York Castle Museum

Adult Learning Events

Download our Adult Education Events brochure 2011-12 for details of workshops and talks across all of York Museums Trust's venues.

Browse through our events or click on the following headings to skip to areas you are interested in:
Workshops and Tours, Curators' Talks, Garden Tours, York Museums Trust Bookclub.

Workshops and Tours

An Introduction to Rocks
31 January, 2pm - 4pm

Handle rock specimens from the museum and view their thin sections in beautiful technicolour to get to grips with basic identification. Learn more about how people have used different types of rocks through time, with a chance to look at artefacts with curator Stuart Ogilvy.

£5 per person. To book, telephone 01904 650333.

Fossils of the Yorkshire Coast
18 February, 9.30am - 4.30pm

This one-day class will show you examples of common fossils to be found on the Yorkshire Coast and give you an idea of what you might find where, and how.

Discover how a bit of beach-combing can help improve our understand of the history of life on Earth with palaentologist, Liam Herringshaw.

£35 per person. To book, telephone the University of York Centre for Lifelong Learning on 01904 328473 or visit www.york.ac.uk/lifelongleearning

The Geology Behind York's Buildings
Part of National Science and Engineering Week
14 March, 10.30am - 12.30pm and 2pm - 3pm (both sessions the same)

Join our geology curator for a different and surprising look at what the buildings of York are built from! Following the walking there will be chance to examine specimens from the Yorkshire Museum geology collection.

£5 per person per two-hour session. To book a place, telephone York Museums Trust on 01904 650333.

1212: The Making of a City
3 April, 12.30pm - 1.30pm

An introductory talk to this new exhibition about York in 1212, with curator Natalie McCaul.

Free, no need to book.

A Thousand Years of Gardening in York
19 May. 16 June, 14 July, 10am - 4pm

Join Peter Goodchild, director of The Garden and Landscape Heritage Trust for these three sessions. The first looks at Gardening in York in the Middle Ages and the second Gardening in York from 1822 - 1922. Both these sessions involve an introductory talk in the morning and a guided tour in and around the Museum Gardens in the afternoon.

The third session is called York's Gardeners and Botanistsand focuses on gardeners and botanists and their connections with York.

£20 per session or £55 for the full course of three sessions. To book, telephone 01904 650333.

Yorkshire's Sea Dragons
29 May, 2pm - 4pm

Find out more about the marine reptiles that swam in the seas off Yorkshire when dinosaurs roamed the land, including the science behind how they lived and stories of their discovery.

Explore and handle specimens from the museum's collections with curator Isla Gladstone.

£5 per person. To book, telephone 01904 650333.

Sketch&Stitch: Moth Magic
23 and 24 June, 10am - 4pm, at York Art Gallery

Using inspiration from moths in the Yorkshire Museum's collections, develop design ideas, begin a sketch book and create stitch sample with an experienced embroiderer. Experiment with a variety of design and stitch techniques, building towards a finished piece of textile work.

£40 per person including all materials - you may with to bring your own materials and sewing kit. To book a place, telephone 01904 650333.

Moth Trapping
28 June, 6pm - 7pm

Join Stuart Ogilvy, assistant curator of natural science, to discover which moths have been caught in traps he has set in the Museum Gardens, right in the heart of the city. Release these beautiful and surprising insects back into the wild and find out how to set a trap yourself. Suitable for all the family!

Free, but please book by telephoning 01904 650333.

The Archaeology of York Castle
17 July, 1pm - 3pm

Discover the history of York Castle through objects at the Yorkshire Museum with our curators of archaeology. Then take a walk through the city to see the remains of the castle itself. Part of the CBA Festial of Archaeology (14 - 29 July).

£5 per person. To book, telephone 01904 650333.

 

Curators' Talks

All these lunchtime talks are free (aside from usual admission charge) and run from 12.30pm - 1pm, no need to book.

Roman Gods of Love
7 February

Prehistory Through an Eggshell
6 March

The Seal of Snarrus the Tax Collector
20 March

A Yorkshire Herbarium
3 April

York's Mystery Plays
8 May

St William of York
22 May

Ancient Animal Bone from the Teesdale Cave
12 June

York's Mystery Plays
26 June

Athletes of the Natural World
10 July

Garden Tours

Museum Gardens tours
Every Sunday, noon - 1pm

These weekly tours begin next to our Museum Street gates and give an insight into one of the most popular gardens in York, which contain a wealth of plant life, botanical specimens and wildlife, as well as the spectacular ruins of St Mary's Abbey and the Roman Multangular Tower.

Free, no booking required.

The Gardens in Spring
28 March, 2pm - 3pm

A guided tour of the Museum Gardens with the Garden Manager, Sjaak Kastelijn, to look at the spring horticulural highlights.

Free, but please book by telephoning 01904 650333.

Garden Tour: Wildlife Friendly Gardening
27 June, 2pm - 3pm

A guided tour of the Museum Gardens with Garden Manager, Sjaak Kastleijn. Discover how to attract insects and wildlife to your garden.

Free, but please book by telephoning 01904 650333.

York Museums Trust Book Club
Second Saturday of the Month, 3pm - 4.30pm, various venues

A Book Club with a difference - all these books have been chosen to highlight aspects of York Museums Trust's historic collections. As well as discussing each month's book, every Book Club session includes an opportunity to handle or get close to collection objects.

Free, but please book by telephoning 01904 650333.

Books, dates and venues

As Meat Loves Salt by Maria McCann
11 February, York Castle Museum

Dry Store Room No 1 by Richard Fortey
10 March, Yorkshire Museum

Headlong by Michael Frayn
14 April, York Art Gallery

The Millstone by Margaret Drabble
12 May, York Castle Museum

This Thing of Darkness by Harry Thompson
9 June, Yorkshire Museum

Life Class by Pat Barker
14 July, York Art Gallery