Bradford Industrial Museum
Make a Day of It
Just inside the entrance to the main museum building, borrow a mini backpack with toys and activities for children to enjoy their visit to the full. Also, you can borrow some of our trails for children – find hidden rats, learn more about museum history, or, if visiting with a younger child, take our ‘50 Things to Do Before You’re Five’ trail to discover activities for children and earn a mini-Museum passport with a Shelly Sheep sticker. At the entrance hall, you can always find craft activities that are updated regularly, so you can make something new each time you visit us. Most galleries feature hands-on experiences and play corners for children of different ages. Follow our mascot, Shelly Sheep, to find a wooden play bus, a dollhouse, a mini kitchen, or a small loom. For a unique industrial experience, you can see some of our original machinery running.
On certain days, you can find members of our amazing volunteers’ team working on the old machines – weavers, printers, spinners, blacksmiths – who are always friendly and happy to talk about their skills or the museum’s history.
The museum is part of the Breastfeeding Friendly Scheme. In the entrance area, you can find two comfortable sofas where you can breastfeed. Baby-changing facilities and a baby-changing kit are available in the accessible toilet on the ground-floor.
Take a lunch break
The museum has an outdoor lunch space with wooden benches and tables, and an indoor refreshment area, where you can eat your packed lunch or buy snacks and drinks in the museum’s shop. This space includes tables with chairs, baby high chairs, a bottle warmer, a comfortable sofa, a mini library, and toys for children.
We don’t have a quiet room at Bradford Industrial Museum, but we have a cosy sensory pod on the ground floor in the quieter part of the museum. On request from the front desk, you can borrow a sensory basket.
Our well-stocked gift shop offers a range of souvenirs and toys – perfect for a keepsake to remember your visit.
Holiday Activities
During each school holiday, Bradford Industrial Museum offers creative and fun family activities for adults and children of all ages. Through activities exploring Bradford’s vibrant heritage, workshop facilitators encourage creativity, play, and family bonding. Most of the time, these drop-in activities are free of charge. On the days when we don’t offer holiday programmes at Bradford Industrial Museum, you can still find self-led craft activities at the front entrance, toys in different galleries, as well as the museum’s trail to keep your child entertained.
Find out about our coming family workshops below.
Events for Families at Bradford Industrial Museum
31 October 2026 11:00 am – 31 October 2026 3:00 pm
Celebrate Halloween with a spooky trail, skeleton rat hunt, crafts, face painting, ghosts in the machines and a disco.
31 October 2026 1:00 pm – 31 October 2026 4:00 pm
Give your clothes a second life at this creative upcycling workshop for teens. Learn embroidery and visible mending techniques, customise your wardrobe and transform old favourites into something new.
19 November 2026 11:00 am – 19 November 2026 2:00 pm
Babies and toddlers are invited to take over museum's jobs for a day.
28 November 2026 10:00 am – 29 November 2026 4:00 pm
Step into the festive season with a weekend of Christmas shopping, handmade crafts, unique gifts, delicious treats and local creativity.
Museums for Play and Growth
On every first Saturday of the month from 11 am until 1 pm, Bradford Industrial Museum offers free drop-in stay and play sessions for children 0-5. These sessions are inspired by 50 Things to Do Before You’re Five activities, and you can expect museum-themed toys to spark imagination, rhyme and story time to support language development, and games to encourage socialisation among children. While children are playing, parents can rest with a cup of tea.
Come and spend quality time with your child, build positive habits of visiting museums from an early age, and grow together!
Events for Early Years at Bradford Industrial Museum
19 November 2026 11:00 am – 19 November 2026 2:00 pm
Babies and toddlers are invited to take over museum's jobs for a day.
How can you find us
Moorside Mills, Moorside Road Eccleshill, Bradford, BD2 3HP
Monday: Closed
Tuesday – Friday: 10am – 4pm
Saturday – Sunday: 11am – 4pm
Bank Holiday Opening Times: 11am – 4pm
All sites closed Christmas Day, Boxing Day and Good Friday
By car
Signposted from Bradford Ring Road and Harrogate Road (A658). Bus 645 from Market Street or Hall Ings. All buses stop at Moorside Road. On the museum site there is free car parking and disabled car parking.
By public transport
From Bradford City Centre, the 660 bus departs from Drake Street stop D1, (alight at Moorside Road), and the 645 departs from Hall Ings stop H11, (alight at Harrogate Road then an approx 10 min walk).
For help in planning your journey by public transport, please visit www.wymetro.com
Accessibility and Visitors with Neurodivergence
Visitors with mobility impairment
In the main building, galleries are spread across two levels. The main entrance and entire ground floor are step-free, and the upper floor is accessible via two industrial lifts operated by staff upon request. Historic rooms at Back-to-Back houses are on the upper floor, accessible by stairs and by a lift, which must be operated by a staff member. Please note there are two steps at the door leading to the elevator, but our staff member can put out a mobile ramp. Horse Emporium is step-free. A cobblestone road connects the whole complex.
An accessible toilet is located on the ground floor of the main building, and a Changing Places toilet is available next to the building (please ask at the front desk for access). Our on-site car park is free with no limit, and includes two Blue Badge spaces.
Bradford Industrial Museum has two pairs of foldable transit wheelchairs, which you can borrow on request at the front desk if they are available. Pre-booking of the wheelchairs is not possible.
More detailed access information and pictures are available in our Visual Story.
Visually impaired visitors
We allow assistance dogs in the Museum. The Museum is working on a large-print guide and Braille interpretations.
Visitors with hearing impairment
On request at the front desk, a portable Induction Loop System (AFILS) is available, as well as ear defenders.
Visitors with neurodivergence
We do not have an official ‘quiet hour’, but the museum tends to be quietest during the final hour before closing. For visitors who need a moment of silence or solitude, a cosy sensory pod is available in the Transport Gallery, along with a fidget basket that can be requested at the front desk. At the front entrance, you can find and borrow a sensory support backpack with a range of fidget toys and a visit planning board with symbol cards. Please don’t hesitate to call us to ask any questions before you start your journey.
More access information and pictures can be found on our Visual Story. For potential sensory triggers and more details about accessibility, click here
Donate
Your donations are really important to us and we welcome any support you can offer.
Volunteer
Would you like to volunteer at Cartwright Hall Art Gallery? Find out more on how to become a volunteer.