Museum of North Craven Life @ The Folly, Settle

Oystercatchers are brightly coloured, noisy birds which breed every year along the Ribble Valley.

However, records from the 1890s do not mention this species at all!

The earliest recorded sighting was in 1938, with ~20-25 regular breeding pairs reported in the 1970s.

📷Andreas Trepte, CC BY-SA 2.5

Our first historic bird sighting of the month for 2026 is a bit different as it isnt a sighting in North Craven...

In January 1953 a pied wagtail was recorded on the Isle of Wight which had been ringed in Settle the previous summer, a journey of nearly 400 miles!

📷 Ross, CC BY-SA 2.0

Whilst the year has had many triumphs, it has also brought grief and challenges.

We would like to thank all our customers and visitors for their support in 2025 and look forward to welcoming you back in the new year.

The Folly year in review: December

The end of the year is always magical at The Folly, with tasty Christmas treats from our cafe,
spooky Victorian ghost stories for adults and adventures with Molly the Mouse for children.

The Folly year in review: November

We visited Kirkby Malham Primary School alongside artist Katharine Holmes to deliver a workshop. The children recreated some of Katharine's paintings using techniques that she showed them.

The paintings are now on display in our Cosy Corner!

The Folly year in review: October

We unveiled our new quilt, made by community groups in response to our historic Horner Photographic Collection, and welcomed a photographer to demonstrate historic photography techniques.

The Folly year in review: September

We made a very special playhouse for Heritage Open Days... inspired by our 17th century building!

Local school pupils helped us create it over the summer, and in September we opened it to the public for children to explore and decorate.

The Folly year in review: August

This was a very busy month for our cafe team!

We ran a successful Langcliffe Teas event raising money for the restoration of Dr Buck's House as a cultural hub and museum gallery.

Our staff were also honoured to be judges at the Langcliffe Village Show.

The Folly year in review: July

July was a very busy month for the whole Folly team, with new displays and a trip down to London for the Royal Society Summer Science Fair!

The Folly year in review: June

Alongside our regular exhibitions for visitors to enjoy, in June we also had two pop-up displays - one at The Folly celebrating Refugee Week, and one at Art in the Dale in Kirkby Malham Church.

The Folly year in review: May

To celebrate the 80th anniversary of VE Day our cafe team went all out with a special menu and decorations! In the main hall, the museum team put together an exhibition showing how much peace meant to the people of Settle.

The Folly year in review: April

Easter was a time of creativity, with both our free children's activities and our adult's spring wreath workshop.

The Folly year in review: March

Technically our first exhibition of the year opened at the end of February, but March was the month our exhibition seasons really got going.

We showcased lots of fantastic artwork and photographs from local creatives alongside stories from the museum's collections.

The Folly year in review: February

Back in February our cafe were delighted to cater for Val's 90th birthday party. It is always a pleasure to host events like this for our customers!

The Folly 2025 year in review: January

In January we held our first volunteer Great Object Sort, organising our book collection!

Since then we have run 9 sessions and made fast progress with our collections inventory.

Thanks to the National Lottery Heritage Fund for making this project possible

Christmas Day may be over but there's still time to party! Champagne and canapes anyone?

This invitation from our museum collection is addressed to the Lambert family, best known in Settle for running the stationery and newsagents business that still bears their name.

#onthisday

The Museum of North Craven Life will be closed on Wednesday 17th December to allow staff and volunteers to attend the funeral of Anne Read, MBE, our founding curator.

#ThrowbackThursday

Have you sent your Christmas cards yet? Here are some examples from our museum collections...

Animals and snowy landscapes seem to be card designs that never go out of fashion!

Looking for some festive family activities over the Christmas holidays? Why not come along to our free Molly at The Folly family day on the 20th of December?

All activities are completely free! Activities will run from 11:30 - 3:30. All children must be accompanied by an adult

What's in a shoe?

Last week our museum community group were exploring shoemaking. We looked at shoes and shoemaking tools from the museum collection, alongside shoes that participants brought in from home. Do you have a pair of shoes that you can't part with at home? We would love to their story!

Our museum collections have a wealth of information about historic sightings of birds in North Craven, going back to the 1890s. We are working with conservation groups to combine this with modern scientific data.

Historic bird sighting of the month: what else could it be in the run up to Christmas but a partridge?

Partridges are ground nesting birds and do not climb trees (pear or otherwise). Grey partridges are known throughout North Craven but their population may be in decline.

📷David Galavan, CC BY 2.0

Writing social media posts feels a bit like the headline of this advert at the moment...

Are you ready for December and the Christmas season? Surprisingly this advert was published in the Settle Chronicle on the 1st January 1862!

Last week we had the pleasure of visiting Kirkby Malham Primary School alongside artist Katharine Holmes to deliver a workshop for their Key Stage 2 pupils. The paintings are now on display in our Cosy Corner on the first floor. It was wonderful to meet the next generation of Dales artists!

A scenic countryside landscape at sunrise or sunset, viewed from behind a metal gate and stone wall in the foreground. The sky dominates the upper half of the image, filled with dramatic streaks of orange, yellow, and gold near the horizon, fading into deep blue and gray tones higher up. Rolling green hills stretch across the middle ground, dotted with tufts of brown shrubs and divided by stone walls and hedgerows. In the distance, dark silhouettes of hills and ridges create a layered horizon. The lighting casts a warm glow on the landscape, highlighting the textures of the grass and stone. A moss-covered stone post is visible on the right side of the foreground, adding rustic detail to the scene.

A typically autumnal view from Malhamdale 🍂🍁🧡

📸 Andy Kay | #YorkshireDales #Malham #Autumn #MondayMotivation

This week, our Friday Club have been thinking about what makes our homes feels safe, warm and comforting.

Inspired by the witchmarks on our historic building, the group created their own protective marks featuring images of what makes them feel secure and happy in their homes.

We are delighted to share our new Main Hall Case display with you, co-curated with Dementia Forward's wellbeing cafe, Time Together Tuesdays.

Our museum collections contain historic bird records going back to the 1890s. We are working with conservation groups to combine this with modern scientific data.

Historic bird sighting of the month: on the 1 November 1974 a little auk was seen at Kirkby Malham.

In the same month, two others were also seen around Skipton. As far as we know this is the only time this species has been recorded in Craven.

📷 Sir Iain, CC BY-SA 4.0

Join us at The Folly for some half term fun! Tomorrow we will be making witch marks out of clay inspired by our historic building. Drop in between 11am and 4pm to make your own to take home. Suitable for little ones aged 3 and upwards. Children must be accompanied by an adult.