And the winners of the Heritage Awards for 2021 are…

On 1 July, 2021, Northamptonshire Heritage Forum hosted a feel-good evening celebrating the very best of Northamptonshire’s heritage.

Compered by BBC Radio Northampton’s John Griff DL, the ceremony was held over Zoom which allowed everyone to attend from far and wide. Guests and presenters included James Lowther of Holdenby VLL, representing the Lord Lieutenant, and Earl Spencer, Patron of the Forum. Andrea Leadsom DBE MP and Andrew Lewer MBE MP presented awards, along with Anna Earnshaw and Rob Bridge CEOs of West Northants and North Northants Councils respectively.

Funders also presented awards: Elizabeth Neathey of the Arts Council, Claire Browne of Museum Development, and Liz Bates of the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Kate Dent of ‘Northamptonshire Surprise’ presented an award, representing the county’s excellent promotional website. As well as being our compere, John Griff also presented the ‘People’s Choice Award’ reflecting the most popular organisation featured on his BBC Radio Northampton show.

Themes emerged during the evening, yes, it has been hard for us all to keep going during the pandemic but imagination, passion and commitment have enabled many to find new ways of working together and produced wonderful results that have kept spirits high both within the team and the communities they serve. New skills have been learned by many, especially increased familiarisation with digital world.

The innovation demonstrated by the winners has been an inspiration for us all. And as James Lowther VLL reminded us, our unique Northamptonshire Heritage is something to be proud of and is an important element of the offer to the multimillion-pound tourism business, essential to our hospitality sector.

Forum Chair, Martin Lawrence MBE welcomed members and guests and thanked all who had taken part and congratulated all the winners. He noted that the evening was uplifting and inspiring for us all.

The full list of winners

Best Volunteer Project won by Rockingham Forest Trust

The Heritage Garden and Wellbeing Orchard are part of the ‘Settlers’ project at Stanwick Lakes. The garden was developed to showcase heritage plants grown by the settlers in an authentic setting for visitors to enjoy, and to provide hands-on volunteer opportunities to learn more about ancient plants and garden maintenance.

The judges reflected that this was a project which supported volunteers mental health and wellbeing, as well as producing an attractive location for visitors. It’s a great place to visit safely in the wide-open spaces and historic scenic locations of Stanwick Lakes.

Best Event Award won by 78 Derngate

A fundraising event hosted in conjunction with Northampton High School who used to occupy the Derngate location. Heidi Thomas, creator of Call the Midwife TV series, and her actor husband Steve McGann wrote and presented the entire evening all about the making of the BBC series.

The judges enjoyed this entry as it was unique, professionally delivered and very popular with the public. The social history themes were relevant and interesting.

Best project under £500 won by Northampton Museum and Art Gallery

NMAG produced a short video filmed on a mobile phone showing the museum team undertaking install during the second lockdown period as a way of teasing the ongoing build-up towards re-opening the museum after the £6.7m redevelopment project. It was distributed via the museum’s social media channels and on the museum’s new website.

The judges were impressed by the high quality and high-impact production despite using a ubiquitously available gadget. It was morale boosting for the team, and exciting for the public to see what is in store for the reopening.

Best response to the Covid pandemic won by Daventry Museum

Staff and volunteers took the lockdown as an opportunity to try new digital technologies to display the museum’s exhibitions, stay in touch with each other, research the collection, tackle an accessioning backlog and engage safely in person and digitally with audiences old and new.

The judges felt the team seemed to condense five years' work into a single year. The digital project created awareness in a wider audience even though visitors couldn’t get to the museum. They were particularly commended for their work in keeping parents and children engaged through home schooling and making an important contribution to family lives in a difficult period. All of this as well as taking the time to work through collections management and making improvements has resulted in a sustainable way of working and making the museum more resilient for the future.

Best Exhibition Award won by Nenescape

Re-using a former railway line, Nenescape created an appealing segment of the green corridor by decorating a tunnel with a mural, inscribing benches, celebrating both the social history of Rushden and its connections with the natural heritage of the Nene Valley. Local residents and schools contributed words and pictures of what Rushden means to them.

The judges agreed that creativity and the natural open space coming together was a wonderful concept. It has created an impact with locals and walkers enjoying the outdoor experience which records the town’s history, past and present. It ticks all the boxes that an outdoor exhibition should.

Best Special project completed over five years won by The Sikh Museum SCCYC

It’s a massive undertaking to develop a new museum from scratch, even more so with a pandemic to cope with. The team as well as countless volunteers completed many projects, demonstrating massive commitment and passion by engaging remotely, digitally and on site when covid restrictions allowed.

The whole project was ambitious and well-funded. Many partnerships with local organisations explain and promote the Sikh heritage and contribution to Britain. The value of the project shone through with big community support, generating a sense of pride and achievement. The museum is an important resource for the future, and we wish it great success.

Best Special Project completed over five years - Highly Commended - Sywell Aviation Museum

‘Operation Moonraker – Bringing Jenny to Sywell 2019–2021.’ The museum obtained their second complete aeroplane, a 5000kg twin turboprop. It required researching, dismantling, transporting 25 miles, rebuilding and restoring it into a new museum classroom.

The judges felt that this was ‘every little boy’s dream’. It certainly showed great determination, problem solving, and persistence to achieve this ambitious plan. The judges felt the passion of the team in making their dream happen, this was a true labour of love.

Best Community Project Award won by Rushden Museum

This project had many elements, celebrating 110 years of the Scouting movement in the town. A small exhibition, community engagement and events included images, artefacts and memories from the museum collection or borrowed from the wider community. Beavers, Cubs and Scouts from many generations shared reminiscences and memories. The high levels of engagement gave the project a strong community appeal, with a lasting legacy.

Hindsight Award for best published work won by ‘Northampton, 5000 years of History’ by Mike Ingram

This fact dense book tells us the story of Northampton from its millennia old origins through to the 1970s. It contains lots of information exhaustively researched, and it is a tribute to the late Ron Greenall, to whom the book is dedicated. A solid read that includes a good index and glossary and an essential reference work for years to come. Perfect for local historians.

People’s Choice Award won by Art Works, Friends of Kettering Art Gallery and Museum

This organisation’s creative space has brightened up the Newlands Centre in Kettering, displaying paintings, sculptures and ceramics. The Friends won the award taking 31% of the vote from a shortlist of 10. This event was supported by BBC Radio Northampton and John Griff DL.

Judges’ Choice Special Commendation awarded to Northamptonshire Battlefields Society

This year, the judges were impressed with the energy and passion of the five entries by NBS. It seemed that Covid had not remotely got in the way of the exuberance of this society, and they continued to write, model, plan and deliver great engagement with their public, digitally, via social media, and face to face when it was possible. In many categories, their entries were the ‘runner-up’ to the winner. They delivered so much to appeal to a wide variety of interests, that their contributions to the heritage life of the county cannot be ignored. Well done to all the team. The judges look forward to seeing more next year.

Heritage Organisation of the Year won by NMAG

Northampton Museum and Art Gallery was chosen to win this award. They are about to reopen after a longer than expected closure for refurbishment on 10 July 2021. Despite not being physically open to the public, the team have worked extremely hard behind the scenes demonstrating innovation, creativity and a great deal of problem solving. The many entries to the awards showed new digital engagement, collection of new material for future social historians, and maintaining morale of the volunteers and staff throughout. Judges felt that NMAG is demonstrating well what the Northamptonshire flagship museum should be doing, and we all look forward to seeing the new state-of-the-art galleries.