CROMFORD: Awards for Arkwright Society’s volunteer tour guides

Volunteer Tour Guides with the Arkwright Society at Cromford Mills have been on a winning streak at two recent heritage awards. They won the Outstanding Volunteers Award at the Derbyshire Heritage Awards 2013 and long serving Tour Guide Nina Davies also won a volunteer award at the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site (DVMWHS) annual awards ceremony.

The 7th Derbyshire Heritage Awards were held at the Barrow Hill Roundhouse Railway Centre, near Chesterfield. The Cromford Mills Guide Team came away with the Outstanding Volunteers Award with the judges commenting that the team had provided crucial support at a time of major development at the mills, gone above and beyond their normal guiding role and achieved something amazing in the eyes of their organisation. The team run public and booked tours and help with administration, events and general operational duties on the site. Their fundraising activities recently helped to significantly fund a half-size working replica of Arkwright’s famous Waterframe.

At the third DVMWHS annual volunteer awards Nina Davies, who is one of the guide team at Cromford Mills, was given a special award for her volunteering work. Commenting on her award the judges said, ‘Nina has been very supportive of WHS events such as the Walking Festival and a very enthusiastic volunteer. Nina is a tour guide and leads walks for the Arkwright Society at Cromford Mills and has been volunteering more than 10 years.’

Patrick Morris, Board Member of the DVMWHS, presented Nina with her award.