Community celebrates saviour of Hartlepool 'treasure' Heugh Battery Museum

A fundraising campaign was in place to help Heugh Battery Museum raise 5,000.

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Hartlepool Mail readers have been toasting one of the town's attractions after a fundraiser to secure its future smashed the target.

The Heugh Battery Museum, on the Headland, was trying to raise £5,000 to keeps its doors open.

Situated on the site of the only First World War battlefield in Britain, the Heugh Battery was built in 1860 to help defend the port of Hartlepool.

The Hartlepool Mail backed the fundraising with its Battery Charge campaign.

It also played a key role in defending the town during the bombardment of Hartlepool in 1914.

And after a tireless campaign, launched in the spring and backed by the Mail, almost £7,000 has been donated.

A large chunk of this money was drummed up by Swedish power metal band Sabaton, who pulled together £4,220 with their sales of a special t-shirt.

Fundraising work to protect the future of the museum will continue.

As manager Diane Stephens celebrated hitting £5,000, she also urged people to keep fundraising and pay the historical site a visit.

Members of the Hartlepool community have been celebrating the good news - adding that the fundraising total was a fantastic achievement.

Here are some of your comments from the Hartlepool Mail Facebook page:

Stephanie Ackroyd: "Well done ... so glad it's saved."

Adrian Paul: "Great achievement in securing the donations."

Pat Foy: "Well done. A few year's ago we brought my grandson from America to have a look round. It was such a great day and staff were brilliant."

Stephen Bailey: "Well done, one of the town's treasures we can’t afford to lose."

Andy Williams: "Well done to all involved."

Viv Taylor: "Great news."

Tom Sant: "Congrats."

And a message of thanks from the team at Heugh for the community's support ...

Heugh Battery Museum: "Thank you to the Hartlepool Mail for backing our fundraising appeal! And thank you to every single person, company and music group who have donated, we are so grateful for every penny raised."