Museum at Hanson

Update: The Museum has gone from strength to strength during this year with exhibitions ranging from 1960s to the Craft skills of Africa.  We have regularly updated our cultural celebrations pergola including displays on Diwali, Christmas, World Peace, Luna New Year, Ramadan and Vaisakhi.  These have been met with keen interest from the students as well as a growing number of visitors.  Following two generous donations of surplus display cabinets from Cartwright Hall Museum we have been able to considerably expand our exhibition space.  Our latest exhibition centres around Bradford City Football Club and we have been grateful to both staff and parents who have loaned artefacts for us to display.  This is our first venture into reflecting local history and we would love to receive items for loan or donation which we could use in the future.  For 2025 we are keen to celebrate as many of the cultures which make up this dynamic school and would love to speak to families willing to share their stories about their journey to Bradford.  We are especially keen to receive old photographs, artefacts and costumes which reflect our diversity.  Please contact either Brian Russell (russellb1@hanson.org.uk) or Polly Slater (slaterp@hanson.org.uk) if you think you could help.

Special thank you to the following people for their donations and support:

  • Liam Hastie
  • Billy Summers
  • Alan Knowles
  • Graham Ogden
  • Charlie Clifford
  • Andrew Burdett
  • Diane Collins
  • Sharon Toehill
  • Jonathan Wingfield

Bradford City Football Exhibition:

Africa Exhibitions:

Other Exhibitions:

The Museum at Hanson

Students at Hanson Delta Academy in Bradford have returned to school to find that an in-house museum has been created to aid their learning. The first exhibition explores the role the 1960s had on the evolution of everyday products. The youth culture of the swinging sixties combined with an explosion of new materials (mainly plastics) led to innovations in both fashion and product design. The displays look at wages and what people had to spend their money on and shows the development of the transistor radio, the telephone and the camera through to today’s smart phone. It looks at the Mods of the period who many would argue was the start of teenagers being recognized as a target market for products. 

Central to the exhibition is a girl in a Mary Quant influenced outfit and a boy in a suit and a parka, both typical of the mid 1960s together with a Lambretta scooter.  Alongside the products on display there are boxes of similar items to use in the classroom.  Any Delta school who feels they would like to make use of these resources should contact the Head of Design & Technology, Gemma Postings on postingsg@hanson.org.uk 

Initially, it is anticipated that schools may wish to bring groups of students to visit the museum to undertake particular product analysis activities.  Longer term it is hoped to be able to offer a loan service and Hanson staff would be particularly interested to hear from teachers who would like to develop teaching materials to make full use of the artefacts.  The exhibitions will change on a regular basis and should be able to support learning in other subjects such as RE, History, Art & Design etc. 

Bradford has been awarded the City of Culture for 2025 and the museum hopes be able to involve both students and their families in celebrating the diverse cultural heritage of Bradford.