It is one of Carlisle’s most well-known attractions, popular with both locals and visitors alike. 

Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery, in Castle Street, has been entertaining, educating and informing people since 1893. 

This local institution has just been rewarded with one of the most prestigious awards in the museum industry – the Telegraph Family Friendly Museum Award, which saw it compete with similar organisations from up and down the country. 

So what is it that makes Tullie House such a big deal locally and how does it impress people on the national stage? 

Anna Smalley, the building’s learning and engagement manager, thinks its approach to education is part of the story. 

She describes the process as “learning by stealth”, meaning that the staff aim to make sure people learn about subjects without realising they are doing this. 

“We know that we do fantastic work with families,” she says. 

One of the current events she is extremely proud of is the ‘Eye for Colour’ exhibition, which aims to help people learn about colours and how they exist, by using interactive displays and activities that young people can take part in. 

This is an example of helping people have fun while teaching them at the same time. 

“What we aim to do is make people’s visits as relaxed as possible. I think there is a very relaxed atmosphere that you get with our activities.” 

Miss Smalley thinks this is a marked contrast to some of the larger museums around the country. 

“A lot of bigger museums can be very intimidating but we try to make it relaxing and enjoyable,” she says. “We try to do learning by stealth and not ram things down people’s throats.” 

She also helped organise a series of craft sessions over the summer and an Easter trail in springtime. 

“Families came and explored the site,” she says. 

Miss Smalley adds: “We are not just a flash in the pan who do things to tick the boxes. If you come in as a family, every day there is something for you.” 

She was delighted when the museum won its most recent prize and even cried when the winner was announced. The museum had been longlisted on several occasions and had also made the shortlist in the past. 

“It was hard to describe how it felt when we heard we had won. We genuinely were not expecting it.” Her tearful response to victory was sign of how much it meant. 

“Everybody kept coming up to us and asking if my reaction was real,” she jokes. 

Tullie House has a wide variety of exhibits which cover a wide variety of subjects. In all cases though the commitment to telling the local story is extremely important. 

These include displays telling the story of the Romans and the Jacobites as they made their way through Cumbria as well as those most famous locals, the Border Reivers. 

The museum also has exhibitions which cater for those with a more scientific nature and features displays which cover the spectrum of natural science. 

Alongside these permanent exhibitions, the museum has an extremely strong record at attracting visiting displays covering an equally wide variety of subjects as its normal exhibits. 

Some of the most high profile topics which have been covered recently have included freemasonry, fashion and one of the most famous local archaeological finds, the Roman helmet. 

While it is a firmly established part of local life, it still faces a challenging future. Perhaps the biggest of these is to make sure it can continue to cope with financial demands. 

Adrian Mason, its head of marketing and operations, explains: “Our biggest challenge is raising funds. We are a registered charity and that is something a lot of people don’t realise. 

“We have been registered since 2011 and people think we are still part of the (Carlisle City) council.” 

He points out that the authority is still the principle source of its funding but that this also means it has been affected by cuts to local government funding in recent years. 

“That means looking at different ways of doing things.” 

He says the museum has launched a membership scheme as one way to try and address this.