Bags of winter fun at museums

The new autumn and winter opening hours take effect from October 1 at Dewsbury Museum, Bagshaw in Batley, Oakwell Hall in Birstall and Red House in Gomersal.

They will be open at weekends from noon-4pm, Tuesday to Thursday from 11am-4pm but closed every Monday and Friday.

The Oakwell Visitor Centre will be open at the same times, but closed on Mondays only.

Kirklees has planned a packed programme of events to attract visitors throughout the winter months.

Popular events for Halloween will include a magic workshop at Bagshaw Museum plus ghost walks and a ghost story writing course at Oakwell Hall in November and Oakwell Hall will feature a wedding fair on October 7.

Christmas events will take place across all the venues including the must-see Red House Regency Christmas House display in December. Red House will also be hosting craft events including a wirework jewellery for beginners session in November.

The Gomersal museum, which was saved from the axe earlier this year, will also be staging an exhibition – Greetings from Gomersal – from October until February, with memories of life in old Gomersal, including wartime, shopping, working life, churches, chapels, Gomersal colliery and transport.

All details of what is on, and where, will be in the next edition of Kirklees Museums and Libraries’ publication It’s Happening, which is due out soon.

They will also be on the council website at www.kirklees.gov.uk/leisure/index.aspx

All museums will be closed over Christmas, from December 24 until January 1, though Oakwell Hall Country Park will remain open to outdoor visitors. Summer openings will resume on March 1 when the museums will be open on the same days, but until 5pm.