Kirkleatham Hall Museum and Sophellies

April 2019

The museum is located in Kirkleatham a quiet peaceful village area located within the busy seaside town resort of Redcar. Whose hustle and bustle seems a million miles away from the museum. The museum building was originally a free school for boys and it is located in a magnificent 1709 Queen Anne building. Which is set in beautiful park grounds with good car parking, a nearby Owl Centre and the Scare Factory, a perfect place for a fright near Halloween.

The area around the entrance to the museum features an interesting modern water fountain and a pavilion providing extra exhibition space. The entrance to the museum is light and welcoming. The museum has very friendly staff and a good shop area. The first gallery room explores the areas connection with the First World War. It is very interesting exhibition which focuses on the local airfields that operated at that time. The recreation of a pilot’s bed, a large plane model. Are key exhibits in this room. A roll of honour of those killed during the war recorded in honour on this impressive memorial created by an important local employer. Is the most poignant feature in the room.   

The Steel Stories

I really was interested to visit this new exhibition. It focused on the areas steel history and heritage. The exhibition filled the majority of the gallery space in the museum. The first room looked at several artists work focusing on the local closed steel works. The locker room, focused on how the workers locker room had changed with the different equipment and personal belongings hidden behind lockers which a visitor can open. The audio of workers telling their stories was really powerful in making visitors connect with the experience of steel workers.

The corridor room showed a timeline of the local steel industry and provided video and children’s interactive activities it was really well done. The next room looked at how steel workers had adapted after the steel works had closed providing insights into their new careers. The final film room provided three interesting short films. An additional art exhibition was located in the pavilion it had a selection of really interesting images relating to the steel industry and was a good way to finish off the exhibition experience.

The Saxon Princess

On the top floor of the museum is the Saxon Princess exhibition. It explores a Saxon burial site found in East Cleveland. The exhibition is very interesting and includes a short film exploring the archaeological dig. It tells the story of the early death of a high ranging Saxon Lady and her bed burial. There is a great area for children to learn about Saxon games, dress up and a nice area for storytelling. The key room is the jewellery room where the exquisite finds are displayed. The jewellery and other finds are well displayed and beautiful to look at, well worth a visit.

Sophellies

The café is located a short walk from the main museum building, it is a lovely light airy space, it offers a wide selection of main meals, snacks, and treats. The staff are very friendly and provide excellent customer service.

It is locally famous for its cheesecakes and regularly sells out. As I visited during the Easter period, they had a special treat on a selection of cheesecake eggs. I chose the galaxy caramel one. It was delicious I can highly recommend the cheesecakes. Sophellies offer a great selection of food and drink and the café adds to a great day out for a family or a group of friends visiting Kirkleatham Museum.

The museum is set in a rural village within Redcar. It was a lovely day on my visit and it is well worth having a walk around the church and the village. I really enjoyed a quiet stroll around the village before heading to the bus stop.

Zetland Lifeboat Museum

After an enjoyable few hours, I travelled into Redcar town centre. I decided to visit Redcar sea front and the small but interesting Zetland Lifeboat Museum. It contains the world’s oldest surviving lifeboat. The volunteer staff provided a very warm welcome. The beautifully restored lifeboat is an interesting and poignant attraction saving over five hundred lives over its working life. The museum offers visitors an opportunity to view the boat from the outside and the inside from a raised viewing platform. It also has some fascinating upstairs galleries which explore the history of Redcar and what the lives of fishermen were like. It is well worth a visit.