November's Herb Study Club

The Herb Study Club returns to the Thackray Museum of Medicine on Sunday 1 November, from 1 pm to 3 pm. It's a monthly medicinal group that's been running since February 2025, and the November session is part of a longer project called Plantcestors that runs from November through to June. The group explores seasonal plants through the senses—smell, taste and observation—and each month a different herb is prepared as an infusion, tincture or juice. The plant is kept unrevealed until the session, so you can set aside any preconceptions and just experience it for what it is. Drawing is also on the table, with free drawing as a way to explore how the plant moves through you visually.

Plantcestors looks at the plants we treat as family or friends, or those we're connected to through heritage, culture or spiritual practice. The project builds over the months, culminating in a group zine and a sharing event. The sessions are led by Matilya Njau, a professional horticulturalist, folk herbalist and artist based in Leeds, whose practice centres on shared moments of gathering and the relationships that form around the careful study of flora.

It's a slow, sensory way of spending a Sunday afternoon, and you don't need any prior knowledge to join in. The session runs from 1 pm to 3 pm at the Thackray Museum of Medicine, 141 Beckett Street, Harehills, LS9 7LN. It's pay-as-you-feel, between £5 and £20, with free spots available, and there's a travel subsidy of up to £5 per person.