Bracken Hall Countryside Centre and Museum
Encyclopedia
Bracken Hall Countryside Centre and Museum is a children's museum
, natural history
education centre and nature centre
established in 1989 at Bracken Hall on the edge of Baildon Moor, close to Shipley Glen
in West Yorkshire
. When closed to the public, the museum caters for school groups. When open to the public, entry is free of charge.
building was once a bailiff's house, then a farm house,Information from Museum Officer.
and it still has the original big, old, pannelled front door. It is of the traditional rural, symmetrical, four-up, four-down domestic design which was common in the Georgian era
and continued throughout the 19th century. This type of house has two rooms each side of the front door, stairs in the middle leading back from the front door, and two upstairs bedrooms each side of the stair well, with a 19th century dressing room above the front hall. The walls between front and back rooms are load-bearing, and supported by the two chimneys, which allow fireplaces in all eight main rooms.
Bradford City Council
has built an extra ground-floor room onto the left hand side,
and this contains the Museum entrance door and Reception. The two original downstairs front rooms are now the Archaeology room and Exhibition room. The public cannot see the two downstairs back rooms, the stairs or the upstairs rooms, which are now accessed from behind the reception desk; therefore the public has access to just a quarter of the original building. The back door leads from the new entrance room to the back garden and the toilets.
and countryside centre specialises in interactive displays for all ages, indoor and out. When the museum is open, the public can walk through the ground floor rooms of the museum, and through the back and front gardens which are dedicated to wildlife discovery. The whole site and surrounding moor and glen are used for public groups on Wild Wednesdays and on guided walks, and for school groups when the museum is closed to the public: all these groups by appointment.
, herb Robert
and creeping buttercup
.
There are bird feeders which attract various finches and tits,
and an animal hutch for a rabbit or guinea pig
. There is a double gate so that the animal could occasionally be safely let out to graze under staff supervision.
Due to the vigorously interactive nature of children, and the transient nature of wildlife, some of the following displays will be regularly replaced with other items of interest.
. You place a dish of natural objects (for example houseflies) on the lighted tray at the bottom, and move it around until it shows in the video screen at the top. The tray is at child-height to enable youngsters to take part. On the screen a housefly
looks bigger than your hand, so that its details might be observed easily.
, bullheads
, goldfish
and water fleas.Information from museum staff.
In the far corner of the back wall is a wormery: these are appropriate for young children.
with an observation panel for the children, but it was dismantled due to colony collapse disorder
.
It has been replaced with an information board about bees
, and a honeycomb
for the children to handle. The wall-display explains bee
hierarchy, bee behaviour and hive
structure. There is also an information board about wasp
s. Like the bee
board, this board explains behaviour and nest structure
, but it also mentions the wasp
's usefulness in organic
pest control. Below it are the remains of a wasp
nest so that the children can compare the papery and waxy textures of the nest and honeycomb.
, a program for children which allows them to learn about wildlife outside the UK while being entertained. It is situated halfway along the wall opposite Reception. Near the computer is an identification-by-touch display of natural objects.
animals behind. There is a row of wooden flaps painted with animal pictures. The children try to name the animals, then lift the flaps to read the names.
birds at eye-level. It contains garden birds, a wren
's nest and a tawny owl
. This display plays birdsong recordings, which young children can learn quickly. This serves as an introduction to pishing.
cup and ring
rocks. They were engraved in the neolithic
era, and the larger engraved rocks have been left on the moor as it is thought that their meaning may be associated with the landscape. This more portable rock is in the museum for safety: the plough-marks on the rock indicate one of the reasons for this. The Heygate stone is one of the clearest examples of this type of petroglyph
. A cast of the engraving reveals that the two larger ring-marks are superimposed on the others.Information from exhibit-labels in the museum. The stone was found in Near Hey Gate Field near Baildon by a local landowner on 25 Sep 2001, and it is believed that it was originally a rock with a larger area of 5000-year-old petroglyph
s that had been quarried nearby in recent history, then dressed on two sides for wall-building. It is at the landowner's wish that the stone is preserved at the Museum, as near as possible to its original site, because it cannot now be returned to the position where it lay in the neolithic
era.
