Past Exhibitions

In Your Words – A celebration of the Rich Dialect Heritage of the Yorkshire Dales

15 October 2022 to 19 April 2023

Be a part of history and see how your family words compare with those gathered by fieldworkers from Leeds University in the 1950s and 60s, a time of huge change in the Dales. Features fascinating field books, photographs and word maps linked with the communities of Muker, Askrigg, Dent, Horton-in-Ribblesdale, Grassington, Pateley Bridge, Gargrave, Burton-in-Lonsdale and Soulby.

Within these Walls – Haytime in the Yorkshire Dales

29 April to 17 September 2023

Artist Hester Cox shares her passion for the hay meadows of the Yorkshire Dales and the diversity of meadow plants and wildlife found living and feeding in this special habitat. The exhibition features linocuts and a variety of collagraph work by Hester, including her stunning “Within these walls” installation. Together with hay time artefacts from the Museum collections, archives connected with the Irish workers who once came to work in the Yorkshire Dales at hay time and woodcuts by Marie Hartley, this exhibition is a wonderful exploration of the history and contemporary importance of hay meadows.

Give Peat a Chance

Bringing the Yorkshire Dales Peatlands to Life

16 July to 09 October 2022

In an exhibition that starts thousands of years ago and runs up to the present day, we look at how Dales peatlands formed; the wildlife that lives there; how our actions have affected our peatlands; and what we’re doing to restore them. We will explore these beautiful, brooding landscapes through visual arts, music and film.

Dales, Land and Sky

Contemporary textiles by The Small Group, inspired by the Yorkshire Dales

09 April to 10 July 2022

A vibrant and varied textile exhibition exploring different aspects of this beautiful Dales landscape. Landforms and dwellings, plants in the wild or cultivated in gardens, living creatures which make their home here and the words found in dialect poetry have all provided a source of inspiration.

Love Tokens, Sittings and Songs

Knitting Sticks from the John Dixon Collection

02 October 2021 to March 27 2022

A stunning exhibition showcases collection a special form of folk art, the knitting stick. The collection belongs to John Dixon, a retired carpet fitter from Huddersfield. During the past twenty years he has collected more than 400 sticks, each unique in design.

Story of Schools

17 May to 18 July 2021

The Story of Schools in the Upper Dales features spectacular 4.5 metre-wide photo mosaic was unveiled to the public on Monday 17 May, as the museum celebrated the end of a six-month closure owing to Coronavirus restrictions. A Mosaic of Dales Youth, created by art and design studio The People’s Picture led by digital artist Helen Marshall, features nearly 2,300 photo tiles of youth and school-life in Upper Wensleydale, Swaledale and Arkengarthdale. The images were shared by local people over eight weeks in autumn 2020.

Run the Dales

23 July to 26 September 2021

With over 200 years of history behind it, fell running is one of the Yorkshire Dales’ original sports, no doubt inspired by its awesome fells. A ‘race up and down a nearby hillside’ has been a pursuit passed down through the centuries. This exhibition lifts the lid on fell running heritage and the contemporary running scene. Its stars, pioneers and iconic races feature through brand new imagery by award winning photographer, Stephen Garnett.

The View from the Fells – In the Footsteps of Marie Hartley

19 August 2020 to 24 January 2021

An exhibition of collagraphs by Hester Cox, inspired by the life and work of Marie Hartley and the Yorkshire Dales landscape.

The View from the Fells is the culmination of the Ink Inspiration Project, a two-year project inspired by the life and work of artist, writer and cultural historian, Marie Hartley MBE, the founder (with Joan Ingilby) of the Dales Countryside Museum.

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Passing Through: An Exhibition of Poetry and Photography

Online exhibition

Barbara Murray and Paco Valera divide their time between the Yorkshire Dales and Spain and are inspired by the woodlands on their doorsteps. One wood is the mythically atmospheric ‘Shaw Gill Wood’ in Wensleydale, the other, privately owned ‘Can Coll Wood,’ near Barcelona. Their bold collection of prose-infused monochrome tree portraits is a powerful combination of poetry and photography. Their work encourages people to give time to the ‘passing through’ moments of reflection offered by woodlands. “Without trees, we cease to exist.”

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Teeswater Year – Farm • Fleece • Fashion

28 February to 22 April 2020

This exhibition features the work of Nidderdale based photographer Melissa Peakman and feltmaker Yvonne Le Mare. Melissa documented Teeswater Sheep and their breeders over 12 months, in fields, barns and show rings. Her often gritty images contrast with Yvonne’s beautifully crafted, colourful feltwork, which transforms humble fleece and locks into sophisticated, stylish textiles. The Teeswater fleeces used by Yvonne are from Andrew Fisher, of Low Laithe.

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Reflections on Landscape

Postponed (29 April to 06 July 2020)

This is the second joint show of artists Beverley and Peter Hicks who each address the environment in different ways. Beverley reflects the stunning landscape of Malhamdale through her characteristic use of hieroglyphic mark making. Peter continues to discover its visual secrets, paring away specific things to work with the basic forces of his subject, its moods, light, rhythms and atmosphere.

Dairy Days

12 September 2019 to 23 February 2020

Dairying has been at the heart of the Wensleydale economy since records began and still thrives today. This exhibition is the culmination of a two year project to research and share the story of this unbroken thread. The local community has shared personal stories and collections helping to bring the wonderful historic dairying artefacts and archive photographs in the Museum collection to life.

Shepherdess – One Woman Farm

22 May to 08 September 2019

This exhibition displayed a tough and tender portrait of a ‘true-to-life’, born and bred shepherdess, Alison O’Neill. In a special corner of the Yorkshire Dales, there is deep gratitude and spiritual fulfillment to be found in the essential work of a Shepherdess.

Colour and Comfort

01 February to 08 May 2019

A collaborative exhibition with the Quilters Guild exploring rural quilts and quilting. An exhibition 19^th and 20^th century rural quilts and quilted clothing from the Yorkshire Dales, including examples of frame, mosaic, applique, wholecloth, patchwork, recycled and repaired quilts. See those made for richer households alongside those created and used in traditional Dales cottages.

Fabric of Place

04 October to 26 November 2018

Fabric of Place was an innovative community-based artist-in-residency project based in Swaledale. Four artists and more than two hundred members of the Swaledale community, including children at Reeth and Gunnerside Primary Schools created their own artwork.