Museums in the Threlkeld and Keswick district

There are several museums in Threlkeld and the area around Keswick

In Threlkeld Quarry (on the south side of the A66 - follow the signs) is:

Threlkeld Quarry & Mining Museum.

They do not have a website at present but the attractions include:

Mining Museum with Geology Room
Underground experience - mining from the 1500s to 1900
Gold Panning
Engine house - where a steam engine is being restored
The Collection of the British Vintage Excavator Trust
Bookshop
The Quarry itself with interesting rocks and botany and of course Superb Views

In Keswick is:

Keswick Mining Museum
and Cumbria Mining Heritage Centre

They have a website at www.visitcumbria.com/kes/keswickminingmuseum.htm Attractions (at Otley Road across from the Bell Close car park) include

Mining Museum with the superb Ian Tyler Collection and several other collections
Geology and Mineral room, Fossils, and Crystals
Gold Panning
Bookshop: new and second hand books about mining and associated activities

Keswick Museum and Art Gallery

In Station Road between Upper and Lower Fitz park, this is the only purpose built Victorian Museum still operating in much the same atmosphere.

There is the museum room with exhibits ranging from geology through archaeology, industrial archaeology, Keswick School of Industrial Art, 500 year old cat (that is nearer 700 years old now), domestic artefacts from Keswick and Borrowdale, to Pencil making and mining.

The model room has a large three dimensional model of the Lake District built by John Flintoff in the 1830s and displays of birds.

The art gallery is used for special exhibitions and has the Poets' Corner with documents and manuscripts about Lakes poets and writers such as Wordsworth Southey and Walpole.

More information at www.allerdale.gov.uk/keswick-museum or on this site here

Please be aware that Keswick Museum has been under threat of closure, because Allerdale Borough Council (the sole trustee) considers itself unable to continue its "blank cheque" support.

There are two groups fighting to save the Museum and bring it back to glory:

Friends of Keswick Museum. This group is for anyone who wishes to support the Museum.
They organise a lecture programme each winter and provide volunteer stewards for the Museum throughout the season.
It is the Friends that organise the special monthly exhibitions Anyone can join - organisations too e-mail: Sally Newton the secretary

Keswick Museum Steering Group. This small group of volunteers is spearheading work helping Allerdale divest of the sole responsibility of funding the Museum.
A Project Manager (Peter Fox) has been appointed to provide professional assistance to the Steering Group. Consultants (Jura) have been appointed (paid for 50% each by Allerdale and Rural Regeneration Cumbria) to establish a viable option for the Museum's development.
There will be opportunities for Keswick residents and visitors - indeed anyone who has an interest in Keswick and it history - to contribute to the development and the endowment fund

The Pencil Mill Museum

Alongside Keswick's last working Pencil Mill, at the north-west of the town, this museum shows the history and process of pencil making starting with a simulated graphite (or wad) mine (for which Borrowdale was famous. There is an excellent shop with demonstrations and videos.

The Cars of the Stars Museum

Housing, in Standish Street off Station Street (near Barnardos), many cars used in the making of famous films such as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the Bond films, KITT

www.carsofthestars.com

The Puzzling Place

Upstairs in Museum Square (opposite Oxfam) is Britain's house of the unbelievable.

There is the Anti-gravity Room, Hologram Gallery, Optical Illusions as well as a free entry Puzzle Area and Shop.

www.puzzlingplace.co.uk

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