project
10th May – 4th June
The Wild Escape Project, led by Art Fund, has united hundreds of museums with schools and families across the country in a celebration of UK wildlife and creativity.
At North Herts Museum, we worked with the Young Carers Crew to create stunning animations, held adult art classes, kid’s craft sessions, and inspiring school sessions.
We then marked Earth Day with a free activity day filled with interactive crafts and a fun trail around the museum.
This exhibition, held in The Terrace Gallery, showcased the incredible work created by local residents, and highlights the impact of this amazing project!
Home and Away: Paintings by Barbara Heaton and Anne Parker
28 March – 30 April 2023
This collection brings together a number of paintings by local artists Barbara Heaton and Anne Parker. Their paintings reflect their love of interesting and beautiful scenes at home in North Herts, and on travels and holidays.
Barbara Heaton
Barbara has been a long-term member of Letchworth Art Society and regularly exhibits within the group. She has had two exhibitions at Letchworth Museum, one of which was shared with the potter, Abdo Nagi.
Anne Parker
Anne is a fourth generation resident of Letchworth Garden City. Her great grandfather owned one of the first houses to be built in the Garden City. She enjoys living near Norton Common which inspires many of her paintings.
Anne has exhibited in London and had solo exhibitions locally, she is also a member and has exhibited with, Letchworth Art Society.
This exhibition is in The Arches, part of The Terrace Gallery.
The BFG in Pictures
For the Love of the Game: Stories of sports, community, competition and disability in North Herts
31 January – 26 March 2023
An exhibition showcasing local disabled people and their involvement in sport is taking place at North Herts Museum. The exhibition includes Sam Prowse of the Letchworth Braveherts, who captained in the second ever international mixed ability rugby match. And Lesley Reid, a judo coach from Royston, who has competed in visually impaired judo tournaments and won two national Judo Championship medals 25 years apart.
The exhibition has been curated by Freya Purcell, the museum’s Curatorial Trainee employed through Curating for Change, a nationwide campaign to tackle the under-representation of disabled, neurodiverse and Deaf/deaf individuals working within the museum sector.
Located in the Terrace Gallery.
Moments in Time
8 Dec 2022 – 29 Jan 2023
This exhibition of works by local artists Joyce Webb and Jane Gibbs sought to bring a little bit of escapism to the cold dark winter days. Travel with Joyce and Jane to some of their favourite moments in time.
The artists said: ‘We have both painted for many years and have exhibited in Stevenage and Hitchin as well as various venues with Letchworth Art Society. We prefer oils and Landscape as a subject and this exhibition enables us to display our favourite moments in time’.
This exhibition was in The Arches, part of the Terrace Gallery
Places
8 November – 4 December 2022
Our museum is filled with stuff. Pots, images, costumes, paintings, skeletons, bottles, dolls… anything that tells the story of people. But those people lived somewhere and that somewhere is, mostly, North Hertfordshire, a place that is outside the museum.
So, our stuff tells us not just about people: it also tells us about places. We can’t bring those places into the museum, but they are as important to our local story as the things that people used in the past.
This small exhibition tries to show the great variety of places in North Hertfordshire that create its character and are part of its rich heritage. They range in date from the Neolithic (4000-2000 BC) to the twentieth century (1914-15) and in location from the south of the district (Knebworth) to the northeast (Royston).
This exhibition was in The Arches, part of The Terrace Gallery
Back to the Drawing Board: James Willis and Carl Laubin
15 October 2022 to 29 January 2023
James Willis and Carl Laubin are artists known for their detailed paintings of architecture, real and imagined. This exhibition showed some of their stunning works, including some local scenes and others from further afield.
Spotlight on Success: local stories for Black History Month
11 October-6 November 2022
To celebrate Black History Month, an exhibition in The Arches focuses on local Black people who have achieved success in different areas. Those who arrived from the Caribbean talk about overcoming the culture shock they experienced, while those who grew up locally discuss the challenges of being Black in a predominantly white culture.
