A ring is one of the major tokens of love - given at engagements, weddings or just as a gift - and has been regarded so for centuries. From the medieval era onwards special rings called posy rings were given to lovers and sometimes friends to express affection. They remained popular in England and France until the 17th century. They are usually engraved with a message of love inside a golden, or gilt,  band. The name posy (or posey) is from the word for poetry, or in French poésie. These messages are carved on the inside and remained concealed...

One hundred years on from the armistice that ended it all, this week the museum proudly opened its new exhibition, ‘Erewash Remembers: 100 Years of Commemorating the First World War’. Curated by Kate Crossley-Halls, the exhibition turns not only to the conflict itself but also to its devastating aftermath and the cultures of remembrance that grew out of unthinkable international catastrophe. Global war had very local ramifications, and in towns like Ilkeston huge labour shortages were caused when men went away to the Front, many of which were filled by women. Following the armistice of November 11th, 1918, the struggles were...

Erewash Museum is currently undertaking conservation work on the Hope Robinson letters – an archive of more than 2,000 letters that give an emotional insight into the lives of families of British prisoners of war (POWs) during the Second World War.   In 1944, Hope Robinson was a 29-year-old deputy registrar at Ilkeston Registry Office and was desperate for news of her husband Paul Maltby Robinson, a Major with the Sherwood Foresters, who had been captured by the Japanese forces a few years earlier.   She broke Whitehall regulations to interview two repatriated former POWs and produced a pamphlet about life...

Coal was one of the main reasons Britain’s industries developed quicker than any others’ during the Industrial Revolution. At coal mining’s peak in 1913, this industry consisted of about 2600 mines, producing 287 million tons of coal per year and employing a million people. The history of Erewash and surrounding areas is tied to coal to an extent easy to under-estimate today. Mining communities in the area were tight-knit: many collieries had their own sports teams, and miner’s brass bands were common. The Ilkeston Miner’s Welfare club opened in 1924, standing on the corner of Bristol Road and Manners Road; offering...

Our fourth blog post celebrating National Volunteer's Week is written by our of our Young Creative Curators John Cosslett who has been working with the collections at the museum since last year. 'I enjoy working as a volunteer at The Erewash Museum because I get to scan photographs and see things like royal visits to the town in the past, and photos of Stanton Ironworks.  I like looking and seeing what it was like to live in the past.  I have always wanted to do this kind of thing since I was a young boy and I would love to have more knowledge...