and medieval items found in the Baildon Moor area. There is an iron sickle, and a neolithic
burial urn
found in 1904 on Pennithorne Hill. There is a medieval jug and a lead spindle whorl found on Hope Hill. From the same place are some neolithic
arrow heads, thumbscrapers and piercers - all made of knapped flint. There are also Roman coins
, one of which was found in Shipley Glen
, across the road.
beehive quern-stone
with removable wooden handle and plenty of grain for grinding. Visitors are invited to look at a drawing of the inner structure of the object, and to try and work out how to grind the corn. When turning the headstone, you can feel how the grain lessens the friction enough for the headstone to turn easily, while the roughness of the stone continues to provide enough friction to grind the corn: a paradox perhaps, but it works. However, to allow entry of grain, the central wooden spindle of a quern-stone
is by necessity very loosely fitted through the hole in the headstone, which means that the headstone can move sideways, and young children's fingers must be supervised.
, a horsetail
-type, and the little Gastrioceras
, a kind of ammonite
. There are also fossils of Lepidodendron
, Stigmaria
, Carbonicola
, Dunbarella and Lingula
: all found in the Baildon Moor area.
, iron slag, gritstone
, coal
, sandstone
and shale
. The information board has a cross-section of Baildon Moor, showing the layers of different sedimentary rock and faults. Children who later walk or picnic on the moor across the road will see the large rocks, weathered to show faults and sedimentary layers.
There are various displays and wildlife pictures here, which are regularly rotated according to requirement.
. For example, they can see the more academic approach of previous centuries, including the obsession with classification
and dusty books, together with hand-coloured drawings and a brass optical microscope
. They can compare what was once known as botanizing with the modern muddy-boots-and-fieldwork approach, expensive cameras and cheap field-guides.
art. There are autumn seeds to identify in this display, and an opportunity for a close-up view of some of the UK's more shy animals: the weasel
, shrew
and jay
.
s, snail
s, earthworms
, woodlouse and millipede
s are likely inhabitants here. On the lawn is another animal hutch, a safety cage for beehives - disused due to colony collapse disorder
- and a shed with batboxes
fixed to the side. There are two old bramley apple
trees, and a facsimile cup and ring
stone for the children to handle.
, tadpoles
, frog
s, newt
s, efts and other pondlife.
which has long been used by the public as a recreation area. There was once a Victorian funfair on the moor,
and its story can be read on the wall of the Archaeology room. On the moor opposite Bracken Hall there is a neolithic
stone circle.
Five minutes' walk away, on the far side of this bit of moor, is Shipley Glen
, where some of the Bracken Hall nature walks take place, and where the Roman
coin in the Archaeology room was found. There is limited parking on the edge of the moor for visitors to the Museum. The Museum gardens and moor may be muddy after rain: boots are advisable.
Children's museum
Children's museums are institutions that provide exhibits and programs to stimulate informal learning experiences for children. In contrast with traditional museums that typically have a hands-off policy regarding exhibits, children's museums feature interactive exhibits that are designed to be...
, natural history
Natural history
Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
education centre and nature centre
Nature center
A nature center is an organization with a visitor center or interpretive center designed to educate people about nature and the environment. Usually located within a protected open space, nature centers often have trails through their property. Some are located within a state or city park, and...
established in 1989 at Bracken Hall on the edge of Baildon Moor, close to Shipley Glen
Shipley
Shipley may refer to:Places in England*Shipley, Derbyshire*Shipley, West Sussex*Shipley, West Yorkshire**Shipley People*Ann Shipley, Canadian politician*Burton Shipley, first Maryland Tarrapins men's basketball coach...
in West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
. When closed to the public, the museum caters for school groups. When open to the public, entry is free of charge.
