Sharing the Stories
A Parade of Shops and Stories
Sharing what we’ve discovered during the SlawitSHOP! research stage has been central to the project. This includes:
- Exhibitions of archive material, artworks and stories
- QR-code plaques on the shops linking to oral histories
- Installations in community spaces, including St James’ Church
- Live performances, talks and interactive activities
Following the Carr Lane celebration, the exhibition visits the Colne Valley Museum in Golcar, where it will be on display from 31 January until 15 March. This extended exhibition will allow more visitors to explore the project’s research, creative responses and community stories in depth.
Both the SlawitSHOP! and the Slaithwaite Moonraking Festival archive will be preserved through the West Yorkshire Archive Service, ensuring this parade of stories remains accessible for future generations.
Creative Responses
The research has inspired a rich and imaginative creative response from a range of local artists. Writers, musicians, dancers, filmmakers and visual artists have responded to the stories uncovered by creating original songs, poetry, dance pieces, short films, sculptures and visual artworks.
Together, these works bring the parade’s stories to life and form an online creative collection, offering new ways to experience a century of local history.
Their creative response and artistic biography can be experienced on the individual shop pages.
- Belinda O’Hooley – Home Page
- Sam Hodgson – No.12
- Jess Baker with local primary schools – No.13, No.14, No.15
- Andy Burton – No.16
- Susanna Meese – No.17
- Nicola Sills – No.18
- Rose Condo – No.19
- Adam Strickson and Balbir Singh Dance Co. – No.20
- Jess Burnand-Martin – Historic Overview
- Jimi Jack – Historic Overview
Artists Integral to the project
Jane Horton - Artist and Illustrator
Jane has drawn all her life and took up illustration in ernest in her sixties. She is always interested in preparing work for community projects. This project was a great fit for Jane as she loves exploring historical subjects visually, and loves drawing more than anything else. Jane has created all the images of the shops and the illustrations that you find throughout the website, as well as the Colouring Book, Trail Map and the Window Shadows
Her work can be found @artyjaneh on instagram.
Trail Map
One of Jane’s passions as an illustrator is to create folded paper surprises, mostly for grandchildren, but it occurred to Jane that a pocket accordion book would work well as an information resource and trail map for the history of the parade. About the project she assures us, “I don’t regret the design of the trail map despite having 550 booklets to fold, glue, attach ribbon and insert tickets into all the pockets!” She was, however, grateful for help from volunteers to complete them all.
Colouring book
Jane was delighted to be asked to complete a 1950s inspired colouring book based on the history of the Slaithwaite shopping parade. Since completing this book, she has a traditional publisher for her fourth colouring book, on the history of flower art. Her favourite tool is a calligraphy pen, for black and white drawings in ink, but she decided digital drawing was a wise choice for this, because of the probable need for amendments!
Window Shadows
Jane has a medical scalpel and large cutting mat which are the best tools to create shadow decorations for the shop windows. Jane does designs for shop windows in the village including the New leaf bookshop, so enjoyed popping into the shops along the parade and decorating them. She worked with fellow artist Frances Noon, who helped with the mechanics of putting them up, as well as designing half the windows.
Frances Noon - Artist
France lectured for over twenty years in the School of Art & Design at Huddersfield Technical College/Kirklees College and has been self-employed since 2012.
From her workshop at home in Slaithwaite, she makes jewellery and small mixed media sculptures featuring flowers, birds and animals. Her beautiful work sells in galleries throughout the UK.
A Slaithwaite Moonraking Festival stalwart, Frances has been an invaluable member of the creative team; helping deliver lantern workshops and making feature lanterns.
Find her at www.francesnoon.co.uk and on instagram @francesnoon64
SlawitSHOP! Plaques.
Every shop has one of Frances’ handmade plaques – each a bespoke design that shows the different businesses that have occupied it since 1925.
Of this commission, Frances said, “I spent many hours researching images to match with the correct time period and used the information that the research teams were finding, as well as drawing on direct feedback on social media around people’s particular memories of what they bought from the shops.