This exhibition was in The Arches, part of The Terrace Gallery
Herts Open Studios: Work by Val Lawson, Lucy Sugden and Mary Ann Day
6 September – 9 October North Hertfordshire Museum is proud to host local artists Mary Ann Day, Val Lawson and Lucy Sugden as part of Herts Open Studios this September. Mary’s vibrant oils, Val’s expressive abstracts and Lucy’s intriguing tapestries will take pride of place in the Arches. The artists themselves will often be on hand to answer your questions as they turn the museum into their open studio!
Botanical Invasion
9 July to 2 October 2022
This exhibition was an interactive installation of giant inflatable designs inspired by plants and flowers, encouraging children to learn and have fun with botanicals. There were a huge tunnel to explore, floating plants and colouring sheets to take away.
The inflatables were designed and made by Spacecadets Air Design, who also created the Blood and Bone exhibition that North Hertfordshire Museum hosted in 2019.
Home is where the Hert is: stories of North Hertfordshire’s South Asian community
2 August to 4 September 2022
An exhibition and documentary film exploring the stories of six local South Asian residents and how they challenged conventions of what it means to be brown in a small English town.
Who were the children of the diaspora of North Hertfordshire? How did they shape and navigate their hybrid identity as British Asians? What is the impact and legacy of South Asian migration to Hertfordshire on the local and wider community?
The exhibition was curated by Mandeep Kaur Nijjer, the founder and owner of ‘Red Media Love’ – an online platform which aims to create powerful content to raise awareness, educate and build an archive of stories told by people of South Asian heritage across the UK.
This exhibition wasn’t just about the South Asian diaspora, it was for them. Mandeep hoped to make people understand what it feels like to be different, particularly in a world which feels so divided. She aimed to change the way people view immigrants. After all, they were the ones who paved the way for a new and multicultural definition of what it means to be a British Asian, if not just simply British, in Hertfordshire.
This exhibition was in The Arches, part of the Terrace Gallery
The Platinum Jubilee: a royal display
1 June to 31 July 2022
To celebrate 70 years of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s reign, we are presenting a display of royal memorabilia, including paintings by Hitchin banner maker Herbert Sharpe of the Queen and Prince Philip commissioned for her coronation, photographs of royal visits to the area and other royal memorabilia.
Paddington™ comes to town!
19 March to 26 June 2022
The brilliant touring exhibition from the British Library, Paddington: The Story of a Bear, came to North Herts Museum. His trail of marmalade splats took visitors to explore his tales of adventures in this educational and fun exhibition.
Celebrate one of the world’s most beloved fictional characters over 60 years on from when he was first introduced in 1958. Featuring over 50 books, documents and original artworks, highlights include the first edition of A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond given to his parents, a selection of memorabilia owned by Michael Bond – including Bond’s typewriter used in the 1960s – and original illustrations of Paddington stories by artists including Peggy Fortnum, David McKee and R.W. Alley.
Three2C
22 February – 20 March 2022 North Hertfordshire Museum
hosted this exhibition showcasing the work of three local artists. The displayed works by Sharon Freedman, Mary MacSweeney and Gill Kendall cover a range of media: watercolours, textiles and oils and many of the pieces are available for purchase. The exhibition was in The Arches, part of the Terrace Gallery.
Hertfordshire’s Heritage
15 January – 27 February 2022
The Hertfordshire Heritage Fund was launched in 1988 in response to grave concerns that historic treasures and artworks were leaving the county, and often the country. The aim of the Fund is to help museums and archives to purchase items for public museums and archives, for us all to enjoy. Over the years the Fund has helped many of the county’s museums buy hundreds of examples of art, archaeology and history, giving out over £86,000 in grants. In 2021, help from the Fund allowed North Hertfordshire Museum to acquire its latest work by the ‘Camden Town’ painter William Ratcliffe; The Red Curtain, an oil painting from 1916. The exhibition at North Herts Museum will display over 60 different objects and paintings, from museums right across the county. The oldest pieces on show are implements from a Bronze Age hoard lent by Welwyn Hatfield Museum Service; the most recent include two items from 1968; a small 3-dimensional painting by Richard Smith, entitled M3, from the collections of North Herts Museum, and a textile by master weaver Percy Sheldrick, lent by Ashwell Village Museum, and Edmund Miller’s evocative 1987 painting of the lost heritage of De Havilland. From Bushey to Dacorum, from Hertford to Royston, St Albans to Stevenage, Ware to Watford to Welwyn; there will be a wonderful array of loaned items to enjoy. The Hertfordshire Heritage Fund is run by a tiny number of highly committed volunteers, under the leadership of Miss Dorothy Abel Smith MBE. They have around 50 supporters and would welcome more.
