Hertfordshire Museum Object of the Year Winner Announced

Indian cooking pan Hertfordshire Museum Object of the Year

Following this year’s public vote a Tawa (a pan used to make chapattis) that was handmade out of steel from the K&L factory in Letchworth, has been named Hertfordshire Museum object of the year.

The pan was made in 1962 by Gurdev Singh Shergill, using metal from the factory where he worked, and its creation brought familiarity and comfort to a community starting new lives in a different country.

Amandeep Dhillon the Granddaughter of Gurdev Singh Shergill says: ‘I think if my grandfather was alive today, he would be so happy to see his handmade object and his story in spaces where they might not have been in his day. The Punjab to Hertfordshire migration story is one of hardship and tough working and living conditions, but equally a celebrated and important contribution to Letchworth Garden City’s industry from the 1950s.

‘It is so important to be able to celebrate these local stories and have them recorded for future generations. Local communities should feel the museum space and the Garden City Collection is for them and about them – they have made a significant contribution to shape the town to what it is today!’

Runners-up included:

A Roman tegula roof tile, with animal paw prints from Lowewood Museum. Roman clay tiles were left to dry in the sun and this one has attracted a dog, and possibly other animals, to have a wander over it, leaving their paw prints for us to admire centuries later.

The Marconi Clocking in Clock from St Albans Museum + Gallery.The clock was used in the Marconi factory in the Fleetville area of St Albans, to record the working hours of employees until 1988 when it was put up as a prize in a company raffle.

Over 2,300 people voted for their object of the year from a choice of twenty two artefacts nominated by museums across Hertfordshire. Other notable entries included Graham Taylor’s iconic 1980s tracksuit nominated by Watford Museum and a Moon Landing Plaque from Stevenage Museum, given to the senior trials engineer at BAE in Stevenage in 1969, who had written the launch manual for the Apollo 11.

Caroline Clapper, Cabinet Member for Education, Libraries & Lifelong Learning at Hertfordshire County Council said: ‘Our heritage and cultural organisations are fundamental to Hertfordshire and each year museums find new ways of working and collaborating with our residents. The work nominated for the Hertfordshire Association of Museums Awards helps make our county an exciting, creative place to be and it is wonderful to be celebrating that.’

Other award winners were:

  • Creative Health Award: St Albans Museum and Gallery – Communities-in-residence. A year-long museum residency with the local ME/CFS support group
  • Engagement Award: Lowewood Museum – Borough Beats. Project and exhibition collecting stories and memories of the music scene in the Borough of Broxbourne from the 1950s to the 1970s
  • Innovation Award: Watford Museum – Museum Next Gen. Museum Collective/co-curation project for 5 young people aged 18-25 to curate a re-hang of the Museum’s fine art collection and develop the accompanying interpretation.
  • Environmental Sustainability Award: Royston Museum – Royston Museum Goes Green – New ways of working and development of a 5-year plan to underpin and inform our work going forward.
  • Heritage Hero Awards were presented to staff and volunteers from museums across the county to recognise the wonderful work they have done supporting museums and communities.