The project, part funded by a £419,500 Heritage Lottery Fund grant, will include the installation of two new permanent exhibitions at the museum together with a platform lift, giving disabled access to the museum's first floor galleries.

The project will also see the museum's South Asian gallery – the result of a previous Lottery-funded project – further developed and made permanent.

While the museum is closed, staff have been busy behind the scenes carrying out important tasks such as the packing up and moving of displays to keep them safe during building work.

They have also made sure the popular Egyptian education programme is still available to local schools during the closure by introducing a new archaeology and Egyptian mummy outreach session.

Coun Liz Smaje, Kirklees cabinet member for leisure and neighbourhood services, said: "All the people involved with this project are very excited and designers are already busy working with museum staff on how the new galleries might look when the museum re-opens in 2009."

The Bagshaw Museum is named after Walter Bagshaw, the first curator when the Gothic building was turned into a museum in 1911.

His daughter, Violet, continued to travel the world and bring back items for the museum until she was over 100-years-old.

The building, which is surrounded by the 36 acres of Wilton Park and its ancient woodland, belonged to mill owner George Sheard from 1875 to 1902.

The museum closed in September for the work, which was originally scheduled to take a year. But a hold up with paperwork has meant the building work has started later than planned.

* PRIDE in diversity and a strong community are two town traits Batley folk want represented in their upgraded museum.

Their stories will contribute to a new Batley local history exhibition using two downstairs gallery spaces when the museum reopens next Spring.
Kirklees Museums and Galleries staff, working with the town's residents through a series of community consultation sessions, have found a wealth of surprising and fascinating stories to celebrate life and diversity in Batley.

These have helped reveal Batley's hidden secrets by uncovering the history of the town through the lives of its people, past and present.
Coun Liz Smaje, Kirklees cabinet member for leisure and neighbourhood services, said: "People are fiercely proud of coming from Batley; one word that has come up time and time again during the consultation process is 'unique.'

"By using this sense of what makes Batley special as a focus for the new galleries at Bagshaw we should be able to reflect on our past and celebrate our present and future.

"This project has given people an opportunity to really think about what Batley means to them therefore it's very important that we ensure that their overall message of positive diversity and strong sense of community is represented and celebrated."