Museum building and front garden
Building
This ca.1890s Yorkshire gritstoneGritstone
Gritstone or Grit is a hard, coarse-grained, siliceous sandstone. This term is especially applied to such sandstones that are quarried for building material. British gritstone was used for millstones to mill flour, to grind wood into pulp for paper and for grindstones to sharpen blades. "Grit" is...
building was once a bailiff's house, then a farm house,Information from Museum Officer.
and it still has the original big, old, pannelled front door. It is of the traditional rural, symmetrical, four-up, four-down domestic design which was common in the Georgian era
Georgian era
The Georgian era is a period of British history which takes its name from, and is normally defined as spanning the reigns of, the first four Hanoverian kings of Great Britain : George I, George II, George III and George IV...
and continued throughout the 19th century. This type of house has two rooms each side of the front door, stairs in the middle leading back from the front door, and two upstairs bedrooms each side of the stair well, with a 19th century dressing room above the front hall. The walls between front and back rooms are load-bearing, and supported by the two chimneys, which allow fireplaces in all eight main rooms.
Bradford City Council
City of Bradford
The City of Bradford is a local government district of West Yorkshire, England with the status of a city and metropolitan borough. It is named after its largest settlement, Bradford, but covers a far larger area which includes the towns of Keighley, Shipley, Bingley, Ilkley, Haworth, Silsden and...
has built an extra ground-floor room onto the left hand side,
and this contains the Museum entrance door and Reception. The two original downstairs front rooms are now the Archaeology room and Exhibition room. The public cannot see the two downstairs back rooms, the stairs or the upstairs rooms, which are now accessed from behind the reception desk; therefore the public has access to just a quarter of the original building. The back door leads from the new entrance room to the back garden and the toilets.
Museum layout
This children's museumChildren's museum
Children's museums are institutions that provide exhibits and programs to stimulate informal learning experiences for children. In contrast with traditional museums that typically have a hands-off policy regarding exhibits, children's museums feature interactive exhibits that are designed to be...
and countryside centre specialises in interactive displays for all ages, indoor and out. When the museum is open, the public can walk through the ground floor rooms of the museum, and through the back and front gardens which are dedicated to wildlife discovery. The whole site and surrounding moor and glen are used for public groups on Wild Wednesdays and on guided walks, and for school groups when the museum is closed to the public: all these groups by appointment.
Front garden
This changes with the seasons. In May and June there are many wild flowers, including green alkanetGreen alkanet
Pentaglottis sempervirens is a bristly, perennial plant growing to approximately 60 cm to 90 cm , usually in damp or shaded places and often close to buildings. It has brilliant blue flowers, and retains its green leaves through the winter...
, herb Robert
Herb Robert
Geranium robertianum, commonly known as Herb Robert, Red Robin, Death come quickly, or Robert Geranium, is a common species of cranesbill in Europe, Asia, North America, and North Africa.Geranium robertianum can grow at altitudes of up to...
and creeping buttercup
Creeping buttercup
Ranunculus repens is a flowering plant in the buttercup family, native to Europe, Asia and northwestern Africa. It is also called Creeping Crowfoot and Sitfast.-Growth:...
.
There are bird feeders which attract various finches and tits,
and an animal hutch for a rabbit or guinea pig
Guinea pig
The guinea pig , also called the cavy, is a species of rodent belonging to the family Caviidae and the genus Cavia. Despite their common name, these animals are not in the pig family, nor are they from Guinea...
. There is a double gate so that the animal could occasionally be safely let out to graze under staff supervision.
Entrance room
Due to the vigorously interactive nature of children, and the transient nature of wildlife, some of the following displays will be regularly replaced with other items of interest.
Video microscope
In the Entrance room next to Reception is a six-foot-high, interactive video microscopeMicroscope
A microscope is an instrument used to see objects that are too small for the naked eye. The science of investigating small objects using such an instrument is called microscopy...
. You place a dish of natural objects (for example houseflies) on the lighted tray at the bottom, and move it around until it shows in the video screen at the top. The tray is at child-height to enable youngsters to take part. On the screen a housefly
Housefly
The housefly , Musca domestica, is a fly of the suborder Cyclorrhapha...
looks bigger than your hand, so that its details might be observed easily.
