Industrial Heritage Networks

Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester, to Hold Volunteering Open Event in April

March 20, 2026mikenevell

The Science and Industry Museum in Manchester is hosting a volunteering open event on Thursday 9 April from 11.00–13.00, offering visitors the chance to discover how they can help operate and demonstrate thge historic machines that powered Manchester’s industries.

*The ‘Rocket’ locomotive on display at the museum in 2018.*

The museum is particularly seeking Volunteer Historic Machinery Operators, who will work alongside its expert Technical Services team to bring these engines and machines to life for visitors by supporting with live demonstrations and conversations about how they work and their impact. The museum’s volunteer programme plays a key role in making sure that knowledge isn’t lost, while also inspiring a new generation of engineers, makers, and creators. Katie Powell, Volunteer Manager at the museum, said: “Nothing inspires our visitors quite like seeing our historic machinery in motion. By volunteering with us, you’ll help bring these extraordinary machines to life, share their stories, and inspire the next generation of innovators.”

Further details caon be found on the musuems website here: Volunteering | Science and Industry Museum

If you are interested in attending, please contact MSI at volunteering@scienceandindustrymuseum.org.uk with your name and contact details.

*The recently renovated power hall at the Science and Industry Museum, Manchester. Image copyright Dr Michael Nevell.*

Walsall Leather Museum Given Listed Status

March 14, 2026March 13, 2026mikenevell

The Walsall Leather Museum in the Midlands, which is housed in the 19th century brick-built, multi-storey, buildings of the former Withers and Son and Samuel Llewellen leather works buildings, was given Grade II listed status earlier this month. The museum is facing closure on the 11 April, although Walsall Council has purchased new premises in the centre of the town for the proposed site of the re-located museum. A time-frame for the re-opening is yet to be announced.

In announcing the listing, Historic England noted that “We recommended listing the buildings at Grade II due to their historic and architectural interest. Leather working is strongly associated with Walsall, and the town is still a major centre for the industry. The workshops on Wisemore are among a very small group of such buildings of this date surviving in Walsall, and so are of particular significance for the town as they embody the industry that played a major part in the lives of many local people.”

In response to the listing, Walsall Council’s leader Mike Bird was quoted in the local press as saying: ‘It might be heritage to them but at the end of the day it’s an old factory, simple as that.’

More details about the listing, proposed closure, and move of the museum can be found here: Walsall Leather Museum’s listed status ‘won’t affect move’

The listing details can be found here: Two former leather goods works, Wisemore, Non Civil Parish – 1495986 | Historic England

*The Walsall Leather Museum. Image courtesy of the museum.*

Mills Now & Then – SPAB Call for Your Mill Histories

March 13, 2026mikenevell

To celebrate Mills in 2026 the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) is producing a compilation of individual mills’ histories. The SPAB Mills Section wants to create a new and comprehensive picture of mills of all types throughout the UK, Ireland, and Europe and are calling for submissions from owners, volunteers, millwrights, or anyone interested in the history of a mill or a linked group of mills, to write about how they evolved.

SPAB would like to understand a mill’s origins and how the structure and uses have changed over its lifetime. This can be a post mill, smock or tower mill, a watermill or tide mill, or an industrial mill. The mill can be located in the UK, Ireland or Europe. The entry can be about mills stil existing, derelict, or lost.

The chosen entrants will receive a copy of the published booklet, which will be available at SPAB Mills Section events. A digital version of selected submissions will also be available.

The deadline for submissions is Friday 1 May 2026. All entries to be submitted via email to: nmwsubmissions@spab.org.uk

Further details can be found by following this link: Mills Now & Then – Call for your histories | The SPAB

*Windmill in Lincoln. Image copyright Dr Michael Nevell.*

Next Greenwich Industrial History Society Free Online Talk – 10 March

March 6, 2026March 6, 2026mikenevell

The next Greenwich Industrial History talk will be on Tuesday 10th March – 19.15 for 19.30. Jeffrey Borinsky will be talking about the Broadcast Engineering Museum, the 100th anniversary of Baird’s first demonstration of television and 90 years since the start of the world’s first regular high definition TV service from Alexandra Palace. The Broadcast Engineering Museum is a hands-on museum where many exhibits are working.

