Kitty Ross
LightNews LightNews
banner
curatorkitty.bsky.social
Kitty Ross
@curatorkitty.bsky.social
630 followers 560 following 140 posts
Curator of Leeds History, Leeds Museums and Galleries. Loves material culture, the great outdoors and singing.
Posts Replies Media Videos
curatorkitty.bsky.social
@leedsmuseums.bsky.social @leedslibraries.bsky.social @leedscitycouncil.bsky.social
curatorkitty.bsky.social Kitty Ross @curatorkitty.bsky.social · 21d
I love linking @leedsmuseums collections to old trade catalogues. Proves that this is not just a humble school abacus (in Leeds Education Committee lime green) but part of the long argument for the superiority of the Decimal System. 1921 catalogue of Leeds based school suppliers E. J. Arnold
School abacus or ball frame with ten rows each with ten balls on wooden stand painted lime green. Leeds Museums and Galleries collections. Detail from a 1921 catalogue with an illustration of a school abacus, text reads: Ball Frames with 10 Wires 10 Wooden Beads on each wire. Designed by one of His Majesty's Chief Inspectors, on the principle that the Decimal System should be the basis of all renumeration. Leeds Museums and Galleries collections.
October 24, 2025 at 8:27 AM
curatorkitty.bsky.social
I love linking @leedsmuseums collections to old trade catalogues. Proves that this is not just a humble school abacus (in Leeds Education Committee lime green) but part of the long argument for the superiority of the Decimal System. 1921 catalogue of Leeds based school suppliers E. J. Arnold
School abacus or ball frame with ten rows each with ten balls on wooden stand painted lime green. Leeds Museums and Galleries collections. Detail from a 1921 catalogue with an illustration of a school abacus, text reads: Ball Frames with 10 Wires 10 Wooden Beads on each wire. Designed by one of His Majesty's Chief Inspectors, on the principle that the Decimal System should be the basis of all renumeration. Leeds Museums and Galleries collections.
October 24, 2025 at 8:20 AM
curatorkitty.bsky.social
Some very imaginative ways of representing struggle, conflict and protest in the history of Vancouver @museumofvan.bsky.social. Lots of ideas to take back to @leedsmuseums.bsky.social
Display of broken windows illustrating anti-immigrant riots in 1907 Vancouver Display about illustrating anti-immigrant riots in 1907 Vancouver Display about shanty town life in early Vancouver Display about 1960s protests in Vancouver
August 13, 2025 at 1:05 AM
Reposted by Kitty Ross
handhyorkshire.bsky.social
Rational recreation' was an ideal that nineteenth-century middle-class reformers hoped to impose on the urban working class. They believed that leisure activities should be controlled, ordered, and improving' The Leeds Rational Recreation Society was created
Rational recreation' was an ideal that nineteenth-century middle-class reformers hoped to impose on the urban working class. The pewter medals above from the collection of the British Museum were produced in 1854
July 25, 2025 at 7:45 PM
curatorkitty.bsky.social
#RIP Cleo Laine. I hope that the Sheffield Lydian Singers can do justice to this song of hers in our concert tomorrow night (St James Church, Norton, Sheffield 7.30pm) youtube.com/watch?v=-2Mj...
Cleo Laine sings Shakespeare, 'The Compleat Works'
YouTube video by paulprocopolis
youtube.com
July 25, 2025 at 6:23 PM
curatorkitty.bsky.social
Cataloguing this fantastic set of Yorkshire Relish bottles into the @leedsmuseums.bsky.social collections is whetting my appetite for lunch. A couple still have their contents but are probably past their best after 80 odd years!
Selection of Yorkshire Relish bottles made by Goodall Backhouse & Co Leeds. Leeds Museums and Galleries collections.
July 22, 2025 at 12:31 PM
curatorkitty.bsky.social
Lovely little film from @wildsheffield.bsky.social about building climate resilience into Ughill Farm. Happy to have contributed a few pennies to help them buy this little plot of hope.
youtu.be/T8eEQcakWCs?...
