AIA e-news Bulletin April 2023 and a date for your Diary

[Ray Wilson]

Dear GSIA Members and Friends,

Please find the latest edition of the AIA e-news Bulletin below.

As usual a mix of good and bad news!

-  Grants for various industrial heritage sites in England
-  Nine rare K8 phone boxes in and around Hull have been listed at Grade II
-  The Sad Story of Hermitage Mill, Mansfield
-  More challenges to railway bridge infilling

The first GSIA walk of the season will take place on

Sunday 14 May 2023 (in the afternoon) and will be led by our Chairman, Steve Mills, in the Eastington Area.

Full details will be circulated early next week.

RW

View this email in your browser Industrial Archaeology e-news Bulletin April 2023 You are being sent this because you're on our list as the contact point for an Affiliated Society or other Group, Society, Department or Institution. We hope you will forward this email to the members of your group or in some other way make them aware of its content. You can unsubscribe or change who receives these emails using the links at the bottom. If or when you do forward this to your own mailing list, please remove this whole paragraph and the whole block at the very bottom about Unsubscribing. Welcome to the Association for Industrial Archaeology's regular e-news bulletin. Read on for updates on what we've been doing recently, and other industrial archaeology news from the UK and beyond. If you have a story you think we should feature in a future bulletin please get in touch. Industrial Heritage Sites Receive Cultural Investment Fund Support Lime Kilns at Amberley Museum (picture © Amberley Museum Trust) Eight industrial heritage sites in England are to receive support through the latest round of the Cultural Investment Fund announced in March 2023. This fund, delivered by Arts Council England on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, is a package of the three capital funds: the Museum Estate and Development Fund (MEND), Libraries Improvement Fund, and Cultural Development Fund. A total of almost £59m has been invested in 71 projects with over £10m going to industrial sites. The eight industrial heritage recipients are: The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery in Stoke-on-Trent, which will receive £5 million from the Cultural Development Fund to improve facilities and accessibility and support local education, health and wellbeing projects. Papplewick Pumping Station, Nottinghamshire who receive £518,000 for porch, chimney & wall repairs. SS Great Britain Trust receives £728,985 for their MEND the Gap project. Coldharbour Mill Museum, Devon receives £495,000 for their Revitalisation project. The Museum of East Anglian Life receives £1,409,600 from MEND for improving facilities at the Food Museum. Nene Valley Railway receives £669,873 for track works. Amberley Museum & Heritage Centre receives £433,766 from MEND for essential work to the Bagging Shed area. The Long Shop Museum, Suffolk receives £1,071,616 for their 'Put it on the Slate' project. Award for former cycle factory Former Eccles Cycle Works (picture credit Victorian Society) The Birmingham and West Midlands Group of the Victorian Society has given its annual conservation award to Birmingham City University for the restoration of the Eccles Cycle Works. This building was erected in 1899 for the Eccles Rubber & Cycle Company. It has been restored following a serious fire in 2007 as part of the University’s STEAMhouse complex, housing a multi-disciplinary community of entrepreneurs, businesses, academic researchers and students. Conservation award given for renovation of Eccles Cycle Works (opens in new tab) Funding success for Cromford Mills Cromford Mills (picture credit The Arkwright Society) The Arkwright Society has been awarded a grant of almost £0.25m by the National Lottery Heritage Fund for the next phase of its regeneration at Cromford Mills in Derbyshire. This will support visitor engagement activities at Cromford Mills and aid education at this internationally-important textile site. The next phase of regeneration at Cromford Mills will focus on the repair and repurposing of the remaining buildings on the site, in particular the iconic ‘First Mill’ built by Sir Richard Arkwright in 1771. With £20,000 match funding from the Duke of Devonshire Charitable Trust, a refreshed masterplan will be commissioned for the continuing regeneration of the Mills and a business plan for their future use. This includes installation of a turbine powered water wheel in one of the historic wheel pits at Cromford Mills this spring. Funding success for Cromford Mills (opens in new tab) Vacant and Derelict Land Grants in Scotland Govan Graving Docks, Glasgow (photo © Mark Watson/Historic Environment Scotland) Recent months have seen significant progress on a number of important derelict industrial sites in Scotland. Much of this work is being funded by the Scottish Government via the first round of Vacant and Derelict Land Grants, announced this year with the intention to get development moving at some places that have lingered for decades on derelict land registers maintained by local authorities. The investment also aims to help meet climate change targets and promote the health, wellbeing, and resilience of communities. Granton No 1 Gasholder in Edinburgh is one example; it was built in 1903, listed in 1996 and bought by the City Council in 2018. Work has started to make the outer structure a landscape feature and playground. The gas works site has been redeveloped over years as a college, supermarket and office. Most recently, the railway station, built to serve the gas works, has been refurbished as artists’ studios.  