Fishtanks and wormery
Along the back wall is a gallery of fishtanks, containing (depending on availability) animals such as tadpolesTadpoles
Tadpoles are a psychedelic rock band formed in 1990 in New York City by Todd Parker , Michael Kite Audino and Josh Bracken In 1992, Nick Kramer , David Max and Andrew Jackson of the fledgling Manhattan group, Hit, joined the Tadpoles after putting Hit on hiatus.In 1993 Kite and Jackson left the...
, bullheads
European bullhead
The bullhead is a freshwater fish that is widely distributed in Europe, mainly in rivers. It is a member of the Cottidae family, a type of sculpin...
, goldfish
Goldfish
The goldfish is a freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae of order Cypriniformes. It was one of the earliest fish to be domesticated, and is one of the most commonly kept aquarium fish....
and water fleas.Information from museum staff.
In the far corner of the back wall is a wormery: these are appropriate for young children.
Honeycomb and remains of wasp nest
On the wall opposite Reception there used to be an indoor beehiveBeehive
A beehive is a structure in which bees live and raise their young.Beehive may also refer to:Buildings and locations:* Bee Hive, Alabama, a neighborhood in Alabama* Beehive , a wing of the New Zealand Parliament Buildings...
with an observation panel for the children, but it was dismantled due to colony collapse disorder
Colony Collapse Disorder
Colony collapse disorder is a phenomenon in which worker bees from a beehive or European honey bee colony abruptly disappear. While such disappearances have occurred throughout the history of apiculture, the term colony collapse disorder was first applied to a drastic rise in the number of...
.
It has been replaced with an information board about bees
Honey bee
Honey bees are a subset of bees in the genus Apis, primarily distinguished by the production and storage of honey and the construction of perennial, colonial nests out of wax. Honey bees are the only extant members of the tribe Apini, all in the genus Apis...
, and a honeycomb
Honeycomb
A honeycomb is a mass of hexagonal waxcells built by honey bees in their nests to contain their larvae and stores of honey and pollen.Beekeepers may remove the entire honeycomb to harvest honey...
for the children to handle. The wall-display explains bee
Honey bee
Honey bees are a subset of bees in the genus Apis, primarily distinguished by the production and storage of honey and the construction of perennial, colonial nests out of wax. Honey bees are the only extant members of the tribe Apini, all in the genus Apis...
hierarchy, bee behaviour and hive
Beehive
A beehive is a structure in which bees live and raise their young.Beehive may also refer to:Buildings and locations:* Bee Hive, Alabama, a neighborhood in Alabama* Beehive , a wing of the New Zealand Parliament Buildings...
structure. There is also an information board about wasp
Wasp
The term wasp is typically defined as any insect of the order Hymenoptera and suborder Apocrita that is neither a bee nor an ant. Almost every pest insect species has at least one wasp species that preys upon it or parasitizes it, making wasps critically important in natural control of their...
s. Like the bee
Honey bee
Honey bees are a subset of bees in the genus Apis, primarily distinguished by the production and storage of honey and the construction of perennial, colonial nests out of wax. Honey bees are the only extant members of the tribe Apini, all in the genus Apis...
board, this board explains behaviour and nest structure
Wasp
The term wasp is typically defined as any insect of the order Hymenoptera and suborder Apocrita that is neither a bee nor an ant. Almost every pest insect species has at least one wasp species that preys upon it or parasitizes it, making wasps critically important in natural control of their...
, but it also mentions the wasp
Wasp
The term wasp is typically defined as any insect of the order Hymenoptera and suborder Apocrita that is neither a bee nor an ant. Almost every pest insect species has at least one wasp species that preys upon it or parasitizes it, making wasps critically important in natural control of their...
's usefulness in organic
Organic farming
Organic farming is the form of agriculture that relies on techniques such as crop rotation, green manure, compost and biological pest control to maintain soil productivity and control pests on a farm...
pest control. Below it are the remains of a wasp
Wasp
The term wasp is typically defined as any insect of the order Hymenoptera and suborder Apocrita that is neither a bee nor an ant. Almost every pest insect species has at least one wasp species that preys upon it or parasitizes it, making wasps critically important in natural control of their...
nest so that the children can compare the papery and waxy textures of the nest and honeycomb.
