Newsletter: November 2016

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Christmas Closing

Granites Stag

Granites first Christmas

Over the Christmas/New Year period we will be closing the centre for a few days so everyone can recharge their batteries and we can catch up with a few jobs in the main building and around the site that can’t be done whilst we are open to the public.

The heritage centre site and Granite’s will be open as usual every day up until Friday December 23rd. We will then be closed from December 24th through to January 1st, opening again at 10:00am on bank holiday Monday January 2nd 2017.

On sale

Boot Scraper

Boot Scraper £35

Visitors to Granite’s can now treat a friend with one of our gift vouchers. We have £5 and £10 vouchers available, or for a special treat why not buy an Afternoon Tea for Two voucher at £31.90.

We also have bags of high quality firewood for sale at £4 per bag or 6 bags for £20, and boot scrapers, hand made by the volunteers from rail chairs, for £35.

Finally we still have a few of the limited edition commemorative posters available at £40.

All proceeds from the sales go towards finishing the project.

Progress and Plans

Progress on path 2Over the past month our volunteers have been working flat out.

Progress has been amazing. A concrete path now provides mud-free access to the Nunckley Trail and the Stonemasons’ Huts.

The narrow gauge railway has also made excellent progress and now runs parallel to the new concrete path. As part of our Quarry Recreation area “tub wagons” will operate on the narrow gauge track, transporting granite around the site.

In response to recent incidents we now have three new CCTV cameras covering the areas around the Heritage centre.

Progress on path 1

Path completed!

… and still to do!

  • Stone Masons’ Huts: The framework for the roller shutter doors is in place, awaiting construction of double timber doors for each of the openings.
  • Composting Toilets: To be located behind the museums in the quarry area.
  • Site fencing: We still need to fence alongside the siding track and round to the rear of the metal buildings.
  • Narrow Gauge track: Still needs several sections of track to be laid.
  • Viewing Area: The ground here needs compacting and the two timber sheds need to go in.
  • Tub Wagons: The oak timber for the sides has been ordered so we can work on them inside the museum over the winter, if poor weather means we can’t work outside.
  • Power: Electrics need to be run to the Wickham shed, viewing area sheds and the Stonemasons’ huts.

Robbie Guides: Can you help?

Nunckley Trail: The Badger and Woodpecker ViewWe are not after your cash this time (although ….), or your brawn, but your brains!

If you have visited the Heritage Rooms you will doubtless have seen the display boards, and may have noticed that each board has two QR bar-codes. The bottom left code provides a narration of the board for the visually impaired. Our hope was that the bottom right code would link to a child friendly narration or short video, however if you have tried it you may be disappointed to be taken to “Page under Construction”.

We need your help to take the text of each board and produce shorter versions (30 to 45 seconds) suitable for children under 10 years.

As an example the audio version of the “Badger and Woodpecker View” can be found at http://heritage-centre.co.uk/audio/nt13/ , whilst the “Robbie” version can be viewed at http://heritage-centre.co.uk/robbie/nt13/ .

The text for each board is typically a single side of A4 and the narration lasts around 3 minutes. So Robbie’s text need to be just five to ten lines.

We hope that a local radio presenter will provide the voice overs.

This may suit a current or retired teacher. If you feel you can help us produce entertaining scripts for our Robbie’s Guides then please get in touch by replying to this newsletter.