Our Heritage Link Worker, Mike Mawson, recently made four presentations about the history of The Arcade and shopping in Victorian Dewsbury to pupils at two local schools.
The first presentations took place at Purlwell Infant & Nursery School, where two groups of 30 younger pupils participated in a ‘mystery objects’ challenge. After listening to a brief summary of the history of The Arcade, the pupils worked in groups to identify objects that would have once been sold in The Arcade: vinyl records, a Sony Walkman, a shoehorn, trouser braces, a Stylophone, and more. The pupils were quite skilled at figuring out what the objects were, although a couple of items left them puzzled!
The second presentations were held at Hanging Heaton J&I School, where two classes of Year 3 and Year 4 pupils engaged in a quiz about shopping in Victorian Dewsbury. Mike revealed the answers by showcasing some amazing photos of shops in 19th-century Dewsbury, including some in the Arcade. Pupils at both schools thoroughly enjoyed the presentations, and we hope to maintain a relationship with these schools – and work with many more – in the future.