Jeffrey Borinsky spent his working life designing equipment for use in TV studios. He is one of the founding trustees of the Broadcast Engineering Conservation Group. The BECG started the Broadcast Engineering Museum in 2021. The free talk – by Zoom, and open to members and non-members of GIHS – will start at 19:15 for 19:30 on Tuesday 10th March. For details of how to register, see below.

How to reserve your place for this free online talk

You can book a place now by emailing greenwichindustrial@gmail.com with the subject line “GIHS Broadcasting Engineering Museum talk”. Zoom log-in details will be sent just before the talk starts.

SS Great Britain Launches Fundraiser to Complete Museum Renovation Project

March 5, 2026mikenevell

The SS Great Britain Trust is looking to raise the final £180,000 over the next six weeks to help complete the major reinvention project of the museum, which lies next to the historic ship in the Floating Harbour. On 23 February, the old Dockyard Museum closed to make way for a refreshed museum scheduled to open in July 2026. This will bring to life the remarkable stories of the passengers and crew who travelled and worked aboard the SS Great Britain. Alongside the revamped museum there will be a new community hub, a safe and accessible space for local groups to gather, research, and host workshops.

With £1.3m in investment already secured, the Trust are calling on visitors, local businesses, supporters worldwide, and the people of Bristol to get involved and help make the new museum a reality. The Dockyard Museum is being redesigned as an immersive experience focused on the “untold stories” of passengers who travelled aboard the SS Great Britain to destinations including New York, India and the Falkland Islands. The Trust has said that the “much-needed makeover” will “reveal stories from more of the passengers on board the SS Great Britain, but it will also allow today’s audiences to resonate with her history in an entirely new way”.

Further details on how to donate can be found here: All Hands On Deck – SS Great Britain

Friends of Bennerley Viaduct Launch Crowdfunder to Build New Footbridge

March 4, 2026March 3, 2026mikenevell

The Friends of Bennerley Viaduct were formed in 2019 as a community charity to help save and make accessible the Bennerley Viaduct and its surrounding environment. The Bennerley Viaduct is a Grade II* listed former Railway Viaduct connecting Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire through the towns of Kimberley and Ilkeston. The Friends‘ goal is to preserve the viaduct and its immediate surrounding area for future generations. As part of this aim they are looking to secure funding to create a new crossing over the River Erewash and to pay for materials that will help to secure the river bank that the bridge will cross.

Not only will the new footbridge over the River Erewash increase access to the viaduct and its surrounding environment, but it will also help to secure the riverbank to prevent its erosion, and so help to secure the future of the viaduct. The Friends target is £10,000, which will act as match-funding for a National Lottery Heritage Fund bid.

To contribute follow this link: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/new-footbridge-next-to-bennerley-viaduct-second-pledge

*Image of the proposed new footbridge beneath the ‘iron giant’. Image courtesy of the Friends of Bennerley Viaduct.*

Museum Association Bids Farewell to the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust

March 3, 2026mikenevell

The 2nd March 2026 marked the start of a new era within the Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site, as the National Trust took over the 10 museums, 35 scheduled monuments and listed buildings, and 400,000 archives of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust (IGMT). The museums closed for the last time under IGMT control on the 22 February, which was marked by a special parade and ceremony of staff, volunteers, and friends at Blists Hill open air museum, the final site to close on that day.

To celebrate 60 years of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust, the Museums Association interviewed the Collections team for their thoughts on IGMT and its legacy. You can read the full article, and reminescences by Kate Cademan (Collections Curator) and Jo Smith (Registrar), here: https://www.museumsassociation.org/museums-journal/people/2026/02/bidding-farewell-to-the-ironbridge-gorge-museum-trust/#

The National Trust is planning a phased reopening of each site over the following months. The  anticipated reopening timeline is as follows:   

Museum of the Gorge and Toll House from late April 2026 
Blists Hill, Museum of Iron and The Old Furnace from mid-May 2026 
Enginuity from summer 2026 (school visits from April 2026) 
Coalport China Museum, Jackfield Tile Museum, Darby Houses, Tar Tunnel and Broseley Pipeworks will open later.

