The Peace Museum re-opened its doors during August in its new location at Salt’s Mill in Saltaire. The museum closed its former location in central Bradford some time ago. The photograph shows the bare space before they started working on it. It illustrates why it has taken them quite a while to sort everything out and make their new location ready to receive visitors.
The Peace Museum is the only one of its kind in the UK. In both its previous and current locations the exhibition space available to them only allows them to display a small proportion of the various documents, posters and other artefacts that they have in their collection.
I visited with other family members, including grandchildren, about a fortnight after it opened its doors on 10th August. Saltaire is a destination that we go to every now and again. It is definitely a favourite spot to take any visitors we might have. The fact that the village is a UNESCO World Heritage site is one aspect. The mill buildings themselves are also interesting in their own right. From the artists’ materials shop and the extensive bookstore (with books that you will not find on common high street bookstores), the cafes and restaurant to the magnificent 91m David Hockney mural at the top pf the building, there is something for everyone.
Now, next to the third-floor restaurant, there is the Peace Museum.
Compared with some of the spaces within the mill, it is a relatively small space. However, the parts of the collection on display have been carefully selected. The permanent exhibition explores some of the stories and histories of peace movements and campaigns. They also have various interactive displays and activities for children and adults to creatively explore concepts of peace. Everything is engagingly presented with good interpretation materials.
They make the point that whilst the exhibition themes will remain constant, they will swap out specific items for others in their collection. They have an extensive collection of banners and also of posters. The one shown below is one of my favourites – though the first time I remember seeing this was not on a demonstration but in an episode of Fr Ted!
Hopefully, their new location will mean that they greatly increase the number of visitors to the museum (entry is free, incidentally).
Whilst there is a good nearby car park, Saltaire is very accessible by trains via both Leeds and Bradford. If you haven’t been recently then it is time to think about going again!