mikenevell

Ironbridge Launch Online Appeal for Conservation Works on Blists Hill Steam Engines

March 3, 2022March 2, 2022mikenevell

*The replica of the Trevithick Locomotive at Blists Hills, Ironbridge*

The Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust has launched an online appeal to raise funds for conservation and repair work that is vitally needed on three iconic steam engines at Blists Hill Victorian Town. They are seeking to protect the Trevithick locomotive replica, ‘Billy’ the Road Roller, and the portable engine and stone crusher in the stonemason’s yard. They would be grateful for any level of donation you could make to their appeal for help towards this significant heritage conservation project.

The Trevithick locomotive is a replica of the world’s first steam railway locomotive, which was designed by Richard Trevithick (1771-1833) and constructed by the Coalbrookdale Company in 1802-1803. Billy is a 3-ton steam roller constructed by Wallis and Steevens in Basingstoke in 1903. The Portable is a stationary engine located in the stonemason’s yard at Blists Hill Victorian Town, and is constructed from a variety of sources, including a 1920s locomotive boiler and an 1880s engine.

Read more about these engines, and donate, by following this link: https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/BlistsHillSteamEngines

Historic England Announce New Everyday Heritage Grants

February 25, 2022mikenevell

*Men working at a Stoke-on-Trent bottle kiln, 1965-68. Copyright Historic England.*

Historic England’s new ‘Everyday Heritage Grants: Celebrating Working Class Histories’ will fund community-led and people-focused projects that aim to further the nation’s collective understanding of the past. These pilot grants will focus on heritage that links people to overlooked historic places, with a particular interest in recognising and celebrating working class histories.

From palaces to terraced houses, stately homes to barns, our towns and landscapes are filled with symbols of our past. But not everyone’s stories are told and not everyone’s history is remembered. The Everyday Heritage Grants Scheme aims to engage with the widest possible range of heritage and helps to further the nation’s collective understanding of England’s past. Historic England are inviting applications from community or heritage organisations/museums to apply for grants up to £25,000 to fund projects that will celebrate the built or historic environment near them.

Each project should enable people to creatively share overlooked or untold stories of the places where they live and encourage communities, groups and local people to examine and tell their own stories in their own ways.

Historic England is also looking for projects that provide innovative volunteering opportunities for young people or people facing loneliness or isolation, as well as contribute positively to participants’ wellbeing.

As a result of these funded projects, heritage and stories that have been previously overlooked will be recognised and revealed, with buildings or historic sites acting as the inspiration. People will be able to tell their own stories, in their own way, and be encouraged to connect with others in their local communities.

The Application window opens on the 23rd February 2022 and closes on 23rd May 2022. For more information about the project and how to apply, please visit the Historic England website here https://historicengland.org.uk/whats-new/news/grants-to-uncover-nations-hidden-working-class-heritage/ or email EverydayHeritage@HistoricEngland.org.uk

£4.5 Million Increase to the Heritage Stimulus Fund

February 23, 2022mikenevell

81 projects across 78 historic sites are set to receive a share of £4.5 million through Historic England, from Round 3 of the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund. This February 2022 further round of funding will ensure essential repairs and restoration can be completed and help bring heritage sites back to life by supporting major building programmes, safeguarding jobs, and generating employment.

The sites supported, which include 33 buildings supported for the first time, include additional monies for several industrial heritage buildings and structures. These include South Wingfield Station in Derbyshire and Wheal Betsy in Devon. The Canal and River Trust will receive further funds to help restore locks on the Ashton, Grand Union, Hertford Union, Leeds Liverpool, Peak Forest, and Walsall canals. For a full list of recipients from all three CRF rounds in England follow this link: https://historicengland.org.uk/coronavirus/culturerecoveryfund/map/recipients-list/

SPAB Awards Deadline Approaching for 2022

February 15, 2022mikenevell

The deadlines for the relaunched SPAB Heritage Awards are rapidly approaching. In 2022 SPAB will be championing excellence in built heritage across the UK and Ireland, bringing established SPAB awards together with fresh new ones, and waving the flag for all the gifted craftspeople, dedicated custodians, and environmentally conscious practitioners that work tirelessly to ensure that our astonishing built heritage has a bright future.

The entry categories for 2022 are: Building Craftsperson of the Year; Best Loved Award; Sustainable Heritage Award; Philip Webb Award; John Betjeman Award; and the Scholarship & Fellowship Presentation. The deadlines are as follows:

Main entry deadline: 28 March 2022
Philip Webb Award entry deadline: 12 September 2022

To submit your own project or nominate exceptional work you think deserves special recognition follow this link: https://www.spab.org.uk/get-involved/awards

Industrial Archaeology Mini-Conference in Essex, April 2022

February 12, 2022February 10, 2022mikenevell

Essex County Council are holding are holding a mini-conference on Industrial Heritage on the 5th April 2022 at the East Anglian Railway Museum. There will be a wide range of speakers plus a chance to look round the venue.

The day is aimed at anyone interested in industrial heritage and architecture, or those who are currently involved in the conservation or sustainable reuse of these kind of sites. The mini-conference will provide insight into a range of industrial typologies across Essex.

The venue, at the East Anglian Railway Museum, was part of the branch line from Marks Tey to Sudbury which crosses the impressive Chappel viaduct. This site is now run as a museum, and is still a working railway station. It is well known for its open days and events, which reveal a rich history. There will be time within the day to explore this impressive site.

