mikenevell

Museum of Carpet, Kidderminster, Latest Industrial Site to Close in 2025

November 20, 2025mikenevell

The Museum of Carpet in Kidderminster has announced that it will close on the 20th December 2025. The announcement earlier this month by the Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Carpet Museum Trust, adds another industrial heritage site in England to the closure list for 2025. For the Museum of Carpet, this was the culmination of a several years of rising energy prices, maintenance costs, loss of tenants, and reduced footfall.

The Kidderminster carpet museum is the latest industrial site to announce its closure in 2025. Other museums and heritage sites to close this year, or announce imminent closure, include Alford Windmill, Cannock Chase Mining Museum, Castleton Museum, Otterburne Textile Mill, and the Walsall Leather Museum.

The full closure statement from the Museum of Carpet is below:

“It is with deep regret that the Carpet Museum Trust announces the closure of the Museum of Carpet, Stour Vale Mill, Kidderminster, on the 20th December 2025. After 13 years serving the public as a centre of learning, culture and heritage the museum has, like many similar institutions, faced significant financial challenges in recent years.

Despite the dedication of staff, volunteers, Friends, Trustees, Corporate Partners and supporters the combination of rising energy prices, maintenance costs, loss of tenants and reduced footfall have made it unsustainable to continue operations at its present site. Efforts to secure additional long term funding have been explored extensively with the help of Museums Development Midlands and the Arts Council. Unfortunately, no sustainable solutions have been found to overcome these financial challenges.

The Carpet Museum Trust, will continue to be responsible for the management of its archives, displays and collections. Arrangements are being made to preserve and relocate the Museum’s collection for future generations as necessary and they will be made public once details are finalized .In the meantime access to these collections and archive will remain a priority for the Trust – please make enquiries via email to collections@museumofcarpet.org.uk

If you feel you are able to help or assist in any way please get in touch with me as below. In the meantime up to December 20th we hope that the people of Kidderminster and Wyre Forest will take the opportunity to show their support and appreciation of what we have accomplished by visiting us along with their families.

Geoffrey Gilbert.

Chair of the Board of Trustees, Carpet Museum Trust

Email. gilberga51@gmail.com”

*Kidderminster Museum of Carpet staff, volunteers, and weaving machine. Image coursey of Museum of Carpet.*

South Wales & West England Regional Industrial Archaeology Conference (SWWERIAC) Announced for April 2026

November 17, 2025mikenevell

The Worcestershire Industrial Archaeology & Local History Society is hosting the South Wales & West England Regional Industrial Archaeology Conference (SWWERIAC) on Saturday 18th April 2026 at Avoncroft Museum of Historic Buildings, Stoke Heath, Bromsgrove B60 4JR.

Get set for a day of engaging talks from leading speakers and a chance to explore Avoncroft’s remarkable open-air collection. The museum, home to over 30 rescued and reconstructed historic buildings spanning seven centuries, provides a unique backdrop. Highlights include the UK’s National Collection of Telephone Kiosks, working historic windmill, and a selection of timber-framed, brick, and prefabricated structures including a chain shop, nail workshop, sawmill, and icehouse. This inspiring setting promises a rich blend of learning, discussion, and heritage discovery.

Tickets cost £28 per person and include access to the museum’s entire collection, 30-minute dedicated tours, a buffet lunch including cold meats, new potatoes, crusty bread, and a selection of salads and cheese with unlimited hot and cold soft drinks plus free parking.

Society chairman Dr John Beale said “Avoncroft is home to 30 historic buildings and structures across a 19-acre site. For this reason, we have scheduled a 2-hour lunch break so that delegates can see the museum exhibits either self-guided and/or the dedicated tours of the 19th century windmill and the National Telephone Kiosk Collection. This marks a departure from the traditional arrangement of offsite visits as there is so much to see at Avoncroft.”

Get your tickets by completing an online or Microsoft Word booking form available at
https://wialhs.org.uk/swweriac2026/ or contact conference@wialhs.org.uk

*Part of Avoncroft’s National Collection of phone boxes. Image corutesy of Avoncroft Musuem of Historic Buildings.*

The Industrial Sites Saved as Historic England Publishes 2025 Heritage At Risk Register

November 14, 2025November 17, 2025mikenevell

Historic England has published the 2025 Heritage at Risk Register. There are 4,891 entries on the Register which covers archaeology, battlefields, buildings and structures, conservation areas, parks and gardens, places of worship, and wrecks. This year, 129 buildings and gardens were taken off the list for positive reasons such as grant funding and/or being repaired. However, 138 were added. 12 of the sites taken off the register are industrial structures.