Computer nature guide and ID-by-touch box
This computer uses a Dangerous Creatures CD-ROMCD-ROM
A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....
, a program for children which allows them to learn about wildlife outside the UK while being entertained. It is situated halfway along the wall opposite Reception. Near the computer is an identification-by-touch display of natural objects.
Interactive animal ID displays
On the same side wall opposite Reception there are two interactive boards. One, made of painted plywood, is for young children, and has large wooden handles which cause rabbits, birds and other animals to pop up out of holes in the screen. The other is for slightly older children, and contains safety-glass panels with pictured or mountedTaxidermy
Taxidermy is the act of mounting or reproducing dead animals for display or for other sources of study. Taxidermy can be done on all vertebrate species of animals, including mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians...
animals behind. There is a row of wooden flaps painted with animal pictures. The children try to name the animals, then lift the flaps to read the names.
Mounted birds in glass case
This safety-glass display is behind the entrance door, and set low enough for young children to see some of the mountedTaxidermy
Taxidermy is the act of mounting or reproducing dead animals for display or for other sources of study. Taxidermy can be done on all vertebrate species of animals, including mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians...
birds at eye-level. It contains garden birds, a wren
Winter Wren
The Winter Wren is a very small North American bird and a member of the mainly New World wren family Troglodytidae. It was once lumped with Troglodytes pacificus of western North America and Troglodytes troglodytes of Eurasia under the name Winter Wren.It breeds in coniferous forests from British...
's nest and a tawny owl
Tawny Owl
The Tawny Owl or Brown Owl is a stocky, medium-sized owl commonly found in woodlands across much of Eurasia. Its underparts are pale with dark streaks, and the upperparts are either brown or grey. Several of the eleven recognised subspecies have both variants...
. This display plays birdsong recordings, which young children can learn quickly. This serves as an introduction to pishing.
Local archaeology and history room
This room contains displays of archaeological, geological and local history exhibits which are aimed at both adults and children. The museum's prime exhibit, the Heygate stone, is central. The walls have information boards, and there are various other exhibits here.Heygate stone
This is one of the nationally-important Rombalds MoorIlkley Moor
Ilkley Moor is part of Rombalds Moor, the moorland between Ilkley and Keighley in West Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom. The peat bogs rise to 402 m above sea level...
cup and ring
Cup and ring mark
Cup and ring marks or cup marks are a form of prehistoric art found mainly in Atlantic Europe and Mediterranean Europe although similar forms are also found throughout the world including Mexico, Brazil, Greece, and India, where...
rocks. They were engraved in the neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
era, and the larger engraved rocks have been left on the moor as it is thought that their meaning may be associated with the landscape. This more portable rock is in the museum for safety: the plough-marks on the rock indicate one of the reasons for this. The Heygate stone is one of the clearest examples of this type of petroglyph
Petroglyph
Petroglyphs are pictogram and logogram images created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, and abrading. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions of the technique to refer to such images...
. A cast of the engraving reveals that the two larger ring-marks are superimposed on the others.Information from exhibit-labels in the museum. The stone was found in Near Hey Gate Field near Baildon by a local landowner on 25 Sep 2001, and it is believed that it was originally a rock with a larger area of 5000-year-old petroglyph
Petroglyph
Petroglyphs are pictogram and logogram images created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, and abrading. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions of the technique to refer to such images...
s that had been quarried nearby in recent history, then dressed on two sides for wall-building. It is at the landowner's wish that the stone is preserved at the Museum, as near as possible to its original site, because it cannot now be returned to the position where it lay in the neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
era.
