 | April 2021 marks Old Bolsover Yards 3rd Birthday and what a three years it's been. Early in 2018 the idea for a Craft Courtyard came when Damion, from Ethos Upcycling, was looking for new premises to expand his business. |
Over a cuppa in a café Adrian, Sarah and Damion agreed to work together to develop a site in Bolsover that was on the market. After the exchanging of contracts the process of renovating a series of outbuildings, behind what was then The Beehive Café, began. There were both highs and lows during those early days engaging local builders, plumbers and electricians but with the relevant contracts awarded work to develop Old Bolsover Yard could begin in earnest.
| July 2018 saw the first event at Old Bolsover Yard - the town was holding it's Annual Food and Drinks Festival so it seemed as good a time as any to fling open the gates and welcome people in to see what we were up to. |  |
Although still looking like a building site a marquee stood at the bottom of the courtyard with Ethos Upcycling and Molly Felicity Designs showing a glimpse of things to come from our Craft Courtyard. Adrian, Sarah and Damion spent the weekend explaining to all the visitors who came what they were planning to do.
Phase one of the work was completed in September 2018 when all the buildings were watertight and secure - new roofs, new doors & windows, brickwork pointed, chimney saved from falling down! and lots of other bits and pieces in between too numerous to list.
Phase one of the work was completed in September 2018 when all the buildings were watertight and secure - new roofs, new doors & windows, brickwork pointed, chimney saved from falling down! and lots of other bits and pieces in between too numerous to list.
| October 2018 saw Ethos Upcycling officially move into Old Bolsover Yard with the workshop being one of the first units to be occupied. The Gallery opened a few weeks later featuring work from Ethos Upcycling and other designer-makers too. |  |
To round off 2018 we held our first Christmas Craft Fayre, sadly had to deal with an attempted break in to The Gallery, and plans were well underway for 2019 and The Courtyard Programme planned for every Saturday from April through to August.
 | Cup and Saucer joined Old Bolsover Yard in January 2019 taking up residence in Unit 4 next to The Gallery. February saw another new arrival in the form of Maria and Nino with their Leathercraft and Jewellery business in another of the units. March 2019 saw the opening of The Fabric Den, run by Sarah as part of her business Molly Felicity Designs, and has become a permanent fixture at Old Bolsover Yard with an array of fabric and yarn for all. |
.The Courtyard Programme ran from April and featured an Easter Extravaganza, Yarn Shop Day, The Wobbly Bodger, Makers Market, Bolsover Inner Wheel, Ian's Birds of Prey, Bolsover & District U3A, Meet the Makers, Clowne Salvation Army Brass Band, Bolsover WI, Teddy Bears Picnic, Bolsover Art Group, Cake Bonanza, Steelpantastic, Crafternoon, and Derbyshire Wildlife Trust.
The Gallery saw new traders joining with M & E Woodcraft and Scentuals by Charlene who started stocking their products in April. In May Chunky Oak Designs joined the growing number of makers showcasing their work. Later in the year Harriet and Lola's Candles joined us and we said goodbye to Scentuals by Charlene.
The Gallery saw new traders joining with M & E Woodcraft and Scentuals by Charlene who started stocking their products in April. In May Chunky Oak Designs joined the growing number of makers showcasing their work. Later in the year Harriet and Lola's Candles joined us and we said goodbye to Scentuals by Charlene.
Aspire Gates continued our work to develop the site giving our entrance way a makeover with the new archway and wrought iron gates making a really welcoming entrance to visitors to the Craft Courtyard.
2019 was to become a year tinged with sadness as in July Adrian passed away. Many of you will have met Adrian and be aware of his passion for Old Bolsover Yard and giving something back to the town. Despite his cancer diagnosis Adrian spent his time working hard to bring Old Bolsover Yard back to life. His legacy continues through the work being carried out by Sarah and Damion to continue to develop the yard.
2019 was to become a year tinged with sadness as in July Adrian passed away. Many of you will have met Adrian and be aware of his passion for Old Bolsover Yard and giving something back to the town. Despite his cancer diagnosis Adrian spent his time working hard to bring Old Bolsover Yard back to life. His legacy continues through the work being carried out by Sarah and Damion to continue to develop the yard.
| In August 2019 a pop-up shop came to Old Bolsover Yard following a tenant leaving us with a vacant unit. This allowed Fox and Stitch to bring Dinosaurs, Pandas, Parrots, Bears and Lions to Old Bolsover Yard when Viv brought her gorgeous handmade clothes to sell from her pop-up shop. |  |
This was followed by Crafted by Us and their decorations, gifts and jewellery.
 | August also saw us take Old Bolsover Yard on tour as we set up a marquee at Renishaw Hall and Gardens Annual Food and Craft Fair. This gave us an opportunity to raise awareness of this fantastic asset which Bolsover has to offer. |
| September brought more new businesses to Old Bolsover Yard when Ohh Bee Hive joined us in the gallery with their Raw Honey and Natural Skincare products and Baroness Bolsover was spotted at Old Bolsover Yard having sewing lessons and afternoon tea. Cards by Alison also joined us briefly selling unique gift cards for any occasion. Fiver Fest Fever came to Bolsover in October 2019 with the first Totally Locally event taking place which saw businesses throughout Bolsover getting involved to get people to shop locally and spend just five pound in their town. More events were held in 2020 with a Fiver Fest Fortnight and the great news is Fiver Fest will be back again in June 2021. |  |
 | Christmas arrived at Old Bolsover Yard with another pop-up shop and the Christmas Bonanza that coincided with the Bolsover Christmas Festival and Lantern Parade which we have all come to know and love. We also said Goodbye to The Beehive Cafe as Michelle decided it was time to hang up her apron and Gail relocated Cup & Saucer to new premises in Clay Cross. |
And then came 2020........ it all started so well!
