Published Friday 18 December 2020 at 11:04
A new episode of local history lessons from Blackburn Museum series ‘Tales from the Collections’ is streaming now on their YouTube channel for residents to enjoy.
‘Heroes and Villains – The great and the good of Victorian Blackburn?” is the latest digital local history lesson. In the Museum’s Skill and Labour gallery we have a really important picture for the town. Called ‘Laying the Foundation Stone of the Cotton Exchange’, it depicts the town’s Victorian high society in all their finery. However, we look beyond the public show and uncover a forgotten tale of an unpunished crime, and a tale of great self-sacrifice.
The pandemic has resulted in many of our beloved public spaces being closed to help stop the spread of Coronavirus. This has put a pause on regular school visits to the museum, with many children missing out on the popular class outing. Blackburn Museum decided to take more of their collections online and now residents of all ages can stream history direct to their homes.
Blackburn with Darwen’s Executive Member for Wellbeing, Councillor Damian Talbot, said: “It’s wonderful that in spite of all the difficulties that we’ve faced this year we are still able to accommodate some museum learning. The Museum’s YouTube channel is a great way to illustrate local history.”
Blackburn Museum education officer Stephen Irwin said: “We know a lot of families will be disappointed that they can’t visit the museum. This is our way of sharing our collections with everyone in Blackburn with Darwen, so that they can still experience and enjoy learning about history while the pandemic is ongoing.”
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