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Blogs

Keep up to date with all the latest blog posts from Tees Valley Museums.

The Commondale Brickworks and Pottery

In the 1860s a pottery and brickworks was set up in the village of Commondale. The pottery was short-lived but produced some memorable wares, and bricks with ‘Commondale’ in them can be found around North Yorkshire and the North East.

The Arosa Hosiery Factory in West Hartlepool

In this blog we are looking into the fascinating history of The Arosa Factory in West Hartlepool. The Arosa Factory specialised in making nylon hosiery and they produced many wonderful photographs of the factories workers making stockings, the new technologies used in their creation and the catwalks they held to promote there stock.

Trooper Alan Lynn and Fort Montbarey, 1944

Alan Lynn from West Hartlepool fought in one of the most strategic battles of World War Two, the capture and liberation of Fort Montbarey in France in 1944. This battle helped to secure the end of Nazi occupation in Europe.

A woman stands looking over a white crib with a baby lied inside awake. She has her right hand on the babies body and smiles down at it. She has short black hair with finger waves.

Milk: the Historical Dangers of Feeding Babies

Feeding a baby sounds like a simple thing to do, after all, they only drink milk. But before the invention of powdered milk, how did mothers cope when breastfeeding wasn't an option for them? The alternatives available throughout history could have deadly consequences.

Rachel Smith

While Christopher Dresser is known for being the designer of many art ceramics of the Linthorpe Pottery, the making of his wares was carried out by a large team of workers who lived locally in Middlesbrough. Rachel Smith was one of them and she left her personal mark on some of the pieces held at Dorman Museum.

A woman stands in front of a brick wall facing the camera. Her torso, head and shoulders are in the shot and she is wearing a black big sleeve dress with white pinafore with a small waist.

Florence Emma Minto

Florence Emma Minto worked in Linthorpe Pottery, Middlesbrough. Here we are looking at Florence's fascinating life and the fabulous ceramics she decorated.

Celebrating 75 Years of the NHS

July 5th marks the 75th Anniversary of the National Health Service (NHS). To celebrate we are shining a light on three retired NHS nurses who currently volunteer for us. Their stories have been preserved in the form of oral histories.

Christopher Dresser in Japan

Before founding the Linthorpe Art Pottery, Christopher Dresser made a life-changing journey to Japan which inspired his career in designing ceramics.

Refugees of Hartlepool Bombardment, 1914

On 16th December 1914, the towns of Hartlepool and West Hartlepool came under attack by three German warships, causing many people to flee the town at short notice. In the face of losing their homes and loved ones, some chose not to return.

A selection of childcare objects with a small baby brush in the middle, a butterfly teething toy underneath that and the top of some metal forceps to the right.

Midwifery Forceps

The 20th Century Woman Gallery at the Dorman Museum celebrated women who lived through the turbulent 20th century, from the First and Second World Wars, to the technological advances of the 1980s/90s, it told many stories of how women’s lives have changed during this period.

Using some objects taken of display we will be charting the histories of these fundamental changes in the lives of women’s reproductive health and motherhood that may not be immediately obvious looking at these inanimate objects. First up we are looking at the Forceps.

Chartism, the Workers’ Fight for Rights – Part 3

The Chartist Movement, which occurred across the country between the late 1830s and late 1850s, was Britain’s first mass working class movement for voting and parliamentary rights. This series of blogs will tell the history of how the movement took place in our area, specifically Darlington, Stockton, and Middlesbrough.

This third and final part investigates the last years of the chartist movement, how it did not lead to parliamentary reform, but how it did play its part in the evolution of the working class which would eventually lead to the vote being extended.

Chartism, the Workers’ Fight for Rights – Part 2

The Chartist Movement, which occurred across the country between the late 1830s and late 1850s, was Britain’s first mass working class movement for voting and parliamentary rights. This series of blogs will tell the history of how the movement took place in our area, specifically Darlington, Stockton, and Middlesbrough.

This second part investigates how chartism in Middlesbrough took a very different stance to Stockton and Darlington, how their working and middle classes were on more even footing, and how chartist activities started to lean more towards education, co-operation, and trade unionism.