Heritage Open Days, 2023

Once again GMDT are co-ordinating this year’s Heritage Open Days events in Morpeth from Wednesday 13th  > Sun 17th Sept 2023.  It’s with the help and participation of the venues and volunteers hosting the events that we are able to put forward a program of fourteen events in and around the Town. The full HODs programme is published on the national HODs website

There were multiple Heritage Open Days events in Morpeth organised across four days from Thurs 15th > Sun 18th Sept 2022, following 2 years of nil or limited activity thanks to the pandemic. Venues included ranged from the 17th century Clock Tower to Tommy’s Field Community Garden, named after the 19th century publican who ran the first museum in Morpeth. 

Meanwhile there is still available free to view online the ‘Morpeth Film archive’, a series of short videos from previous ‘Heritage Open Days’, kindly presented via Morpeth News TV ‘You Tube’ channel: 2021 HODs videos MorpethNews TV

Photo above: 14th century Cresswell Pele Tower, prior to its recent restoration. Visits to this historic tower were part of our 2021 HODs events programme.

 

Each September GMDT co-ordinates Morpeth’s programme for the national Heritage Open Days (HODs) festival. After a single event in 2005 involving the opening of Collingwood House and an accompanying display by Morpeth Antiquarian Society, the programme has expanded most recently to cover 4 days across a long weekend.

An intensive programme takes place during which many of Morpeth’s churches, heritage buildings, and organisations stage around two dozen special free events or venue openings. These range from poetry walks through exhibitions and talks; to guided visits around local churches, Collingwood House, and the treasures of Morpeth Town Hall!

GMDT ‘s co-ordination of HODs events across Morpeth and its surrounding area, sees our community taking an active part in animating local spaces to highlight the importance of our heritage and its part in local life. Some typical events are described below:

> Churches put on displays and/or provide refreshments;

> family history research is showcased;

> drop-in heritage afternoons take place;

> poets provide costumed guided walks;

> Morpeth Town Council opens up the civic rooms housing Morpeth Town Hall’s treasures;

> Clock Tower Bellringers show visitors inside the Tower and try their hand at handling the bells;

> The Collingwood Society presents one of its annual lectures;

> willing local shops place potted histories and old photos of their premises in their windows, (courtesy of Morpeth Antiquarian Society museum group researchers). 

Our local community is actively encouraged to join in, and the whole project is run locally by volunteers. While there is no funding support provided by the national HODs team, online marketing, display materials and advice are provided by its partners, the National Trust and Postcode Lottery.