Just before the UK General Election was called on 23 May 2024, the Government announced that it had abandoned plans to lift a ban on the use of a new Permitted Development (PD) policy in national parks and landscapes. While the new PD policy that will enable the conversion of agricultural buildings and barns into…
Author: mikenevell
I am the Industrial Heritage Support Officer for England, based at the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust.
(Industrial) Heritage on the Brink – New Report From the Heritage Alliance
A new report from The Heritage Alliance highlights the severe financial threats facing the heritage sector. Following 18 months of data gathering, the ‘On the Brink: Heritage in the the Cost of Living Crisis‘ report demonstates how new challenges in energy bills, staffing, public engagement, and funding, have deepened cracks in the foundations of the sector…
Free Heritage Skills Seminar at London Transport Msuem, 1st June
London Transport Museum is organising a free seminar at the Museum Depot on Saturday 1 June 2024. The purpose of the seminar is to bring together people working with heritage to discuss the growing problem of a skills shortage in maintaining operational historic vehicles. The aim is to discuss various approaches to skills preservation with…
New Report on Museum Closures and Deprivation in 2024
The latest research from the Mapping Musuems project, based at UCL, uses the Index of Multiple Deprivation to ask whether museums in England are more likely to close in areas of higher deprivation? This question is especially relant to industrial hertiage sites open to the public which are often sited in area sof fomer industry….
CBA ‘Trowel & Error’ Survey Live
The Council for British Archaeology (CBA) is running a survey exploring people’s experiences and understanding of archaeological content and outputs. The aim of ‘Trowel & Error: Figuring out the past together through archaeology’ project is to help the CBA and the archaeological community to better understand what varying audiences hope to gain from archaeology. There are…
Lottery Funding to Highlight Northern England Lead Mining History
The North Pennines National Landscape (NPNL) team has been awarded £2m of lottery funding to chronicle the history of lead mining in Northern England through the ‘Land of Lead and Silver’. Along with the £2m National Lottery funding, the NPNL said a further £576,000 would follow from other funders, including £221,000 from Historic England. The…
AIM Economic Impact Toolkit Survey
The Association of Independent Museums (AIM) is currently updating the AIM Economic Impact Toolkit which assesses the economic value of the independent museums sector in the UK and wondered if you could help. Introduced in 2010 and refreshed in 2014 and 2019, the Toolkit has proved to be extremely useful for museums looking to…
National Mills Weekend Events Across the UK: May 2024
On Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 May, hundreds of windmills and watermills will open their doors as part of National Mills Weekend. This is run by the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) and is an annual celebration of the heritage and history of mills, and the people who care for them. …
All-Party Parliamentary Archaeology Group Metal Detecting Inquiry
The All-Party Parliamentary Archaeology Group at Westminster has launched an inquiry to see what can be done to support responsible metal-detecting in England (specifically) and promote the benefits of archaeologists and metal-detectorists working more closely together. The Group welcomes written submissions (up to 500 words) from anyone by the deadline of 30 April 2024. Recent…
NHLF Announce Funding for Seven Industrial Heritage Sites
The National Lottery Heritage Fund has announced £14.8m in new funding for seven industrial heritage sites across the UK. In England the projects include the Old Town Hall in the Isles of Scilly which has been awarded £4.6m to reopen as a museum and cultural centre to share the unique culture, rich history, and diverse ecology of…
Industrial Heritage Support 