We end our round up of our Architecture Award winners and commendations for 2021 with our final category - 'Conservation Champion'.
This year, we were absolutely thrilled to be giving this award to Ron Common - for his outstanding volunteering role with Derbyshire Wildlife Trust (DWT) and the Friends of Aqueduct Cottage and Lea Wood Gateway project.
Nominated by DWT, Ron is so deserving of this award. He joined DWT as a volunteer in 2016 and, since then, has been championing the restoration of Aqueduct Cottage, which is a Grade II listed building on the Cromford Canal and the High Peak Trail adjoining DWT's Lea Wood Nature Reserve.
The project is to restore Aqueduct Cottage into an education and visitor centre. Ron has very much been leading this work and has also managed to inspire an amazing cohort of volunteers as well as supporters via the Friends of Aqueduct Cottage Facebook Group. His efforts have also motivated people to donate as well as volunteer their time to the project.
The DHBT have been proud to be a partner in this project via the continued valuable support of James Boon Architects (James leads the DHBT's Technical Panel).
You can find out more about the project by watching the short film we produced last year (on which Ron and James both speak) - https://youtu.be/w5lOm_oCyUE
Aqueduct Cottage is due to open in 2022 - we defintiely recommend a visit!
Huge congratulations Ron! We hope this will inspire others to see how rewarding being a volunteer with a historic buildings project can be.
