Welcome to the Industrial Heritage Networks and Support website. This site is maintained and updated by the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust who run the project and the networks. We aim to support industrial heritage in England through networking, information exchange, guidance, and training. Please explore the website and please contribute! For more information you can … Read more Welcome to the IHNs website!
The Lancashire Local History Federation, with the Leeds & Liverpool Canal Society, are running a day school on the 2nd November on theme ‘The canals and waterways of Lancashire’. This is to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the opening of the first section of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal from Parbold to Wigan.
Talks on the day will cover the historical importance of Lancashire’s industrial waterways, the construction of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal, the Douglas Navigation, canal traffic and traders, and the Lancaster Canal. The Day School will be held at the Preston Masonic Hall in Preston, Lancashire, from 10am to 4pm.
The booking form is below, or you can email the Day School organiser here: elizoelaw@gmail.com
The Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society are holding their annual conference on 11th May 2024. The theme is new research, with a focus on local history, family history, and industrial archaeology.It will be held at the friend’s Meeting House, Mount Street, Manchester, M2 5NS from 10am to 3pm.
The talks will include presentations Helen Corlett talking about The Cooper at Old Bridge End: Finding a Place in Early 19c Manchester (a micro study of the experience of an artisan-tradesman family migrating to Manchester from the rural north); Neil Coldrick on Medieval Ironworking in Holcombe Valley; and Kelly Griffiths discussing Scuttled: Excavations on the Historic Canal Basin in Rochdale (looking at excavating late 19th century canal boats).
The conference is free to members of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society and the Manchester Local Family History Society, but donations are gratefully accepted. The fee for non members is £12.00 payable to Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society. Please email secretary@landcas.org.uk to book your place.
A canal boat being excavated at Rochdale.
Medieval bloomery during excavation at Holcombe in 2018.
Flooding in the wheel pit at Claverton, 2024. Image courtesy of The Claverton Pumping Station Trust.
Claverton Pumping Station have launched an online appeal for funds after suffering 17 floods between October 2023 and April 2024. The aim of the appeal is to replace rotten timber, and to make the site’s operations more flood resilient. The Grade I listed building was restored by volunteers between 1969 and 1976, and is maintained and run by the volunteers of The Claverton Pumping Station Trust CIO, though it is owned by the Canal and Rivers Trust.
Claverton Pumping Station was built between 1809 and 1813, to a design by the engineer John Rennie, to overcome problems of water supply for the Kennet and Avon Canal near Bath. A 17 foot (5 m) diameter by 24 foot (7 m) wide water wheel powers a large beam engine that pump 50 gallons of water every two seconds from the River Avon up 48 feet into the Kennet and Avon canal. The pump operated from 1813 until 1952. It is the only working example of a waterwheel-driven pumping station on the national canal network.
The Claverton Pumping Station Trust observed that ‘as flooding is predicted to become more frequent and more severe having extra money ring-fenced for flood repairs and flood resilience will allow us to continue proactive maintenance and to make timely repairs when necessary.’
The Canal and River Trust (CRT) have announced how they are trialling an innovative AI CCTV system on the Lancaster Canal to catch hit-and-run motorists damaging 200-year-old stone bridges. Annually, vehicle strikes on CRT bridges cost up to £1 million in repairs, diverting vital funds away from work waterway conservation.
The new system is controlled by AI using a mobile phone signal and doesn’t continuously record but takes a few photos when it detects vehicle movement. The AI then assesses if the bridge has been impacted. If there is no strike, the photos are deleted and if damage has been caused, Trust staff receive a notification, allowing them to identify number plates to track down the offenders and claim full repair costs on their insurance.
Andy Dobson, CRT asset engineer, said: “Hump-back bridges, an iconic part of Britain’s canal network, were built for the passage of horse-drawn carts, not for today’s modern vehicles and HGVs. Due to the large number of rural, narrow roads crossing the Lancaster Canal, it has more bridge strikes than any other. The bridges are part of the canal’s special character and heritage, and each time one is hit a small piece of history is lost.”
