Heritage Walks Wakefield - Round our Way - Beyond Braille

Walking Tours of Wakefield - Round our Way

Beyond Braille

Following months of intensive research, delving deep into the archives, the Round or Way team is delighted to offer this brand new walk celebrating the lives and work of two incredible Forgotten Women of Wakefield.

Join the team to experience a sensory walk of approximately 90 minutes beginning at the Cathedral, on Thursday, 18 September. You should allow up to 2 hours - we provide plenty of opportunitues for questions and photos.

Emily Fennell and Edith Wright

It's 1869 and two young women, Emily Fennell and Edith Wright, attended an inspiring inaugural talk by William Moon at Wakefield's Town Hall hosted by Edith's father, the eminent MD Dr Thomas Giordani Wright. His influence in the upper echelons of society enabled both women, eventually, to change the course of history.

Wakefield District Sight Aid has its roots in 'The Blind Society' that was established that eventful day and, by 1901 had grown into two wings of the same bird, 'Workshops for the Blind' initiated and led by Edith Wright, and 'Wakefield Blind Society' headed by Emily Fennell.

Between them, they created a template of care and opportunity for thousands of blind and partially sighted people across the nation. A template that was, under the leadership of Edith, rolled out through newly formed local societies and national unions, established, by her, to educate, campaign and change, for the better, the lives of many.

Not content with treating the social and economic injustices affecting the blind, Edith campaigned, at national and international level, to bring forward the arguments to make Opthalmic neonatorum, or infant blindness, entirely preventable if recognised and treated quickly and correctly, preventable. This was achieved at a national level in 1914 with over a 100 local regions declaring it to be a notifiable disease from as early as 1909. This was due entirely to Edith's hard work, vision, tenacity and commitment as she created the first statistical evidence and enabled other regions to do the same, to enable a national register to be created.

This all began, grew, developed, was tried and tested and birthed in Wakefield.

Join the team of 'Round our Way' volunteers on this heritage walk and learn more about these remarkable women and their achievements as we share with you pivotal moments through story telling, music and singing, historical referencing and interactive experiences by the team that did the research.

Other Information

Your tour will start promptly and we kindly ask that you arrive 5 to 10 minutes before the start time. You will find us at the main entrance to the Cathedral where we'll be ready to greet you on arrival.

This is an outdoor event and will take place whatever the weather. Wear appropriate clothing and footwear suitable for city walking. The route is step free but may be uneven in parts.

This is one of a number of tours planned for the remainder of this year. You might also be interested in the other tours on offer:

• Wednesday, 30 July - Louisa Fennell - on sale now (limited availability)
• Thursday, 30 October - Tales of Murder and Mayhem for Halloween - On sale now
• November (date TBC) - Wakefield's War - on sale soon

2025 special offer - Book any one tour for full price (£10) and sign up for any other tour (s) for a discounted price of £8 - use the code BOOKED at the checkout. If you have been on any of our 2025 walks, use the discount code.

We have a number of tours taking place during 2025 follow us on eventbrite to be first to hear about our new events. You can also sign up to the monthly newsletter here

Raising funds for Blue Plaques for Women

This event is one of a series of walks and talks, all to raise money for blue plaques for women. Did you know that each new plaque costs between £700 and £800? There are currently around 35 plaques with dedicated female names in Wakefield, which makes us the top city in the UK to recognise our Forgotten Women BUT there are lots more women whose stories need to be told and acknowledged. Hear about some of them on the tour and help us to raise the much needed funds for our next plaques and projects.

Learn more about the Forgotten Women of Wakefield project and learn how important it is that women are recognised for their achievements and help Wakefield to become the first city with true blue plaque parity.

On this tour you'll hear about plans to celebrate two more women with their blue plaques in time for International Womens' Day in early 2026.

Don't forget to click the 'follow' button to make sure that you're one of the first to hear about all of our events. You can also find us on Facebook at 'Round our Way'

Make a Donation

If you like what we do and would like to make a donation it would be very gratefully received. This is an entirely voluntary project and money raised goes towards future blue plaque projects. Choose 'donation' at the checkout.

FAQs

See our FAQs below for more information, including options to purchase discounted tickets (£7). Don't let cost be a barrier, everyone is welcome.

Read the Yorkshire Bylines article, by Dream Time Creative CEO Sarah Cobham, to learn more

This photo shows the Wakefield Workshops for the Blind (origin unknown but believed to have been taken in 1911)