Welcome to the Industrial Heritage Networks and Support website. This site is maintained and updated by the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust who run the project and the networks. We aim to support industrial heritage in England through networking, information exchange, guidance, and training. Please explore the website and please contribute! For more information you can … Read more Welcome to the IHNs website!
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.
The latest Historic England / Liverpool University Press publication considers the ‘Built Heritage of the Temperance Movement’. English Temperance societies were established from the 1830s, especially in the new industrial centres of the era, and became one of the most influential social movements of the 19th century. Over the next century, millions ‘signed the pledge,’ committing to a life of abstinence, helping those affected by drink, and advocating for alcohol restrictions, even prohibition.
This fascinating book examines the built heritage associated with the movement including temperance halls and institutes, missions, coffee taverns, reading rooms, billiard halls and hotels. It complements the earlier volume ‘Licensed to Sell: The History and Heritage of the Public House’, also authored by Andrew Davison. Further information on the Temperance Movement can be found in this accompanying Historic England blog – https://heritagecalling.com/2026/01/08/temperance-buildings-the-way-out-of-darkest-england/
This 60-minute online briefing session on January 22 (11am to 12 noon), which will be of interest to industrial heritage sites, will give attendees an introduction to what the Museum Data Service (MDS) is and how to join. The session will describe the different types of data available on the MDS, how to add collections overviews and how to express an interest in adding object data. This includes:
how data added to the MDS can be used
The different types of data available on the MDS
Adding collection overviews
Expressing an interest in adding object data
An overview of the joining process, including:
a description of the process; from expressing an interest to publishing live data
a breakdown on the tasks done by the joining museum and the tasks done by MDS
considerations when deciding how much data to add to the MDS
World Heritage UK’s most popular series of webinars to date was 2024’s Industrial Heritage. Over a series of seven talks, six Industrial World Heritage Sites and one roundtable discussion drew in the highest number of attendees any series has achieved. It was noted that not all of the UK’s Industrial World Heritage Sites were featured, and WHUK’s first series of 2026 seeks to address this. The three remaining industrial Sites will each have their own webinar, followed by the launch of the upcoming and new Industrial Heritage Trail.
• Tuesday 20th January – New Lanark WHS, with Head of Heritage Kate Lapping • Tuesday 03rd February – Pontcysyllte Aqueduct WHS, with Claire Farrell, Canal & River Trust • Tuesday 10th March – Blaenavon Industrial Landscape WHS, speaker tbc • Tuesday 21st April – Launch of the Industrial Heritage Trail, with Saltaire’s Brandi Hall-Crossgrove and Derwent Valley Mills’ Sukie Khaira
The Webinar will take place at 7-8pm UK time and all webinars will run on the Zoom platform. Webinars will be recorded and uploaded to WHUK’s private YouTube account. Single tickets are £5 and a series ticket for all four talks is £15. All ticket holders will be provided the link after the webinar.
Kempton Steam Museum has been awarded a £90,000 grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) to connect people of all ages with the role of clean water in London’s past and present. The project will enable an Audience Development Consultant to develop a strategy to increase visitor numbers and attract new audiences from the local community and beyond. It will also enable a Learning Consultant to develop digital learning materials targeted at Key Stage 1 and 2 that are accessible to all.
Kempton Steam Museum, located at the Kempton Park Pumping Station in southwest London, showcases the world’s largest operational triple-expansion steam engine and a rich collection of historical artifacts and technical drawings. Without this funding from the Heritage Fund, its stories would remain undiscovered by many.
Three new part-time members of staff will build capacity across the museum in a variety of ways. Firstly, to achieve Museum Accreditation by summer 2026, secondly, to implement strategies to increase visitor numbers and attract new audiences, and thirdly to manage volunteers. This initiative will expand our visitor demographic and foster stronger connections with underrepresented groups, local organisations, schools and families. In the long-term, the project will build a resilient and sustainable museum, strengthen the network of groups and organisations working together for the benefit of the local community in Hounslow and raise public awareness of the importance of clean water. Valerie Mills from Kempton Steam Museum said: “We are thrilled to have received this support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to build a museum fit for the future!”
