Author: mikenevell

I am the Industrial Heritage Support Officer for England, based at the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust.
New IHSO Podcast: Preserving Cheddleton Flint Mill

New IHSO Podcast: Preserving Cheddleton Flint Mill

mikenevell

The lastest industrial heritage podcast from the IHSO project is now available to listen and download. This episode is an interview with Nick Smith, one of a small group of volunteers at Cheddleton Flint Mill in Staffordshire and a trustee of the trust that looks after the site.

The aim of this podcast was to hear from Nick about the mill’s history, to discuss how the site was saved, and how it has been conserved for future generations. You can learn more about the mill and current events on site here: https://cheddletonflintmill.com/

This podcast is part of the wider Archaeotea podcast series recorded by the IHSO, Dr Michael Nevell. You can follow this link to listen to the new episode.

https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/archaeotea-podcast/episodes/Preserving-Cheddleton-Flint-Mill-e378aga/a-ac4aeos

The two waterwheels at Cheddleton Flint Mill, Staffordshire. Image copyright Dr Michael Nevell.

Mills Archive Trust Receives Funding for Millwrighting Collections

Mills Archive Trust Receives Funding for Millwrighting Collections

mikenevell

The Mills Archive Trust has been successful in acquiring funding from the National Archives ‘Archives Revealed’ programme to help them catalogue and promote their millwrighting records.

‘The Wright Records’, project is part of The Mills Archive Trust’s broader ‘Caring for an Icon’ programme, and will see work being carried out on four key millwrighting collections which still need significant work. These are: the collection of mills historian Rex Wailes; the collection of Vincent Pargeter, millwright; material from building conservationists Owlswirth IJP; and material from millwright Luke Bonwick.

Caring for these collections is a core part of the Trust’s efforts to help ensure the survival of the craft of millwrighting and will serve as a teaching resource, offering models of millwrighting solutions where no direct records exist. Mills Archive Trust Director, Elizabeth Bartram, said: “Caring for windmills and watermills is a key theme within the collections and activities of the Trust. This funding will go a long way in helping us address the needs of a range of people, not least those involved in the care and repair of these iconic structures. We are grateful for this support and are excited to start work on this innovative project”.

Further details here: https://new.millsarchive.org/2025/09/01/funding-awarded-for-millwrighting-collections/

ERIH Members to Recieve Membership Benefit Boost

ERIH Members to Recieve Membership Benefit Boost

mikenevell

The European Route of Industrial Heritage (ERIH) is to produce two digital issues of the German industrial heritage quarterly magazine “Industriekultur- Magazin für Denkmalpflege, Landschaft, Sozial-, Umwelt- und Technikgeschichte” in English exclusively for ERIH members.

ERIH has regularly featured anchor points and regional routes in a separate section of the magazine and reported on ERIH’s work. Thanks to increased co-operation with the publishers, and with funding from the European Union, the first issue of an English-language (digital) version of the journal is now available to members: “Industrial Culture 1/25. Monument Preservation, Landscape, Social History, Environmental History, History of Technology”.
 
This form of the journal will only be published digitally as a PDF, twice a year. It is not identical to the German-language journal, but contains a special selection of articles for the European audience, including one or two first publications. The e-paper is fully searchable and has active links. Whether this extra membership benefit will be extended beyond two issues, will depend in part on member feed back.

CBA Launches New Volunteer Opportunities Page

CBA Launches New Volunteer Opportunities Page

mikenevell

The Council for Britsh Archaeology (CBA) has launched a new volunteering page, listing opportunities across the UK. You can search by your region to find volunteering callouts near you. However, the page doesn’t just listed opportunities for volunteers, but also has a section where groups, sites, and museums can list their own volunteering opportunities in archaeology and heritage.

Current industrial archaeology and heritage volunteer openings include opportunities to help Kingswood Heritage Museum (a brassworks) in South Glouscestershire, digitising opportunities with the Food Museum, and helping out with the North Tynside Steam Railway.

To learn more about new volunteer opportunities sign up for the CBA volunteering newesletter by following this link:

https://www.archaeologyuk.org/get-involved/volunteering.html

New ‘Spaces, Places and Belonging’ Community Hub Funding to Launch

New ‘Spaces, Places and Belonging’ Community Hub Funding to Launch

mikenevell

The National Archives, in partnership with Leeds Museums & Galleries, The National Library of Wales, and the Community Archives & Heritage Group, is launching a new national grant progamme for libraries and museums called the ‘Spaces, Places and Belonging’ Community Hub.

Funded by the Arts & Humanites Research Council, the Community Hub will support inclusive, community-led, research across the UK’s galleries, libraries, archives, and museums and heritage sectors,so will be of interest to industrial heritage sites. There will be three grant schemes available, totalling £550,000 (click the blue links for more detail):

A programme of training, digital skills development, and network-building will run to support these grants. The Community Hub will also create a permanent digital platform to share resources, learning, and best practice.

Applications for Seed Corn Grants and Skills Bursaries open on the Monday 15 September 2025. There will be a launch webinar on Wednesday 17 September 2025 to take you through each grant scheme in detail, covering everything from eligibility, to assessment criteria, to budgets. There will also be a Q&A at the end to enable you to ask any extra questions you may have about this programme.

