Land of Iron in Skinningrove is proud to present Design & Dignity: The Boosbeck Industries Furniture Scheme 1933–1937, a new temporary exhibition opening in the Tom Leonard Gallery on Friday 24 October 2025. The exhibition explores an extraordinary story of creativity, community and social reform that took place in the heart of East Cleveland during the Great Depression.

In the early 1930s, as unemployment devastated the ironstone mining villages of East Cleveland, James and Ruth Pennyman of Ormesby Hall, Middlesbrough sought new ways to support local people who had lost their livelihoods. Working with artist and designer Wilfred Franks, who had studied at the Bauhaus in Germany, they helped to establish Boosbeck Industries – a furniture-making scheme that offered training, dignity and purpose to out-of-work miners.

Between 1933 and 1937, the men of Boosbeck produced hundreds of pieces of furniture that combined skilled craftsmanship with a distinctly modern aesthetic. Guided by Franks’ modernist approach, the designs were functional, affordable and beautifully made - embodying the idea that good design should be accessible to everyone, not just the wealthy. The project became a model of how creativity and social enterprise could work hand in hand to transform lives.

Design & Dignity brings together a selection of original Boosbeck furniture, archival photographs and documents that tell the story of this groundbreaking experiment in community design. The objects on display have been loaned from Kirkleatham Hall Museum, the National Trust’s Ormesby Hall, and also Land of Iron’s own collection, allowing visitors to see the craftsmanship and spirit that defined the scheme.

“Boosbeck Industries represents a truly local story with profound significance,” said Angela List-Evans, Collections Manager at Land of Iron. “It shows how design can be a force for good - bringing dignity and opportunity to communities in difficult times.”

Design & Dignity: The Boosbeck Industries Furniture Scheme 1933–1937 runs from Friday 24 October 2025 until Saturday 24 January 2026 in the Tom Leonard Gallery at Land of Iron, Skinningrove. Admission is free with regular museum entrance. 

This exhibition was made possible by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, thanks to National Lottery players.