Weekend Tours

The Church School & Wilderspin Story

Join one of our FREE guided tours to find out why Historic England has described our building as “one of the most important schools in England“.  You’ll see the unique Model School designed by Samuel Wilderspin and we’ll explain how his Infant System worked, compare it to a traditional Victorian classroom for older children, then move on to the later story of the Barton Church School which will undoubtedly trigger memories of your own schooldays.

These one-hour tours start at 11am and 1.30pm and require no bookig – just turn up!

Unsuitable for very young children.  There’s plenty of seating as you move through the building.

“l learned more than just walking round by myself. It was definitely a worthwhile experience, and l would recommend it to anyone interested in local/social history. Thank you.”

My Doorstep My Heritage

Models and poetry fashioned by pupils from Castledyke Primary School based on their exploration and discovery of Barton’s fine Victorian buildings.

Open Day & Book Sale

THIS SATURDAY 1 June is our annual Open Day with FREE admission, a chance to look behind the scenes and find out about volunteering opportunities with us and other Barton volunteering projects.  And peruse our expanded selection of pre-loved books.

Tours at 11am and 1.30pm.  No need to book.

Retro Board & Card Games

Intrigued by board and card games popular in the past – we’ve trawled our archive and found some fascinating family games for you to try. Pop in and pick a game to pay from Beetle to Dick Turpin.

11am – 3pm.  Children FREE.  Adults £5 (Annual Ticket with free museum admission for 12 months including most other events and priority notice of our Events Programme).

Six Inches of Soil

Slow Circular Earth present a sceeening of this documentary feature film telling the inspiring story of British farmers standing up against the industrial food system and transforming the way they produce food – to heal the soil, benefit our health and provide for local communities.  Followed by Q & A and supper.

5.30pm – 9.30pm

Tickets £10.  Booking essential.

Monday Tea Club

A free event for families to cook and eat together, enjoy a healthy meal, and discover affordable, nutritious options.

4pm – 6.30pm

22 & 29 April and 13 & 20 May

Click here for more information

Monday Tea Club with Slow Circular Earth

A free event for families to cook and eat together, enjoy a healthy meal, and discover affordable, nutritious options.

4pm – 6.30pm at Wilderspin

22 & 29 April and 13 & 20 May

Learn cooking skills and help reduce food waste to care for the planet.

Have fun and make new friends.

To book – message Slow Circular Earth or text 07875 407997

Lifelong Learning at Barton

This newly formed group provides short educational and informative courses for everyone aged 18 year and over.

Sessions are held at Wilderspin in the Joseph Wright Hall.

Maritime Archaeology runs from 17 January until 21 February on Wednesday afternoons between 1.30pm and 3.30pm.  Tutor: Simon Tomson.  Fee: £60 (six sessions)

Contact 07442 160785 for more details.

Slow Circular Earth’s Community Fridge

The Community fridge is a simple solution to wasting less, through the sharing of good quality food.

A community fridge is a space where everyone can share their surplus food, including donations from local businesses, producers, households and gardens.

Slow Circular Earth is working with Hubbub in collaboration with Coop and Starbucks to help provide 6.8 million meals to people who need them most and to enable local communities to give what they can and take what they need, so that nothing goes to waste.

You can get involved by:

• Sharing or donating your surplus food
• Volunteering your time to help support
• Spreading the word using #CommunityFridge

The aim is to reduce food waste and promote sustainable eating habits, with regular  workshops to learn how to cook delicious, healthy, and budget-friendly meals using surplus food, and compiling a community cookbook together.

For more information and updates, please visit our website at slowcircularearth.co.uk or follow us on social media at:

https://www.facebook.com/slowcircularearthuk

https://www.instagram.com/slowcircularearthuk/

Cafe Changes

Due to rising energy and supply costs the Old School Canteen cafe has ceased trading at the Museum.

But … every cloud as they say …. and we’re pleased to be hosting Slow Circular Earth’s Zero Waste pop up cafe on Fridays between 10.30am and 1.30pm.

They’re also running a Community Fridge – so pop in on Fridays whe it’s all happening!