Liskeard Unlocked: a lost safe key turns up, and more to come

A safe that had sat locked for years got its key back this month, carried in by a stranger who had no idea it would fit. It’s the kind of moment Liskeard Unlocked was built for: doors open, stories surface, and every so often something genuinely unexpected walks in off the street.

📷The Pipe Well, Liskeard

A weekend of open doors

Liskeard Unlocked launched on Friday 11 September as part of the national Heritage Open Days Festival, inviting people to discover the stories, skills, buildings and people that make the town unique. The festival reached its peak on Saturday 12 September, the main event day, when visitors turned out across town for a full programme of free activities.

Traditional craft demonstrations and exhibitions sat alongside heritage trails, open buildings and chances to meet local experts, makers and volunteers. This year carried extra weight too. Liskeard Unlocked was selected as part of the Heritage Open Days Festival Spotlight programme, helping put a national spotlight on the town’s heritage, its craftspeople, its historic buildings and its community-led events.

The crafts, the makers, the buildings

Across the festival, visitors watched demonstrations of leatherworking, bookbinding, embroidery, lace making, Gansey knitting, hand spinning, jewellery making, pottery, stained glass work and traditional signwriting. At Boost House, the Liskeard Market Makers opened their studios and shared the skills behind their work, while Stuart House and Liskeard Museum brought local history to life through exhibitions, trails, displays and hands-on activities.

Plenty of people used the chance to step inside buildings they’d walked past for years without ever going in, from churches and heritage venues to the home of Liskeard Masonic Lodge, each one staffed by volunteers and organisations giving up their time to welcome visitors in.

📷Liskeard Masonic Lodge

Meet some of the makers

Laura Welsh worked in clay, throwing pots for visitors to watch from start to finish.

📷Laura Welsh, potter

Karen Burden showed off her silver and copper jewellery making, piece by piece under close light.

📷Karen Burden, silver and copper jewellery

Alice Nimmo brought the patient, precise craft of book binding to her table.

📷Alice Nimmo, book binder

Joanna Hughes kept traditional signwriting alive, painting lettering by hand the old way.

📷Joanna Hughes, traditional signwriter

Christina Whitty demonstrated lace making, a craft with roots running deep in Cornwall.

📷Christina Whitty, lace making

Jane Talbot-Smith worked in leather, from offcuts to finished pieces.

📷Jane Talbot-Smith, leather worker

And Tina Heath brought two skills to her table, Gansey knitting and embroidery, both stitched by hand in front of visitors.

📷Tina Heath, Gansey knitting

📷Tina Heath, embroiderer

📷Graylands, circa 1937

The key that came home

Some of the best moments were the ones nobody planned. At Graylands, a visitor arrived carrying a key that had been separated from the property’s safe for a long time. It fitted. The safe and its key were reunited on the spot, and the new owner can now open it again.

Sue Jewell, a family member of the new owners of Graylands, said it was a chance to hear the building’s own history from people who had lived and worked there.

“It was so lovely welcoming folk to a house which is soon to be a home. To hear from people whose family had lived and worked there brought history alive and added a bit more colour to the fascinating story these walls hold.”

📷The long-lost safe key at Graylands

A huge thank you goes to every volunteer, venue host, organisation and craftsperson who gave up their time, opened their doors and shared what they know. It’s their enthusiasm that built a programme celebrating both Liskeard’s heritage and the people keeping it alive today.

Still to come this week

Saturday’s main event day may be done, but Liskeard Unlocked runs on, with more buildings, exhibitions and heritage experiences open through to Sunday 20 September.

Moorswater Lodge

A rare chance to step inside this Grade II listed Cornish home, from its 1830s origins to its wartime role and the restoration work under way now. Open Wednesday 16 September, Thursday 17 September and Sunday 20 September, 12pm to 5pm, with a guided introduction at 12.30pm.

Luxstowe House

A last look at this historic building before work begins on its next chapter, taking in its connections to the Glencross family and to American servicemen stationed there during the Second World War. Open Saturday 19 September, 10am to 2pm.

Our Lady & St Neot Catholic Church

Photographic displays and exhibitions on the church’s history and its links to local mining heritage, plus guided tours and tea, cake and a chat. Open Wednesday 16 to Friday 18 September, 9am to 1pm, and Saturday 19 September, 10am to 4pm.

St Martin’s Church

More than 800 years of worship to explore, with tower tours, a go at bellringing and the chance to hear the church’s Lewis organ. Open Saturday 19 September, 10am to 2pm.

Stuart House

The exhibitions Liskeard 1851: Earning a Living and Stuart House Workers Through Time, alongside displays on local lives, trades and traditional crafts. Open weekdays except Wednesdays, 9.30am to 3.30pm, and Saturdays 9.30am to 12.30pm.

Liskeard & District Museum

The family-friendly Trades and Treasures trail, plus Mining Heritage: Beyond the Mine, Into Everyday Life, a new digital presentation on local stories. Open weekdays 10am to 4pm and Saturdays 10am to 1pm.

Full details are at www.visitliskeard.co.uk.

Councillor David Braithwaite, Mayor of Liskeard, said the willingness of so many people to share their time, knowledge and skills had made Liskeard Unlocked “a wonderful celebration of our town, its heritage and its community.” At Graylands, that celebration now comes with a safe that finally opens again.