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Blog: Maudella Patterns – a very Bradford Story.
This blog has been written by Heather Millard, who has curated Made by Many Hands, our latest exhibition at Bradford Industrial Museum One of the
4 May 2026
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This blog has been written by Heather Millard, who has curated Made by Many Hands, our latest exhibition at Bradford Industrial Museum One of the
Callum finished his placement with us over the summer, but has written one more blog for us to share with you about the project.
Callum, currently working on archiving and researching around the wonderful collection of British Wool clothing we have which was designed and created for the British Food and Farming Year, 1989
looking at some of the spectacular wedding and party dresses that were a result of Bradford and district’s enormous textile wealth.
In 1884 Cliffe Castle’s owner Henry Isaac Butterfield held a grand ball at his home. The event was described in several newspapers at the time. Guests were expected to wear white at the event. It was described in the French style as a Bal Blanc.
It is always an exciting time in the museum when we install a new exhibition. We recently opened a new exhibition at Bradford Industrial Museum called Steampunk (for those unsure as to what Steampunk is, I refer you to an earlier blog post.) Nearly 300 people attended the opening and it was thrilling to see visitors not only excited by the weird and wonderful Steampunk exhibits, but also by the pieces from our permanent collection alongside.
Like many museums and art galleries, only a small portion our collection is on display. Well, really, I should say only a small portion of YOUR collection is on display. The collection really belongs to the people of Bradford, and the staff here care for it on your behalf.