First Open Day a Tremendous Success!

Our first of two public consultation open days was a great success last Saturday.

186 visitors came to see the project and to gain a fuller understanding of the benefits the community heritage centre will bring.

Visitors view the location for the heritage centre which is pegged out on the ground

The plans for the heritage centre, museum and tea room were on display and our architect was available to answer questions about the design and how the historic buildings will come together. In addition to this there were tours of the heritage centre site, which has the positions of the heritage centre, tea room and museum staked out on the ground, so visitors can see scale and position.

Visitors see the proposed historic quarry recreation area at Nunckley Hill

In addition to this there was a stall selling home made cakes and plants to raise money towards the match funding we need to release the £540k grant to build the centre, the Mountsorrel Railway Project display stand was also there, explaining the history of the railway and the story of its restoration.

Young project volunteers staff the cake stall

Rothley History Society's plant stall

There were also tours of the Nunckley Trail which proved hugely popular as well.

First of the new Nunckley Trail information boards. Note the Braille panel in the bottom right

Tomorrow, Saturday March 29th is our second open day, so if you missed last Saturday please come along and see us. The weather promises to be fine and we'll have everything running again including the plant and cake stalls. If you would like to "sponsor a brick" then they'll be a stall where you can do that as well.

Mountsorrel Railway Project stand

Members of the Mountsorrel Heritage Group and the Rothley History Society will be there to answer questions about the historical displays that will be on show in the heritage centre when it is completed.

Visitors tour the area for the recreation stone masons' huts

 

The site will be open from 11am until 2pm via the entrance on Swithland Lane Rothley, next to the Halstead Road junction. There is no off site parking so please try to arrive on foot or by cycle if you can. If you do come by car please bear our neighbours in mind and park courteously.

Open Days

Heritage Centre Appeal Raises £17,000 in First Two Weeks!!

The public's response to our match funding appeal for the Mountsorrel & Rothley Community
Heritage Centre has been remarkable, with over £17,000 raised in the first two weeks!

We launched our "Sponsor a Brick" appeal in the hope that the public would share our belief that the heritage centre will bring significant benefit to our local communities. It is clear from your response that you are firmly behind us!

Our thanks go to the Loughborough Echo for running an article on our appeal and 103 The Eye for giving us the opportunity to talk about the project on their Sunday morning radio show.

We have £56,000 match funding to raise by July before the £540,000 grant from Lafarge Tarmac's Landfill Communities Fund will be released. The heritage centre must be complete by August 2015 as per the conditions of the grant.

There is still a long way to go to reach our target. If you have donated already or sponsored one or more bricks, thank you very much indeed! If you haven't donated yet please do so as soon as you can. The details can be found here "Sponsor a Brick".
   

Wood Chip

Our Ecology Group volunteers need wood chippings to place along the Nunckley trail path. If you are a local tree surgeon or know a local tree surgeon who may like to donate chippings resulting from a nearby job they are doing, please get in touch

We can publicise your help on our website. Most recently Oakdale Tree Surgery of Mountsorrel 07867 787744 dropped off a load of chippings for us.

Heritage Centre Site Virtual Tour

mi360 Virtual Tours is a local company based in Rothley who specialise in producing 360 degree views of an area, building or venue. This allows viewers to full immerse themselves in the tour and to gain an understanding of the area without actually visiting the site.
   
We are pleased to say that mi360 Virtual Tours has very kindly sponsored the production of a tour for the proposed heritage centre at Nunckley Hill. In fact there are three tours, one in the base of the old quarry showing where the museum building (phase 2), the stone masons' demonstration huts and the halt platform will go. The second tour shows the heritage centre and tea room as well as the car park area. The third tour is on the Nunckley Trail looking out over the old quarry.
   
http://www.mi360.net/Tourism/MountsorrelProject/_auto/mi360_Mountsorrelproject.html
   
We are very grateful to mi360 Virtual Tours for producing these tours for us. Not all our supporters live locally and can come along to see the site for themselves on one of up coming consultation days on March 22nd and 29th, so the virtual tours allows them to gain an understanding of how the scheme will fit into its surroundings.
   
John Shelton of mi360 Virtual Tours commented "When we heard about the community project to create a heritage centre for Mountsorrel and Rothley, we looked at the project and were in awe of what has been achieved so far and the benefit the new heritage centre will bring to our local communities. We felt we wanted to be involved so hopefully the 360 degree tours we have produced will help people to gain a better understanding of the project and maybe encourage a few people to sponsor a brick".