A Commute through Time: History in the Station Underpass
11 January – 20 February 2022
Rail commuters will be familiar with the photo mural panels from Hitchin Railway Station’s underpass. In early 2021 staff at North Hertfordshire Museum were contacted by Groundwork East who were looking to decorate the underpass at the station. We decided that our large photograph collection was a perfect collection to use in the space. Working with Groundwork East and Govia Thameslink Railway we refined our plans to create the final station display. At the station you can see the panels on the themes of:
Recreation
Shop frontages
Transport
Historic Moments
Football
Faces
Agriculture
Industry
War
Modern Hitchin
Scenes
and town maps from the 1750s, 1818 and 1930. This exhibition brought seven of these panels out of the underpass and into our museum for a far less hurried look. Themed panels on display in this exhibition were:
Recreation
Shop frontages
Transport
Historic Moments
Football
Faces
and Agriculture
My Covid Portraits by Nathalie Titterton
30 November 2021 – 9 January 2022
Nathalie says: ‘2018, I had just turned 52, the Summer was coming to an end, and then and there I decided to give myself a challenge: to draw a portrait a week for a year, 52 portraits in total of friends and family. Never done a portrait in my life, let alone 52. To draw a portrait is no mean feat. The one year project turned into a 2 year project, having achieved only about a dozen portraits at the end of 2019. Then March 2020 hit us all… So my little project that started as a simple drawing challenge suddenly took on another dimension. First of all it helped me to keep focused and sane, and most of all it gave me some sort of connection, during the pandemic, to my friends and family. So here they are, all 52 portraits. I hope you like them as much as I enjoyed making them.’
This exhibition was in The Arches.
Nature in Focus: photographs of wildlife and landscapes of North Herts by Brian Sawford
18 September 2021 – 2 January 2022
Brian Sawford (1940-2020) worked for North Hertfordshire Museums from the 1960s until his retirement in 2005, during which time he took countless photographs of the varied landscapes and wildlife of the district. He was a talented photographer and well-known naturalist, serving in various roles for the Letchworth Naturalists for many years. He spent much of his long career as Senior Keeper of Natural History at the former Letchworth Museum. Brian contributed much to the natural history of Hertfordshire through his talks, guided walks and publications. These included The Butterflies of Hertfordshire, Wildflower Habitats of Hertfordshire and Wildlife of the Letchworth Area, all illustrated with his own photographs. He sadly passed away in 2020 and this exhibition has been put together by the museum together with his widow Terri and the Letchworth Naturalists in his memory. It shows many of the rare and beautiful wildflowers and endangered birds we have on our doorstep and reminds us of the rich biodiversity of the district.
The Woman Inside: paintings by Katie Wilson
Katie is a well-known local trans woman, who has organised a Pride Picnic on Windmill Hill and coffee afternoons. She has long suffered from anxiety and as part of her therapy, she has taken to creative writing and painting. She has published a number of books of poetry and lyrics exploring issues around her identity as a trans woman. The paintings deal with darker issues of depression and she is keen for people to discuss mental health openly and candidly.
The exhibition looks at both mental health and trans identity. It straddles Transgender Awareness Week (13 to 19 November) and Transgender Day of Remembrance on 20 November. The Awareness Week draws attention to the disproportionate discrimination and violence faced by transgender people and the Day commemorates those who have lost their lives as a result of violence.
If you have been affected by any of the issues this exhibition raises, help is at hand!