Crofton Beam Engines has received a grant of £27,760 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund for a project to develop and test ideas for increasing the number and range of people engaging with Crofton. The ‘Crofton 2030’ project will help Crofton Beam Engines retain its position as a premier heritage attraction, worthy of its Grade 1 listed status, and ensure that they can keep the engines operating to 2030 and beyond.
The grant is made possible by money raised by National Lottery players, and builds on a previous Heritage Fund grant in 2018 which funded repairs to the historic buildings, new visitor facilities such as accessible toilets and improved interpretation around the site. The project has four main elements:
• to review engagement and ‘value added’ activities at similar heritage sites; • to carry out market research on potential opportunities to broaden audiences and increase income; • to develop a Site Master Plan, making best use of our existing facilities and developing new facilities where needed and possible (given the limitations of the site); and • to develop a business strategy for Crofton running to 2030, and a more detailed three year forward plan.
Crofton have now appointed two heritage experts to assist us in this work, Riah Pryor and David Tucker. The project is being managed by a project group headed by Chris Bolt, Treasurer of The Kennet and Avon Canal Trust and Vice-Chairman of the Crofton Branch. Chris commented that: “Crofton Beam Engines is one of the most significant industrial heritage sites in the UK and a fascinating visitor attraction. We want to increase the number and range of people who can enjoy and learn from our unique site. We are very grateful for the support of the Heritage Fund to help us do that.”
Riah Pryor said: “I am excited to be working with Crofton Beam Engines. There is great potential to expand its activities and I want to help find the best ways of doing this so that the future of this special part of Britain’s industrial heritage can be assured.” David Tucker added: “Having carried out some initial work for the Trust last year about ways Crofton Beam Engines could increase its appeal to visitors further, I am looking forward to helping the team develop clear plans which turn their ideas into reality.”
The Crofton 2030 project will be completed in the autumn. Crofton Beam Engines is owned by The Kennet and Avon Canal Trust, registered charity no 209206 Website – https://www.croftonbeamengines.org/
The recording of Historic England’s recent industrial heritage webinar on the Elsecar Heritage Action Zone is now available to view on-line. It provides an overview of the project, which ran from 2017 to 2020, including the research programme, protection and management strategies, community outreach and engagement, and how Barnsley Museums are building on this legacy with an ambitious programme and vision for the village.
Elsecar is an industrial estate village of the later 18th and 19th century near Barnsley. It retains important buildings relating to the coal and iron industries from this period, as well as extensive workers’ housing. The first major colliery, Elsecar Old, was sunk in 1750 and taken over by the Marquis of Rockingham in 1752. The small village next door was then transformed from the 1790s at the direction of the 4th Earl of Fitzwilliam of Wentworth Woodhouse, with the sinking of its first deep colliery (which retains its original Newcomen pumping engine in situ), the cutting of a canal, the building of two ironworks and associated housing designed by architect John Carr of York. Elsecar is thus one of the first model industrial villages in the UK.
Restoration of an unnavigable stretch of the Montgomery Canal on the Shropshire/Wales border is due to start this spring. The work on a 7km (4.4 mile) stretch of canal between Llanymynech and Arddleen, that has not been navigable since the 1930s, aims to restore the channel so that navigation will eventually be possible. Dredging is the first stage in a £14 million project that will see the rebuilding of two bridges to remove obstructions to the canal and the creation of three substantial off-line nature reserves, to protect the canal’s natural heritage as a Site of Special Scientific Interest and Special Area of Conservation.
The project is being led by the Canal & River Trust in partnership with Powys County Council, and is supported by the Montgomery Waterway Restoration Trust. The work is being financed under the Government’s Levelling-Up Fund. Michael Limbrey, chairman of the Montgomery Waterway Restoration Trust, said: “It is very exciting to see work start on the first major restoration of the canal in Wales for some years….Restoring the Montgomery Canal really is a project for everyone. The revived canal will bring recreation and well-being for local communities and their visitors and will protect and enhance the canal’s valuable built and natural heritage.”