Each image has been transferred to the surface of the aluminium sheet by Hammer and Punch – the same process I use on my jewellery and sculpture. It is hard work physically, but the most fulfilling part as I could finally see my drawings embedded into the metal surface.”
Window Shadows.
The silhouettes in the shops’ windows for the Parade Party were made to reflect what each shop was in the 1950s. Frances worked with artist and illustrator, Jane Horton, on this part of the project.
In Ryder Dutton they showed newspapers, comics and magazines from the shop’s time as a newsagent: 1925 to the mid ‘90s.
In Slaithwaite Mini Market (formally Bottomley’s Toys and Sweets), Frances made silhouettes of a lollipop, a classic Anglo Bubbly, Love Hearts and Humbug sweets.
Mateer’s bakery past was represented by little fancy cakes for the windows.
Vanilla Bean, the site of Bangham’s Crumpet Factory, had crumpets in the windows – all their holes individually hammered out with different sized circular punches!
Ammie Sykes – Ceramic Artist
Ammie is a highly experienced ceramic artist who runs The Clay Mill pottery studio in Slaithwaite, where the love of clay has created a community of potters. The work Ammie undertakes aligns with the values she thrives on: collaboration, connection, and community. Her work often takes the form of small sculptural buildings and objects, exploring memory, place and the quiet stories held in everyday architecture. She works primarily in clay, using hand-building and glaze to create pieces that feel both tactile and narrative-rich.
Find Ammie at www.theclaymill.co.uk or on Instagram @theclaymill.slaithwaite or on Facebook TheClayMill Pottery
Ceramic Shop Awards
For SlawitSHOP!, Ammie was commissioned to create a series of ceramic recreations of each of the Carr Lane shops, which were presented as awards to the current shopkeepers during the centenary celebrations. Each miniature building was individually designed in response to the history and character of its shop, drawing on archive material and the research being gathered throughout the project.
Every piece was also stamped on the back with a short phrase capturing the shop’s distinctive identity, making each sculpture both an artwork and a small historical marker.
Of the commission, Ammie said,
“They have been a real labour of love and the odd late night if I’m honest! The shops are a big part of my own and my family’s memories so it’s been a privilege to make them for this year-long project.”
The Celebration Event
The project culminated in a public celebration on Saturday 17 January 2026 2–5pm
The event featured exhibitions, interactive heritage activities, costumed characters, guided tours, and live performances including music, poetry, dance and storytelling — all inspired by 100 years of shop history.
The team were amazed at the turn out on a cold January day. Kevin Hirst’s classic cars were a huge hit, too. Can you spot yourself in Chris Chinnock’s photographs?
Media Coverage
Take a look at the amazing coverage Slaithwaite has received through this amazing project thanks to Richard Byrne at Diversity PR who has kept us busy with interviews and copy writing! You can find him at Diversity PR
Project launch story 2025
May 9th 2025 KLTV
May 18th 2025 BBC Yorkshire
BBC Radio Leeds Saturday morning show with Kat Cowan 24/5/25
May 22nd 2025 University of Manchester article
Pre event 2026
KLTV Tuesday Jan 6th 2026
Yorkshire Live/ Hudds Examiner Tuesday January 6th in paper (full page , page 3)
10th January 2026
Yorkshire Post Saturday Magazine – pics Tony Johnson, words Sally Clifford
Wednesday 14th January
Susanna Meese, Project Coordinator with BBC Radio Leeds Gayle Lofthouse 11.45 “Hidden West Yorkshire”
1hr 45 minutes – 1hr 56 minutes
January event 2026
Saturday January 17th 2026
BBC Radio Yorkshire 7.39 am
Sky Burton-Smith, Project Coordinator with BBC Radio Leeds Kat Cowan 1h 39 minutes in
Saturday January 17th 2026
Calendar ITV evening news 30 second piece
Monday January 19th
Full page article Huddersfield Examiner page 4
Sunday January 18th
Examiner/ Yorkshire Live website photo gallery
Tuesday January 20th Huddersfield Hub
And of course all the love on Facebook SlawitSHOP!
Why It Matters
It is, quite simply, a parade of shops and stories.
