Kirklees museums see big drop in visitor numbers - what do you think is responsible?
THE number of people visiting local museums has slumped.
But council chiefs hope a combination of factors – including the Olympics and the dreadful weather – mean the figures are only a blip.
Four out of five Kirklees museums all recorded falls in the number of visits over the past 12 months.
There was a similar picture at many of the UK’s major museums and tourist attractions, particularly homes and gardens.
Bad weather and a cut in opening hours for the Kirklees museums were cited as possible reasons for the drop-off in admissions.
But there was one bright spot – the National Coal Mining Museum at the former Caphouse Colliery near Grange Moor recorded a second huge rise in visits.
There were 119,800 visitors in 2012/13, an 18.1% rise on the previous year which itself was 11.7% up on 2010/11.
The most popular museum in Kirklees was Tolson Museum in Ravensknowle Park, which saw 30,306 people through its doors. But that was a fall of 7,371 on the previous year.
Second on the list was the Bagshaw Museum, which had 26,721, down from 37,935.
Oakwell Hall was the only one to record an increase, from 15,772 to 17,099.
Admission charges were introduced at Red House Museum and the number of visitors fell by more than 10,000 to 15,904.
A Kirklees spokesman said: “Our analysis of the figures suggest a number of one-off factors affecting them.
“There were reductions in opening hours from October 1 and charges were introduced at Red House from June 1.
“Poor weather in the summer has a big impact, as all Kirklees museums are in parks or gardens which are less attractive as destinations in the rain.
“Major events such as Yorkshire Day at Oakwell Hall had to be cancelled due to waterlogged ground.
Willie McGranaghan, deputy director from the National Coal Mining Museum said: “We are, of course, delighted that the achievements of the National Coal Mining Museum for England have been highlighted in these figures.
“Particularly pleasing is that our focus on promoting the museum as a visit for all ages and all weathers has seen visits to the galleries and surface facilities, without the underground tours, increase by 18% for adults and 47% for children compared to the previous year.
“Visitors going on the underground tour increased by 6% overall.
The British Museum was the UK’s most popular visitor attraction in 2012 – the sixth year running it has been so.
The Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (Alva) said the London venue attracted 5.6 million visitors, but that was a fall of 4%.
Although the Olympic and Paralympic Games affected visitor numbers in Central London for a brief period, it was the weather that had the biggest impact in 2012.
Of the 30 attractions which saw more than a 10% drop in numbers, 27 were gardens or outdoor attractions.