Local finds
This glass case contains neolithicNeolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
and medieval items found in the Baildon Moor area. There is an iron sickle, and a neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
burial urn
Urn
An urn is a vase, ordinarily covered, that usually has a narrowed neck above a footed pedestal. "Knife urns" placed on pedestals flanking a dining-room sideboard were an English innovation for high-style dining rooms of the late 1760s...
found in 1904 on Pennithorne Hill. There is a medieval jug and a lead spindle whorl found on Hope Hill. From the same place are some neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
arrow heads, thumbscrapers and piercers - all made of knapped flint. There are also Roman coins
Roman currency
The Roman currency during most of the Roman Republic and the western half of the Roman Empire consisted of coins including the aureus , the denarius , the sestertius , the dupondius , and the as...
, one of which was found in Shipley Glen
Shipley
Shipley may refer to:Places in England*Shipley, Derbyshire*Shipley, West Sussex*Shipley, West Yorkshire**Shipley People*Ann Shipley, Canadian politician*Burton Shipley, first Maryland Tarrapins men's basketball coach...
, across the road.
Quern-stone
Within reach of children, there is an Iron AgeIron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
beehive quern-stone
Quern-stone
Quern-stones are stone tools for hand grinding a wide variety of materials. They were used in pairs. The lower, stationary, stone is called a quern, whilst the upper, mobile, stone is called a handstone...
with removable wooden handle and plenty of grain for grinding. Visitors are invited to look at a drawing of the inner structure of the object, and to try and work out how to grind the corn. When turning the headstone, you can feel how the grain lessens the friction enough for the headstone to turn easily, while the roughness of the stone continues to provide enough friction to grind the corn: a paradox perhaps, but it works. However, to allow entry of grain, the central wooden spindle of a quern-stone
Quern-stone
Quern-stones are stone tools for hand grinding a wide variety of materials. They were used in pairs. The lower, stationary, stone is called a quern, whilst the upper, mobile, stone is called a handstone...
is by necessity very loosely fitted through the hole in the headstone, which means that the headstone can move sideways, and young children's fingers must be supervised.
Local fossils
There is a display of locally-found fossils including the big CalamitesCalamites
Calamites is a genus of extinct arborescent horsetails to which the modern horsetails are closely related. Unlike their herbaceous modern cousins, these plants were medium-sized trees, growing to heights of more than 30 meters...
, a horsetail
Horsetail
Equisetum is the only living genus in the Equisetaceae, a family of vascular plants that reproduce by spores rather than seeds.Equisetum is a "living fossil", as it is the only living genus of the entire class Equisetopsida, which for over one hundred million years was much more diverse and...
-type, and the little Gastrioceras
Gastrioceratidae
Gastrioceratidae is one of five families of the Gastriocerataceae superfamily. They are an extinct group of ammonoid, which are shelled cephalopods related to squids, belemnites, octopuses, and cuttlefish, and more distantly to the nautiloids.-References:...
, a kind of ammonite
Ammonite
Ammonite, as a zoological or paleontological term, refers to any member of the Ammonoidea an extinct subclass within the Molluscan class Cephalopoda which are more closely related to living coleoids Ammonite, as a zoological or paleontological term, refers to any member of the Ammonoidea an extinct...
. There are also fossils of Lepidodendron
Lepidodendron
Lepidodendron is an extinct genus of primitive, vascular, arborescent plant related to the Lycopsids . It was part of the coal forest flora. They sometimes reached heights of over , and the trunks were often over in diameter, and thrived during the Carboniferous period...
, Stigmaria
Stigmaria
Stigmaria are a type of branching tree root fossil found in Carboniferous rocks. They were the roots of coal forest lycopsid trees such as Sigillaria and Lepidodendron. Each trunk tended to have four of those roots. Stigmaria is a form taxon, as the genus and species of the plant bearing the root...
, Carbonicola
Carbonicola
Carbonicola is an extinct genus of bivalve mollusk that lived in the Carboniferous....
, Dunbarella and Lingula
Lingula (genus)
Lingula is a genus of brachiopods within the class Lingulata. Lingula is known since the Tertiary.-Species:The following species are recognised:*Lingula adamsi Dall, 1873*Lingula anatina Lamarck, 1801*Lingula dregeri Andreae, 1893...
: all found in the Baildon Moor area.