Claudia Kenyatta CBE and Emma Squire CBE, Co-CEOs of Historic England, said: “The heritage we see all around us impacts how we feel about our local places. The annual Heritage at Risk Register gives us the opportunity to celebrate the many benefits of bringing our historic buildings back into use.”

“The best way to protect our buildings is to reuse them, turning them into places of local connection and joy. The sites that have been saved and have come off the Register this year really highlight the benefits of working together in partnership, and with communities, to create positive, sustainable change. Together we can safeguard our heritage for future generations.”

Industrial sites removed from the ‘At Risk Register’ include:

Augill Smelting Mill, North Pennines
Bower Spring cementation furnace, Sheffield
Etherley Incline, Stockton & Darlington Railway, County Durham
No. 7 Bottle Shop, St Helens
Long Shop Museum, Leiston
John Taylor & Co Bell Foundry, Loughborough
Kingston Telephone Exchange, Ashdown Road, Kingston upon Thames
Newland Blast Furnace (Blacking Mill only) in Egton with Newland
Papplewick Pumping Station, Nottingham
Rockingham Kiln (Swinton Pottery), South Yorkshire
Temple Works Gatelodge, Leeds
The Triangular Crane and Bumble Hole Boat Yard in Netherton

Industrial sites added to the ‘At Risk Register’ include:

Cromford Mills Buildings 26 and 21 (cottages)
Teesside Transporter Bridge

The full updated list for 2025 can be found here: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/heritage-at-risk/findings/

Guidance on adding a site to the Herrtitage At Risk Register can be found here: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/heritage-at-risk/suggest-addition-to-har-register/

*The Rockingham Kiln (Swinton Pottery), South Yorkshire*, *has been removed from the ‘At Risk Register’ in 2025. Image courtesy of Historic England.*

*The Teesside Transporter Bridge was added to the ‘At Risk Register’ in 2025. Image courtesy of Historic England.*

Petition Opened to Stop the Closure of the Walsall Leather Museum

November 12, 2025mikenevell

A campaign has been set up to persuade Walsall Council not to close the Walsall Leather Museum. In September Walsall Council announced that Walsall Leather Museum will close next year (2026), despite a stay of execution earlier this year. They have approved plans for finding and purchasing a new town centre building for the museum and to sell off the existing museum building, itself a former leather works in Littleton Street West, to the nearby Walsall College.

The petition, which was launched at the beginning of November, accuses the council of “silently stripping away a cherished historical community asset that belongs to all of us”, and adds that “this decision is being made behind closed doors, with no meaningful public consultation and no transparency about how or when these choices were or are made. They have no formal plans to provide an alternative building or protect the museum’s historic collections.”

You can view the petition here: https://www.change.org/p/stop-the-closure-of-walsall-leather-museum?fbclid=IwY2xjawOAFPFleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeL5Bk-Bk9UQ43lgNee6A3W3BBJV7NMeeGP2WAhyHwfvmwBIOd5gplTNj7lzA_aem_0shgQFPzBOMV9TAKuQvQ2w

Historic England Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR) Webinar Now Live

November 11, 2025mikenevell

If you were unable to join Historic England’s October 2025 industrial heritage webinar looking at the impact and legacy of our Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR) Heritage Action Zone, the recording is now available.

The free webinar explored the successes and challenges of the different strands of work undertaken, including designation, repair, re-use and community engagement, as well as looking at the project’s legacy, and the long-term future of the line. To watch the seminar follow this link: https://vimeo.com/1131317485/29e6719e55?share=copy&fl=sv&fe=ci.

The accompanying webinar on the various associated research projects can be viewed here – https://vimeo.com/1096891129/4d60158e04.

*S&DR Darlington Lime Depot – cutaway reconstruction drawing showing how the Lime Depot was designed to operate. Illustration by Allan T Adams. © Historic England*

Museum of Making, Derby, Installs Flood Barriers

November 7, 2025November 4, 2025mikenevell

New flood defences have been installed at Museum of Making, Derby. The protective barriers have been placed inside the old Silk Mill, now the Museum of Making, which was flooded by waters from the River Derwent to a depth of 0.7m during Storm Babet in 2023.

Alex Rock, director of commercial and operations at Derby Museums Trust, said “We’re delighted to add further protection to our building, and very grateful for the support of Derby City Council’s planning team and their engineering colleagues. Both departments have been crucial in securing the relevant permissions and funding from DEFRA for this work. It adds another layer of protection to two key operational areas, which means that should a flood event occur again – and it is worth bearing in mind that Storm Babet was forecast as a once-in-a-century event for Derby – then we’ll be able to shorten the period of closure. It protects the two areas of the ground floor that are most impacted by flood events.”

