Craft skills roped in as museum stages first heritage arts festival

The Heritage Arts Festival is being held at Ripon's Workhouse Museum until Sunday to give visitors an insight into a range of skills including calligraphy, lace-making and archery.

An exhibition on the history of lace-making in the North Yorkshire city will also be on display with demonstrators making a variety of pillow and needle laces.

Lacemaker Mary Moseley and local historian Avril Edmondson have spent a year researching and writing a book and organising the exhibition on the subject. The display and demonstrations will continue after the festival for a further fortnight until Sunday, June 20.

Activities for adults and children will vary each day of the festival. Archery, ropemaking and weaving demonstrations were on offer yesterday.

The Shepherds Hey dance band will perform traditional tunes tomorrow, and leader Robin Shepherd will be demonstrating clog-making and clog-dancing.

Archer Fred Bates will be demonstrating the ancient craft of bow-making on Friday, and other skills on show throughout the week include rope-making and spinning.