Morley Heritage Centre Opens Saturday

Coop Row

Acatia Finbow talks about her work with Peter Aldred and The Morley Heritage Centre

I am a student at the University of Leeds. And like a lot of southerners who have moved up to Leeds to go to university, I can tell you where the library is, where my local is, where the train station is, and that’s about it. Until three months ago, I certainly wouldn’t have been able to point to Morley on a map.

Now however, I know more about it than I do about my own hometown. I can show you exactly where the cinema was that local children were dropped off at on a Saturday while mum was doing the shopping; I know where the advertisement board for a local portrait photographer used to hang; I can tell you tales about secret underground breweries, exploding mines and how the Morley Brass Band first paraded through Morley Tunnel in 1848.

Brass Band

How do I know all these things? Because Peter Aldred shared these stories with me.

Peter Aldred is a local history of the most voracious kind, the kind who never turns down a new object, photograph or story. Collecting for the past 50 years, his house has become a treasure trove for those forgotten items of the past; he frequently holds things up and makes me guess what they could possibly be. I did well on a stoneware hot water bottle, not so much on the washing equipment, and I’m certainly too southern to recognise different woven materials he’s got tucked away! For every item in his collection, Peter has a dozen photographs that unpack their story further, and weave together to create a rich history of the local area.

East Ardsley Colliery

Excitingly, this is the year that Peter finally gets to share these with the world, thanks to East Street Arts and a considerable dose of his own persistence! East Street Arts’ temporary spaces project In Situ has provided Peter with an empty shop in Morley centre, in which to put on a fantastic display of the history of Morley, Tingley, East and West Ardsley and beyond. He’s been busy laying carpet, nailing up mill owners’ portraits, selecting photographs from the past two centuries, cleaning up antique sewing machines and teaching me how to use Photoshop. As a result, the Morley Heritage Centre is nearly ready to launch.

On Saturday July 13th 2013, the Morley Heritage Centre will officially open its doors to anyone and everyone with an interest in the local history of the area. If, like me, you’re clueless in this respect, then there are labels with stories Peter and I find particularly interesting, funny or moving and wanted to share. If, like Peter, you’re Yorkshire born and bred, the chances are you’ll be pointing out places you used to visit, you’ll have drunk out of the Gommersals’ pop bottles that are on display or you might even have lent Peter some of the Morley plates we’ve put on the shelves.

WARD-REL-View-1915-09-15-Woodkirk Church-01

We’re interested in both telling stories and hearing yours, and maybe even including them around the displays if people are willing to share. The Morley Heritage Centre is an open invitation to anyone and everyone, to share in the history of the area, not just on a grand scale but on a personal level too.

The Heritage Centre, on Albion Street in Morley, is going to be open from Tuesday through until Saturday, from 10am until 3pm, each week beginning on Saturday 13th July. However, because of the temporary nature of the In Situ spaces, which mean that we will be given two weeks’ notice if the landlord wants the property for another use, there’s no telling how long this could actually be. Until we can find someone or somewhere to give Peter’s collection a permanent home, Morley Heritage Centre will be, essentially, a pop-up museum. So, in short, come and see us while you can! Pop in for a chat, stay for a while and share something wonderful about Morley.

Building - East Ardsley Old School c1900.De screened