Early January the café reopened its doors as after lots of hard work Sally and her team welcomed you to The Coffee Cup. We started planning for another year of special events through The Courtyard Programme and our newly introduced Makers Markets and we also shared some exciting news with you from the Heritage Lottery Fund. We knew that the site of Old Bolsover Yard used to be a Butcher's shop to the front with a slaughterhouse and meat preparation areas to the rear we embarked on uncovering the past to find out more about 'The Butchers of Bolsover'.
Early January the café reopened its doors as after lots of hard work Sally and her team welcomed you to The Coffee Cup. We started planning for another year of special events through The Courtyard Programme and our newly introduced Makers Markets and we also shared some exciting news with you from the Heritage Lottery Fund. We knew that the site of Old Bolsover Yard used to be a Butcher's shop to the front with a slaughterhouse and meat preparation areas to the rear we embarked on uncovering the past to find out more about 'The Butchers of Bolsover'.
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Fiver Fest returned in February and through that event Handmade by Helen took a space in our Galley with an array of wonderful crocheted items.
Thomas Taylor Historical Ropemaker moved into Old Bolsover Yard taking up the unit that had previosuly been home to Cup and Saucer. Using natural fibres and manuak equipment Thomas recreates the process for making cordage, ropes and nets, useful commodities throughout history. You can find out more by visiting The Ropery where you will often find demonstrations of ropemaking taking place. March also saw the arrival of The Tackle Shop when Rick Wainwright briefly took up residence in Unit 3 before moving to a larger premises in just a few months.
We held our first Show and Tell event for the Heritage Lottery Project to tell you more about our plans for the coming months and see if you had any stories to tell of the history of the yard. Girlguiding also joined us for a fundraising event and the girls were due to get involved with our archaeological dig which was planned for the Summer months. Then the world got hit by a global pandemic with the shock announcement that we had to close as restrictions were placed on non-essential retail as the Government tried to respond to the ever growing crisis.
Thomas Taylor Historical Ropemaker moved into Old Bolsover Yard taking up the unit that had previosuly been home to Cup and Saucer. Using natural fibres and manuak equipment Thomas recreates the process for making cordage, ropes and nets, useful commodities throughout history. You can find out more by visiting The Ropery where you will often find demonstrations of ropemaking taking place. March also saw the arrival of The Tackle Shop when Rick Wainwright briefly took up residence in Unit 3 before moving to a larger premises in just a few months.
We held our first Show and Tell event for the Heritage Lottery Project to tell you more about our plans for the coming months and see if you had any stories to tell of the history of the yard. Girlguiding also joined us for a fundraising event and the girls were due to get involved with our archaeological dig which was planned for the Summer months. Then the world got hit by a global pandemic with the shock announcement that we had to close as restrictions were placed on non-essential retail as the Government tried to respond to the ever growing crisis.
| In June 2020 we were able to reopen the gates at Old Bolsover Yard following some relaxation to the lockdown rules that had been imposed back in March. Naively we thought that the worst was over. We put new safety measures in place to minimise any risks still presented by the Coronavirus. |  |
Our April and May Makers Markets had to be cancelled but September's managed to go ahead and we went virtual with our Christmas events carrying them out online as we were under new restrictions due to the ongoing pandemic.
Some Yarn over the Rainbow, a maker of unique, handmade, crocheted lovelies for yarn lovers of all ages and George with his striking Leathercraft products became the latest artisans to stock their products in The Gallery in July 2020.
Some Yarn over the Rainbow, a maker of unique, handmade, crocheted lovelies for yarn lovers of all ages and George with his striking Leathercraft products became the latest artisans to stock their products in The Gallery in July 2020.
 | In August Archaeological Research Services undertook a historic building recording of Old Bolsover Yard as part of our Lottery project work. Sadly we had to adapt our plans to carry out an archaeological dig due to coronavirus restrictions so this was the next best thing and has given us a greater understanding of the development and use of the buildings over time. We spent more time closed towards the end of 2020 as restrictions came back into place and non-essential retail again had to temporarily close their doors. |
We were able to briefly reopen through December when Chris Hinch Antiques opened up in Unit 3. Sadly we then had to shut again until April 2021.
Doing our best to make the best of a bad situation the closures allowed us time to work with some amazing local businesses to finish the renovations at Old Bolsover Yard that started way back in April 2018 and also continue to research the history of Old Bolsover Yard through our heritage lottery project which will culminate in an exhibition later in 2021.
Thank you to all of you have helped us and joined us on our journey.
Happy Birthday Old Bolsover Yard!
Doing our best to make the best of a bad situation the closures allowed us time to work with some amazing local businesses to finish the renovations at Old Bolsover Yard that started way back in April 2018 and also continue to research the history of Old Bolsover Yard through our heritage lottery project which will culminate in an exhibition later in 2021.
Thank you to all of you have helped us and joined us on our journey.
Happy Birthday Old Bolsover Yard!
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