Local geology
There is an information board about local sedimentary rock, with a display of small, loose stones for children to handle. These include ironstoneIronstone
Ironstone is a sedimentary rock, either deposited directly as a ferruginous sediment or created by chemical repacement, that contains a substantial proportion of an iron compound from which iron either can be or once was smelted commercially. This term is customarily restricted to hard coarsely...
, iron slag, gritstone
Gritstone
Gritstone or Grit is a hard, coarse-grained, siliceous sandstone. This term is especially applied to such sandstones that are quarried for building material. British gritstone was used for millstones to mill flour, to grind wood into pulp for paper and for grindstones to sharpen blades. "Grit" is...
, coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
, sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
and shale
Shale
Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock composed of mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals and tiny fragments of other minerals, especially quartz and calcite. The ratio of clay to other minerals is variable. Shale is characterized by breaks along thin laminae or parallel layering...
. The information board has a cross-section of Baildon Moor, showing the layers of different sedimentary rock and faults. Children who later walk or picnic on the moor across the road will see the large rocks, weathered to show faults and sedimentary layers.
Local oral history
This is heard via the headphones display. Oral history is vital to preserve a sense of community and identity in the locality.Front door lobby
In the lobby or original entrance hall you can see the inside of the heavy, pannelled, original front door. There is a sheaf of wildlife-identification quiz-sheets, and a board of numbered pictures to identify. The pictures include some unusual specimens, so the quiz is pitched at both adult and child level.There are various displays and wildlife pictures here, which are regularly rotated according to requirement.
Exhibition and activity room
This would have been the right-hand reception room of the original Bracken Hall farmhouse. It is used as a gallery. The table contains reference books which may assist with part of the wildlife identification quiz. The room is also used for educational group visits.Display of past and present nature study
This corner display, behind safety-glass, contains evidence which children can use to compare old and new methods of studying botanyBotany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...
. For example, they can see the more academic approach of previous centuries, including the obsession with classification
Taxonomy
Taxonomy is the science of identifying and naming species, and arranging them into a classification. The field of taxonomy, sometimes referred to as "biological taxonomy", revolves around the description and use of taxonomic units, known as taxa...
and dusty books, together with hand-coloured drawings and a brass optical microscope
Optical microscope
The optical microscope, often referred to as the "light microscope", is a type of microscope which uses visible light and a system of lenses to magnify images of small samples. Optical microscopes are the oldest design of microscope and were possibly designed in their present compound form in the...
. They can compare what was once known as botanizing with the modern muddy-boots-and-fieldwork approach, expensive cameras and cheap field-guides.
Autumnal nature tableau
Here is another example of the taxidermist'sTaxidermy
Taxidermy is the act of mounting or reproducing dead animals for display or for other sources of study. Taxidermy can be done on all vertebrate species of animals, including mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians...
art. There are autumn seeds to identify in this display, and an opportunity for a close-up view of some of the UK's more shy animals: the weasel
Weasel
Weasels are mammals forming the genus Mustela of the Mustelidae family. They are small, active predators, long and slender with short legs....
, shrew
Shrew
A shrew or shrew mouse is a small molelike mammal classified in the order Soricomorpha. True shrews are also not to be confused with West Indies shrews, treeshrews, otter shrews, or elephant shrews, which belong to different families or orders.Although its external appearance is generally that of...
and jay
Eurasian Jay
The Eurasian Jay is a species of bird occurring over a vast region from Western Europe and north-west Africa to the Indian Subcontinent and further to the eastern seaboard of Asia and down into south-east Asia...
.
