The project has been a long-term dream for this community heritage museum, tucked away in the village of Golcar in the Colne Valley, and which is run entirely by its volunteer members. The intention is to renovate and refurbish the four weavers’ cottages which house the museum and create a period bedroom, so that an entire 19th-century weavers’ cottage, with a living kitchen and wash cellar and a loom chamber, can be explored by visitors to this hidden gem.

A new meeting room is also planned for the use of local groups, as well as better facilities for visitors and schools, and a community heritage resource centre will be created to enable greater access to the museum’s collection, especially for those tracing their family history.

The project will enable many of the museum’s documents and photographic material to be digitised, allowing public access to the collection for the first time, and volunteers will be given training to carry on with this work in the future.

The museum is housed in a row of four weavers’ cottages built in the 1840s, known as Spring Rock, and an earlier grant from HLF enabled the members to incorporate the end cottage and former Cliffe Ash Fisheries into the building and create a new entrance, shop and Spring Rock Tea Rooms, which has proved a popular meeting place for locals as well as visitors.

Trustee Janet Jobber said: “We are delighted that the Heritage Lottery Fund has given us this grant. Our dedicated team of volunteer members have kept the museum running for almost 45 years and it has always been our dream to have the whole row of Spring Rock back under single ownership once more. The grant will enable us to fulfil that dream and preserve our buildings and traditions for future generations.  This is an exciting time for us but we still have hard work to do in delivering the project. One of the conditions of the grant is that we raise 5% of the funding ourselves - £36,000. We have made a good start but need to find more so we have set up an online donation opportunity on our Total Giving page. We know that our museum is valued by our visitors and we hope they will feel able to make a contribution either online or by old fashioned cheques and cash.”

Fiona Spiers, Head of Heritage Lottery Fund Yorkshire and The Humber, said: “We are delighted to support the plans by the community volunteers who manage this fascinating museum so they can continue to preserve and display the traditional skills and heritage of their valley for the enjoyment of visitors now and in the future.”

Notes to editors

About Colne Valley Museum:

Colne Valley Museum is an independent volunteer-run heritage museum depicting the life of the domestic textile weaver. For more information visit the Colne Valley Museum website.

Further information

For further information, images and interviews please contact Janet Jobber at the Colne Valley Museum at janetjobber@hotmail.com or  07754 489 499.