Beck Isle Museum
Encyclopedia
Beck Isle Museum of Rural Life is a social history museum in Pickering
, North Yorkshire
, England
. The museum features period business displays including the shops of a barber
, blacksmith
, chemist, cobbler
, cooper
, printer
, gentleman's draper
, dairy
and hardware store
. There is also a Victorian
-era pub and parlour
, and a historic costume
gallery.
The large collections it holds are housed in a fine regency period Grade 2* listed mansion with farm outbuildings. Among the collections are the photography and photographic equipment of Sydney Smith, noted photographer of Pickering. The images from the collection number several thousand, quite a number are on display throughout the museum. Most of the images date from the 1920s to the late 1940s and are of Pickering and the surrounding villages, events and local people.
Pickering, North Yorkshire
Pickering is an ancient market town and civil parish in the Ryedale district of the county of North Yorkshire, England, on the border of the North York Moors National Park. It sits at the foot of the Moors, overlooking the Vale of Pickering to the south...
, North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan or shire county located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial county primarily in that region but partly in North East England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 it covers an area of , making it the largest...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The museum features period business displays including the shops of a barber
Barber
A barber is someone whose occupation is to cut any type of hair, and to shave or trim the beards of men. The place of work of a barber is generally called a barbershop....
, blacksmith
Blacksmith
A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut...
, chemist, cobbler
Shoemaking
Shoemaking is the process of making footwear. Originally, shoes were made one at a time by hand. Traditional handicraft shoemaking has now been largely superseded in volume of shoes produced by industrial mass production of footwear, but not necessarily in quality, attention to detail, or...
, cooper
Cooper (profession)
Traditionally, a cooper is someone who makes wooden staved vessels of a conical form, of greater length than breadth, bound together with hoops and possessing flat ends or heads...
, printer
Printing press
A printing press is a device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a print medium , thereby transferring the ink...
, gentleman's draper
Draper
Draper is the now largely obsolete term for a wholesaler, or especially retailer, of cloth, mainly for clothing, or one who works in a draper's shop. A draper may additionally operate as a cloth merchant or a haberdasher. The drapers were an important trade guild...
, dairy
Dairy
A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting of animal milk—mostly from cows or goats, but also from buffalo, sheep, horses or camels —for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on a dedicated dairy farm or section of a multi-purpose farm that is concerned...
and hardware store
Hardware store
Hardware stores, sometimes known as DIY stores, sell household hardware including: fasteners, hand tools, power tools, keys, locks, hinges, chains, plumbing supplies, electrical supplies, cleaning products, housewares, tools, utensils, paint, and lawn and garden products directly to consumers for...
. There is also a Victorian
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
-era pub and parlour
Parlour
Parlour , from the French word parloir, from parler , denotes an "audience chamber". In parts of the United Kingdom and the United States, parlours are common names for certain types of food service houses, restaurants or special service areas, such as tattoo parlors...
, and a historic costume
Costume
The term costume can refer to wardrobe and dress in general, or to the distinctive style of dress of a particular people, class, or period. Costume may also refer to the artistic arrangement of accessories in a picture, statue, poem, or play, appropriate to the time, place, or other circumstances...
gallery.
The large collections it holds are housed in a fine regency period Grade 2* listed mansion with farm outbuildings. Among the collections are the photography and photographic equipment of Sydney Smith, noted photographer of Pickering. The images from the collection number several thousand, quite a number are on display throughout the museum. Most of the images date from the 1920s to the late 1940s and are of Pickering and the surrounding villages, events and local people.