heritage – Industrial Heritage Networks

Brixton Windmill, Clifton Suspension Bridge, & Cragside Farm Industrial Sites Listed for ‘FindMyPast’s Heritage Open Days Everday Histories’ 2026

August 31, 2026mikenevell

Three industrial sites are amongst the 24 finalists that can be voted for as part of Findmypast’s Heritage Open Days ‘Everday Histories’. Created by a partnership between Heritage Open Days and UK family history website, Findmypast, the ‘Everyday History Heroes!‘ award celebrates the historic and cultural sites that champion the stories of ordinary people – from nurses and miners to teachers, soldiers and changemakers. The award centres on the grassroots histories that often go untold: the individuals and communities who powered industries, stood up for their beliefs, and built modern Britain.

A total of 24 sites and teams have been shortlisted across England, and three of these are industrial sites.

Brixton Windmill is one of London’s last surviving working windmills and a rare reminder of the capital’s agricultural past. The listed building was once surrounded by fields, and supplied flour to generations of local residents before being rescued by the community from decline.

Clifton Suspension Bridge, in Bristol, is a listed engineering icon, with a story of ordinary people – the bakers, dre ssmakers, grocers and tradespeople who invested in its construction.

Cragside Farm is a Northumberland is a farmstead that preserves centuries of rural life, from agriculture and industry to family life and local innovation. The team at the listed Cragend Farm share the stories of the labourers, tenant farmers, and families who lived and worked here, proving that some of the most compelling histories can be found far from grand houses and famous names.

Votong closes today (31 August.). To vote online for either Brixton Windmill, Clifton Suspension Bridge, or Cragside Farm follow this link, chose your region, and click on the site: Vote for your Everyday History Heroes with Findmypast | Findmypast.co.uk

Industrial Heritage Sites to Recieve Grants From the DCMS/Wolfson Museums & Galleries Improvement Fund

April 14, 2026June 8, 2026mikenevell

24 local museums in England have been granted a share of £4 million through the DCMS/Wolfson Museums and Galleries Improvement Fund. The Fund brings together £2 million in match funding from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and independent, grant making charity, the Wolfson Foundation. It supports local museums by improving displays, enhancing collection care, and making exhibitions more accessible to visitors.

The five industrial heritage museums that have recieved £1,034,200 from this year’s grant round are:

British Motor Museum, West Midlands – £147,700
Black Country Living Museum, West Midlands – £272,000
SS Great Britain, South West – £46,300
National Tramway Museum, East Midlands – £210,600
Food Museum, East of England – £357,600

Full details of the all the museums receiving grants here: Local museums receive £4 million to improve accessibility to arts and culture – GOV.UK

The DCMS/Wolfson Museums and Galleries Improvement Fund provides capital funding for museums and galleries across England to improve displays, protect collections and make exhibitions more accessible to visitors. For 2025-27, DCMS and the Wolfson Foundation have each contributed £2 million to the Fund, which has benefitted more than 440 projects in its more than 24-year history.

*One of the trolley bused that will be renovated at the Black Country Living Museum. Image courtesy of the Black Country Living Museum.*

Get Involved With Heritage Open Days 2026

March 30, 2026mikenevell

The 2026 Heritage Open Days will take place from 11 to 20 September. Heritage Open Days is England’s largest community-led festival of history and culture, involving thousands of local volunteers and organisations. Every year in September it brings people together to celebrate their heritage, community, and history. Stories are told, traditions explored, and histories brought to life. All the events are free.

269 industrial heritage sites in England took part in Heritage Open Days (HoD) 2025, offering guided walks, talks, and exhibitions as well as hands on experiences. If you would like to take part then the HoD website has full details on how to list a site, event, and/or acitvity.

For further details on how to take part as an event and/or site organiser follow this link: Get involved

Eskdale Mill & Heritage Trust Fund Raiser

February 20, 2026mikenevell

An online fundraiser has been set up to help the Eskdale Mill and Heritage Trust to raise funds to run community events and support their volunteers in sharing the mill with the public and local community in 2026.

Dating back to at least 1578, and located alongside Whillan Beck in Boot, Cumbria, the stone-built Grade II* listed Eskdale Mill demonstrates 500 years of water power and the traditional craft of corn milling. Last commercially worked during the 1930s to supply animal feed to local farmers, the mill still produces its own flour and has a modern hydro-electric waterwheel making it possible to continue to harness energy through water power. It is the last remaining working water-powered corn mill in the Lake District National Park.

