“We are good to go.” On the 11th September Wirksworth Heritage Centre will be welcoming everyone back into our award winning attraction.
Re-opening safety measures are in place so visitors will feel safe to:
- Pre-book our museum and enjoy a private time-limited visit for you and your family or friendship bubble
- Visit our café for lunch, light snacks, teas, great coffee and cake in our spacious café area. We have outside seating if the weather is good or you want to bring along a furry friend or you’re coming by bike. On Mondays we’re also offering 10% discount on food and drink
- Browse our shop for locally produced cards and goods, books with local links and information, museum related items or unusual gifts
- Book a private guided walk. Visit our website for more information
Our General Manager Roger Shelley says “Members of the community have been asking us when we are re-opening and have helped us through donations and attending our zoom talks, and our volunteers have been amazing, redecorating and undertaking research whilst we have been closed.”
The Heritage Centre team hasn’t been inactive during lockdown either. There are a whole host of projects now coming to fruition – from Heritage Talks being run on line through Zoom, to filming of our guided walks with sign language and audio description for the hearing and sight impaired or for those who find our terrain challenging. We have attained the Visit England/Britain “We’re Good to Go” standard mark for safety. The historic 17th century building frontage has even been given a new coating of traditional lime render.
People will notice other changes inside too – over the opening weekend the rear courtyard will host one of Johnny White and Amanda Wray’s amazing sculptures, and the gallery space will feature work by local artist Tim Ball.
We are grateful to have received support from local people who have been extremely generous with cash donations and supporting our crowdfunding page and the Rotary Club of Wirksworth who sponsored our sneeze guards. We have also had fantastic support from Arts Council England, the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Derbyshire Dales District Council Government Fund, Tarmac and the Duke of Devonshire’s Charitable Trust.
Initially we will be open 10am-4pm Friday to Tuesday, but we will be trialling these hours, so please do keep an eye on this website and our Facebook page.