The doors to this year’s Heritage Open Days closed on Sunday 12 September, and the big count has just started. Many organisations and sites who took part in the four-day festival are reporting excellent visitor turn-outs. A record programme of 4,463 events across the regions, sunny autumn weather, wide media coverage and a new appetite to explore all things local brought out the crowds.
Oxford Preservation Trust, organisers of Oxford Open Doors, reckons their 2010 event was their biggest and best yet, counting more than 50,000 visits to 175 venues and activities across the city. Debbie Dance, Director of Oxford Preservation Trust, said: “We are absolutely delighted by the success of the weekend. We know that it is something that local people look forward to and enjoy but the numbers that we attracted took us all by surprise. From beginning to end, swathed in sunshine, the feeling of goodwill at the many venues, amongst the volunteers and supporters who helped make all this happen, was a joy.”
But also private property owners who bravely opened up their homes to complete strangers found the experience exhilarating. Carol Bruce, Disley, who took part for the first time, said: “It went brilliantly well and I had 161 people through the house over the three days. The exhibition and archive material I had gathered and put together about the lives of former occupants of the house attracted a lot of interest with many people poring over the material for quite a time. The flow of visitors was manageable and all the volunteers coped well. We had a gazebo in the garden which looked very festive with the pink and blue balloons tied to the corners as well as on the front gate and other places.”
Hundreds of visitors have already shared their feedback with us. Many lovely comments and stories have been posted on the online directory. You can still add yours by revisiting the directory entries of the places you saw over Heritage Open Days. You can also take part in this year’s national visitor survey and win an English Heritage hamper.