Back garden
Back yard
This is accessed via the back door of the Entrance room, or by walking left across the front lawn. In the back yard are the toilets, and an animal hutch.Side garden
In the side garden there is a raised lawn, with a minibeast trapdoor laid on the bare earth. This allows small invertebrates to shelter under it, and children can expose them by lifting the trapdoor. The trapdoor is light enough for a five-year-old to lift easily. SlugSlug
Slug is a common name that is normally applied to any gastropod mollusc that lacks a shell, has a very reduced shell, or has a small internal shell...
s, snail
Helix aspersa
Helix aspersa, known by the common name garden snail, is a species of land snail, a pulmonate gastropod that is one of the best-known of all terrestrial molluscs. The species has been placed in the genus Helix, in all sources between 1774 and 1988 and in most sources until recently...
s, earthworms
Lumbricidae
The Lumbricidae is a family of earthworms which includes most of the earthworm species well known to Europeans. About 33 lumbricid species have become naturalized around the world, but the bulk of the species are in Holarctic: from Canada and the United States The Lumbricidae is a family of...
, woodlouse and millipede
Millipede
Millipedes are arthropods that have two pairs of legs per segment . Each segment that has two pairs of legs is a result of two single segments fused together as one...
s are likely inhabitants here. On the lawn is another animal hutch, a safety cage for beehives - disused due to colony collapse disorder
Colony Collapse Disorder
Colony collapse disorder is a phenomenon in which worker bees from a beehive or European honey bee colony abruptly disappear. While such disappearances have occurred throughout the history of apiculture, the term colony collapse disorder was first applied to a drastic rise in the number of...
- and a shed with batboxes
Nest box
A nest box, also spelled nestbox is a man-made box provided for animals to nest in. Nest boxes are most frequently utilized for wild and domesticated birds, in which case they are also called birdhouses, but some mammalian species may also use them. Birdhouses are the most common types of nest...
fixed to the side. There are two old bramley apple
Bramley (apple)
Malus domestica 'Bramley's Seedling' is a cultivar of apple which is usually eaten cooked due to its sourness...
trees, and a facsimile cup and ring
Cup and ring mark
Cup and ring marks or cup marks are a form of prehistoric art found mainly in Atlantic Europe and Mediterranean Europe although similar forms are also found throughout the world including Mexico, Brazil, Greece, and India, where...
stone for the children to handle.
Side path
Here is an old bathtub full of wild flowers growing, and a safety cage for the now-disused entrance to the indoor beehive. Bumble bees still constantly try to use the entrance in early summer. Wellington boots dry on the bench: it can be muddy here for most of the year.Pond area
The children's dipping pond is accessed from the side lawn or from the front lawn. It contains yellow flagsIris pseudacorus
Iris pseudacorus is a species of Iris, native to Europe, western Asia and northwest Africa. Common names include yellow iris and yellow flag...
, tadpoles
Tadpoles
Tadpoles are a psychedelic rock band formed in 1990 in New York City by Todd Parker , Michael Kite Audino and Josh Bracken In 1992, Nick Kramer , David Max and Andrew Jackson of the fledgling Manhattan group, Hit, joined the Tadpoles after putting Hit on hiatus.In 1993 Kite and Jackson left the...
, frog
Frog
Frogs are amphibians in the order Anura , formerly referred to as Salientia . Most frogs are characterized by a short body, webbed digits , protruding eyes and the absence of a tail...
s, newt
Smooth Newt
The Smooth Newt, also known as the Common Newt, Lissotriton vulgaris is the most common newt species of the Lissotriton genus of amphibians. L...
s, efts and other pondlife.
Baildon Moor and Shipley Glen
Across the road from the Museum is Baildon MoorBradford.gov.uk: pdf map of Baildon Moor and Shipley Glen, showing Bracken Hall.which has long been used by the public as a recreation area. There was once a Victorian funfair on the moor,
and its story can be read on the wall of the Archaeology room. On the moor opposite Bracken Hall there is a neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
stone circle.
Five minutes' walk away, on the far side of this bit of moor, is Shipley Glen
Shipley
Shipley may refer to:Places in England*Shipley, Derbyshire*Shipley, West Sussex*Shipley, West Yorkshire**Shipley People*Ann Shipley, Canadian politician*Burton Shipley, first Maryland Tarrapins men's basketball coach...
, where some of the Bracken Hall nature walks take place, and where the Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
coin in the Archaeology room was found. There is limited parking on the edge of the moor for visitors to the Museum. The Museum gardens and moor may be muddy after rain: boots are advisable.