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Sunny Bank Mills Heritage Festival Tours 2025

Hear the story of Sunny Bank Mills and its people during an 1-hour long tour lead by a Family Company Director who worked here whilst it was a working cloth mill and is now driving it’s future.

You’ll visit hidden historic spaces not normally open to the public and hear atmospheric industrial soundscapes whilst we tell you all about the Sunny Bank Mills and its regeneration.

Please wear appropriate footwear if you plan to join the tour.

Starting from the Main Yard (by the old loom).

Dress to Impress

Discover the historic costumes and fashion we have on display at Temple Newsam.

Join us as we celebrate our incredible costume collection at Temple Newsam. Chat to costume experts about historic fashion, watch our resident dancers Arbeau perform in the Picture Gallery, and try on a few costumes yourself!

Spooky Streets

Step into the spooky streets of Abbey House Museum this half term for lots of family fun!

Wander our authentic spooky streets to encounter scary spiders, wicked witches, wiley wolves, beguiling bats and skeletons pulling pints!

Come dressed as your favourite Halloween character and pose for petrifying pics. There will be a terrifying trail and creepy competitions as you go around the museum and a monster bag of crafts and activities to take home. 

Time Travel through Place-Names: a Sideways Look at the History of Leeds

In this illustrated talk, Emeritus Professor Joyce Hill, will draw upon her linguistic expertise to uncover the deep history of Leeds by showing us what lies behind the names we are so familiar with - the name of Leeds itself, the major streets of the city centre and some of the surrounding areas, separate from the tiny village of Leeds at the time of the Norman Conquest, but very much part of the city today. 

Victorian Ballad Recitals

As part of our Heritage Open Day celebrations we are hosting a week of lunchtime recitals of Victorian Ballads, played and performed live by a host of enthusiastic volunteers. This series of lunch time recitals will take place on the 1st floor of Leeds Central Library in the new Music Library between 1-2pm every day from the 15th to the 19th of September 2025.

All are welcome to be entertained by performances of the often-comical pieces for piano in the beautiful setting of the library as part of the Heritage Open Days Festival.

Treasure Handling Session - Gardening and Botany

Join our team of Librarians to get up-close and personal with a curated selection of treasures from the Central Library collections, focusing on our gardening and botanical collections from the 17th to the 20th-centuries. 

There’ll be the chance to handle rare books from our archive, as well as the opportunity to chat with staff about the current exhibition – Unearthed: The Power of Gardening. 

This event is part of Unearthed: The Power of Gardening exhibition, in partnership with the British Library and the Living Knowledge Network.

Throwback Thursday - Food, Glorious Food!

Remember your favourite recipe, or tell us your favourite treat. This food themed reminiscence session should leave your mouth watering, so by the end of this scrumptious session we hope you'll be saying 'Please Sir, can I have some more?'

Throwback Thursdays are part of Abbey House Museum's free community offer- no need to pay, just head straight to our Gatehouse for a warm brew and a chat.

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