AT THE Cornwall Heritage Awards ceremony held at Tenderway Farm near Looe on Thursday, March 21, the Sir Goldsworthy Gurney Stove, which visitors to Bude Castle are sure to have seen as they enter, was announced as winner of ‘Object of the Year’, writes Christine Williams.

Cornwall Heritage Awards is an annual event to celebrate the county’s museums and heritage organisations with the aim of raising their profile and showcasing best practice.

The stove, patented in 1856 by Sir Goldsworthy Gurney, who also built the Bude Castle, was an early type of radiator and was installed in 22 cathedrals, including St Paul’s, and more than 10,000 churches, schools and government buildings across the country.

Indeed, some are still working today. Often described as Cornwall’s ‘forgotten genius’ Gurney was responsible for many other inventions and innovations that changed life in this country.

One of them came to be known as the Bude Light, a completely new system of lighting, which was used to illuminate Trafalgar Square, Pall Mall and the Houses of Parliament, as well as the Castle.

With the winners determined by the public in an online poll, Bude Castle was also praised in two other categories.

Café Limelight was highly commended in the ‘Environmentally Responsible Award’ category for its initiatives in supporting A Greener Bude by eradicating single use plastics, increasing recycling and focussing on local food supplies.

The Castle was also highly commended in the ‘Innovation Award’ category for creating a new temporary exhibition area with new showcases, improved security and temperature/humidity monitoring, which is currently used for a railway exhibition.

Two people, heritage development officer Janine King and café supervisor Diane Hill, who work tirelessly to make the Castle the excellent attraction that it is, attended the awards ceremony and had a big surprise at the end when the ‘Judges’ Special Award for Creativity’ also went to Bude.

They complimented the Castle for its excellent project organisation, the creative use of space the quality of the displays, as well as its environmental policy, the way the Castle has been developed and its ambition for the future.

One other person who deserves recognition for the Castle’s success is the manager Mark Berridge.

He said: “I am absolutely thrilled that the heritage centre volunteers and team working at the Castle have been recognised for all their hard work and I am proud that Goldsworthy Gurney’s stove has received national recognition for its impact. It has put Bude on the map”.

Janine too was very proud and delighted that the award raised the profile of Sir Goldsworthy Gurney. She hoped that more people would be encouraged to learn about him.

Town clerk Keith Cornwell was also delighted at ‘a reward for the excellent way in which the town has been developing over the years for both locals and visitors’.

Only last November Bude was voted the ‘Best UK Seaside Town’ and in London picked up gold in the British Travel Awards, all of which was good for Bude and should attract more visitors to the town.