Sue Sisley is a nature nurturer but often turns her green fingers to preserving the past as well.

The garden enthusiast is a regular on the Katikati Garden Ramble scene – she’s opened her Hot Springs Rd property to the public for over a decade – but she’s also big on preserving relics for Western Bay Museum.

She is their longest-serving volunteer at 25 years. She was encouraged to join the volunteer crew of the old Katikati Heritage Museum - which opened in 2000 and closed in 2014 – by Nancy and Ken Merriman.

Her love of antiques started as a child watching her mother bring home things bought from auctions, doing them up and selling them on.

Sisley has amassed her own collection of fascinating artefacts and items of interest after travelling extensively for many years.

The treasures, including a 1900s Ottoman wood cradle from Istanbul, Turkey where she lived for two years, now adorn her home. The cradle was one of a few items she has loaned to Western Bay Museum for exhibitions.

Originally from England, she worked for the National Trust property in Nottinghamshire on the upkeep of the historic Mr Straw’s House, the home of a grocer’s family from the 1920s.

Sisley now preserves articles with Western Bay Museum’s collection manager Donna Forde. At times she hosts school groups and sometimes dons costumes of the period.

The volunteer has noticed a focus on preserving items of the past.

“People are much more caring about conserving articles and protecting them so that they will survive another 100 years. This has evolved in my 25 years.”

She is a also member of Waterford Garden Club and Katikati Garden Club.