Talks will cover water, gas, electric industries, maltings, and breweries, daylight factories, and the challenges of recording and preserving 20th century industrial heritage. The speakers include: Wayne Cocroft of Historic England; Tony Crosby, Chairman of the Essex Industrial Archaeology Group; Tim Murphy, Historic Environment Manager at Place Services for Essex; Mike Tarbard of the Bata Heritage Centre and David Ridler manager of the former Bata factory site; and Elphin Watkin, presient of the Herts & Essex Architectural Society.

Booking and costs here: https://www.placeservices.co.uk/courses/conservation/industrial-heritage/

Balancing Optimism with Realism – AIM Report on COVID Survey

February 10, 2022mikenevell

In January 2022, the Association of Independent Museums surveyed its members on the immediate impact of the Omicron variant and related strengthening of restrictions in all nations of the UK over the Christmas and New Year season. AIM received almost 200 responses.

These responses show a picture of a sector looking ahead to the rest of winter and the rest of the year largely expecting to survive financially, but with significant concerns about visitor figures and income throughout 2022, and a need for support with core funding, capital (including maintenance) projects, one-off projects, and particularly to support staff resilience and wellbeing.

The detailed report can be downloaded here: https://aim-museums.co.uk/balancing-optimism-realism/

Connected Heritage Webinars From Wikimedia

January 28, 2022mikenevell

As part of the National Lottery funded Digital Skills for Heritage initiative, Wikimedia UK is running free webinars to showcase what Wiki-based platforms and digital skills can offer organisations in a heritage context.

Heritage organisations of all sizes are invited to attend. These webinars will cover open knowledge, the digital skills gap, digital preservation and how WMUK is addressing those issues through this project. Participants will be provided with access to resources and materials to take back to their organisations, and the opportunity to follow up with the project and engage in partnership. You need only attend one webinar: sessions are free, open and no prior Wiki experience is required.

Webinar dates

2 February

17 February

4 March

To book follow this link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/wikimedia-uk-2325991761

You can follow them on Twitter for project updates, and you can contact the team at connectedheritage@wikimedia.org.uk

AIM Annual Conference Back in Person for 2022

January 17, 2022mikenevell

The AIM annual conference is returning to a physical event this summer, with the venue being Port Sunlight, on the Wirral peninsula. Supported by headline sponsors, Hayes Parsons Insurance Brokers, the conference will run over two days, Thursday 16 and Friday 17 June.

This year’s conference theme is ‘Making it happen’ with museum colleagues from across the UK exploring the vision for independent museums as we recover from the challenges of the pandemic. Sessions will highlight how to implement the changes sector debates call for, with practical and relevant examples from museums of all shapes and sizes. As ever with AIM Conference, delegates can look forward to a schedule packed with inspirational and practical advice, debate, and discussion.

Tickets are on sale now with early bird rates for AIM members. More details here: https://aim-museums.co.uk/aim-national-conference-2022/

EIAG Industrial Heritage Fair 2022

January 13, 2022mikenevell

The 2022 Essex Industrial Archaeology Group (EIAG) Industrial Heritage Fair will be on 1st October 2022, at the Silver End Village Hall. The Group’s aim is to have an exhibition of around 30 organisations related to Industrial Archaeology in Essex, with stands to display what they do to enable the public to find out more. This should be a good way of promoting the organisations after several years of restrictions.

In addition to the exhibition there will be talks by local experts on Industrial Archaeology along with the possibility of guided walks round the historic village of Silver End and visits to its Heritage Centre. EIAG are now taking bookings for stands. For further information please email your expression of interest to jgiffould@aol.com who will send out a booking form. Background details to the Group and copies of their Newsletter can be found here: https://www.esah1852.org.uk/eiag

New Open-Access Article on Capturing Skills for Demonstrating Heritage Machinery

January 10, 2022January 7, 2022mikenevell

Written for the Science Museum Journal by Pippi Carty-Hornsby, ‘Preserving skills and knowledge in heritage machinery operations’, Science Museum Group Journal, Autumn 2021, Issue 16, details an approach to knowledge capture on a collection of working textile machinery at the Science and Industry Museum. The machinery collection dates between 1880 and 1955 and the knowledge capture process outlined in the case study was prompted by the retirement announcement of the last machine operator on staff with first-hand experience of the textile industry.

Heritage machinery demonstrations provide a unique opportunity for visitors to museums to experience the sights, smells and sounds of Britain’s industrial past. However, with many of the operating roles in the sector being staffed by an ageing population, heritage machinery demonstrations are at risk of substantial knowledge loss over the coming years. Without intervention, many of the tacit skills and knowledge that the operators hold will be lost, along with the opportunity for the public to learn from and experience the machinery first-hand.

The method outlined in this article includes a review of existing documentation, operation recording and interrogation of results, comparison and discussion with stakeholders, and production of documentation and resources. The results of this process included a set of documents that reflected both modern health and safety and conservation and collections care guidelines, as well as cross-media resources that can be used as a future training aid. Though the case study detailed here features textile machinery, it is applicable across many strands of heritage machinery and could provide a useful tool for similar ‘at-risk’ machinery operations in museums and other cultural institutions.

For free access to this article follow this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.15180/211602

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Author: mikenevell