Further details on how to donate here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/community-events-and-volunteering-in-2026?attribution_id=sl:db5ff4c1-225d-4850-a2ba-60db8108f385&lang=en_GB&ts=1770758294&utm_campaign=man_sharesheet_dash&utm_medium=customer&utm_source=twitter

Free Heritage Carbon Webinars & Training for Industrial Heritage Organisations

February 15, 2026February 13, 2026mikenevell

Historic England continues to offer Heritage Carbon Literacy training, and free places on two new workshops: ‘How to Measure a Carbon Footprint’ and ‘How to Write a Carbon Reduction Plan’. Both are designed especially for heritage organisations, such as industrial sites, who are just starting out on their carbon reduction journey. Find out more and sign up here – https://historicengland.org.uk/education/training-skills/training/training-courses/carbon-reduction-training-for-the-heritage-sector/

Historic England has also published new guidance, factsheets, and resources to help cultural and heritage organisations develop Decarbonisation Plans for their heritage buildings. Developed by architects Haworth Tompkins through a co-funded Arts Council England and Historic England project, the free resources can be accessed here – https://historicengland.org.uk/advice/climate-change/your-organisation-to-net-zero/developing-a-decarbonisation-plan/.

To accompany the resources HE are running a series of free webinars in March and April to go through the different steps in the decarbonisation process. More information and booking links here – https://historicengland.org.uk/education/training-skills/training/training-courses/carbon-reduction-training-for-the-heritage-sector/

Finally, Historic England is delivering a series of Heritage Carbon Reduction webinars. These have been developed especially for the heritage sector as part Historic England’s programme of Carbon Reduction training to help organisations reduce their carbon emissions. Topics include ‘How to get Trustee buy-in for your carbon reduction plan’, ‘Tenant/Landlord collaboration in lowering emissions’, and ‘Soil emissions in archaeology’. Training on further topics will be announced later in the year. Everyone is welcome to attend these free training sessions. If you can’t make it recordings will also be available on the Historic England website. Booking links here – https://historicengland.org.uk/education/training-skills/training/training-courses/carbon-reduction-training-for-the-heritage-sector/

*Urban air pollution. Image copyright Historic England Archve.*

*Stormy seas crashing against a historic quayside. Image copyright Historic England Archive.*

Volunteering Opportunities at the Watercress Line in 2026

January 23, 2026mikenevell

The Watercress heritage railway is looking for new voluneteers. They currently have about 550 volunteers who do everything from driving the trains and maintaining the rolling stock, tracks and stations to providing customer-facing retail and catering services.

Some people volunteer for one day per month, whilst others volunteer for several days per week; some people fit their volunteering around their work commitments whilst others join us when they retire. Whether you have relevant skills or you would like to do something totally different, the Watercress Line will make you welcome. The next Welcome Days are on the 8th March and 12th April. The minimum age to volunteer is 16 years old. Membership of the Trust (WCHRT) is NOT required for volunteers.

The line, which re-opened in 1977, runs for 10 miles from Alresford to Alton in Hampshire.

More details on the volunteering opportunities available here: https://watercressline.co.uk/volunteer/#welcome-days

Local Communities Invited to Submit Their Traditions to a New ‘UK Living Heritage’ Inventory

December 14, 2025December 12, 2025mikenevell

The UK Government has launched a call for submissions to the UK’s first-ever national inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH). Also known as Living Heritage, the resulting inventory will help to celebrate cultural traditions and highlight their contribution to communities and the economy. It is the first major step following UK ratification of the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.

DCMS said living heritage encompasses practices passed down through generations, with examples ranging from tartan weaving and dry-stone walling, to cèilidh dancing or Gloucestershire’s cheese-rolling, Eisteddfodau, or Burn’s night suppers. It could also include traditions brought to the UK by immigrant communities, such as the Notting Hill Carnival and steel-drumming, it said.

