Arnos Vale Cemetery!

Arnos Vale - Winner of the prestigious English Heritage Angel Award

The English Heritage Angel Awards are the brainchild of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Andrew Thurley, the Chief Executive of English Heritage.  They are intended “to acknowledge exceptional achievement by individuals and communities in the conservation of our architectural heritage” in rescuing buildings and places from the Heritage at Risk Register. 

To see all the pictures from this event please click here

In this picture: Stephen Barrow, Lori Streich, Quentin Alder, Joyce Smith

To watch the glittering, star-studded English Heritage Angel Awards Ceremony on The Culture Show then tune in on Saturday 5th November!

To read an article in The Telegraph with our very own Joyce Smith please click here - a little bit of video footage is also available by clicking here.

This is the first year for the awards which were sponsored by The Telegraph, The Culture Show, English Heritage and Andrew Lloyd Webber himself.  There were over 200 applications and Arnos Vale Cemetery Trust was delighted to be one of 4 projects shortlisted in the category “Best Rescue of any other entry on the Heritage at Risk Register” – the general, and largest, catch-all for those who did not fit the more specific descriptions for other groupings. 

And so, a group of Trustees, Friends, and a representative from Bristol City Council travelled to London for the Awards Ceremony at the Palace Theatre on the 31st October.  We swept across the Red Carpet that was outside the theatre for a reception in the wonderfully restored, gilded Stalls Bar, before making our way into the theatre itself for a very starry event.  Not only was the a group of presenters hosted by Clare Balding and including Michael Winner and Graham Norton, but the stage was lit as a starry sky.   Our greatest delight, though, came when Melvyn Bragg, presenting the awards for our category, announced that Arnos Vale Cemetery Trust working with Bristol City Council was the winner, jointly with St Stevens Church, Rosslyn Hill in Hampstead. 

This award brings with it great recognition for the scale of the achievement in transforming Arnos Vale Cemetery from its former state of near dereliction, and saving it from the threat of redevelopment, to the wonderful place of natural beauty and tranquillity enjoyed by so many today.   

We have another challenge ahead:  to work towards safeguarding our future and ensuring our long term sustainability.  This week, though, it is fantastic to receive the Angel Award, and its acknowledgement of the commitment and the hard work that so many have put in so far.

Chief Executive of Arnos Vale Cemetery, Juliette Randall, said:  "Arnos Vale Cemetery Trust is absolutely delighted to have won this prestigious award.  The project to restore and run Arnos Vale was only possible with the unstinting support given by our enthusiastic team of volunteers and it is wonderful that English Heritage recognises the contributions that they have made.

English Heritage Award - The Culture Show

Telegraph article - The Angel Awards - Arnos Vale Cemetery.

Facebook page - The Angel Awards - Arnos Vale Cemetery