North West Industrial Heritage Network Meeting, 17 October

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

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

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

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:

London Industrial Heritage Network Meeting, 8 August

Bookings are now open for the next in-person London Industrial Heritage Network meeting to be held at Merton Priory Chapter House, Wandle, on Thursday 8th August, 11am to 3pm.

Established in 2018, these regional meetings are designed to bring together those industrial heritage sites open to the public in each region, and local groups and individuals working or volunteering on industrial archaeology and heritage subjects and sites in the area. The format is a round-table discussion in the morning, with a tour of the site in the afternoon.

All IHN members are very welcome to attend. You can turn up on the day or follow this link to book a free place via Eventbrite:

New Heritage Sector Resilience Plan Launched

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. 

East Midlands Industrial Heritage Network Meeting, 25 July

Bookings are now open for the next in-person East Midland’s Industrial Heritage Network meeting to be held at Cromford Mills, Derbyshire, on Friday 25 July, 11am to 3pm.

Established in 2018, these regional meetings are designed to bring together those industrial heritage sites open to the public in each region, and local groups and individuals working or volunteering on industrial archaeology and heritage subjects and sites in the area. The format is a round-table discussion in the morning, with a tour of the site in the afternoon.

All IHN members are very welcome to attend. You can turn up on the day or follow this link to book a place via Eventbrite:

West Midlands Industrial Heritage Network Meeting, 25 June

There’s still time to book a place on the next in-person West Midland’s Industrial Heritage Network meeting to be held at the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust on Wednesday 25 June, at 11am in the Glass Glassroom behind the Museum of Iron, Coalbrookdale.

Established in 2018, these regional meetings are designed to bring together those industrial heritage sites open to the public in each region, and local groups and individuals working or volunteering on industrial archaeology and heritage subjects and sites in the area. The format is a round-table discussion in the morning, with a tour of the site in the afternoon.

All IHN members are very welcome to attend. You can turn up on the day or follow this link to book a place: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/west-midlands-industrial-heritage-network-meeting-tickets-1377368599559?aff=oddtdtcreator

Industrial Heritage Network Meetings for 2025: West Midlands Date Released

2025’s in-person Industrial Heritage Network (IHN) meetings will be taking place over the summer and autumn. Established in 2018, these regional meetings are designed to bring together those industrial heritage sites open to the public in each region, and local groups and individuals working or volunteering on industrial archaeology and heritage subjects and sites in the area. The format is a round-table discussion in the morning, with a tour of the site in the afternoon.

The first meeting for 2025 will be for the West Midlands IHN, which will be held at the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust in the Glass Classroom on the Coalbrookdale site on 25th June. After a general meeting in the morning, there will be an afternoon tour of current conservation works at Blists Hill.

All IHN members are very welcome to attend. A booking link via Eventbrite can be found here. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/west-midlands-industrial-heritage-network-meeting-tickets-1377368599559?aff=oddtdtcreator

These meetings are part of the Industrial Heritage Support project for England, run by the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust and funded by Historic England and the Association for Industrial Archaeology.

Colliery headgear and canal at Blists Hill, Coalbrookdale, Ironbridge. Image copyright Dr Michael Nevell.

EERIAC 2025 Conference Now Booking

The 2025 East of England Regional Industrial Archaeology Conference (EERIAC) will take place on Saturday 7th June at the Prickwillow Engine Museum, Ely, Cambridgeshire. This year’s conference is being organised by the Cambridge Industrial Archaeology Group.

The Outline Programme is as follows:

  • 10.00 Free Tea, Coffee, and Biscuits on arrival.
  • 10:30 to 12.30 Lectures on waterways transport in Cambridgeshire and on rescuing the Black Prince, a Fenland lighter.
  • 12.45 to 13.30 Buffet Lunch.
  • 13.30 to 17.00 A tour of the Prickwillow Engine Museum, and a visit to the Stretham Old Pumping Engine, Green End, Stretham.

Costs: £15 (no lunch) and £23 with lunch. Drop-ins on the day are welcome but booking in advice is advised. The booking form is below.