*UGHILL FARM: May 2025* | Sheffield & Rotherham Wildlife Trust
YouTube video by Sheffield & Rotherham Wildlife Trust
youtu.be
July 4, 2025 at 6:22 AM
Reposted by Kitty Ross
ancestralenq.bsky.social
Council run museums provide a £47.3 million boost to Leeds. 👇
BBC News - Council-run museums and galleries bring Leeds a £47.3m boost - BBC News
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Council-run museums and galleries bring Leeds a £47.3m boost
City councillor says the economic impact of the eight institutions makes a
www.bbc.co.uk
July 1, 2025 at 8:46 PM
curatorkitty.bsky.social
Time to put up a few more #clocks at Leeds Discovery Centre @leedsmuseums.bsky.social, including one showing a view of #Leeds Town Hall c1858
@leedscitycouncil.bsky.social
Technician Rick hanging a cuckoo clock on the wall at Leeds Discovery Centre. Long case clock made by J. C. Elliott, Leeds c1858, with painted image of Leeds Town Hall, installed at Leeds Discovery Centre
June 26, 2025 at 12:28 PM
curatorkitty.bsky.social
A good day for #birds in Lathkill Dale today. These are the ones that stayed to be snapped - plenty of others were less co-operative with the camera!
@rspb.bsky.social @rspbengland.bsky.social @peakdistrict.bsky.social
kestrel in flight, Lathkill Dale, Derbyshire grey wagtail sitting on a tree branch, Lathkill Dale, Derbyshire Black cap with a grub in it's beak, balanced on cow parsley (or hogweed), Lathkill Dale, Derbyshire redstart on a tree branch, Lathkill Dale, Derbyshire
June 22, 2025 at 6:44 PM
curatorkitty.bsky.social
sheffieldbachchoir.com/sheffield-ba... A wonderful concert at St Mark's, Broomhill, #Sheffield this Saturday 21st June including Bach, Handel, Elgar, Holst. Tickets available on the door.
@classicalsheffield.bsky.social
Current Season Concerts
Outline and detailed list of the current season’s concerts
sheffieldbachchoir.com
June 17, 2025 at 10:00 PM
curatorkitty.bsky.social
Another confused German nudist for @museumbums.bsky.social. Clearly a hat an boots are obligatory, but nothing else (spotted on the Puppenbrücke, Lübeck)
Sandsstone sculpture of a man wearning a hat and boots (but not much else), on Puppenbrücke (Puppet Bridge) in Lübeck, Germany. Originally sculpted by Dietrich Jürgen Boy 1774-1776, but these are replicas from 1907.
June 16, 2025 at 2:13 PM
Reposted by Kitty Ross
groomb.bsky.social
Valley of the Aire, Armley Pastures and Kirkstall, Leeds, 1853, by George I. Alexander, 1832-1913 (Leeds Art Gallery). #NorthernArt
June 7, 2025 at 7:35 AM
curatorkitty.bsky.social
Had the moors to ourselves apart from a cuckoo and lots of curlews, lapwings and golden plovers. @bbcspringwatch.bsky.social @wildsheffield.bsky.social @rspb.bsky.social @rspbengland.bsky.social
cuckoo on wires, Thornseat Moor, near Sheffield lapwing on grass with bilberry and heather, near Cartlege Stones, Derwent Edge Golden Plover in grass and cotton grass, near Cartledge Stones, Derwent Edge
June 1, 2025 at 4:48 PM
curatorkitty.bsky.social
Very shocked to see the images of the landslide and destruction in #Blatten in Switzerland. We have visited several times and bought one of the iconic Tschäggättä masks, and later returned to buy one for the @leedsmuseums.bsky.social collections.
Chalet in Blatten, Lotschenthal, Switzerland with traditional mask Photographed in August 2014. View of Blatten, Lotschenthal, Switzerland, taken in August 2014 Mask, bought in Blatten in 2008.
May 28, 2025 at 8:30 PM
Reposted by Kitty Ross
uk-news.bsky.social
Museum takes time to pay striking tribute to city’s classic clocks

https://www.europesays.com/uk/137846/

Beautiful vintage clocks will take museum visitors in South Leeds on a journey through time this week. The…#uk #news #uknews
Museum takes time to pay striking tribute to city’s classic clocks - United Kingdom
Beautiful vintage clocks will take museum visitors in South Leeds on a journey through time this week.
www.europesays.com
May 28, 2025 at 5:51 AM
curatorkitty.bsky.social
A few new additions to @leedsmuseums.bsky.social Leeds Story, #Leeds City Museum.
