[New] Goole Museum launches new exhibition celebrating the past

The town and port of Goole was established in 1826 by the Aire & Calder Navigation Company, an enterprise which connected the industrial and coal-mining regions of the West Riding to the Humber Estuary. The growth of the coal and general cargo trades continued well into the nineteenth century, and the images contained within the album capture a remarkable era of development and prosperity within the country’s most inland port town.

Several of the photos show navvies digging out Goole’s later docks during the 1880s, including Aldam and Stanhope Docks. Another rare and remarkable photo captures Victorian dock workers bagging grain on the deck of a vessel and on the quayside.

Our Goole had a chat with Alex Ombler, a curator at Goole Museum, to find out more about the exhibition.

Alex said: “An album containing a unique collection of Victorian and Edwardian photographs of Goole has recently been donated to Goole museum. The images show scenes at a time when the town was experiencing rapid development and its population was growing.

“They capture new docks and locks as they were being dug, the town’s people at work and play, and snapshots of iconic buildings in the surrounding area like Carlton Towers, Howden Minster, Snaith Church, Ousefleet Hall, and Wressle Castle.

“The album was owned by Goole man, Bill Roland. Bill had trained as a medic during the Second World War and after the conflict worked in a hospital at Naburn near York. During his time there, Bill was given the album by one of the hospital’s patients, who was also from Goole. Bill kept the album for years and it was of particular interest to his niece’s Husband, Iann Butler. When he passed away in 2010, Bill left the album to Iian, who wished for it to be kept at the museum for the enjoyment and benefit of the people of the town and future generations.

As the album is very fragile, the museum’s staff have created a handling copy for visitors to come in and view, and travel back to a time when Goole was a very different place.

The museum is planning on creating a full exhibition based on these images, and artefacts associated with them, in 2023. So, stay posted for what is sure to be a fantastic journey into Goole’s history.”

To see these fantastic photographs, you can visit the museum in Carlisle Street Admission is free. To find out more visit East Riding Museums on Facebook.

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