To book a place on the 17 September launch webinar follow this link to Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/spaces-places-and-belonging-community-hub-launch-webinar-tickets-1524899849499

Hundreds of Industrial Sites to Visit for Heritage Open Days 2025

Hundreds of Industrial Sites to Visit for Heritage Open Days 2025

mikenevell

September is Heritage Open Days season in England, and hundreds of industrial heritage sites and activities are available for the 2025 event. Heritage Open Days is co-ordinated by the National Trust and for 2025 runs from 12 to 21 September.

As in previous years, several hundered industrial heritage sites will be opening their doors for free to the public, whilst dozens more events, from talks to walks will look at the stories of industrial archaeology, history, and the people involved across England. With the ‘Railway 200’ anniversay celebrations for the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1825 culminating at the end of September, it seems appropriate that there are over a hundred railway-related sites and events available this year.

Other industrial heritage site types accessible, some only open for Heritage Open Days, include over 40 watermills and dozens of windmills, as well as ironworks, potteries, textile mills, canals, and transport museums. To explore England’s rich industrial legacy this September follow this link:

https://www.heritageopendays.org.uk/whats-on/search-2025-events.html?view=list&searchQuery=train&locationQuery=&distance=&startDate=&endDate=

The Heritage Open Days initiative is part of the wider European Heritage Open Days events running througout September 2025. Elsewhere in the UK these include the Welsh ‘Open Doors Days’, the Scottish ‘Doors Open Days’, and Northern Ireland’s ‘European Heritage Open Days’ events (13-14 September). Further details on these UK events can be found here: https://www.heritageopendays.org.uk/resource/european-heritage-days-2025-explore-more.html

8th International Early Railways Conference, September 2025

8th International Early Railways Conference, September 2025

mikenevell

The 8th International (Hybrid) Early Railways Conference will run from Tuesday 23rd September 2025 to Friday 26th September. 2025 is the 200th anniversary of the opening of the Stockton & Darlington Railway, and the conference is designed to lead up to the ‘Railway 200’ celebration finale on the 27th September. The conference will be held in Darlington at the Central Hall, Dolphin Centre, Horse Market. Bookings can still be made online for delegates to participate in the conference, participating either in person or via the internet.

The conference will be similar in format to the previous successful International Early Railways Conferences, with topics ranging from the earliest waggonway systems through to the earliest main line and industrial systems around the world up to the 1870s.

The event is sponsored by the National Railway Museum, the Institution of Civil Engineers, the Newcomen Society, the Railway & Canal Historical Society, and the Stephenson Locomotive Society. There will also be six poster presentations provided by the members of the Historical Metallurgy Society.

Booking details can be found here: https://rchs.org.uk/early-railways-conference-combined/

Dobbin’s painting of the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway in September 1825. Image courtesy Darlington Borough Council.
Association for Heritage Interpretation: September Interpretation Panels Webinar

Association for Heritage Interpretation: September Interpretation Panels Webinar

mikenevell

The Association for Heritage Interpretation (AHI) is running a seminar on 17 September on interpretation p[anels. The seminar will look at how to make interpretation panels work for your site. This will be led by Bill Bevan, author of the AHI best-practice guideline about panels. Bill will introduce some key considerations when commissioning, locating, writing, and designing a panel, and take questions and discussions.

The AHI promote excellence in the practice and provision of interpretation and to gain wider recognition of interpretation as a professional activity. They believe that interpretation enriches our lives through engaging emotions, enhancing experiences, and deepening understanding of places, people, events, and objects from the past and present.

To book a place follow this link: https://ahi.org.uk/events/

Yorkshire Industrial Heritage Network Meeting, 27 August: Places Still Available

Yorkshire Industrial Heritage Network Meeting, 27 August: Places Still Available

mikenevell

There are still places available for the next in-person Yorkshire Industrial Heritage Network meeting. This will be held at the Calderdale Industrial Museum, Halifax, on the 27th August, from 11am to 1pm. This will be followed, after lunch (please bring your own), by a tour of the site (2pm to 3pm). The themes for the 2025-26 IHN meetings are conservation and maintenance.

The Calderdale Industrial Museum opened in 1985 in a converted textile warehouse. The museum holds a large number of objects and tracks the development of industry in Halifax and Calderdale from domestic textile manufacture in the seventeenth century through to 20th century. It is located in the centre of Halifax, five minutes from the train station.

To book a place on the network meeting follow this link:

Register on Eventbrite
Arts Council England National Lottery Project Grants

Arts Council England National Lottery Project Grants

mikenevell

Arst Council England (ACE) is encouraging museums, especially museums within Priority Places, (where there are many industrial heritage sites) to apply for their National Lottery Project Grants (Project Grants) scheme. This is an open access programme for arts, libraries, and museums project funding. Grants range from £1,000 to over £100,000; they are divided into applications for under £30,000, applications for £30,001 to £100,000 and applications for £100,001 and over.

  • Unlocking Collections: This is a time limited priority, the deadline for applications has been extended until November 2025, ACE is prioritising and encouraging museums to apply for activity to develop their collections-based work and increase public engagement with, and use of, their collections. Funding could support: reinterpretation of collections; collections review; digital skills development
  • Place Partnership Fund: ACE’s Place Partnership Fund is to support partnerships that aim to make a step change in the cultural and creative opportunities in the applicants area. It’s open to everyone but may be of particular interest to organisations in ACE’s Priority Places or DCMS’s Levelling Up for Culture Places.

Further details here:

https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/ProjectGrants