Following the Mining and Music event and the Southwell Ploughing Match in September, visitor numbers at Bilsthorpe Heritage Museum are increasing, with many people saying that they had thought the museum had closed last year. While information had been given that the Village Hall site would be sold for development, an update was issued along with the Parish Council, who confirmed that they had no immediate plans to sell the site.
The situation has now changed to uncertain, but the museum is very much open for visitors, and well-behaved dogs, and is a finalist in the Nottinghamshire Tourism Awards 2026. The museum will also be attending the MDM Power of Place event in Birmingham in November to present a case study.
Visits are already arranged to Vision West and the Vintage Tractor Show in Newark during November, and in October students from Vision West and Kings Clipstone History Group were welcomed. A Christmas Coffee Morning will be held on Saturday 22nd November to raise funds for the museum.
The November Wellbeing Walk will take place on Friday 28th November, meeting outside the museum at 10.00am. The walks last 60 to 90 minutes and cover various routes around the village, depending on the weather and chosen path. Well-behaved dogs are very welcome to join, including Boris, who can be well-behaved when he feels like it but generally finds a muddy puddle or pond to jump in.
The Miners’ Memorial Garden is really taking shape and will look amazing in the spring, so a big thank you goes to the volunteers who have taken on the mammoth task of rejuvenating it. The museum is a charity supported by ticket sales for Newark and Sherwood Community Lottery and the Robin Hood Lottery. It relies on these sales and donations to remain open, as admission is free and it is entirely volunteer run, opening two days a week in winter, Sundays and Wednesdays from 11.00am to 3.00pm.
The museum is committed to keeping the mining and community heritage of Bilsthorpe alive, as well as covering the wider Nottinghamshire area. It is also custodian of the CHAD archives reaching back to 1887, along with extensive paperwork from Bilsthorpe Colliery, including Health and Safety reports. Please get in touch if you would like to access these for research purposes, including family histories.
Find the museum on Facebook, Instagram and at http://www.bilsthorpemuseum.co.uk or email bilsthorpe_heritage@yahoo.com.