Street to be named after local character '˜worth his weight in gold'

Trevor Goodman was a key figure behind setting up the Bilsthorpe Heritage Museum before his death in June last year from a cardiac arrest at the age of 65.

Now villagers are determined to make sure his legacy lives on.

Councillor George Cooper, a member of Bilsthorpe Parish Council and Bilsthorpe Heritage Society, said: “Because he did so much for the village, we thought it would be nice to name a street after him.

“Trevor was just brilliant – he turned his hand to anything and we miss him. He was worth his weight in gold and worked so hard to get the museum up and running.”

A former pit joiner, Trevor suffered a massive heart attack in 1986 and underwent an emergency transplant three weeks later, having been moved to the top of the organ donors’ waiting list.

He was the 157th person in Britain to receive the life-saving treatment.

His wife Linda, to whom he was married to for more than 42 years, said: “He was told repair surgery would mean he had a 10 per cent chance of survival, or have a heart transplant.

“If he survived the first year, it almost guaranteed him five more years at the time.

“Because of the immunosuppressant drugs he had to take, we knew a cold could kill him, but we took each year as it came and he just kept on going.

“His view was he had been given a second chance and was going to make the most of it.

“I think naming a street after him is a really nice idea. He loved the village and the heritage museum, it became a second home.”

Bilsthorpe Parish Council had initially inquired about a previous development off Eakring Road to name a street after Trevor.

However, members were told the streets had already been named.

But Newark and Sherwood District Council has since confirmed that it was agreed earlier in the summer that Trevor Goodman should have a street named after him.

It is hoped that a current development, to build six new bungalows on land off Woodbeck Close, could be used, although it is yet to be confirmed.