The Armitt : Museum, Gallery, Library

18/10/2026

Talk Series: Buck Ruxton Murder, Mystery, Vital Ingredient🧪

Dr Buck Ruxton was a Parsi Indian Doctor who came to Scotland first and then to England in the late 1920s. In the 1930s, he came to a Lancaster surgery and, in the surgery house in Lancaster, murdered his wife and a maid working for him. He took the remains to Scotland, and some remains were found downstream in the Lake District.

How these two women met their deaths is still one of the most fascinating stories today. It was also in this case that forensic medicine began.

About the speaker:
Susan Wilson has lived in Morecambe and for 23 years was the Local History Librarian at Lancaster Library. That is where the talk on Buck Ruxton originated. Susan is a part-time Drama Examiner for Victoria College of Music and Drama and a Local Preacher in the Methodist Church.

- Tickets £6.00 per person
- Bookable through the link in our bio

16/10/2026

15/10/2026

This week's theme is to tie in with our current exhibition 'Club Culture Cumbria'.

Club Culture Cumbria, running until the end of 2026, bridges the photographic work of Colin Potsig with the research of The Armitt as the exhibition explores the significance of community spaces across Cumbria. By blending current and past histories together, the exhibition spotlights community spaces across modern Cumbrian history and cements their importance to their local communities.

This Arts Council-funded body of work is accompanied by a newspaper publication of the work, available only at The Armitt during 2026.

13/10/2026

Explore the hidden world of Fungi with one of our two Fungi Forays this month🍄

-Saturday 17th October - 10:30 AM (now sold out)
-Wednesday 28th October - 10:30 AM (As art of our Fungi Fest)

Follow in the footsteps of Beatrix Potter with Armitt volunteer and mycologist, Helen Speed, on a guided walk through Ambleside looking for fungi. On the walk, Helen will share her knowledge of various species of fungi before finishing at The Armitt to view some of Beatrix Potter's beautiful fungi illustrations. This walk will last for 2 hours and starts at The Armitt.

About the mycologist:
Helen Speed is a fungi enthusiast who has been fascinated by fungi, in all their forms, for over 30 years. More recently, she has become a Beatrix Potter enthusiast too and would love to revisit all the sites that Beatrix found fungi in to see whether the same species still grow there. She regularly leads forays and delivers talks about fungi (and Beatrix) to groups in the South Lakes. She is a member of the North West Fungus Group, Clyde and Argyll Fungus Group, the British Mycological Society and the Fungus Conservation Trust.

- Tickets are £10.00 for adults and £5.00 for kids
-Book via the link in our bio

10/10/2026

The Armitt is delighted to welcome a new MOU with our international partners at the Charlotte Mason Institute streamlining our mutual goals in the preservation and study of the life and work of Charlotte Mason. The news follows a series of research trips by representatives of the CMI to The Armitt across 2026, in which the Charlotte Mason and PNEU archives were made available for extensive research. With a focus on the intricacies of Mason's principles of education, the most recent visit included a deep dive into our collection of PNEU journals amongst a range of other ephemera.

Included below is a small statement from the CMI following their visit and the announcement of the MOU:

"With Professor of Practice and Visiting Research Fellow appointments by the University of Cumbria in Ambleside, UK, Kerri Forney and Shannon Whiteside spent the month of August digging in the Charlotte Mason archives at the Armitt Library and Museum Centre. Their eventual research goal is to identify and analyze the key principles of curriculum design found in Mason’s and her successors' choice of books, exam questions, and progression of content throughout the grades. Charlotte Mason Institute and Alveary are committed to the continual study of Mason’s principles, practices, and context as well as current research in education to provide parents and schools with everything they need to joyfully and successfully offer children a living, relational education for life! The Armitt's wonderful care and curation of the Mason Collection allow for the study of Mason's work and legacy to flourish into the future. Kerri and Shannon are so grateful for their warm hospitality and for this formalization of an already close working relationship with the Armitt that has been enjoyed for many years."

At The Armitt, we continue to welcome collaborative approaches to the study of our collections, and the formulation of the MOU with the CMI helps us to both develop the contemporary significance of this aspect of the museum's collection whilst continuing to promote the study of the Charlotte Mason archive both locally and internationally.

09/10/2026

09/10/2026

This afternoon, we hosted members of the in the museum as one of the stops on their Autumnal tour of the Lakes.

It was a fantastic afternoon of sharing stories and exploring the facets of Potter's life through our 2026 exhibition 'An A-Z of Beatrix Potter'. We were also able to facilitate a viewing of some of Potter's original mycological watercolours in our library, providing an intimate viewing of her detailed illustrations up close, with members of the team on hand to answer any questions. Discussions on the care and conservation of the artworks gave us a chance to discuss our current MEND funding campaign to overhaul our temperature control systems in the museum and ensure the future sustainability of all of our collections (see details on the final slide).

It is always a pleasure working in partnership with our colleagues at the Beatrix Potter Society and our 2026 Co-Curator, Dr Penny Bradshaw of Cumbria Uni English. Furthermore, it was great to see some familiar faces and some new ones through the doors.

We wish everyone the best for their onward journey around the places and landscapes so closely connected to Beatrix Potter this coming weekend and we hope to see you all back soon!

08/10/2026

Fungi Fest is back for 2026 🍄

The Armitt is delighted to once again be running our fungi fest for one day only. Join us on October 28th for our celebration of fungi, featuring two fabulous fungi-themed events and a new trail. There is fun for everyone!

A Hunt for Fungi!
Join mycologist Helen Speed on a walk and foray around Ambleside.

About the mycologist
Helen Speed is a fungi enthusiast who has been fascinated by fungi, in all their forms, for over 30 years. More recently, she has become a Beatrix Potter enthusiast too and would love to revisit all the sites that Beatrix found fungi in to see whether the same species still grow there. She regularly leads forays and delivers talks about fungi (and Beatrix) to groups in the South Lakes. She is a member of North West Fungus Group, Clyde and Argyll Fungus Group, the British Mycological Society and the Fungus Conservation Trust.

Make your very own 3D Fungi on a log slice!
This workshop is 2.5 hours long, and participants will learn how to 3D needle-felt, creating their very own fungi, finished with a log-slice base. Suitable for beginners and those more familiar with the craft.

About the artist
MiaEccleston is a Contemporary Fine Art Masters graduate and local fibre artist, predominantly teaching Needle Felting Workshops around Lancashire, Cumbria, and The Lake District. These workshops teach a craft with an origin in the traditional techniques of making art from the land, allowing participants to spend time connecting art and nature.

Tickets for both events are available online now via the link in our bio!

03/10/2026

As we head into Autumn, we are delighted to bring some cosy talks and fascinating walks to the event listing this October.

We are well into fungi season, and we are bringing back our Fungi Fest to celebrate the fascinating world of Mycology. On the 28th of October, we will be running a range of fungi-themed events all day, with a fungi foraging workshop in the morning and a fungi felting workshop in the afternoon. More details to come soon...

This month you can also explore the life of Harriet Martineau across three of our themed events. Explore Martineau's regional and international significance in a talk with writer Chris Donaldson, discuss Martineau's 'Complete Guide to the English Lakes' with Liz Woodham, and engage with an imaginary meeting between Harriet Martineau and John Ruskin brought about by Chris Taylor.

Tickets for all our October events can be booked here - https://www.armitt.com/event-directory/https://www.armitt.com/event-directory/