Vintage seaside set illustrates summer tradition

If you’re heading to the beach this summer, an essential item on your seaside checklist is sure to be a bucket and spade.

And as this charming vintage set shows, sandcastle-building and beachcombing are popular seasonal traditions which stretch back generations.

At more than a century old, the two spades and their accompanying bucket would have been taken to the coast by Victorian children and their families.

On display at Leeds City Museum as part of the For All Seasons exhibition, they are one of a number of items illustrating how leisure activities are influenced by the changing seasons.

Ruth Martin, Leeds City Museum’s curator of exhibitions, said: “Most of us will have taken a bucket and spade to the seaside when we were children and we all have our own memories of sunny days at the beach with friends and family.

“That in itself speaks volumes about the influence that the changing seasons have on our lives, the different ways we have fun and the experiences that shape our childhoods.

For All Seasons, which is free to enter, can be found in the museum’s special exhibitions gallery and explores how the changing seasons shape the world around us.

Exhibits on show include vintage fashions, wildlife, some 100 year-old decorative Easter eggs, delicate ceramics, and paintings by world-famous Leeds artist John Atkinson Grimshaw, on loan from Leeds Art Gallery.

The exhibition is also accompanied by specially-recorded classical piano sheet music from the museum’s collection.

Councillor Brian Selby, Leeds City Council’s lead member for museums and galleries, said:

“The power which the changing seasons have to influence every facet of our lives is perfectly illustrated by the sheer scope and variety of objects on display in this exhibition.”

For All Seasons runs until August 28. For more details about the exhibition and the programme of activities, please visit: http://www.leeds.gov.uk/museumsandgalleries/Pages/Seasons.aspx

ENDS