Stretford's Unofficial Natural History Museum

What wildlife lives on your street, visits your garden or crosses your path on the way to the shops? Stretford’s Unofficial Natural History Museum invites you to look a little closer at the natural world all around us.

Created by Urmston-based artist, illustrator and surface pattern designer EllaJo Studio, this playful installation transforms the Unofficial Stretford Museum into a contemporary cabinet of curiosities inspired by Victorian natural history collections, botanical studies and traditional herbariums.

Featuring illustrated flora and fauna, botanical artworks, paper specimens, pressed plants and curious found objects, the exhibition gives museum status to the wonderfully ordinary wildlife that shares our town. From foxes and magpies to moths, wildflowers and insects, it celebrates the plants and animals that often go unnoticed in our everyday surroundings.

But this is more than an exhibition to look at. Stretford residents are invited to become unofficial field researchers, sharing sightings of wildlife from their gardens, streets, parks and daily journeys. Selected contributions will become part of the evolving collection, with labels recording the species, location and story behind each observation.

No specialist knowledge is needed, just curiosity and an interest in the world around you. Whether you have spotted a bird in your garden or a wildflower growing through the pavement, your discovery can help build a shared picture of Stretford’s local ecology.

Visit, contribute and discover just how much wildlife exists alongside us.