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Industrial Heritage Network Online Meetings For Summer 2024

June 7, 2024July 5, 2024mikenevell

The latest round of online Industrial Heritage Network (IHN) meetings will be taking place online over the summer. These free biannual network meetings, covering ten areas in England, began 2018. Since 2020 one meeting per year has been online. The theme for the current round of meetings will be maintenance and skills.

Funded through a grant by Historic England, and run by the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust (IGMT), these forums offer a chance for industrial heritage groups and museums to meet regionally and share common experinces with other sites and people in managing our rich industrial heritage. The dates for the summer round of online meetings is as follows:

Wednesday 19th June – London
Wednesday 26th June – North West
Wednesday 3rd July – South West
Monday 8th July – East Midlands
Wednesday 10th July – West Midlands
Monday 15th July – East of England
Tuesday 16th July – Yorkshire
Monday 22nd July – Cornwall & Devon
Wednesday 26th June – North East
Thursday 25th July – South East

Each meeting will start at middaly and last up to one and half hours. IHN members willbe emailed details on how to join by the networks welcome anyone intertetd in learnignmore about the industrial archaeology and heritage of a region. Contact the IHSO, Dr Michael Nevell, at IGMT for more details be email: mike.nevell@ironbridge.org.uk

Heritage Open Days 2024: Register Your Industrial Site

June 6, 2024June 3, 2024mikenevell

Every September thousands of volunteers across England organise events to celebrate our shared history and culture. It’s your chance to see hidden places and try out new experiences – all of which are FREE to explore. This year’s events take place from the 6th to the 15th September. Established in 1994, Heritage Open Days (HOD) is England’s contribution to the European Heritage Days and has since grown into the country’s largest community heritage festival. 2024 marks its 30th anniversary, which is this year’s theme.

Last year more than 200 industrial heritage sites took part in the free event. Participating sites can raise awareness about their activities and history through a popular national platform with 4.8 million website users every year. Heritage Open Days offers free access to organisers to a wide range of support materials and guidance including bunting and risk assessment templates. Finally, joining Heritage Open Days means that your industrial group or industrial museum can connect with people across the country, with over 2,000+ organisers meeting to share ideas.

To sign up for this year’s HODs follow this link: https://www.heritageopendays.org.uk/get-involved/how-to-get-involved.html

*The colliery headstocks at Blists Hill, Ironbridge, one of the sites taking part in the 2024 Hertiage Open Days.*

Paradise Silk Mill Guided Tours & Increased Accessibility

June 4, 2024June 3, 2024mikenevell

The grade II listed Paradise Silk Mill, Macclesfield, Cheshire, is now open following a programme of restoration. This means that the guided tours around the historic 19th century silk mill are also back up and running. Each tour is led by one of the museum’s expert guides sharing their own individual take on aspects of Mill life. Pre-booking is reommended but but you can get tickets on arrival.

The Silk Museum will also be developing and expanding its resources for creative engagement over the coming months, thanks to an award of £165k from the Arts Council England’s Capital Investment programme. The Museum will be able to transform the building’s accessibility, increase sustainability and lessen its overall environmental impact. A Jacquard Studio will be created, improving storage facilities, and creating better access to the remarkable collection of Pattern Books. The award will also increase creative opportunities for artists by supporting co-curated displays inspired by the museum’s collections, as well as allowing more work with community groups with special needs, visual impairment, and low cultural engagement.

Guided Tour Details:

When: Wednesdays to Saturdays at 11am, 12.30pm and 2.30pm BOOK HERE
Where: Come to the Silk Museum, Park Lane, Macclesfield, SK11 6TJ.
Cost: £11.50 per adult and £10.50 concessions

Essex Industrial Heritage Fair, 14th September 2024

June 3, 2024June 6, 2024mikenevell

The Essex Industrial Archaeology Group biennial Industrial Heritage Fair will take place on 14^th September at the Grange Barn, in Coggeshall, 10am to 4pm. This event is running in partnership with the National Trust and is part of Heritage Open Days 2024.

There will be exhibits by Essex societies and industrial sites covering such industries as: agricultural engineering; public water supply; brick-making; metal windows; company villages. There will also be an exhibition of woodcarving tools used by local master carver Bryan Saunders until his death in 1975. The Saunders Collection is a fascinating goldmine of chisels, hammers, knives, measuring devices and other carving tools.

In addition, there are four short talks on local industries including the cloth trade and metal working, and attendees can take a self-guided tour of industrial sites in Coggeshall, including former maltings & breweries, textile factories, and the isinglass factory. Coggeshall Museum, Abbey Watermill, and the Village Smithy will also be open.

Admission and car parking is free.

Etruria Canals Festival, 1st & 2nd June 2024

May 30, 2024May 29, 2024mikenevell

The Etruria Industrial Musuem is once more running its popular, family friendly, festival on 1st and 2nd June. This year’s theme is ’50th Anniversary of the Reopening of the Caldon Canal to Navigation’. The two day festival will feature a gathering of historic and interesting narrow boats moored along the Caldon Canal, Shirley’s 1857 Potters’ Mill in steam, music, dance, arts events and more.

Open daily from 11.00am to 5.00pm daily the event includes:

Historic Canal Boats
Entertainment and Music
Street food, Tea room and Beer tent
Puppetry and Performance
Craft Demonstrations and Stalls
Children’s Games and Activities
Shirley’s Victorian Potters’ Mill in Steam (12.30 to 4.30pm)
Blacksmith Demonstrations in the Forge

Entrance to the festival is free but there is acharge for access to Shirley’s Bone and Flint Mill.

