Sugar, Skill and Shiftwork: York’s Confectionery Workers 

A Community Stories Exhibition by York Museums Trust 

Have you or someone in your family worked at Rowntree’s, Terry’s, Craven’s or other sweet factories in York? Did the smell of chocolate shape your memories of the city? We want to hear from you. 

The exhibition will uncover and share the voices of factory workers, engineers, designers, packers, social organisers, and anyone who helped keep the industry going.

What We’re Looking For 

We’re inviting you, former workers, family members, and local residents, to contribute: 

• Personal stories of factory life: from first jobs and training to union involvement and factory social clubs 

• Photographs: factory floors, uniforms, work events, outings, and everyday moments 

• Objects: uniforms, ID badges, packaging, memento’s or anything that tells your story 

• Reflections: what it meant to live in a city shaped by confectionery, the sights, sounds, smells 

Every contribution will help shape the narrative of this exciting new display, so even though we will only be able to include a limited number of objects and stories from the public in the display, all contributions will be much appreciated and highly valued and help us inform future permanent exhibitions.

To participate in the project, please complete the online form where you can share any York confectionery-related information and images. If you have any questions, please email participation@ymt.org.uk. 

 Click here for more detailed information on participating 

We are also hosting events at York Castle Museum where you can share your stories directly with us and see some of our collection.  

• Wednesday 9 July 10am – 12pm
• Monday 14 July 11am – 1pm  
• Saturday 9 August 10am – 12pm 

We expect to feature around 50 key objects in total, including up to 15 items loaned by the public, and the rest from York Museums Trust’s collections. 

Information will be collected until 15 August 2025.