Further details here: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/shropshire-staffordshire/our-work/our-work-in-shropshire/ironbridge-museums

**Staff, volunteers, and friends gather at Blists Hill to say farewell to IGMT, on 22 February 2026.**

SAVE Britain’s ‘Heritage Buildings at Risk Register’ – Call for Entries

February 26, 2026February 25, 2026mikenevell

SAVE Britain’s Heritage has issued a call for nominations for historic buildings at risk which will be considered for their 2026 Buildings at Risk register. SAVE want to bring attention to historic buildings at risk across the UK.

They are interested in vacant or partially vacant historical buildings that are at risk from stalled projects, neglect or lack of action. Unlike some other risk registers, the building does not need to be listed to be eligible,l which means that many threatened industrial structures could be included. Their central aim is to raise awareness of these forgotten spaces and provide a platform to advocate for their retention and reuse.

To nominate a building:

Click on this link to the ‘Buildings at Risk’ register on their website
Check if your building is already on SAVE Britain’s Heritage Buuildings at Risk Register
If it’s not already on the Register, fill in a quick form with what you know including a (copyright-free) photograph and as much address information as you can.
You can also email your nomination to: amy.popham@savebritainsheritage.org

Historic Grimsby Maltings Conservation & Conversion Complete

February 24, 2026mikenevell

The transformation of the derelict Grade II-listed West Haven Maltings and Migar House in Grimsby into the Horizon Youth Zone has been completed. The conversion provides children and young people across North East Lincolnshire with access to sports, arts, music, and maker facilities. The multi-million-pound project officially opened on 14 February, blending heritage preservation with community use. Read more here.

Once abandoned and fire-damaged, the 19th-century site has been restored and repurposed thanks to support from the Architectural Heritage Fund via its ‘Transforming Places through Heritage’ programme. Other funders of the Horizon Youth Zone site included Historic England, National Lottery Heritage Fund, The Youth Investment Fund, Evergreen Life, St. James’s Place Charitable Foundation, Ørsted and Greencoats Wind UK.

Horizon Youth Zone is an independent charity and is part of the OnSide network of 15 Youth Zones nationwide, which support over 50,000 young people annually.

Thelisted West Haven Maltings was constructed as a granary and office between 1821 and 1838. It was later converted for use as a maltings, with the addition of a kiln to the north elevation. Migar House was built as a grain warehouse with grain crushing capabilities between 1879 and 1887. The building remained in use as a maltings until the 1920s. After a period of abandonment and negelect the site was listed in 1975, although conservation works did not start until the 21st century.

*The Grimsby Maltings during restroation and conversion. Image copyright Historic England.*

Eskdale Mill & Heritage Trust Fund Raiser

February 20, 2026mikenevell

An online fundraiser has been set up to help the Eskdale Mill and Heritage Trust to raise funds to run community events and support their volunteers in sharing the mill with the public and local community in 2026.

Dating back to at least 1578, and located alongside Whillan Beck in Boot, Cumbria, the stone-built Grade II* listed Eskdale Mill demonstrates 500 years of water power and the traditional craft of corn milling. Last commercially worked during the 1930s to supply animal feed to local farmers, the mill still produces its own flour and has a modern hydro-electric waterwheel making it possible to continue to harness energy through water power. It is the last remaining working water-powered corn mill in the Lake District National Park.

Further details on how to donate here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/community-events-and-volunteering-in-2026?attribution_id=sl:db5ff4c1-225d-4850-a2ba-60db8108f385&lang=en_GB&ts=1770758294&utm_campaign=man_sharesheet_dash&utm_medium=customer&utm_source=twitter