ancestralenq.bsky.social Ancestral Enquiries - Tony Smith 🌳 @ancestralenq.bsky.social · May 27
Brutal 17th century scold's bridle goes on display at Leeds City Museum. The device contains an iron plate to stop the tongue moving. /1
@curatorkitty.bsky.social

BBC News - Torture device used to punish gossip put on show in Leeds Museum - BBC News
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Torture device used to punish gossip put on show in Leeds Museum
The scold's bridle – an iron device worn over the head - aimed to silence gossipers, experts say.
www.bbc.co.uk
May 27, 2025 at 7:49 PM
Reposted by Kitty Ross
ancestralenq.bsky.social
Brutal 17th century scold's bridle goes on display at Leeds City Museum. The device contains an iron plate to stop the tongue moving. /1
@curatorkitty.bsky.social

BBC News - Torture device used to punish gossip put on show in Leeds Museum - BBC News
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Torture device used to punish gossip put on show in Leeds Museum
The scold's bridle – an iron device worn over the head - aimed to silence gossipers, experts say.
www.bbc.co.uk
May 27, 2025 at 1:08 PM
curatorkitty.bsky.social
Found some calm landscapes by a namesake (Kitty Kielland) who found beauty in peat bogs (as do I) #art #museums
Painting "Peat Bog at Jaeren" 1901 by Kitty Kielland, National Museum, Oslo Painting "Summer Night" 1886, by Kitty Kielland, National Museum, Oslo
May 25, 2025 at 11:09 AM
curatorkitty.bsky.social
Hurrah - a bit of blue sky! @museumbums.bsky.social
Visiting Vigeland Sculpture Park on a chilly windy day made me feel rather sorry for the innumerable naked figures on display.
Sculpture of two boys running with arms outstretched, on bridge, Vigeland Park, Oslo, Norway (by Gustav Vigeland 1869-1943) Bronze statue of girl with arms and legs folded against the cold, Vigeland Sculpture Park, Oslo
May 24, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Reposted by Kitty Ross
ancestralenq.bsky.social
Exhibition of vintage Leeds clocks to be held at the Leeds Discovery Centre. 👇
@curatorkitty.bsky.social
BBC News - Leeds Discovery Centre vintage clocks stand the test of time - BBC News
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Leeds Discovery Centre vintage clocks stand the test of time
The exhibit at Leeds Discovery Centre includes cuckoo clocks, Grandfather clocks, and retro alarms.
www.bbc.co.uk
May 24, 2025 at 3:49 PM
curatorkitty.bsky.social
Happy to have added a few new (or old?) items to the @leedsmuseums.bsky.social #Leeds Story, Leeds City Museum. 1. Leeds cabinet maker Joseph Theaker by Charles Schwanfelder (2024 gift) @leedscitycouncil.bsky.social
Portrait of Leeds cabinet maker Joseph Theaker by Charles Schwanfelder, about 1810 above a corner cupboard made by Theaker. On display at Leeds City Museum. Leeds Museums and Galleries collections.
May 12, 2025 at 2:21 PM
curatorkitty.bsky.social
#VEDay Happy to learn that as well as making Monopoly escape kits for POWs #Leeds firm #Waddingtons printed escape plans in invisible ink on white hankies which you had to pee on to read. Washing in cold water made it disappear again. Sadly @leedsmuseums.bsky.social don't have any as far as we know.
White handkerchief against a red fabric background. (Not made by Waddingtons)
May 8, 2025 at 5:31 PM
curatorkitty.bsky.social
Bank holiday bonus - spotted a muntjac munching our flower beds. Certainly a newly confirmed species for our #Sheffield #garden! @wildsheffield.bsky.social @mammalsociety.bsky.social #deer #gardenwildlife
muntjac deer on garden lawn with blue flowers on the left muntjac deer on garden lawn with cotoneaster in foreground muntjac deer on garden lawn with garden border behind
May 5, 2025 at 12:17 PM
curatorkitty.bsky.social
Any one able to help with this #photo? Part of @leedsmuseums.bsky.social Burtons photo archive. Original caption: Peter Robinson "Pop Group" 1965.
Are they a real group or just models posing?
Peter Robinson "Pop Group" 1965. Four men posed by a taxidermy buffalo in a clothes shop. Burtons company photograph, Leeds Museums and Galleries collections
May 1, 2025 at 9:10 AM