Heritage Minister Baroness Twycross said activities such as Highland Dancing, and the carving of Welsh love spoons “from the rich tapestry of UK culture and identity. These crafts, customs and celebrations are often what makes people feel proud of who they are, where they come from and where they live. They also boost local economies and businesses. Whatever living heritage communities value, we want to hear about it. I encourage people to get together and share their traditions through this national conversation. “

Submission must be made by the communities practicing the living heritage under the following seven categories:

Culinary Practices
Oral expressions
Performing Arts
Social Practices
Nature, Land and Spirituality
Crafts
Sports and Games

Details on how to submit, including support and advice, can be found at http://www.livingheritage.unesco.org.uk. Submissions for the inventory close Friday 27 March 2026. If you would like to attend a DCMS information session to learn more about making a submission to the inventory, click here.

More details here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/from-cheese-rolling-to-bagpiping-uk-launches-search-for-traditions-that-define-our-communities

DCMS Report Highlights the Impact of Local Authority Funding Cuts on Heritage Organisations in England

October 14, 2025mikenevell

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has released a new report that compiles evidence on the budgetary pressures facing England’s heritage sector, using a regional case study approach focussing on local and combined authority funding in West Yorkshire. The findings will be familiar to many industrial heritage sites.

The report outlines how over a decade of local authority funding cuts, alongside the loss of EU funding and the continuing effects of the pandemic, have placed significant pressure on small to medium-sized heritage organisations. While some have adapted through asset transfers, income diversification, and new governance models, others, particularly organisations in deprived regional areas, reliant on volunteers, or working with rural or intangible heritage, face an increasingly uncertain future.

The findings show, that since 2010 there has been a notable decline in local authority support for heritage, the limited long-term impact of project-based grants for smaller organisations, the essential role of support networks, and the close relationship between place and heritage. Thus, Local Authorities, the main providers of heritage services in their areas, have seen real-term cuts of up to 49% in central government grants since 2010, alongside a 35% fall in cultural service spending, and a 36% per capita reduction in planning, environmental, and cultural expenditure.

At the same time, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) reported real-term reductions of up to 24% durign the years 2011–2015. These cuts have led to closures, reduced opening hours, and the scaling back of public programmes, particularly in more deprived areas.

The impacts reported differ significantly by location and heritage type. Urban and asset-based heritage were found to often attract regeneration-linked investment, while rural and intangible heritage remain underserved and under-researched. The report also noted that there is evidence to show that funding cuts risk diminishing social cohesion and wellbeing, especially where heritage spaces serve critical civic and educational roles.

You can read the full report here.

New Heritage Sector Resilience Plan Launched

July 5, 2025July 2, 2025mikenevell

The Historic Environment Forum (HEF) has launched the new Heritage Sector Resilience Plan 2025-35 (“HSRP2”). This provides a clear roadmap for collaborative working to deliver a robust and resilient heritage sector, including industrial heritage.

HEF says that the new plan, funded by Historic England, is structured around four cornerstones that will significantly strengthen the resilience of the historic environment and heritage sector in England. These cornerstones are:

relevance
physical resilience
workforce & organisational resilience
and financial resilience.

You can find out more about the new plan for 2025-35 by following this link:

Heritage Sector Resilience Plan 2025-35

The Historic Environment Forum (HEF) is a collaborative initiative that brings together senior representatives from organisations working across the historic environment sector in England.

Historic England Launch Local Heritage Hub Webpages

May 21, 2025mikenevell

Coinciding with this year’s Local History Month, Historic England has launched a new Local Heritage Hub. With nearly 400 locations, every county, city, district, major town, and national park in England now has a dedicated digital page that uncovers its rich and layered history.

Offering a wide range of content, from fascinating aerial photographs showing towns and villages through time, to curated selections of listed buildings, videos, blogs, and podcasts, the Local Heritage Hub invites members of the public to discover their local area through a new lens.

According to Savanta polling for Historic England in August 2024, 71% of those polled wanted to see more recognition of heritage in their area. Further Savanta polling for Historic England in February 2025 showed that 58% of those responding agreed that local heritage enhances their daily lives. The new platform will reflect what people are looking for in their local areas, and it’s designed not only to inform, but also to also encourage people to see familiar places in unfamiliar ways.

The new service – which will continue to expand with new places, information, and sections added over time – will make local heritage and histories more relevant, relatable, and engaging to more people’s everyday lives, inspiring conversations, unlocking memories, and sparking new interests.

To explore your local area on the Historic England website follow this link: https://historicengland.org.uk/local

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