RETIRED businessman Ivan Shaw's smart bit of work has landed a £20,000 windfall for a village museum.
Mr Shaw's smooth talking won the cash for the Colne Valley Museum at Golcar.
Volunteers who run the small museum are delighted.
The cash came after Mr Shaw, a trustee of the museum, disposed of his former premises - Commercial Mill in Savile Street, Milnsbridge.
He sold it on condition the new owners gave £20,000 for the museum.
The cheque was handed over in a ceremony at the museum. Delighted curators are aiming to put it towards a major refurbishment project.
A lottery bid is planned for the rest of the £200,000 needed.
The museum specialises in costume, textiles and social history.
Mr Shaw, whose Milnsbridge air conditioning firm was sold last year and has since moved to new premises, said: "I feel passionately about the historical importance of the local textile industry and hopefully, through this arrangement, we will be able to preserve the links between the cottage weaving of the early Victorian era and the birth of factory textile production."
The museum is housed in three weavers' cottages and features two looms, a spinning jenny and a room devoted to exhibitions.
Bosses want to upgrade the building as well as safeguarding the objects on display and in storage.
Mrs Lynn Free, chairman of the museum's trustees, was delighted by the sum: "The foresight of Mr Shaw and the generosity of the developers is an important development in the life of the museum."
Meanwhile, the Savile Street mill will be converted into apartments by Watercress Developments. Richard Felton, managing partner of Watercress, said: "I won't say that Mr Shaw exactly twisted our arm but it will help our public awareness in the area."
