Goole Museum opens Goole in Focus on Saturday 31 October: 200 photographs of the town in its bicentenary year, with a River Ouse soundscape. Free entry.

A new exhibition of 200 photographs of Goole opens at Goole Museum on Saturday 31 October. It is called Goole in Focus, and it is part of the town’s bicentenary year. East Riding of Yorkshire Council announced it on 19 October.

The pictures are by local photographer Syd Young, commissioned by East Riding Museums. He took them over three years, in different light and weather. The council says many of the images will be instantly recognisable. Others pick out small details of the town, “including elements of the past which might easily escape the eye”. Local people appear in many of them, at work, at sport and at the bicentenary events. (East Riding of Yorkshire Council, 19 October 2026)

Not just pictures on a wall

The gallery will show the photographs as projected images, with a soundscape recorded around the town over the last few months. Part of the soundtrack is a piece Syd Young calls “Ebb and Flow”. The council describes it as a sound picture of the swirling tides of the River Ouse, which “brought prosperity to Goole as a new town 200 years ago”.

He said: “This is the most ambitious project I’ve worked on. To capture the town in the here and now and present it to the very people who see it every day has been quite a challenge.” He added that the full audio-visual display is a first for the gallery.

Councillor Nick Coultish, the council’s cabinet member for culture, leisure and tourism, said the exhibition “explores people and place, showing what makes our town such a special place to live”.

When and where
Opens Saturday 31 October 2026
Opening event Saturday 31 October, 10am to 12pm, open to the public
Where Goole Museum, Carlisle Street, Goole, DN14 5DS
Entry Free
Tuesday to Friday 10am to 12pm and 12.30pm to 5pm
Saturday 9am to 12pm and 12.30pm to 4pm
Sunday, Monday and bank holidays Closed

The museum closes for half an hour at lunchtime on every open day. The council has not said how long the exhibition will run. (East Riding Museums, Goole Museum)

What it means for you

  • Go to the launch if you can. It is on Saturday 31 October from 10am to midday, and anyone can turn up.
  • You might be in it. Syd Young photographed people at everyday activities, sports and bicentenary events over three years.
  • Getting there. The museum says Goole Interchange is a five-minute walk away, and there is free long-stay parking behind the building. There is a lift to the museum floor.
  • Coming from Airmyn later in November? Boothferry Road is due to shut from 16 to 21 November. Our roadworks and travel page has the diversion.

Sources