What’s On

---

Online Talk: Women at Work – Sat 8 Mar 2025

Join us for a free online talk honouring the unsung heroines of the workforce who shaped Somerset and continue to do so today.

Celebrate International Women’s Day us!
Join a free live-online programme of talks focusing on the often overlooked contributions of women in the workforce throughout history. Hear from inspiring speakers in a morning dedicated to women at work through recent centuries.

Date: Sat, Mar 8 2025
Time: 10:00 AM to 12.30 GMT (yes there will be a short break!)
Cost: Free
Location: Online – Zoom

We’ll take a look at the role and experience of working women starting with the current day development of Shoemakers Museum. Manager Sam Cullen will share a contemporary example of women leading in architecture, design, and management. Then enjoy a deep dive into the world of women at work in the past – fabulous researcher and author Janet Few presents ‘Milkmaids, Munitions Workers, Milliners and Match Girls: women at work’. Members of the A Few Forgotten Women project will share how they use various records to find out about the working lives of women and how impactful it can be to have access to records of their working lives, such as those held at Shoemakers Museum, a new museum being created in Street in Somerset.

The talk will take place on Zoom. Book your ticket here and we will email you a link with instructions on how to join the talk the day before the event.

---

Keep in the loop

Find out about Shoemakers Museum and events at The Grange
– visit the new website and follow Shoemakers Museum Socials on Facebook, Instagram or sign up to our newsletter to be the first in the loop!

---

Past Exhibitions & Events

Wassail with us – Sun 19 Jan 2025

Join us for a celebration of the apple. A traditional Somerset event and a popular celebration in the walled orchard at We will be joined by the Langport Mummers to delight us with music and dance and the legendary Les Davies (Westcountry Man, CBE) will be master of ceremonies as we bless the oldest tree in the orchard which is said to encourage a good crop! With music and storytelling and a competition for the finest headdress!!
Refreshments will be available, including apple juice and cider.

Sunday 19 January 2.00-4.30pm at Shoemakers Museum orchard at The Grange, Clarks Village, Street..

Heritage Open Days

This year, the Grange is closed to the public during the building of the Shoemakers Museum. However, we are opening our doors for Heritage Open Days to say hello to anyone who would like to visit to talk about the new museum. We are also offering a heritage hike exploring the buildings and landmarks surrounding us that evidence a rich and vibrant local history.

Friday 6 September to Sunday 16 September 10-4pm our doors will be open. Use the Grange gardens as a picnic spot to start or end your heritage hike. Pick up a copy of the map or download a copy here on the Shoemakers Museum website.

Each year the Alfred Gillett Trust welcomes people to visit with a wide programme of exhibitions, shows, talks and events. These are opportunities to come together and be entertained by talented thespians, inspired by local speakers, and to celebrate the collections throughout the year and on special occasions such as Heritage Open Days and International Women’s Day. Here are a few past events.

• This summer Somerset Skills and Learning led a series of Multiplay Sessions – playful ways for children to learn maths skills.
• Outdoor theatre from Taunton Thespians, Wassail Theatre, and Tor Theatre shared stories of Somerset folklore and life.
• The Grange hosted a talk by Author Cato Pedder, organised by Friends of Street Library. Her book Moederland is an eye-opening journey across four centuries of South African history.
• On International Women’s Day 2024 we highlighted some of the incredible women whose stories may have been lost in time. We hosted ‘A Few Forgotten Women’ a project who seek to preserve the stories of women in local and family history. They will showcase one of their research projects into the School of Housewifery which was based at the Grange in the late 1800s (image above). We were thrilled to be joined by historian extraordinaire Janet Few who delivered a popular talk ‘Forgotten Women: Researching the Marginalised Women on your Family Tree’. We hope that meeting some of our forgotten women will encourage you to tell the stories of your own ancestors.
• Our Wassail 2024 was an amazing success – thank you to everyone who attended. Come to the 2025 event!
• Iceskating – The Grange hosts to the Clarks Village ice skating rink between December and January.
• A New Museum in Street – A poster exhibition setting out the plans, drawings and intentions for the new museum coming to Street in 2025.
• Heritage Open Days 2023 – Creativity Unwrapped was a free exhibition offering a rare glimpse into the collections, from the shoes and fossils to ‘Pedro’ the Teddy Bear, with an invitation to visitors to use the displays as inspiration for artistic activities including drawing, poetry and crafts.
• Community Mural Painting. Artist Jon Minshull lead a summer holiday community painting project. Over 100 visitors added to four mural boards celebrating the collections. The boards will be on display during the development of the new museum.
• Immersion Theatre thrilled audiences with a laugh-a-minute adaptation of Shakespeare’s riotous comedy, “Twelfth Night” in the last in our 2023 summer season of Outdoor Theatre at the Grange.
• The Taunton Thespians entertained us with an evening of Shakespeare with the awesome ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ in 2023 and Arabian Nights in 2022.
• The Vaccination centre ran up to 30 June 2023 and has now closed.
• Heritage Open Days 2022 saw the Grange open our doors to celebrate the Astounding Invention that is the Latin Verse Machine. Heritage Open Days return in September 2023.
• Thursday 7 July 2022: Street Chamber of Commerce Recruitment Fair
• Thursday 2nd June 2022: Whispering Willows outdoor theatre performance by Wassail Theatre
• Following the ‘Magic Steps’ of the Clarks Point of Sale collection a talk by Assistant Curator, Karina Virahsawmy
• Wooden Wonders a talk about how the seemingly ordinary material of wood has been used to create extraordinary footwear with Rebecca Wormald
• Clarks of Street, Family, Company and Community 1725 – 2005 a talk by Dr. Tim Crumplin as he charts the origins of the Clark family and their beginnings in Street during the 18th century
• Eureka, the Victorian Automaton that creates poetry a look at the Latina Verse Machine, Eureka to her friends for National Poetry Day
• Footwear in Focus Will Punter and Kieron Cheek presented a short overview of highlights and challenges they have encountered in digitising our unique and fascinating collection