Category: Industrial heritage

The Great Engine House Project: London Museum of Water & Steam

The Great Engine House Project: London Museum of Water & Steam

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The London Museum of Water and Steam (LMWS) has launched a funding appeal for its ‘Great Engine House Project’. The Great Engine House is home to the Grand Junction 100 Inch and the 90 Inch beam engines which pumped clean water into the homes of millions of Londoners between 1838 and 1944. 

The Museum is based in a Georgian water pumping station in Brentford, West London, and is home to a large collection of steam engines. Described by DCMS as “the most important historic site of the water supply industry in Britain” the LMWS shares the history, science, and the stories behind London’s public water supply.

Now it needs public help to preserve this internationally important collection. The Museum has a funding and maintenance backlog due to the COVID lockdowns and lack of funds for expensive scaffolding. The Grade I listed Engine House and the two huge beam engines it contains have all suffered significant degredation over the last few years.

The ‘Great Engine House Project’ aims to return the engine house to a watertight state, remove damaging past repairs, conserve the engines and improve their environmental conditions, improve accessibility, remove any materials containing asbestos, and reduce carbon emissions from running the engines.

To donate follow this link: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/great-engine-house

Brew Up! Industrial Collections Network: Lion Salt Works, Northwich, 4th July

Brew Up! Industrial Collections Network: Lion Salt Works, Northwich, 4th July

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Brew Up! brings together people who work with industrial collections in the North of England, from mill engines to computers, from agricultural to glass; a chance to learn and share. Join us to connect with colleagues across the region, discuss issues unique to industrial collections and find key advice and insight from experienced professionals.

Run by Museum Development North, this session at the Lion Salt Works in Northwich will focus on the theme of environmental responsibility. Covering topics from green fuels to greening your site, this day will be especially useful for industrial heritage and archaeology sites and groups. It runs from 10:00–15:30. To book follow this link:

ttps://www.museumdevelopmentnorth.org.uk/event/brew-up-industrial-collections-network-lion-salt-works-northwich/

Museum of Carpet New Exhibition ‘Frocks & Floors, Fibre & Fabrics’ Opens July 2024

Museum of Carpet New Exhibition ‘Frocks & Floors, Fibre & Fabrics’ Opens July 2024

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A new exhibition of costume and carpet tracing textile sustainability throughout the 20th century opens at the Museum of Carpet, Kidderminster, in July. Running from 3 July to 31 August, this exhibition is a partnership with Kidderminster College.

This is an opportunity to see beautiful vintage dresses and stunning complimentary carpet designs spanning the last century. The exhibition will look at how fibres and materials have influenced fashion and changed the way we live.

The Museum of Carpet is an independent museum, with no regular local or central government funding, and needs help to cover rising costs. For more information, visit the Donate tab on their website here: https://museumofcarpet.org/support-us/

The museum is open Wednesdays to Saturdays and the exhibition entry is included in your museum admission. Children have free entry to the museum.

Industrial Heritage Network Online Meeting Dates 2024

Industrial Heritage Network Online Meeting Dates 2024

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The latest round of online meetings for the Industrial Heritage Networks in England are now taking place. Members will be recieving a ‘save the date’ email this week and then links to the meetings in the following weeks. These meetings are run by the Ironbridge Gorge Musuem Trust as part of the IHSO project. The networks provide a chance for those involved in running and maintaining industrial heritage sites, archaeological monuments, or local societies to get together and discuss current issues and experiences.

One of the current themes being explored by this year’s network meetings is how industrial museums, groups, and those supporting industrial archaeology monuments work with their local authority and how that has changed over the years. Membership of the regional networks is voluntary and free. If you would like to take part please email the IHSO at: mike.nevell@ironbridge.org.uk

Dates for the 2024 Online Industrial Heritage Network meetings:

Wedensday 19 June – London – completed

Wednesday 26 June – North West

Tuesday 2 July – South East

Wednesday 3 July – South West

Monday 8 July – East Midlands

Wednesday 10 July – West Midlands

Monday 15 July – East of England

Tuesday 16 July – Yorkshire

Monday 22 July – Cornwall & Devon

Wednesday 24 July – North East

Industrial Heritage Network Online Meetings For Summer 2024

Industrial Heritage Network Online Meetings For Summer 2024

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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

Paradise Silk Mill Guided Tours & Increased Accessibility

Paradise Silk Mill Guided Tours & Increased Accessibility

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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

Essex Industrial Heritage Fair, 14th September 2024

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The Essex Industrial Archaeology Group biennial Industrial Heritage Fair will take place on 14th 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

Etruria Canals Festival, 1st & 2nd June 2024

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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/

Historic England Latest Research on Wellbeing and Heritage

Historic England Latest Research on Wellbeing and Heritage

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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.

Walking the Wandle Textile Trail Sunday 12th May 2024

Walking the Wandle Textile Trail Sunday 12th May 2024

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Join textile artist and London National Park City Ranger Elly for a walk along South London’s River Wandle. The Wandle was a heavily industrialised river in the 18th and 19th centuries and was declared “dead” in the 1960s. It has been restored to life over the last 50 years and is now a beautiful chalk stream habitat and home to a wide variety of wildlife. 

Travel back in time as you travel along the Wandle Trail and find out about the Wandle’s rich history as a site of textile production, and how this history is a microcosm of the global textile industry today. Learn about the challenges that the Wandle faces from single use plastic pollution and wastewater discharges, and how local activists have been working to improve this environment for years. The walk will take you from restored chalk stream to culverted urban river, from new housing developments to National Trust gardens, from modern industry to the repurposed buildings of the Liberty Print Works.

Start at 11am at Hackbridge Community Gardens, Nightingale Road, Carshalton SM5 2EN. Nearest station: Hackbridge (Southern, Thameslink)

Finish 1pm at Merton Abbey Mills, Watermill Way, London SM19 2RD. Nearest Station: Colliers Wood (Northern Line)

Access: this walk is over flat terrain, and most of the footpaths have hard surfaces. There are some sections that haven’t been surfaced and these can become muddy in wet weather so please wear appropriate footwear. There are toilets at the LIDL opposite Hackbridge station, at Morden Hall Park and Merton Abbey Mills.