Mansfield 2000: Time capsule opened at historic Old Brewery campus at West Nottinghamshire College

The event took place at the college’s Old Brewery campus on Littleworth – a landmark building with deep roots in the town’s industrial heritage.

Once a working brewery complete with beer cellars, the historic site has long been part of Mansfield’s story and has recently been brought back to life as a specialist construction and skills campus following extensive renovation works.

And it was during those renovations in summer 2024, college staff made the unexpected discovery of the sealed time capsule within the former beer cellar.

The capsule was originally buried in 2000, when the building was home to the Making It Discovery Centre, and was created by pupils from several local schools.

To mark the capsule’s 25th anniversary, the original participating schools were invited back to witness its opening.

Mansfield Mayor Andy Abrahams also attended alongside teachers and pupils from some of the original participating schools, together with students currently training at the Old Brewery campus.

Carpentry and joinery students Brooke Vaughan and James Dobb had the honour of cutting open the original capsule, revealing a snapshot of life at the turn of the millennium.

Items discovered included a Daily Mail newspaper, a page from the Mansfield Chad from 1999, a calendar for the year 2000, VHS tapes, a bottle of Mansfield beer, medicine bottles and even a set of denture teeth.

There were also photographs, drawings and descriptions of life at home from the school children involved.

Children and teachers from St Peter’s Primary School, King Edward Primary School and Sutton Road Primary School joined college staff and students to share in the moment,

The pupils then added their own contributions to a new capsule that will be sealed and returned to the cellar for future generations to discover.

Items in the new capsule included a school jumper, creative artwork, school dinner menus, badges and Pokemon cards.

The college’s engineering technician Kacey Gilberthorpe also brought along a new plaque, which she created from aluminium, to be placed on the new time capsule to mark the event.