Although this stage of the project will not see the Llanymynech section linked with the canal route at Maesbury Marsh in England to the north-east, the Canal and River Trust argue that restoration of this section is critical to ensure the sustainable long-term future of the whole canal, noting that “with increased economic and social purpose, the canal can be better managed and protected, saving it from falling into the disrepair that in turn would be harmful to the protected flora.”
The Canal & River Trust has been awarded a £574,000 grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to support the development of a major repair and refurbishment project and extensive community engagement plan for the Anderton Boat Lift, near Northwich. The Scheduled Historic Monument, which each year carries around 3,000 boats between the Trent & Mersey Canal and the River Weaver Navigation, needs a major upgrade to keep it operational. The whole iron structure requires blast cleaning, repairing and re-painting, the timber control cabin replacing, and IT operating system updating.
Daniel Greenhalgh, Canal & River Trust North West director, said: “We are grateful to The National Lottery Heritage Fund for allowing us to take a first vital step in securing the future of this unique boat lift, one of the seven wonders of the waterways. Since the Anderton Boat Lift reopened as a major visitor attraction in 2002, it has become a firm favourite on the tourist trail, as well as bringing a significant boost for the local economy.”
This is the first stage in a major programme of restoration and includes plans to replace the large marquee, which is used to host school groups and events, with an alternative flexible building, including new toilets, plus updates to the visitor centre and grounds to improve the visitor experience, as well as the development of new learning, skills and outreach programmes. This will enable more visitors to enjoy the unique attraction and delve deeper into the site’s fascinating history.
“The essential repair and upgrade work is critically important to maintaining the lift as an operational structure. Constructed in 1875, it holds a unique place in waterway history as the world’s first commercially-operated boat lift and our mission is to ensure that it continues to delight and engage future generations.”
Over the next 14 months Canal & River Trustwill be developing a comprehensive plan for ‘Engineering the Future’, with the intention of applying for a further grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund towards the entire £13.4 million project. If the bid is successful, the plan will be to start an 18-month programme of works at the end of the 2024 boating season.
As a foretaste of the urgent necessity for major repair work, the lift has been closed since early August due to the failure of a safety mechanism in one of the lift gates. An emergency £450,000 repair work package is now on course to be completed this winter to ensure Anderton Boat Lift reopens to boaters and the Trust’s Edwin Clark public trip boat in time for Easter 2023.
The work features two key projects. Two giant hydraulic ram cylinders, which each propel a caisson transporting boats up and down, are being given a much-needed overhaul. The large metal tank caissons will be detached from the rams and propped up about two metres above ground level to allow the 20-year-old cylinder seals to be replaced, the ceramic rams re-polished and re-set, and 12,000 litres of hydraulic oil to be changed.
Each of the lift’s ten sets of gates will also have two new ‘fall and arrest’ safety systems installed, which act like a giant seat belt in an emergency. Following the identification of the safety issue in the summer, new designs have been engineered, approved by Historic England and manufactured. Once the repairs have been carried out, the lift will have a short recommissioning period of about two to four weeks before it is once again available to carry boats.
445 heritage organisations will share £10m+ from two funds in the Culture Recovery Fund (Culture Recovery Fund for Heritage and Heritage Stimulus Fund) to restart vital repair and maintenance work on cherished heritage sites, and to keep attractions open and support those working in the sector. The funds are administered by Historic England and the National Lottery Heritage Fund, further details can be found here –https://historicengland.org.uk/whats-new/news/445-heritage-organisations-boosted-by-culture-recovery-fund/.
For the Canal & River Trust, 15 projects are being funded focussing on the replacement of lock gates, and lock and bridge repairs. This covers sites on the Coventry Canal, Grand Union Canal, Hertford Union Canal, Leeds & Liverpool Canal, Shropshire Union Canal, Worcester & Birmingham Canal, and the Rivers Lee, Trent, and Weaver.
Industrial Heritage Networks 