New Bolsover Model Village, built by the Bolsover Colliery Company in 1891 to accommodate its workforce, is a lasting legacy to the coal mining industry which dominated life in the town from 1891 to 1993.

Thanks to National Lottery players, Bolsover District Council has been restoring and upgrading the Model Village, and carrying out an innovative community development programme to encourage local people and participants alike to feel proud of their local area and appreciate its rich history.

Egg-cellent Easter bonnets

The team from Robert Woodhead Ltd working on the project thoroughly enjoyed a visit by children from the local primary school just before their Easter break.

The team’s project manager had contacted New Bolsover Primary School to ask if some of the children would like to design them Easter bonnets to wear over their hard hats to brighten up their Easter.

All of the children at the school took up the challenge and produced some ‘egg-cellent’ Easter bonnets. Two children from each class were chosen to present their bonnets to the builders for them to show off on site.

[quote]“We thought this would be a great way for the local children to get involved with what we are doing in their community... We would all like to thank the children for the hard work and effort they put in to this challenge.”[/quote]

Each child delivered their individual design to the site with their teacher, Elizabeth Mulcahey, who was thrilled with how well the children had done. She said: “It was such a lovely idea and the children had a lot of fun in the classroom designing and making the bonnets for the local builders. We had a lovely Easter sing-song with the workers when we delivered the bonnets and the children were all really pleased with how everyone looked in their creations.”

Woodhead’s site manager on New Bolsover Model Village, Tony Kent, said: “We thought this would be a great way for the local children to get involved with what we are doing in their community. It gave them an insight in to what sort of jobs we have in the building trade and what improvements we’re making to the local houses. We would all like to thank the children for the hard work and effort they put in to this challenge.

"The bonnets all looked great and this could perhaps become a yearly event to brighten up our sites at Easter!"