For further details viusit the website: https://etruriamuseum.org.uk/events/etruria-canals-festival-and-mill-in-steam/

‘Our Leather industries’ New Exhibiton by the Wandle Industrial Museum

May 29, 2024mikenevell

The latest exhibition by the Wandle Industrial Musuem opens on 9th June 2024. ‘Our Leather Industries’ looks at the history of leather making and some of the products produced in the Wandle Valley in the 19th and 20th centuries.

The exhibition can be found at the Vestry Hall Annexe, London Road, Mitcham, Surrey. Open on Wednesdays, 1-4pm and Sundays 2-5pm, the exhibtion is free to enter.

Nene Valley Railway Launch ‘Back on Track’ Fund Raising Appeal to Secure Future

May 23, 2024May 20, 2024mikenevell

*Image courtesy of the Nene Valley Railway.*

The Nene Valley Railway has launched a fundraising campaign aimed at securing £300,000 to keep the railway running as a result of significant financial challenges. The current economic climate has placed immense strain on the railway’s finances, with reduced visitor numbers across the heritage sector and mounting running and maintenance costs. This has left the Nene Valley Railway facing unprecedented financial pressure.

Without immediate financial support there is a real risk that this popular heritage railway and working museum could face closure. Originally built by the London and Birmingham Railway in 1847, between 1900 and 1966 the line formed an important connection between Norwich, Cambridge and the Midlands. It closed to passengers in 1966 and to freight in 1972. This section was bought by Peterborough Development Corporation in 1974, and in 1977 the Nene Valley Railway was opened, and now runs for 7.5 miles through the north Cambridgeshire countryside. The heritage railway owns a variety of steam and diesel locomotives, historic carriages, and wagons. For more details visit their website: https://nvr.org.uk/

Follow this link to the fund raising page: https://www.gofundme.com/f/nene-valley-railway-raise-ps300000-to-keep-them-on-track

Historic England Latest Research on Wellbeing and Heritage

May 20, 2024mikenevell

New research from Historic England shows that the average individual benefit of cultural heritage near individual residences to be £515, with a collective WELLBY (Wellbeing Adjusted Life Year) value of £29 billion across England. This research demonstrates that the very presence of nearby historic places benefits residents’ quality of life, whether or not they participate in heritage activities.

The research investigated the impacts of different types of heritage, including listed buildings (Grade I, Grade II* and Grade II buildings), scheduled monuments, protected wrecks, registered parks and gardens, battlefields and world heritage sites. The findings reveal a statistically significant, positive, relationship between the density of local heritage assets and self-reported life satisfaction, after adjusting for various socio-economic, neighbourhood and regional effects. The analysis also demonstrates that Grade II listed buildings, which represent 92% of England’s historic places on the National Heritage List for England, are the main drivers of life satisfaction increases.

The report concludes that these findings highlight the intrinsic value of cultural heritage in contributing to societal wellbeing, and provide a compelling argument for its preservation and integration into society development and wellbeing strategies.

To read more about this research follow this link: ‘Heritage Capital and Wellbeing: Examining the Relationship Between Heritage Density and Life Satisfaction‘

*IHN London visit to Crossness Pumping Station.*

Museum Development English Regional Grants Now Open for Applications

May 15, 2024mikenevell

In April 2024 the new Museum Development regions in England came into being, along with a new set of regional grants. The five English MD regions are now up and running delivering support to museums and heritage groups, including industrial heritage sites, though a variety of training, capacity building, networking, and grant support initiatives.

Details of the first round of grants for museums and heritage groups are as follows:

MD North Opern Grants: 1st round deadline, 7th June, with grants avalable up to £5,000 https://www.museumdevelopmentnorth.org.uk/find-funding/md-north-grants/open-grants/

MD South East: Collectiosn Care Grants (deadline 24th June) and Collections Review and Rationalisation Grants (deadline 1st July): https://mdse.org.uk/grants/mdse-grants/mdse-grants-collections/

MD Midlands: Open Grants and Workforce Development Grants will be open for applications from late May 2024 https://www.mdmidlands.org.uk/

MD South West: Talking Nature and Capacity Builder grants close on 17th June. https://southwestmuseums.org.uk/what-we-do/grants/

MD London grant schemes continue as before. https://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/supporting-london-museums/development-grant-programmes

*Coalport China Works, Ironbridge Gorge Museum T*rust.

Deadline for Industrial Heritage Sites in England Survey Extended to 14 June

May 10, 2024mikenevell

The deadline for the Industrial Heritage Sites in England Survey 2024 has been extended to the 14th June. The Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust and Heritage Innovation are undertaking this survey of the c.600 publicly accessible and protected industrial heritage sites in England. Funded by Historic England, the 2024 survey is gathering data on these sites which will be compared with similar reports undertaken in 2008 and 1998.

The original deadline for response was the 10th May, but in order to capture as many replies as possible we have decided to extend the deadline and will continue to accept responses until 14th June. We hope this will allow as many sites as possible to take part in the once-in-a- generation survey. This work is being carried out by Heritage Innovation, https://heritageinnovation.org/, and can be accessed here:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc9qr7qNrAF630__UlRR_Pdb7LqJD69aHVNktS9kysmduzQVw/viewform?usp=sf_link

The questionnaire will take around 15-30 minutes to complete. Please do drop the project a line if you need any support to complete the survey. If you require this questionnaire in an alternative format or have any questions about the survey please let us know at IHSO@ironbridge.org.uk. For general queries contact Zoe Arthurs via email on zoearthursheritage@gmail.com or call 07581 405835.

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Author: mikenevell