Worksop's '˜overwhelming' treble heritage win

The annual ceremony, held at Nottingham Trent University, saw Clumber Park honoured with the judges’ award and Mr Straw’s House collect the new audiences and heritage site of the year accolades.

The Bassetlaw district saw a further win on the night as Retford Museum stepped up to receive a collections development award.

Torri Crapper, property operations manager at Mr Straw’s House, an Edwardian semi-detached house which has remained largely unchanged since the 1920s, said: “We are absolutely overwhelmed by the two awards.

“The National Trust is forever for everyone and with Mr Straw’s House being so inaccessible physically this project has sought to start closing this gap and enabling access to our collection and story from care facilities and dementia groups.

“It has been a project we have been thoroughly inspired by and are thrilled that it has been recognised within the New Audiences Award.

“The team at Mr Straw’s House have been working to develop our visitor offer, seeking to provide great learning opportunities for our schools programme, developed events and activities for our audiences which seek to share the social history of Worksop and beyond through the Straw Family.

“Winning the heritage site of the year is a testament to the amazing work of the volunteer and staff team in leading across our activities and I’m so proud of all the team has achieved and has been acknowledged in this way.”

Ellen Ryan, chapel and collections officer at Clumber Park, collected the judges’ award for `Bonnets to Breeches`.

She said: “We’re very proud of what our volunteers achieve here at Clumber Park and it is fantastic that the judges from Nottinghamshire Heritage Forum recognised the talent of our volunteer Liz Carney-Marsh and the fantastic collaborative project Bonnets to Breeches which stemmed from her creativity and competition-winning story.

“We look forward to continuing to work with Liz and expanding this great project.”

n For more information on the Notts Heritage award scheme, visit http://nottsheritage.co.uk.