GROUNDBREAKING designs for the future were celebrated alongside historic sites of the past in a weekend to honour Nottinghamshire's culture.
National organisation Heritage Open Days encouraged 89 venues in the county to opening their doors to the public between Thursday and Sunday.
Among them was Tina Holt's Passivhaus eco-home in Harrow Road, West Bridgford, which makes her a profit on her energy bills.
"Solar panels generate about £600 every year and with the changes we've made," said Tina, who now runs her own firm - Eco House Net - as an eco-home consultant.
"This ties in fantastically as many heritage sites have done things to improve their energy consumption. Nottingham has a green reputation and does quite well in terms of eco-homes."
When Tina and husband Gil Schalom moved into their four-bedroom home it needed more than 200 kilowatt hours per square metre every year in power - but last winter it required just 21.
"It's hard to show people the extent of our insulation in a tour," explained Tina. "But we showed them pictures of the work and gave them advice on how they can make changes themselves.
"People went away with former ideas about how they can make their homes more efficient."
Meanwhile, more than 450 guests browsed Bromley House Library in Angel Row, where they could flick through 17th century history books and maps from the 1800s.
Thornton's Antiquities of Nottinghamshire, dated 1677, has the earliest recorded drawings of the city and was open for perusal by the guests.
One of the library's directors, Adrian Henstock, said: "You can see Chapel Bar when it really was a medieval walkway and there are illustrations of the castle when it was just 20-years-old."
George Sanderson's 1835 map, which depicts the railway line between Nottingham and Derby three years before it was due to be built, was stretched across a five foot squared table.
"Sanderson was from Mansfield so it was in the middle," added Mr Henstock. "The train line is stops on the border of Nottingham because they hadn't decided exactly where it was going."
In the Lace Market, more than 20 guests at Debbie Bryan Studio and Shop in St Mary's Gate heard a talk by Boots historian Judith Wright.
"People were fascinated to learn about Florence Boot and the way she took the company over," said Katie Mckeag, from the studio, who taught origami using prints from the famous Nottingham chemist's historic advertisements.
"Boots is iconic for Nottingham and even people who were just popping into the shop were intrigued by the talk. Heritage Open Days are a great chance for us to celebrate our history and what has shaped the city."
