Last chance to visit Chedham’s Yard!
After their win in the final of BBC’s Restoration Village, the ‘Friends of Chedham’s Yard’ support group invite people to their open day on Sunday 8 October between 10.30am and 4.00pm.
As winners of the competition the former wheelwright and blacksmith’s workshop will receive a substantial grant and professional advice from the Heritage Lottery Fund. This will be the last chance to visit Chedham’s Yard and before all the artefacts are removed.
Wellesbourne Parish Council approached Warwickshire County Council in 2003 with a view to securing the future of the site. Warwickshire Museums and Heritage Network was able to advise on funding and to establish a Friends group.
The Chedham’s family wheelwright and blacksmith business started in the 19th century and only stopped when young Bill Chedham locked the door in the 1970’s. Untouched until a few years ago, it remains one of only a few complete examples of the wheelwright’s craft. Plans for the project to renovate the yard will see the workshop turned into a working museum complete with a blacksmith to provide training and education.
David Close, chair of the Parish Council working group which oversees the site, said:
“We are now looking to the future restoration project and urge people who are interested to come and perhaps take the last chance to see the workshop in it’s original condition.”