5 Best Portland Basin Museum musts for anyone to see!

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Jack from Tameside College is on a work placement at Portland Basin Museum in Ashton and has written about his favourite things to see and do there:

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Portland Basin Museum is an amazing place, which covers a wide range of Tameside’s history, so much that it is sometimes hard to know what to see first. Whether you are a first time visitor or a regular visitor this blog is here to help! Here are my top 5 Portland Basin Museum exhibits you must see.

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1 Fish and Chip Diorama

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The thing that makes history so interesting for me is seeing a window into a past time. Getting a glimpse into how things used to be really puts into perspective how far we have come, even with the British staple of fish and chips! Originally, in the 1830s, fishmongers would fry fish to preserve them for a longer period of time, they would also do the same for potatoes in the 1840s. These were sold by street traders for a while. It wasn’t too long for someone to put the pieces together.

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So, in the 1860s, somebody decided to make the magical combination of battered fresh fish, and fried cut potatoes, to make fish and chips. The Lees family opened the first chippy in Tameside in 1863. It was a hit! Not too long after, chip shops opened all over the UK.

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If you want a peek into what fish and chip shops used to look like, Portland Basin provides the perfect opportunity to do that!  

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2 Coal mining display

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Tameside has given birth to many great things over the years, but to power an age of technological revolution, requires some dangerous methods. This meant using the fossil fuel, coal.

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Coal mining was a dangerous but necessary job. Often coal miners would face many hazards, for example, just carrying candles to see what you are doing. This seems fine on its own, but unfortunately underground there is sometimes methane gas in the air. Methane gas is flammable… I think you can see where this is going.  Luckily after an incident in 1874 a much safer method that didn’t involve the use of an open flame was made, and fully established for use in all mines in the 1930s.

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This was just one of the many dangers for coal miners. Risks of flooding, back injuries, not to mention the poor sanitation and the even poorer pay for such risky work.

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Though it may seem horrible, it is important to remember that everything hasn’t always been good. There have been times where we have done some shameful things. But it is also important to remember that we made changes, we improved!

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‍3 The patchwork quilt

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Portland Basin Museum has many objects that have their own stories to tell. Some of these stories are forgotten with time, others are widespread trivia that everyone knows. But there are a few diamonds in the rough with some amazing stories. In this case a patchwork quilt.

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This particular patchwork quilt was made in the 1900s. The industrial revolution was well underway at this point. The quilt was put together by one woman over a seven year period. She would work over a dim gas light, meticulously stitching together over 2000 small hexagons of small fabric.

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These are the kinds of things that make preserving history so important. Even the most mundane things all have a tale to tell!  

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4 Model of Tameside

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This next thing I am talking to you about is probably the most well-known thing about Portland Basin. The transport model of Tameside. This intractable one of a kind model depicts the evolution of Ashton and its transport, from a small town in the north west of England, to becoming a prominent and integral part of Tameside’s economic growth.

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This loose interpretation may not be accurate to what the area may have looked like at one particular time. But, the liberties it takes allows it to put into perspective how much things can change in such a short amount of time!

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5 Longdendale Valve

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The invention that I think is the most integral to Tameside’s growth is the Longdendale valve!

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Part of the Longdendale reservoirs designed by John Frederick La Trobe Bateman in the 1850s,the valve helped allow people in Tameside to have access to clean water for the first time. This meant people could be more productive, they wouldn’t have to worry where their next clean drink of water came from, and people got sick less, because of better hygiene.

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It wasn’t just good for people, it was also good for businesses. Mills and factories always needed access for powering their machinery. Another benefit to having easy access to water was a safer workplace. This is because mills would often break out in fires.

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Without that reservoir system and this original valve, Tameside would be a very different borough to what it is today. If you want to see it, the Longdendale valve. Like many of the other items listed, you can find it on the bottom floor of the museum in the industrial section.

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As a final bonus, don’t miss the amazing bowler hat, made for the Denton trail last year for the “Hats off to Denton” collaboration. Fun fact: That hat is one out of 15 ever made, and one out of 5 giant ones produced!

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