Govan Graving Docks in Glasgow have been disused since 1988. The site, with three dry docks, a hydraulic pumping station and a fitting-out basin has become a popular location for film-making. An award of £2.4m will, by 2025, upgrade a riverside walkway and create green space to help attract business investment, reverse biodiversity loss and habitat decline, and create a visitor attraction. It is also hoped that the dockyard will also be used for repairing heritage vessels. John O’Groats Mill, close to the northern extremity of the British mainland, was built in 1901, perhaps the last watermill to be built to use millstones driven by a waterwheel; it closed in 2001. On top of a £1.5m from this first round of Vacant and Derelict Land Grants,  in March 2023 up to £1.6m from the National Lottery Heritage Fund was granted to convert the former corn mill into a heritage attraction and community venue.  Rare Hull Phone Boxes Listed Rare K8 phone boxes in Hull (picture credit Historic England) Nine rare K8 phone boxes in and around Hull have been listed at Grade II by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The K8 was designed in 1965-66 by architect Bruce Martin who was commissioned by the General Post Office. They are notable for their modern and minimalist appearance, which made it simpler to maintain the kiosks. The K8 kiosk is the last generation of the classic public telephone box. They were massed-produced between 1968 and 1983, when 11,000 were installed across the UK. However, only around 50 remain in their original position. This is because most were removed by British Telecom following its privatisation in 1984, to be replaced by the sleek silver KX100 kiosk, and other variants. These in their turn have been made largely obsolete by the rise of mobile phone ownership in the 21st century. The examples in Hull have survived because, uniquely, its telephone network remains independent of British Telecom, and its telephone boxes have always been painted in a distinctive cream colour.  The list of protected phone boxes was compiled by Historic England with the help of Professor Nigel Linge, Chair of Telecommunications at the University of Salford and an acknowledged expert on the archaeology of British telephone boxes.  Rare K8 phone boxes listed in Hull (opens in new tab) More challenges to railway bridge infilling Congham railway bridge (picture credit The HRE Group) Last year we reported the decision by a local council and planning authority  to order the removal of concrete that had been used by the UK Government agency National Highways to infill a railway bridge at Great Musgrave in Cumbria. This controversial practice has been dealt a fresh blow after King’s Lynn and West Norfolk council told National Highways it must apply for retrospective planning permission if it wants to retain hundreds of tonnes of aggregate and concrete used to bury Congham Bridge, east of King’s Lynn. Campaigners point out that the work blocks a disused railway due to be repurposed as a walking and cycling route between King’s Lynn and Fakenham, a project that received £657,000 in government funding earlier this year. Meanwhile, Selby District Council (soon to become part of North Yorkshire Council) is in discussions with National Highways over similar work that has blocked a railway bridge at Newton Kyme. Read more about the ongoing campaign to save 134 historic railway structures currently earmarked for infilling on the HRE group website.  The Sad Story of Hermitage Mill, Mansfield Hermitage Mill, Mansfield, prior to its destruction by fire in 2022 (picture © Nottingham Post) All too frequently textile mills are lost to fires. The textile mills of northern England often get the most attention but it should not be forgotten that the East Midlands had a noteworthy textile industry. This is the story of one of them. In 2021, a planning application was submitted to convert Hermitage Mill, listed Grade II, to a 70 bed nursing home, with the erection of 31 private homes within the site’s curtilage. The mill was in poor condition, but it was still a valuable reminder of the town’s historic textile industry, and was noted in Pevsner’s Nottinghamshire (2020 edition). Some original features were to be retained including cast iron columns, the main staircase and access to the former wheel pit. AIA supported the application.  There were a number of revisions with the application being finally approved in May 2022, despite a fire 28 March 2022, the result of arson, which effectively destroyed the mill. The approval was on the grounds the mill would be rebuilt. Then in March 2023 there was a request to de-list the mill. Sadly there are no grounds to refuse such a request given the minimal amount that remains. It is yet another case of our industrial history being eroded. Industrial Heritage Events AIA’s 50th Anniversary Conference  Cavendish Cresent Bath (picture credit Wikipedia published under Creative Commons) AIA's 50th Anniversary Conference will take place at the University of Bath in September. Full details of this historic event are now available on our website. It takes place at the University of Bath, with the full programme extending from 1 to 6 September. The seminar on the Friday, as well as conference proceedings on the Saturday and the Sunday morning, can be attended remotely via Zoom as well as in person. A legacy from the late Patrick Nott, a former member of AIA, can provide a 50% discount, up to a maximum of £500, on the conference fees to eligible attendees from the UK or Ireland. Visit the AIA website for more details.  