Framework Knitters Museum

Remember the knitted garden shed at the Open Gardens event in June? Well, it has now been transformed into a door for our creative genius Helen's workspace. You can see it when you visit the Griswold circular knitting machines. Our wool is too precious to waste.

Looking forward to our next Steampunk Event. So here are some photos from the Whitby weekend recently.

Just a few more days! We open on Friday 1st Feb and we can't wait to welcome you again. Remember - Wed to Sat 11-4.30. Hope to see you soon!

Look how great the Frameshop looks now. I bet you can't wait until we open on 1st Feb!

Our January closure gives staff and volunteers the chance to sort, clean, check, plan and consider the visitor experience. We had a Big Sort Out day last week and you can see from the photos that there was a lot to be done. We love being busy during open season, but it is also immensely satisfying to have a whole day to make the museum look clean, tidy and enticing. The frameshop has also had a makeover and our frames are now levelled, evenly spaced and well-oiled! Great work everyone!

We had an exciting day last week experiencing the frames in the museum. Several volunteers had the chance to try out framework knitting under the expert eye of Matthew. Just sitting on the seat and using the pedals and the frame to create one row of knitting was a unique achievement and certainly gave us an insight into the co-ordination and skill required.

Thanks to Anne for spotting this post

We're hiring! Click below to find out about our exciting opportunity for a part-time Museum Assistant to join our friendly team.
https://tinyurl.com/ycs5aq2e

We’re delighted to relaunch the Framework Knitters Museum Newsletter with a brand new design!
Just click on the link below to read or download the Newsletter in PDF format. (If you’d like to receive future issues of our Newsletter by email, please contact us so we can add you to our mailing list.)
https://www.frameworkknittersmuseum.org.u k/…/FWKM-newslette…

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Merry Christmas

Victorian Christmas fact: Normally associated with the bringer of the above gifts, is Father Christmas or Santa Claus. The two are in fact two entirely separate stories. Father Christmas was originally part of an old English midwinter festival, normally dressed in green, a sign of the returning spring. The stories of St. Nicholas (Sinter Klaas in Holland) came via Dutch settlers to America in the 17th Century. From the 1870’s Sinter Klass became known in Britain as Santa Claus and with him came his unique gift and toy distribution system – reindeer and sleigh

What an amazing opportunity to go back in time. A small but authentic account of an actual place in which Framework Knitters worked 12-14 hours a day for pittance! The Luddite area is really great as well. #takeyourtime #FEELthehistory #savourthemoment #qualityvsquantity

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to this wonderful museum and much appreciated the welcome and friendliness of the guides. The museum gives a great insight into the daily life and work of framework knitters 150 years ago and the buildings and machinery are a very important and impressive survival from those times - important both locally and in the country's industrial and social history generally.

We had a wonderful Wednesday afternoon here, this is an authentic insight into our recent past. The volunteer guides so knowledgeable, helpful and very friendly. Also, they make a great pot of tea or coffee.

Such honest detail in the cottages.......and the realization for part of our family that some of our ancestors may well have worked here as knitters!!!!!.



We hope to visit again......and take in the rest of Ruddington.

And yes, the Museum leaves you with lots of food for thought .

Visited on a national heritage day when lots of local heritage places were free entry and as I realised I hadn't been here since primary school (almost 40 years ago!) thought it was time for another visit. Went with my quite hard-to-enthuse 13 year old and we both really enjoyed it. She especially enjoyed being able to use the machines and make a scarf. We had been to The Workhouse museum at Southwell a few months previously and it was interesting to be able to link the two places together and really get a feel for life at that time for the framework knitters, many of whom ended up in workhouses when their jobs became redundant. Nice little treasure of a museum, friendly&informative staff and well stocked shop for its size

This was an excellent working museum. Staff at the museum were able to demonstrate the frame knitting machines and explain the history of the industry & the workers, who worked for a pittance and suffered horrendous living conditions. A must to see if you ever pass bye Nottingham. It's now showing 'Walking without fear' photographs from conflict zones around the world exhibition by photographer Sean Sutton.

This is lovely museum which tells the largely forgotten story of the early days of machine knitting. There are also the cottages which give an insight into the social history of the area.

So enjoyable with friendly people that I am now volunteering �

Loved it well worth going so interesting. Loved it going around the cottage's

Loved it all. Recently moved here and didn't realise the village had some a historic connection to this trade. Brilliant, fascinating.

Love this place!! Very informative, very interesting, the staff really cares about the museum. Wished I lived in Ruddington so I could visit it frequently.

Had a brilliant time visiting the museum today. The volunteers were great & passionate about their work which enhanced the experience. Great knowledge about Ruddington & the knitting trade in general

First time I visited today yet lived in Nottingham all my life ,absolutely loved going round it's an amazing place , it was the Christmas Fair so was very busy but would love to go back and take my time ,it's well worth a visit even the grandchildren loved it .

Fantastic little museum, visited with a friend & my mum who is in a wheelchair, I didn't expect mum to be able to see much as it is a small museum with old buildings, but the staff who are volunteers made a huge effort to get out ramps ( specially made by them to fit the narrow spaces of the buildings) so mum could visit the ground floor exhibits & videos. They also made her a cup of tea whilst we visited the upstairs areas. We all had a fantastic time, thanks

Enjoyed my visit. I found it to be very interesting. The volunteers were very helpful.

An excellent museum, very well presented and with some really knowledgeable and friendly staff. A family could have a really enjoyable and inexpensive day out by combining a visit to the museum with a visit to nearby Rushcliffe Country Park. Nice little tea shop at the museum too.

Amazing museum to see historical working frame knitting machines. Very knowledgeable and helpful staff. This is my 2nd visit, I wish I lived closer!

A lovely place to visit. My friend and I enjoyed a day here on Friday last week and the volunteers who looked after us were so helpful and friendly. We found the museum fascinating and were shown how the machines worked and were able to have a go at knitting. We will be recommending to family and friends. ��

A historical little gem. Fascinating insight into a piece of history and wonderful guides who brought everything to life. From my 9 year old boy to my 80 year old stepdad, we thoroughly enjoyed our afternoon and left with lots to think about!

A beautifully preserved small museum. Our visit here was really poignant for me as my Gt Gt Grandfather was a FWK on 1841 census aged 46 yrs.Aged 66 he was still doing that job as was his Mother-in-Law aged 75 & she was blind.