Rothwell Heritage with
Desborough and Rothwell Art Gallery

Garden Gladness
When Rothwell and Desborough Futures became the owners of the building we inherited a very nice garden. Since then this has been developed to meet the needs of outdoor events and to provide a nice relaxing area for visitors and volunteers. The patio area is surrounded by a tiered garden that has been carefully nurtured and developed over the past year by volunteers Lyn Jones and Joe Kelly. The upper part of the garden has been paved to provide an area suitable for a marquee if needed and is laid out to provide a space for outdoor chess, hop-scotch and a skittle lane.

When Ken Cheaney, one of our founder members, died, it was the wish of his family that any donations made were to be used for the enhancement of the garden adding some garden furniture...

on 1st November 2009 we were pleased to host a gathering of the Cheaney family and friends to celebrate what has been acheived in Ken's memory.

A tree has been planted with a plaque to commemorate the occasion plus a named bench seat and a set of outdoor furniture. additionally 40 folding chairs have been purchased for use both within the building and for outside events.

we remember our friend Ken with great affection for his tireless work for the town and its heritage.

Visitors during 2009
Kibworth U3A - During the year we had a visit from the Kibworth U3A group. As well as enjoying the Arts and Heritage Centre they were taken on a guided tour of our historic buildings.

Northants Archeology Group- Northants Archeology Group also visited with a particularinterest in Rothwell's past industries and workplaces.

Girl Guides - I November 2009 the Guide movement held a Centenary Exhibition at the centre and some of the Guides and Brownies made an evening visit.

The Buswells - We also had a visit by Michael Buswell and his sister Jean Buswell whose family were previous owners of the buildings. Michael and Jean have provided us with some very interesting historical information, some dating back to the 1850's plus photographs of their family and the building in times past. It is planned to use this information in a social history room we are currently developing.

Courses attended by Volunteers during 2009
Handling and Packaging of Archives / Materials Maurice Goodwin and Ann Rowlett attended this EmmS course at Kelmarsh Hall as part of the Accreditation programme.

Emergency Planning margaret Burton, Lyn Jones, Alan Marlow and Maurice Goodwin atttended this course as part of our Accreditation programme. This course was a two day event held in Rothwell and Desborough.

Flagship Programme During the next two years we will be taking part in a Flagship programme to recruit, provide training and suport for volunteers.

First Aid During November Ann Rowlett gave a basic refresher course to volunteers at the centre. Further courses are planned during 2010.

Accreditation With the support of Renaissance East Midlands and the MLA we have been accepted to register our aims as an accredited museum. This means that we follow correct procedures in the management, documentation, handling and display of our exhibits on show and in storage.