A gun used in the Netherby Hall Robbery of 1885, on show in the gallery alongside the tale behind it. © Tullie House

Cumberland huntsman John Peel’s coat and a relic from an infamous robbery are among the objects on show in a new gallery at Tullie House Museum in Carlisle.

The new social history gallery, Carlisle Life, opens to the public on Saturday March 15 2008. Local residents may recognise some of the objects and films on show – they donated many of them themselves.

Individuals’ recollections about donated objects form the Your Story area, which will be an ever-changing display featuring recordings of the anecdotes behind the objects. For example, some of the wares produced at the Metal Box factory are on show, along with memories of former employees.

The central feature of the gallery is a tower of the ‘Faces of Carlisle’, past and present, which incorporates audio-visual stations that allow visitors to listen to soundbites and watch footage from Carlisle and its people.

The gallery is the result of lengthy public consultation, and looks at life from Victorian times to the present. It has provided the opportunity for objects already in the museum’s collection to come out of storage, and for new ones to come and join them in telling stories about subjects ranging from transport to country life, to manufacturing.

'Black Jap' Tin Set, manufactured at local company Metal Box. © Tullie House

“It’s wonderful we are now seeing the efforts of years of work come to fruition with the opening of Carlisle Life,” said Hilary Wade, Director fo Tullie House. “The new gallery will really give local people a flavour of life in Carlisle.”

“We hope it will become somewhere residents will return to time and time again,” she said, adding thanks to the Wolfson Foundation for its support.

Other highlights of the new gallery include John Peel’s ‘coat so grey’, as mentioned in the second line of the well-known verse about the hunting man: 'D’ye ken John Peel with his coat so grey? / D’ye ken John Peel at the break o’ day?'

His Hodden tweed grey coat was spun from the wool of local Herdwick sheep and put together at the Ivinson woollen mill in Caldbeck.

The second line of the John Peel song, written in Cumbrian dialect in the 18th century, is often misquoted as ‘coat so gay’, as southern transcribers have assumed all huntsmen wear red and the reference to grey is a mistake. In fact, it was Peel’s grey coat that made him such an iconic figure among the many red-coated figures on hunts in Cumberland.

James Ostler, a former employee of Metal Box, has recounted his stories of working in Carlisle for the gallery. © Tullie House

Another intriguing object with a story to tell is a Victorian handgun, used in the Netherby Hall Robbery of 1885. The notorious tale of a thrilling chase, murder of the local bobby, eventual apprehension and near-lynching of the four burglars became known as the Netherby Hue and Cry – a truly Victorian drama.

Elsewhere, the gallery is packed with interactive features offering fun for all ages, as well as supplying good old-fashioned activities like dressing-up, ‘feely’ boxes, vintage toys for playing with and trails for youngsters.

On the factual side, it deals with the development of the ancient city from industrial peak to its contemporary state as the largest urban centre of wild Cumbria, retaining its historic centre; and recounts famous tales and faces from the locality.