For information about trans identity, call The Beaumont Society, telephone 01582 412220
For information about mental health, call Mind UK, telephone 0300 123 3393
For help with domestic violence, call Refuge, telephone 0808 2000 247
This exhibition was in The Arches.
From Windrush to North Herts: a new life in a new country
5 to 31 October 2021
Although Black people have been living in North Herts for centuries – there is evidence for Africans living in Roman Baldock – we too often think of immigration as a recent phenomenon. Most famously, the shortage of workers after the Second World War led to recruiting people from Caribbean islands that were then part of the British Empire.
Those who crossed the Atlantic in the 1950s and 60s found themselves in a foreign and hostile land. They often worked in the dirtiest and most poorly paid jobs, found it hard to rent homes and had to face prejudice and discrimination. Many local factories, especially in Letchworth Garden City, employed large numbers of settlers.
In 2007, Hitchin Museum collaborated with Eric Blakely and Gurdev Delay in putting together an exhibition and book, North Herts African Caribbean Roots, with support from the Heritage Lottery Fund. Using a mixture of archive photographs – some of which form the present exhibition – personal recollections and poetry, the book is on sale in the museum shop.
We have very little information about the people in the photographs. If you are in any of them, or know someone who is, please tell us!
This exhibition was in The Arches, part of the upstairs Terrace Gallery.
Doorstep Discoveries
7 September to 3 October 2021
Doorstep Discoveries took place between October 2020 and March 2021 and spanned two national lockdowns.
The project, led by Open Art Box CIC artists Anji Archer and Christina Armstrong, brought North Hertfordshire Museum’s collection of artefacts directly to the homes of people living with early-stage dementia and their carers from across North Hertfordshire at a time when the museum was forced to close to visitors, due to Covid restrictions.
Each week participants received a hand delivered art box inspired by a different artefact and over the sixteen weeks, created an amazing collection of artwork in response to a wide range of fascinating artefacts including Neolithic pottery, 18th century fashion, 19th century watercolour painting, First World War painting, 20th century suffragette items, football memorabilia and many more!
The activities encouraged participants to explore the artefacts through their own personal, creative responses and invite them to reflect on how these objects linked to their own stories.
This exhibition documented the project in the form of a display of artwork and participant recollections, a film produced at the time of the project and photos taken at their doorsteps.
The exhibition was in The Arches, part of the upstairs Terrace Gallery.
The Tiger Who Came to Tea
7 July to 4 September 2021
An exhibition that explored the life and celebrated the work of one of Britain’s best known author–illustrators for children, Judith Kerr. It focused on the much-loved classic The Tiger Who Came to Tea and was created by Seven Stories – the National Centre for Children’s Books. It features high quality copies of Judith Kerr’s original illustrations from the Seven Stories collection and brought this delightful book to life for a new generation of family audiences. Judith Kerr’s first picture book began as a bedtime story for her own children and was first published in 1968. It soon became a classic and by the time it celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2008, it had been translated into 11 languages and sold over five million copies.
A play version of Sophie’s kitchen featuring a friendly 5-foot tiger offered children the opportunity to experience the story firsthand. Tiger themed craft activities, a reading corner and story sessions ran over the summer holidays, and there were special Tiger who Came to Tea themed afternoon teas, with stripy cakes and sandwiches.
The exhibition detailed Judith’s childhood and her experiences of having to escape Germany as Hitler came to power, how it felt to be a refugee in Switzerland, then France before finally settling in London in 1936.
Some Observations ‘About Now’ by Adrian Marden
29 June to 5 September 2021
Adrian says:
The show celebrates the forms and detailing of everyday artefacts. However, each object is selected because it has a story to tell and it is the combination of the contemporary images and their, often unexpected, tales that make up this display.
When working in the design industry I became aware of the high levels of thought and ingenuity that go into even the simplest object. The work highlights commonplace artifacts, cataloguing what Jasper Johns called ‘things looked at but rarely seen’. Some of the accompanying texts may be amusing, some illuminating and others concerning but all offer key statistics and salient comments on many questions about contemporary living.
