The Armitt : Museum, Gallery, Library

31/10/2026

Our friends over at Keswick Museum are sharing some of their spooky objects, one of which we are delighted to be showcasing next year!

Check out the post below for more details:

31/10/2026

As the veil grows thin this Halloween, we had a visitor from Ambleside's past venturing through the museum...

Ambleside's connection to the Romans is cemented in Galava Fort, the Roman fort on the north shore of Windermere by Waterhead. Although Ambleside may seem like a strange location for a Roman fort, the fort occupied a strategic position at the meeting of the Rothay and Brathay valleys, giving control over routes to the Kirkstone and Hardknott passes.

As Halloween marks the turning point for the winter ahead, we are excited to be progressing work on our upcoming exhibitions for 2027. Although we are keeping details under wraps for now, our visitor today might herald a slight clue as to what you might discover in the new year.

24/10/2026

Explore the hidden world of Fungi this half-term🍄

Fungi Fest - 28th October 🍄‍🟫
Once again, The Armitt is excited to run our annual Fungi Fest. Featuring two fabulous fungi-themed events and a new trail, there is fun for everyone!

13:00 (CANCELLED)
Felt your own fungi - take a stab at it with Mia Eccleston - This workshop is 2.5 hours long, and participants will learn how to 3D needle-felt, creating their very own fungi, finished with a log-slice base. Suitable for beginners and those more familiar with the craft.

10:30
A hunt for fungi - with resident mycologist Helen Speed - Follow in the footsteps of Beatrix Potter with Armitt volunteer and mycologist Helen Speed, on a guided walk through Ambleside looking for fungi.

Tickets - https://www.trybooking.com/uk/GUHC

All week - Explore Beatrix Potter's world of fungi through 'An A-Z of Beatrix Potter'.

In this co-curated and book tie-in exhibition, familiar Beatrix Potter themes and topics will be explored from new angles, and light is cast on more uncharted corners of her imagination through objects and artworks, sometimes little seen from our own collection and from others around the world. Uncover Beatrix Potter's lesser-known mycological illustrations and the ways in which these earlier scientific works tie into her better-known 'Little Books'.

Finally, our October Talk Series falls on half term and, although not centred around fungi, it is set to be just as fascinating...

Talk Series - Dr Buck Ruxton, Murder, Mystery and a Vital Ingredient with Susan Wilson - 27th October - 2PM

Dr Buck Ruxton was a Parsi Indian Doctor who came to Scotland first and then to England in the late 1920s. In the 1930s, he came to a Lancaster surgery and, in the surgery house in Lancaster, murdered his wife and a maid working for him. He took the remains to Scotland, and some remains were found downstream in the Lake District.

How these two women met their deaths is still one of the most fascinating stories today. It was also in this case that forensic medicine began.

18/10/2026

Talk Series: Buck Ruxton Murder, Mystery, Vital Ingredient🧪

Dr Buck Ruxton was a Parsi Indian Doctor who came to Scotland first and then to England in the late 1920s. In the 1930s, he came to a Lancaster surgery and, in the surgery house in Lancaster, murdered his wife and a maid working for him. He took the remains to Scotland, and some remains were found downstream in the Lake District.

How these two women met their deaths is still one of the most fascinating stories today. It was also in this case that forensic medicine began.

About the speaker:
Susan Wilson has lived in Morecambe and for 23 years was the Local History Librarian at Lancaster Library. That is where the talk on Buck Ruxton originated. Susan is a part-time Drama Examiner for Victoria College of Music and Drama and a Local Preacher in the Methodist Church.

- Tickets £6.00 per person
- Bookable through the link in our bio

16/10/2026

15/10/2026

This week's theme is to tie in with our current exhibition 'Club Culture Cumbria'.

Club Culture Cumbria, running until the end of 2026, bridges the photographic work of Colin Potsig with the research of The Armitt as the exhibition explores the significance of community spaces across Cumbria. By blending current and past histories together, the exhibition spotlights community spaces across modern Cumbrian history and cements their importance to their local communities.

This Arts Council-funded body of work is accompanied by a newspaper publication of the work, available only at The Armitt during 2026.

13/10/2026

Explore the hidden world of Fungi with one of our two Fungi Forays this month🍄

-Saturday 17th October - 10:30 AM (now sold out)
-Wednesday 28th October - 10:30 AM (As art of our Fungi Fest)

Follow in the footsteps of Beatrix Potter with Armitt volunteer and mycologist, Helen Speed, on a guided walk through Ambleside looking for fungi. On the walk, Helen will share her knowledge of various species of fungi before finishing at The Armitt to view some of Beatrix Potter's beautiful fungi illustrations. This walk will last for 2 hours and starts at The Armitt.

About the mycologist:
Helen Speed is a fungi enthusiast who has been fascinated by fungi, in all their forms, for over 30 years. More recently, she has become a Beatrix Potter enthusiast too and would love to revisit all the sites that Beatrix found fungi in to see whether the same species still grow there. She regularly leads forays and delivers talks about fungi (and Beatrix) to groups in the South Lakes. She is a member of the North West Fungus Group, Clyde and Argyll Fungus Group, the British Mycological Society and the Fungus Conservation Trust.

- Tickets are £10.00 for adults and £5.00 for kids
-Book via the link in our bio

10/10/2026

The Armitt is delighted to welcome a new MOU with our international partners at the Charlotte Mason Institute streamlining our mutual goals in the preservation and study of the life and work of Charlotte Mason. The news follows a series of research trips by representatives of the CMI to The Armitt across 2026, in which the Charlotte Mason and PNEU archives were made available for extensive research. With a focus on the intricacies of Mason's principles of education, the most recent visit included a deep dive into our collection of PNEU journals amongst a range of other ephemera.

Included below is a small statement from the CMI following their visit and the announcement of the MOU:

"With Professor of Practice and Visiting Research Fellow appointments by the University of Cumbria in Ambleside, UK, Kerri Forney and Shannon Whiteside spent the month of August digging in the Charlotte Mason archives at the Armitt Library and Museum Centre. Their eventual research goal is to identify and analyze the key principles of curriculum design found in Mason’s and her successors' choice of books, exam questions, and progression of content throughout the grades. Charlotte Mason Institute and Alveary are committed to the continual study of Mason’s principles, practices, and context as well as current research in education to provide parents and schools with everything they need to joyfully and successfully offer children a living, relational education for life! The Armitt's wonderful care and curation of the Mason Collection allow for the study of Mason's work and legacy to flourish into the future. Kerri and Shannon are so grateful for their warm hospitality and for this formalization of an already close working relationship with the Armitt that has been enjoyed for many years."

At The Armitt, we continue to welcome collaborative approaches to the study of our collections, and the formulation of the MOU with the CMI helps us to both develop the contemporary significance of this aspect of the museum's collection whilst continuing to promote the study of the Charlotte Mason archive both locally and internationally.

09/10/2026