SUPER sleuths in Winkleigh are celebrating a cash windfall which will see a new local history project get under way in the area.
The Winkleigh House Detectives Project, headed by the Winkleigh Society, has been awarded £14,500 by the Local Heritage Initiative Scheme.
The project aims to give people a better understanding of the history of their homes and the evolving landscape around them.
Experts will be brought in to work up ways of helping residents to research the history of their house or street and will also create a database which can be adapted as the project progresses.
In addition, the landscape around people?s homes will be investigated in terms of how environmental changes have taken place in response to technological and sociological factors.
Janet Daynes, leader of the Winkleigh House Detectives Project, said the project would not only benefit people investigating the history of where they lived, it would also create a valuable community archive.
?We are delighted to be working with North Devon on Disk and Beaford Arts to make it all happen,? she said.
Chris Burke, Local Heritage Initiative Adviser for the South West, said: ?The project is very much in keeping with the Initiative?s underlying principle ? that the long-term future of our local heritage lies in the hands of those who value it at local level.?
The scheme is run by the Countryside Agency and funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and Nationwide Building Society.
To qualify for funding, projects need to be started, supported and carried out by local people, involve new skills or networks and offer a lasting way of sharing heritage discoveries.
For details, call the Local Heritage Initiative Information Line on 0870 900 0401 or visit the website at http://www.lhi.org.uk">www.lhi.org.uk