All the roughly 600 preserved industrial heritage sites usually open to the public in England were closed on 23rd March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A significant number are now starting to re-open, or are preparing to re-open, from heritage railways and pumping houses, to wind and water mills. Now is a good time to remind industrial heritage site owners, and those running such sites, of the free support on offer from the Museum Development network.
This is a well-established network of regional museum support groups funded by the Arts Council and local authorities, for non-national museums. Each has its own dedicated team of advisors, and these regional museum support networks offer a range of services from grants and case studies, to events lists and training: on making your museum ready for COVID-19 return for instance. Links to the relevant regional websites are below:
Museum Develpment East Midlands: https://mdem.org.uk/news/
Museum Development North East: https://museumdevelopmentne.org.uk/
Museum Development North West: https://museumdevelopmentnorthwest.wordpress.com/
Museum Development Yorkshire: https://www.museumdevelopmentyorkshire.org.uk/
Share Museums East: http://www.sharemuseumseast.org.uk/
South East Museum Development: https://southeastmuseums.org/
South Museum Development: https://southwestmuseums.org.uk/
Supporting London Museums: https://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/supporting-london-museums
West Midlands Museum Development: https://mdwm.org.uk/
Industrial Heritage Networks 