Kempton Steam Museum is an independent museum in London governed by the Kempton Great Engines Trust. The Trust, a registered Charity, was formed in 1995 with the aim to preserve the historic steam pumping engines at Kempton Park Pumping Station and make them accessible to the public. All restoration work and the running of the museum is undertaken entirely by a team of volunteers.
Kempton Steam Museum will be running Steam Weekends throughout the project. The museum is open from March to December offering special events throughout the year. You can follow @Kempton Steam Museum on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok and or visit their website at https://kemptonsteam.org/
199 sites in England were newly protected by the DCMS on the recommendation of Historic England during 2025, including 173 listed structures, 21 scheduled monuments, and five parks and gardens. Ranging from a Neolithic burial mound dating to 3400 BC in the Yorkshire Dales to an exceptionally rare shipwreck lost in 1903 known as the Pin Wreck in Dorset, the newly protected sites include a number of industrial heritage structures.
Industrial heritage sites newly protected are:
Adams Heritage Centre, 17 Main Street, Littleport, Cambridgeshire
A survey of industrial heritage organisations in England during the second half of 2025 has indicated that a majority of sites have still not seen visitor numbers return to pre-pandemic 2019 levels, that volunteer recruitment remains difficult, and that a record number of sites have closed. The survey of industrial heritage organisations was carried out by the industrial Heritage Survey project during the regional industrial heritage network meetings run as part of the project.
71 industrial heritage organisations attended 10 in-person regional network meetings between June and December 2025. All the organisations reported an increase in visitor numbers, but a majority reported that these numbers had not returned to pre-pandemic 2019 levels. This trend was noted in the wider museum sector in England, in the Annual Museum Survey undertaken by Museum Development England with support from Arts Council England. Worryingly, 2025 saw a rise in industrial museum closures to eight sites, compared to 2024, a record number of closures since the project started tracking these in 2020, with industrial sites being particularly vulnerable to closure compared to the wider museum sector.
Furthermore, industrial heritage sites reported that the recruitment of volunteers remained difficult for many sites, although numbers a majority of sites have recovered to pre-pandemic levels, a trend in line with the Annual Musuem Survey. All the industrial heritage organisations attending the regional network meetings noted that the continuing rise in the costs of fuel, heating, and maintenance was putting a strain on day-to-day finances and reserves.
The Museum of Cannock Chase, which closed in April 2025. Image copyright Dr Michael Nevell.
Entries for the Sandford Awards 2026 are now open to all heritage organisations large and local, urban and rural, across the UK that have a site and/or a collection and deliver a formal learning programme.
The Sandford Awards provide a framework for success whether you are looking to gain the recognition your learning programmes deserve or seeking to develop the quality of your learning provision. The closing date for applications is Friday 13 February 2026. The winners in 2025 included several industrial-related sites: Bridging the Tamar Visitor and Learning Centre; the Chiltern Open Air Museum; Clifton Suspension Bridge Museum; Cranwell Aviation Heritage Museum; and The Food Museum.
The listing of the submarine telephone cable hauler and gantry at Enderby’s Wharf in Greenwich this year, is a reminder of the area’s rich industrial heritage.The gantry dates from between 1897 and 1907, whilst the cable hauler was installed in 1954 specifically to assist in the loading of TAT-1, the first successful transatlantic telephone cable, which went into operation in 1956.According to Historic England, it laid the foundations for internet communication, helping to connect England with the rest of the world.
You can read more about the world class industrial heritage and archaeology of the area by exploring a series of books on industrial Greenwich by local historian Mary Mills. These publications cover shipbuilding, telecommunications, the gas industries, and many other industries.
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.
Industrial Heritage Networks 