The prints are made using a digital drawing package which is part of the Pages software on a Mac laptop. Each image is constructed by observing and recording the subject and, at first sight, the work may appear photographic. However on closer inspection it can be seen that each rendering is created from a multiplicity of drawn shapes that are carefully coloured and positioned to give the illusion of a 3D form.
Frozen in Time: early photographs of North Herts
3 December 2020 to 27 June 2021
The Museum Service has an extensive collection of historic photographs covering all North Hertfordshire, which was home to some pioneering photographers. We chose a sample to give visitors a taste of local life more than a hundred years ago. See if you can spot familiar places and work out how much has changed as well as what has remained from Victorian and Edwardian times.
You can view the photographs that were on display here.
Here is the gallery of images requested during January 2021.
Various Guest Appearances: paintings by Beccy Cannon
13 October 2020 to 27 June 2021
Beccy creates a colourful world of characters who come to life on their canvases. They form themselves often just from one line, a dollop of colour and whatever emotion is fizzing through her thoughts at the time. She likes to play around with the creative process, closing her eyes, dipping fingers in the paint and seeing who emerges. There’s often an evocative face staring back from the canvas, asking for further evolution.
‘If you are looking for something truly original, sometimes wacky, often thought-provoking and always colourful, then Beccy’s artwork is for you. It will bring you joy for years to come.’ Jennie Bond
This exhibition was in The Arches, part of the Terrace Gallery.
In Our Time: triptych and other artworks by Sylvia Molloy (1914-2008)
22 August – 1 November 2020
Sylvia Molloy was an adventurous and well-known artist from England, who married in Burma (now Myanmar), escaped the Japanese invasion to live in South Africa before returning to England. After graduating from Durham with a degree in Art and English, she began teaching in St Asaph and met her husband-to-be in Cambridge. She joined him in Burma, where he was an Assistant District Officer, whose job took the newlyweds through the Shan States. Sylvia made sketches and paintings of local people. When the Japanese invaded in 1942, she left for India on the last RAF flight from the country and her husband joined her after an arduous trek. Their first son was born during the year they spent in India and their second when they came to the UK. After the war, they returned to newly-independent Burma only to flee again when terrorists assassinated the entire cabinet. Catching a ship to Durban they settled in Johannesburg, where they remained for sixteen years. Disgusted with Apartheid, the couple left South Africa and came to Letchworth Garden City in 1963. She exhibited at The Royal Academy, the Paris Salon, the Royal Australian Society of Arts as well as other galleries.
Gilli Austin – Escape to…
25 August – 11 October 2020 in The Arches
Acrylic painting has become a lifetime’s passion for Gilli. This is her fifth solo show and the first since 2005. She has exhibited at the former museum in 2003 and returns to this new museum with an eclectic mix of highly detailed and expressive abstract and realism acrylics.
She has been exploring and observing what the word “escape” really means. Whether it be the companionship of loved ones, meditation or a walk in long grass! Escapism is good for the soul, mindfulness, emotions and for physical well-being. Something we mustn’t take for granted in these testing times.
Four of the paintings on display today were created during lockdown.
Gilli is currently an active member of the Hitchin Art Hub, which showcases local artists in pop up art exhibitions, art market and charity fundraisers for the Hitchin community.
Rembrandt in Print
18 January – 2 August 2020
To launch Hertfordshire’s Year of Culture, we hosted an exhibition from the Ashmolean Museum of prints by Rembrandt van Rijn, one of the greatest artists of all time. It consists of prints from their world-class collection of prints made by the artist, spanning much of his career from Leiden in the early 1630s to those made in Amsterdam in the 1650s. Many of the prints were given to the University of Oxford in 1855 by the collector Chambers Hall.
Born in Leiden in The Netherlands in 1606, Rembrandt moved to Amsterdam about 1631, where he became the greatest Dutch artist of all time. His popularity derives from his exceptional observational skills. The works include not only revealing self-portraits but also sensitive landscapes and tender religious subjects shown as everyday scenes.