Blogs & News

: iPhone Photography Workshop

Back by popular demand - our fantastic iPhone photography workshop with photographer Adrian McGarry. Learn to take stunning photos with the camera on your phone at our Sunday afternoon workshop here at the House. You'll learn how to get the best out of your iPhone camera, under expert tutorial from Adrian. From camera basics to composition, exposure and editing, you'll learn the secrets of the pros, including indoor and location-based shooting, using the stunning surroundings of Elizabeth Gaskell's

: Modern Calligraphy Workshop

I only wish I could mend pens, and then you should see how beautifully I could write. Elizabeth Gaskell, from a letter to an unknown correspondent   Modern Calligraphy Workshop Join us for a very special bespoke workshop on modern calligraphy, by professional pen artists Love Calligraphy. Inspired by the handwritten letters of Elizabeth Gaskell, you will learn the beautiful art of writing with ink and dip pen, and will have the chance to pen a gorgeous handwritten

: The Sound of Servants: The Musical! Friends Event

This housekeeper has her chores and with the bell she answers doors...meets and greets the great and good....   Join us for an innovative new musical, with tea and cake afterwards, devised by local women’s group Herizons at Elizabeth Gaskell’s House on Saturday 27th April at 2pm. Performed promenade style, this musical adventure will explore the stories of servants, who worked at the house, bringing them to life through drama and original songs. The performance will last approximately

: “My Dear Mr Ruskin….” Friendship, Inspiration and Scandal.

Elizabeth Gaskell’s House explores the friendship between the Gaskell family and John Ruskin in this exhibition as part of The Ruskin Bicentenary on 2019. Often at odds with their contemporaries, John Ruskin and Elizabeth Gaskell were controversial writers, often sharing the same ideals. Elizabeth openly took sides when Ruskin’s wife, Effie, left him, commenting in a letter that “…She really is very close to a charming character; if she had had the small pox she would have been

: Creative Writing Workshop: The Poetry of Observation

The greatest thing a human soul ever does in this world is to see something...To see clearly is poetry, prophecy, and religion, — all in one. John Ruskin   Join us for an afternoon poetry workshop inspired by the beautiful surroundings of Elizabeth Gaskell's House. Taking inspiration from John Ruskin's ideas about observation, and in honour of our Ruskin exhibition, you will use the exquisite features of the House and garden to write original pieces of poetry based on focused