Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums launches new Autumn event and activity programme
24 September 2024
Seasonal events and activities designed to engage and inspire visitors of all ages.
Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums (TWAM) is pleased to announce its autumn programme, packed with a variety of exhibitions and seasonal events designed to engage and inspire visitors of all ages. As Halloween approaches, families can look forward to a range of spooky, family-friendly activities, from ghostly train rides at Stephenson Steam Railway and creative autumnal activities at Shipley Art Gallery, to frightfully fun events at Discovery Museum.
With thrills and chills around every corner, there’s spooky fun for all ages to enjoy across our nine venues this autumn.
It’s the perfect time for families and culture enthusiasts to discover what’s on across Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums.
Click to view the autumn What’s On webpage.
The full list of events include:
Charge Applies
Friday 25 October, 8 November, 15 November, 22 November and 29 November
Spark your child’s imagination with stories about science and curious objects. This is an opportunity for tiny engineering, inventing, discovering, designing and investigating.
Charge Applies
Saturday 26 October - Sunday 3 November
The Discovery Museum spiders have been hard at work weaving new homes on some of the artefacts in the galleries.
Charge Applies
Friday 1 November
Dress in your coolest creepy costume to stomp away to tunes like the Monster Mash at the Spooky Silent Disco.
Curiosity Sparks: Spooktacular Catapults
Charge Applies
Tuesday 29 October
Fearsome families can step into the spinetingling Great Hall and build their own spooktacular catapult to fire the spiders back into their web.
Museum Socials: Life of the £7 Toaster
Free
Tuesday 15 October
Join artist, maker, scientist and fix-it café co-founder Marek Gabrysch for a fun, immersive journey into the life of a £7 toaster and the environmental consequences of cheap single use electricals.
Charge Applies
Saturday 23 November and Sunday 24 November
Discovery Museum's Great Hall will host another collector's fair for adults and younger people alike, where trading card enthusiasts can gather and celebrate their hobby in the heart of Newcastle.
Steam to Green: A North East Energy Revolution
Free
On display now
Discovery Museum’s new exhibition explores the story of energy in the North East by looking back to the industrial revolution, and forward to the pioneering contributions in green technologies happening now across the North East region.
Charge Applies
Thursday 31 October
Get ready for a spooktacular experience aboard the Halloween Ghost Trains at Stephenson Steam Railway. Come along and take a trip aboard our Halloween Ghost Train, whilst you enjoy tales of terror from Newcastle's weirdest wordsmiths, the monstrous Mosstroopers.
Sunday 3 November
Join us for a heritage train ride with a spooky twist. Embark on a four-mile round trip (35-40 minutes) tracing the path of coal trains from the collieries to the River Tyne, all while riding in our vintage 1950s passenger carriages.
South Shields Museum & Art Gallery:
Charge Applies
Thursday 31 October
We welcome Angela and her ark of animals to the museum. Angela and her team provide a unique animal learning experience to enrich mental health and wellbeing whilst igniting and enhancing a passion for learning about animals and wildlife.
Free
Friday 11 October and Saturday 12 October
Artist Deepa Mann-Kler was commissioned to produce an art installation to celebrate the arrival of the Lindisfarne Gospels in the North East in autumn 2022. Illuminated Sheep was inspired by the Gospels’ themes of light and pilgrimage, and the flock of life-sized sheep has been lit up in bright colours at some of the region’s most iconic locations. At the end of the Hadrian’s Wall Art Trail 2024, the individual sheep from 40 locations along the Wall will shed their costumes and once again gather as a flock to form the highly acclaimed Illuminated Sheep art installation during October of this year.
Free, donations welcome
Tuesday 5 November
Bring your oohs and aahs to fireworks at the fort and see the night sky light up over the River Tyne where Swan Hunter used to launch its ships.
Free
On display now
Mali Morris: Returning is the largest exhibition to date by this renowned British abstract painter, who studied at the Department of Fine Art, University of Newcastle, from 1963 -1968. The show features around 40 key works spanning 45 years, tracing the development of her painting from the early gestural and stained pieces to the more recent geometric layering.
Charge Applies
Friday 11 October
Needle felting is the process of transforming un-spun wool into 3D objects, using a barbed needle. It's a bit like sculpting with wool, and very satisfying because you can create unique and impressive results quickly.
Charge Applies
Saturday 12 October and Saturday 19 October
You'll use polymer clay to bring your spooky visions to life — no painting is required. The session teacher will show you a range of techniques using specialist tools, enabling you to sculpt and shape your creation with confidence.
Charge Applies
Friday 11 October
Needle felting is the process of transforming un-spun wool into 3D objects, using a barbed needle. It's a bit like sculpting with wool, and very satisfying because you can create unique and impressive results quickly.
Charge Applies
Friday 18 October
Enjoy fun, imaginative, and educational activities at the Shipley. There will be drop-in activity stations amongst the artworks that you can explore at your own pace. Everything is tailored to little ones and our friendly Early Years specialists are on hand to guide you.
ENDS -
Media contact: sallie.ball@twmuseums.org.uk
About Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums (TWAM)
Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums (TWAM) is a major regional museum, art gallery and archives service. We manage a collection of nine museums and galleries across Tyneside and the Archives for Tyne and Wear. These include the Great North Museum: Hancock, Laing Art Gallery, Hatton Gallery and Discovery Museum in Newcastle; South Shields Museum & Art Gallery and Arbeia, South Shields Roman Fort; Segedunum Roman Fort & Museum in Wallsend; Stephenson Steam Railway in North Shields; and Shipley Art Gallery in Gateshead.
TWAM is supported by the four local authorities in Tyneside and Newcastle University. TWAM is also a National Portfolio Organisation funded by Arts Council England.
TWAM holds collections of international importance in archives, art, science and technology, archaeology, military and social history, fashion and natural sciences.
