I visited Mansfield Museum and discovered they offer far more than meets the eye

The natural human inclination to criticise and be negative about our surroundings is very much at the forefront of most discussions when the merits - or otherwise - of Mansfield is mentioned.

Things didn’t always used to be this way with North Nottinghamshire’s number one market town once having bags to be proud of.

It’s a place that Jodie Henshaw is still proud to call home and an area she is keen to see get a better press.

As curator at Mansfield Museum and Art Gallery Jodie, who has lived in Forest Town all her life, is well-placed to help change the downbeat message.

“There is a lot of negativity around the town but Mansfield Museum tries to be as positive as we can.

“There's a lot of great things happening in the town and lots of great people. Mansfield Museum doesn’t do negativity,” said Jodie.

“When I talk about Mansfield it is my home, it is my family and friends, it’s not just somewhere where I work.

“It is massively important to help put pride back into the town. As we know, Mansfield is struggling a little bit in various ways, but it is so important to me to get pride of place back. “Mansfield is a great town, it has got lots of great people and great facilities in it and we just need to try and help people be more positive about the area that they live in. It is a wonderful town.”

Jodie has been involved in life at the Leeming Street museum for 26 years now and has been the curator for the last five.

She is particularly pleased with the current Made in Mansfield exhibition, which is the first area that visitors pass through on their arrival.

The thought-provoking display impressively celebrates the town’s coal-mining heritage and the industries and businesses - such as Shoe Co and Mansfield Bitter - that helped put Mansfield on the map.

“The exhibition celebrating Mansfield’s history is an excellent exhibition and a great place to start,” says Jodie.

“It looks at lots of the industries that used to be in the town, but also industries that are still around today. It is quite a lot of information for people and is really popular with the older generation, because they are often in the pictures and can remember the people they used to work with.

“There’s been lots of changes over the years. The museum and the theatre are on the up and a lot of funding is coming in at the moment so we have lots of good things planned over the next couple of years.”

There’s much more to see of course with the well-stocked art gallery, which showcases the work of local artists, and the well-designed World of Birds area proving to be popular.

It all adds to the sense that there is plenty to see and do if a visit to the attraction is on your agenda.

“It is a small entrance on Leeming Street, but once you come inside it is a bit of a tardis. We have got quite a large space and lots of galleries and different things to look at.

“Entry is free which is also great. We work really hard to keep things free or as low cost as possible.

“During the school holidays we usually see the same families each day. We have craft activities that people can get involved in, it is really important to make the museum as accessible as possible for everybody.

“All different people like all different types of things so we try to put on a variety of different exhibits and events so that there is always something different on.”

It’s an approach that is serving Jodie and her team well with figures for 25/26 showing a whopping 26 per cent increase in visitor numbers compared to the best year pre-COVID.

“Lots of museums across the country are struggling to get their numbers back up post COVID, but our visitor numbers are doing really well,” smiled Jodie.

“We put it down to the quality of exhibitions, events, keeping it free and all the hard work. We try to put on a wide variety of things and we have lots of school groups coming in as well. There is lots to see and do.”