networking – Industrial Heritage Networks

North East Industrial Heritage Network Meeting, 9 December, Now Booking

November 25, 2025mikenevell

The next in-person North East Industrial Heritage Network meeting will be held at Hopetown Museum, Darlington, on Tuesday 9th December 2025, from 11am to 1pm. This will be followed, after lunch (there is a cafe on site), by a tour of the site (2pm to 3pm). The themes for the 2025-26 IHN meetings are conservation and maintenance.

All IHN members and friends are very welcome to attend. To book a free place follow this link:

Hopetown Musuejm encompasses the original North Road Station in Darlingotn, which opened in 1842 on the route of the Stockton & Darlington Railway. The listed station was purchased in the 1970s by a consortium consisting of the local council and tourist board, Darlington museum’s service and local businesses. It was transformed into a railway museum, the North Road Station Museum, which opend in 1975. The museum was refurbished in 2007, and reopened in 2008 as the Head of Steam – Darlington Railway Museum. After securing £35 million of funding, between 2022 and 2024 the museum, and surrounding heritage buildings across 7.5 acres, were transformed into a brand new visitor attraction, Hopetown Darlington. The name takes inspiration from the old Hopetown foundry works associated with the railways.

*The station at Hopetown, Darlington. Image courtesy of Historic England.*

AI in the Heritage Sector Free Seminar

November 3, 2025mikenevell

UK Heritage Pulse is running the second of two free online seminars on ‘AI in the Heritage Sector’ on Friday 7th November at 2pm. The first session explored the principles, opportunities, and risks of using artificial intelligence. If you weren’t able to attend, you can now watch the recording here.

The follow-up webinar on the 7th November will take a deeper look at practical applications of AI, sharing real-world examples and tips for the sector. To book your place follow this link: 🔗 Book your place here

You can also read Heritage Pulse’s recent report on the operational use of AI within the heritage sector here.

Heritage Pulse is a collaborative data and insight project for the UK’s heritage sector informing strategy, recovery, and reinvention. You can register for regular updates, or take part in their research, via this link: https://heritagepulse.insights-alliance.com/

Places Still Available for South West and Cornwall & Devon Industrial Heritage Network Meetings

October 30, 2025mikenevell

There are still free places available for the next two Industrial Heritage Network meetings in November. These meetings are an opportunity to chat in-person with volunteer and professionals from a variety of industrial heritage sites in each region.

To book a place on the South West Industrial Heritage Network meeting, at Crofton Beam Engines, on Friday 7^th November foillow this link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1827645881029?aff=oddtdtcreator

To booka palce on Cornwall & Devon Industrial Heritage Network meeting, at Coldharbour Mill, on Thursday 6th November follow this link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1827645881029?aff=oddtdtcreator

Latest Historic England ‘How to write a carbon reduction plan’ Workshop Now Available to Book

October 24, 2025October 23, 2025mikenevell

Historic England, with support from CIfA, are running a workshop on ‘How to write a carbon reduction plan’. Several dates are available with limited places on 30 October 2025, but further workshop places available on 17 and 26 November.

The workshop has been designed to support organisations, such as industrial heritage sites and museums, to build on their carbon footprint report by writing a basic plan for carbon reduction whilst also engaging with staff, volunteers, and visitors.

To book a place follow this link: How to Write a Carbon Reduction Plan

South West Industrial Heritage Network Meeting, 7 November

October 17, 2025October 15, 2025mikenevell

The next in-person South West Industrial Heritage Network meeting will be held at Crofton Beam Engines on Friday 7^th November, 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.

All IHN members and friends are very welcome to attend. To book a free place follow this link:

Crofton Beam Engines was built in 1807-9 to supply water to the highest point of the Kennet & Avon Canal which links London and Bristol. It is a rare survivor of the technology which enabled British engineers to drain mines and supply towns and cities with water throughout the world. For more details about the site follow this link: https://www.croftonbeamengines.org/about/

Cornwall & Devon Industrial Heritage Network Meeting, 6 November

October 16, 2025October 15, 2025mikenevell

The next in-person Cornwall & Devon Industrial Heritage Network meeting will be held at Coldharbour Mill, Devon, on Thursday 6^th November from 11am to 1pm. This will be followed, after lunch (there is a cafe on site), by a tour of the site (2pm to 3pm). The themes for the 2025-26 IHN meetings are conservation and maintenance.

All IHN members and friends are very welcome to attend. Follow the link below to book a free place.

Coldharbour Mill is a 200-year-old spinning mill in Uffculme, Devon. It was built by Thomas Fox to spin woollen and later worsted yarns in 1799. It opened as a museum in 1982, and has continued to produce high quality worsted knitting yarn on its period machinery. For more details about the mill follow this link: https://www.coldharbourmill.org.uk/

North West Industrial Heritage Network Meeting, 17 October

September 22, 2025mikenevell

The next in-person North West Industrial Heritage Network meeting will be held at the Lancashire Mining Museum, Astley, Wigan, on the 17^th October, 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.

All IHN members are very welcome to attend. To book a place follow this link:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/north-west-industrial-heritage-network-tickets-1716173072859?aff=oddtdtcreator

The Lancashire Mining Musuem, which is entirely voluntary run, has origins going back to the 1970s, and first opened to the public in 1982, re-using buildings from the former Astley Pit, which closed in 1970. The museum has the last surviving headgear and winding house in the whole Lancashire coalfield. Apart from the steam winding engine and headgear, the museum also houses many exhibits, not least of which is the collection of 28 colliery locomotives, the largest collection of its type in the United Kingdom.

More details about the museum here: https://lancashireminingmuseum.org/

South East Industrial Heritage Network Meeting Now Booking for 3rd October

September 12, 2025mikenevell

The next in-person South East Industrial Heritage Network meeting will be held at the Amberley Museum, West Sussex, on the 3rd October, from 11am to 1pm. This will be followed, after lunch (there is a splendid cafe on site or 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 Amberley Museum is an open-air industrial heritage museum at Amberley, near Arundel in West Sussex. The museum was founded in 1978 and is owned and operated by Amberley Museum and Heritage Centre, a not-for-profit company and charity, with the support of an active Friends organsiation. The museum occupies a former chalk pit, and includes exhibits relating to quarrying, transport, metal working, and communications. For further details follow this link: https://www.amberleymuseum.co.uk/

To book a free place at the network meeting please follow this link:

All IHN members are very welcome to attend.

*Amberley Museum entrance. Image copyright Dr Michael Nevell.*

ERIH Members to Recieve Membership Benefit Boost

September 5, 2025September 4, 2025mikenevell

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.

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

August 22, 2025mikenevell

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 27^th 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:

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