You may have noticed in the last few months a history article has not been published. This is out of respect for the late Museum Chairman. As you may be aware, by now, Dr Nicolas Hall, the Chairman of Radstock Museum passed away on the 15th June 2021.

Nick, as he preferred to be called, provided me with all this incredible history that Radstock has to offer with a tour of the museum, a box full of every issue of Five Arches local history journal and some local history books. Nick trusted and believed in me giving me encouragement to write these articles, he was a kind-hearted, knowledgeable man.

Personally, one of the last times I saw Nick was just as the museum was able to open at the end of a lockdown. He'd created this incredible exhibition on the Spanish Flu, which raged through the world in 1918 with many comparisons to Covid.

Nick had a passion for history, being able to demonstrate it with brilliance. In memorial I'd like to dedicate this article to Dr Nicolas Hall, who gave me this opportunity and allowed my wings to grow as a local historian. He will always be a hero of Radstock and a friend to many.

Starting off in the year 2012, Nick became a Steward at the Radstock Museum, eventually leading him to his Chairman position by 2014. It was no surprise that, Nick was popular with all the volunteers, having a good sense of humour and being a great listener.

One of Nick's many achievements was to adapt the museum to accommodate all types of audiences; working in a museum myself I know how difficult this challenge can be. This included rebranding of the museum name," Somerset Coalfield Life at Radstock Museum". Additionally, employing a Development Coordinator creating exhibits that were more interactive for visitors.

Personally, one of my favourite attractions that he introduced to the museum was the 'Virtual Reality Mine Experience'. That's probably a bit biased with me being an avid gamer, but I think Nick introduced something that frankly I wish I'd come up with! This unsurprisingly, worked with all generations and it's a great accomplishment. This demonstrates the forward thinking that Nick clearly showed to transform the Museum to give something different for old and new visitors.

In 2019 another great goal was accomplished for Nick; he had plans to hold community cafés, for local people of the area. Thankfully, this came to be, and during the mornings, when the museum was closed to the public, cafes for people with memory difficulties and veterans partnered with Royal British Legion and local history cafes were set up. Once again, this turned out to be hugely successful and the museum has plans to resume these cafes hopefully in the spring of 2022 Covid permitting.

As you can imagine many of the volunteers and workers of the museum, have their own words about Nick. This is just one example from the Museum Manager Nick Turner. "Nick made a huge impact on the Museum on so many levels and in so many ways with his positivity, his enthusiasm, his energy and his friendly, encouraging, and supportive approach. He will be greatly missed."

Nick Hall, Lucy Tudor, volunteer in museum publicity, and I had a meeting to discuss how I might go about researching and writing articles for Nub News and what would be chosen to write about. Nick understood what I wanted to achieve and helped me set out goals.

I appreciated Nick's knowledge and wisdom and I think he was pleased a younger member of the community was getting involved in local history and the museum. Lucy, who worked closely with Nick, has kindly watched over my work since I started these articles as Nick became ill and had to withdraw from museum duties.

I will continue to write these articles to honour his memory. Being able to give back to the local community is something I never expected to achieve and it's all thanks to Nick I owe him my deepest gratitude.