As part of Derby City Council’s ‘Our City Our River’ scheme, flood defences are also to be improved around the museum. Work is underway to demolsih disused office buildings on the eastern bank of the river, close to the museum, at Stuart Street and Phoenix Street. This will allow the construction of a new flood wall, floodgates, and a riverside green area to provide a controlled corridor for flood waters fromt eh River Derwent to pass through the city.

More details here: https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/derbys-museum-of-making-gets-flood-defence-boost-after-closure-cost-six-figure-sum/ar-AA1PA7v1?ocid=BingNewsSerp

and here: https://www.derby.gov.uk/environment-and-planning/regeneration-and-economic-growth/our-city-our-river/our-city-our-river-project-overview/

*The Museum of the Making (the Old Silk Mill), Derby. Image copyright Dr Michael Nevell.*

De Havilland Aircraft Museum is Recruiting a General Manager

November 6, 2025November 5, 2025mikenevell

The de Havilland Aircraft Museum, London Colney, is currently seeking a new General Manager due to the retirement of the present incumbent. The full time paid post offers many opportunities to the right candidate.

The Museum is the first aviation museum in the UK, established in 1959, and is dedicated to preserving the heritage of Geoffrey de Havilland and his contribution to UK Aviation history. The de Havilland Aircraft Museum is staffed mainly by volunteers.

Please apply to Tim Crichton (email tim.crichton@dehavilland museum.co.uk) for further details if interested.

Job Description attached.

Sandfields Pumping Station Receives Heritage Engineering Award

November 5, 2025November 4, 2025mikenevell

The Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) has awarded Sandfields Pumping Station, run by the Lichfield Waterworks Trust, with one of its Heritage Engineering Awards. This prestigious honour celebrates Sandfields’ vital role in bringing clean water to the Black Country and advancing public health during Britain’s industrial period.

John Wood, chairman of the IMechE Heritage Awards committee noted that: “Sandfields Pumping Station is not just another pumping station”, whlst Katy Shore-Kapsis, chair of the Lichfield Waterworks Trust, added: “This award is a huge honour for Sandfields and for everyone who has dedicated time and passion to keeping its legacy alive.

The plaque, unveiled in October 2025 by Matt Garside President of the IMechE, reads: “The Sandfields Pumping Station was the first built for the South Staffordshire Waterworks Company to provide clean water to the industrial towns of the Black Country. The Cornish beam engine, operational from 1873 to 1927, could pump up to 2 million gallons of water per day.”

The Lichfield Waterworks Trust now cares for the site and its volunteers carry out restoration projects as well as running guided tours and educational programmes. They are currently raising funds to get the Cornish Pumping Engine working again. Further details here: https://lichfieldwaterworkstrust.co.uk/

*Sandfields Pumping Station, Litchfield. Image courtesy of Litchfield Waterworks Trust.*

AI in the Heritage Sector Free Seminar

November 3, 2025mikenevell

UK Heritage Pulse is running the second of two free online seminars on ‘AI in the Heritage Sector’ on Friday 7th November at 2pm. The first session explored the principles, opportunities, and risks of using artificial intelligence. If you weren’t able to attend, you can now watch the recording here.

The follow-up webinar on the 7th November will take a deeper look at practical applications of AI, sharing real-world examples and tips for the sector. To book your place follow this link: 🔗 Book your place here

You can also read Heritage Pulse’s recent report on the operational use of AI within the heritage sector here.

Heritage Pulse is a collaborative data and insight project for the UK’s heritage sector informing strategy, recovery, and reinvention. You can register for regular updates, or take part in their research, via this link: https://heritagepulse.insights-alliance.com/

Places Still Available for South West and Cornwall & Devon Industrial Heritage Network Meetings

October 30, 2025mikenevell

There are still free places available for the next two Industrial Heritage Network meetings in November. These meetings are an opportunity to chat in-person with volunteer and professionals from a variety of industrial heritage sites in each region.

To book a place on the South West Industrial Heritage Network meeting, at Crofton Beam Engines, on Friday 7^th November foillow this link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1827645881029?aff=oddtdtcreator

To booka palce on Cornwall & Devon Industrial Heritage Network meeting, at Coldharbour Mill, on Thursday 6th November follow this link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1827645881029?aff=oddtdtcreator

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Author: mikenevell