Theme 2026: Everyday Histories

Are there mysteries hidden in your family history? Experts from Findmypast and Calke Abbey join forces to help visitors unravel their pasts and track their ancestors' journeys. Incredible stories about the people who lived and worked at Calke Abbey will be showcased, and eye-opening talks from genealogy experts will reveal the life-changing power of family research.

Step inside Holmfirth’s historic Technical Institute to discover its role in educating workers for the wool industry. It was built in 1894 and run by local businesspeople. Celebrate its early years at this special open day, with a pop-up exhibition, archive displays, guided tours and hands-on activities, plus a quiz celebrating working-class learning and local heritage.

Join a tour to explore the day to day lives of the ancient settlers who built Castlerigg Stone Circle, in many ways not too different to our 21st century living! Discover what their houses might have looked like, what they ate and how they farmed. You can also handle items from the Neolithic collection at Keswick Museum to get a feel for the life you might have lived 4,500 years ago.

One of Newcastle’s oldest surviving nonconformist burial spaces, it was known for its affordable burial fees and became the final resting place for many of the city’s working poor, including people of different faiths. A moving performance of poetry and fiddle music brings their stories to life in this historic and atmospheric setting.

Discover whose footsteps you’re walking in as you take a stroll down this historic street with local guides. Due to its location next to the river, King Street has long played a vital role in the city. It has been associated with fishing, riverside trade and industry; home to 58 pubs, four churches and a priory, as well as noblemen’s houses, industrial units such as breweries and manufacturing, and appalling slums.

Watch a special archive film show celebrating the North Staffordshire Potteries. Sit back and enjoy as you’re taken on a ‘guided tour’ through the history of the pottery industry, including interviews with pottery managers, workers and ceramic historians.

Much of the horticulture practiced 200 years ago is still practiced today and many of the techniques used now were brought to the UK by the Romans. Visit this historic walled garden and its tool shed to explore our gardening history. Built c.1820 as the fruit and vegetable garden for Meersbrook House, its walls would have been used for growing fruit trees and you can still see the numerous holes left by nails used to support the trees. The shed was built at the same time and has a collection of old and interesting tools that the team have added to as a reminder of the generations of gardeners who worked here.