Blogs & News

: Summer Family Fun

Rain or shine, indoor or outdoor, we have a summer of trails and games for all the family when you visit Elizabeth Gaskell's House. Outdoor Fun & Games Explore our historic garden on the garden trail by scanning the QR codes to learn fun facts, play games, tell jokes and find out ways you can help to support wildlife and reduce your carbon emission at home. (We also have a paper version of the garden trail so don't

: Family Fun for October Half Term

Share some family time together over half-term at our hands-on literary House. The kids can enjoy some creepy creative craft in our Servants' Hall making owl characters. There is dressing-up, colouring, hands-on activities and our popular Cranford the Cat trail around this magnificent historic family home. Family craft activities are included in admission and kids go free with a paying adult. Your ticket includes 12 month entry so banish boredom and visit as many times as you like!

: February Half-term Family Crafts: Making Origami Cats

And do you know we are to have a kitten all the way from Paris, called Cranford; with very long hair and soft pretty eyes? Elizabeth Gaskell, from a letter, 1854 Cats! Cats! Cats! Feline friends are a firm feature in Elizabeth Gaskell's life and writing! From her own cats, Cranford and Mimi, to the unfortunate cat who swallowed a fine lace collar in her novel Cranford, and the crafty cat who stole the Christmas sausages in her short

: Piano Recital: Constance Harper’s ‘The Magic Casements’

Come and join us for a very special piano recital of children's songs, composed by a former resident of Elizabeth Gaskell's House! The Magic Casements, written by talented harpist Constance Harper in the 1920s, will be performed on our beautiful boudoir grand piano in the gorgeous drawing room here at 84 Plymouth Grove on Sunday 20 October. The Harper family lived in the House from 1913, and Constance, one of the daughters of the family and a member of

: Free Entry for Local Residents

Elizabeth Gaskell's House is delighted to welcome local residents to visit the House for FREE on Thursday 28 November from 11am-6pm. The House and Tea Room will be open as usual with our expert and super friendly volunteers on hand to talk to you about Elizabeth's life, her family, the history of the House and its restoration. On the first floor our exhibition, My Dear Mr Ruskin, will also be open and there an opportunity to sketch something