Sunny Bank Mills Gallery
ENTRY
Free
WHERE
Pudsey
What it’s like
Free gallery of art and textiles with hands-on craft workshops, plus a Saturday mill museum tour if you fancy the history bit too.
The gallery itself is free to wander, Tuesday to Sunday, and it's proper exhibition space rather than a couple of rooms tacked onto a shop. What'll actually keep kids busy is the workshop side: screen printing, weaving, painting and general craft, all run on site at what used to be a working mill. That's the bit worth building a visit around rather than the exhibitions, which are lovely but won't hold a seven-year-old for long on their own.
If anyone in the group is into how things used to get made, the Museum & Archive does guided tours on Saturdays, 10am to 3pm, and you do need to book ahead rather than turn up on spec. It's £6 for an adult and £3 for a young person aged 12 to 16, which is fair enough for an hour of actual mill history rather than a quick poke around a gift shop. There's also a two-hour research visit at £30 if someone's genuinely into the archive, though that's more a specialist trip than a family afternoon.
Parking's free in the Weavers' Yard car park on site, or there's free on-street parking in Farsley if that's full, capped at two hours. Food-wise you're spoiled: a Tea Room for the sensible option, plus a bar with food and a terrace open all week if you want to make a longer stop of it. The craft brewery and taproom and the cocktail bar are obviously not aimed at the kids, but they mean the grown-ups aren't stuck drinking bad coffee while everyone else finishes their painting.
Facilities
Need to know
- Booking
- Gallery entry is free walk-in. Museum & Archive tours require advance booking via website
- Parking
- Free on site in Weavers' Yard car park
- Food
- Tea Room. Craft brewery and taproom (Thu-Sun), smoked food venue, Record Bar with cocktails (weekends), and a bar with food
- Getting there by bus or train
- First Bus 16 from Leeds city centre (City Square D), or WY Metro Bus 9
- Museum & Archive tours only run Saturdays, 10am to 3pm, and need booking ahead
- The gallery itself is closed on Mondays
- You can get there on the 16 First Bus from Leeds city centre or by train to New Pudsey Station, about a 15-minute walk
Plan your visit
Is it free to get in?
The gallery is free walk-in entry, Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 4pm. The Museum & Archive tours are the bit you pay for.
Do we need to book anything?
Not for the gallery, you can just walk in. The Museum & Archive tours on Saturdays need booking in advance through their website.
How much are the museum tours?
£6 for an adult and £3 for a young person aged 12 to 16. There's also a £30 two-hour research visit for anyone properly into the archive.
What can kids actually do there?
Workshops in things like screen printing, weaving and painting, plus wandering the art exhibitions. The guided mill tours are more history-focused if that's your kid's thing.
Is there parking?
Yes, free parking on site at Weavers' Yard, and free on-street parking in Farsley with a two-hour limit if that's full.
What's there for food?
A Tea Room for a straightforward stop, and a bar with food and a terrace open seven days a week. There's also a craft brewery taproom and a cocktail bar for the grown-ups at weekends.
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