AIA 50th anniversary conference programme and booking information Council for British Archaeology Festival of Archaeology Museum of Iron at Coalbrookdale (picture credit Visit Telford) AIA are proud to be sponsoring this year’s Council for British Archaeology's Festival of Archaeology event at the Ironbridge Gorge Museums on Saturday 15 July.  As part of the festival celebrations, the Museum of Iron at Coalbrookdale will be free to all visitors and a number of special walks and talks taking in the viaduct and furnace will be held throughout the day. Local historical societies will also be in attendance to share their heritage skills and knowledge; a great opportunity to get together and discover more about the exciting work going on in the area.  Keep an eye on the Council for British Archaeology events pages for details of festival activities across the whole of the UK from 15-30 July.  British Festival of Archaeology events 2023 (opens in new tab) Fourth East-West Industrial Archaeology Workshop The AIA is delighted to announce the fourth East-West industrial archaeology workshop on May 27, organised jointly by our Young Members Board and the Institute for Cultural Heritage and History of Science & Technology (USTB, China). The workshop will look at the archaeology of technology and will feature speakers from Australia, China and the UK, The workshops are FREE and are held online. For more information, including how to book, please visit the AIA website. East-West industrial archaeology workshop programme and booking information (opens in new tab) East Midlands Industrial Archaeology Conference Artist’s impression of the restored Sudbury Gasworks building (picture © Sudbury Gasworks Restoration Trust) After a three year gap due to COVID, the Derbyshire Archaeological Society will be hosting a heritage day at Sudbury in Derbyshire on the theme of coal gas production for estates and rural communities. The venue is the Grade II-listed  gasworks building opened in 1875 to supply gas to Sudbury Hall and the estate village. This is a rare survival designed by prominent Victorian architect George Devey. The site has been restored and extended for community use by the Sudbury Gasworks Restoration Trust via a £1.4 million grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, and the historic wrought-iron roof structure was restored with the aid of an AIA Restoration Grants. The East Midlands Industrial Archaeology Conference (EMIAC) will be one of the first events to use this new facility. East Midlands Industrial Archaeology Conference programme and booking information (opens in new tab) International Mining Museums Conference, Poland One of the underground galleries at the Cracow Saltworks Museum (photo © Cracow Saltworks Museum) The Cracow Saltworks Museum in Wieliczka, Poland, is hosting the 2nd International Conference of Mining and Underground Museums from 22 to 25 May 2023. The theme of the conference is Mining Heritage = Human Heritage, and it will explore the contribution of mining to the development of human civilisation and the importance of preserving its heritage. More information about the International Conference of Mining and Underground Museums (opens as a pdf) Blists Hill 50th Anniversary Remains of 19th-century blast furnaces Blists Hill (photo © Wikimedia Commons) Another institution celebrating its Golden Jubilee this year is the Ironbridge Gorge Museums’ Blists Hill Victorian Town, in Shropshire. Amongst the events marking this is a talk about the museum’s creation and early days, given by its first Director, Sir Neil Cossons, on 19 July. Ironbridge Gorge Musuems have also published a new blog about the history of Blists Hill as part of their celebrations.  Blists Hill 50th anniversary events and blog (opens in new tab) National Mills Weekend Ashdon Post Mill, Essex (photo © SPAB) The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB)'s annual National Mills Weekend takes place on 13 and 14 May. More than 300 wind and water mills around the UK will be taking part, including many that are not often open to the public. More details are on the SPAB website. National Mills Weekend (opens in new tab) Dockyard and Shipyard Conference The Naval Dockyards Society is holding a one-day conference at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich on 22 April, exploring the economic and social impact of dockyard and shipyard closures, and the benefits of heritage renewal. More information on the society's website. Naval dockyards conference April 2023 (opens in new tab) AIA events diary For more information about industrial archaeology events arranged by the AIA and our affiliated members, please visit the events diary on the AIA website. If you would like us to feature information about your event, please do get in touch.  AIA Industrial Archaeology events diary (opens in new tab) If there are other people in your organisation who might like to receive this in future, please contact communi...@industrial-archaeology.org The Association for Industrial Archaeology Promoting the study, preservation and presentation of Industrial Heritage Copyright © 2023, Association for Industrial Archaeology. All rights reserved. https://industrial-archaeology.org To contact us please e-mail: communi...@industrial-archaeology.org Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

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