Blackpool Blackpool’s special history is rooted in its significance as the world’s first working-class seaside resort and its development into a unique centre of popular entertainment.

Today, still synonymous with fun and excitement, Blackpool constitutes an exceptional cultural landscape – a living, evolving expression of the industrial archaeology of the popular seaside holiday.

 Although always at the forefront of innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship (the town’s motto is ‘Progress’), Blackpool continues to retain its core identity and ambience and to sustain its distinctive atmosphere of revelry and participation, with an impressive array of surviving architectures, built environments and entertainment traditions dedicated to the provision of leisure and enjoyment. Blackpool is now at a critical point in its historical development, looking to reinvent itself through a new masterplan, pursued through the urban regeneration company ReBlackpool. The Blackpool Resort Masterplan sets out an ambitious vision that will transform the town by redefining Blackpool’s future as a top-quality, world-class resort destination, improving the lives of residents and visitors alike. The trick will be to combine modernisation and the search for new markets with an appeal to tradition, identity and the heritage of the recent past and to encourage high quality architecture and redevelopment that responds to and respects the history, heritage and special character of the place.

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The first The first Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Festival was held in 2005 and its aim was raise local awareness and appreciation of the unique heritage of the Ironbridge Gorge. Each year, the Festival has gone from strength to strength and last year several thousand visitors, along with traders and entertainers, came together in the centre of Ironbridge to enjoy the stunning surroundings of the Gorge on a beautiful autumn day.

The 2008 Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Festival will be held in Ironbridge on Saturday 27 –  Sunday 28 September. The weekend is set to be an exciting and enjoyable time for residents, businesses and visitors as we celebrate the area’s unique heritage. Also, this year we have the added attraction of a light show, organised by the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust, to mark the regional launch of the Cultural Olympiad, and some of you will already have received details of this from IGMT.

The celebrations will kick off at dusk on the Friday when the Museum of the Gorge, the Iron Bridge and Bedlam Furnaces will be illuminated in an exciting and attractive display, which will be repeated on the Saturday evening. The light show will end at 10.00pm each evening.

On Saturday and Sunday, the World Heritage Festival will take place and this will involve a wide variety of entertainment, activities and displays. As a result of the recent flooding, the original plan to use Dale End Park for the Festival has had to change and the activities will now be focused on Dale End car park (Victorian Funfair), Merrythought (entertainment, stalls, art exhibition and displays) and The Wharfage (street market, on Saturday only). There will also be a Flower Festival and concerts in Jackfield Church. In addition, a major piece of public art, depicting the Iron Bridge and produced by an artist from Ironbridge working with local schoolchildren, will be on display during the event. More information about the event is available on www.ironbridgeheritagefestival.org.uk.

The Festival weekend is an important event for Ironbridge. It is an opportunity for the local community to enjoy a fun day on their doorstep; it will give a boost to local businesses and it will encourage more visitors to the area.

The Festival is organised by a partnership of local organisations and businesses and co-ordinated by Ken Toyne. The aim of the event is to raise local awareness and appreciation of the World Heritage Site and encouraging more people to enjoy the unique attractions that the area offers.

The main funders of the event are the European Regional Development Fund, Birse Civils and Telford & Wrekin Council.

The Nord-Pas de Calais’s Centre Historique Minier and CILAC came together to jointly organize an international symposium relating to all types of mining operations in France and abroad. Historians, geographers, heritage curators, engineers and political leaders will compare points of view and experiences, hoping to establish a detailed picture of research into mining landscapes and learn
about the first results of heritage management of these landscapes.

For more information please follow this link: http://www.paysvert-paysnoir.com/telechargement/Programme_colloque_CHM-CILAC_EN.pdf

If you are interested in this conference, you might also be interested in reading about Masters student, Leonor Medeiros, report on sharing experiences of mining heritage in the UK and Portugal.

Leonor Medeiros with Stuart Smith, international industrial heritage expert, on Carn Brea overlooking Camborne mining town, Cornwall

Leonor Medeiros, while studying for a Masters in Heritage Management at the Ironbridge Institute, successfully completed her Work Attachment project with ICOMOS-UK at the end of June. Her project compared the experiences of UK and Portuguese mining sites and landscapes, identifying good practice in Britain to take home to Portugal.

The Report, entitled: ‘Managing Mining Landscapes: Sharing Experiences from the United Kingdom and Portugal‘, considers three sites in southern Portugal, situated on one of the largest sources of iron sulphide in the world, the Iberian Pyrite Belt. These are Lousal, Aljustrel and S. Domingos. Through site visits and meetings with conservation and heritage professionals at Blaenavon Industrial Landscape World Heritage Site and Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape World Heritage Site, Leonor learned about challenges concerning conservation, interpretation and opportunities for sustainable development and regeneration through, for example, cultural tourism.

Attending the ICOMOS-UK Summer Conference on Cultural Landscape Management enabled Leonor to meet several people involved in the management of industrial heritage, and in addition to field visits in the UK and Portugal, gained valuable experience in understanding how international guidelines such as the European Landscape Convention can be implemented for the successful conservation and presentation of a site.

Read the Managing Mining Landscapes report

Executive Summary of ‘Managing Mining Landscapes: Sharing Experiences from the United Kingdom and Portugal’ by Leonor Medeiros

This report is the result of a work placement with ICOMOS-UK, part of a MA in Heritage Management at the Ironbridge Institute, taken during May to June 2008, under the supervision of Tehmina Goskar. Its themes will be developed further into the course dissertation.

Lousal, Portugal, photo: Leonor Medeiros

The project aims to undertake an assessment of best practice for the management, presentation and interpretation of industrial mining landscapes, taking as examples two World Heritage Sites in the United Kingdom – the Blaenavon Industrial Landscape and the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape, which can suggest ideas of improvement to three developing mining sites in Portugal – Lousal, Aljustrel and S. Domingos.

Engine house restored as a private dwelling, Porthtowan, Cornwall

The focus on projects of restoration and conservation, the strong brand development and marketing strategies, the possibilities for creative interpretation and the variety of projects taking place in the UK have shown the opportunities of sustainable tourism-based development of abandoned mining sites; for the improvement of the local communities and the benefit for visitors. The importance of diverse international directives produced by organisations like ICOMOS also play an essential role overcoming challenges. In Portugal, with the investment in this area just beginning, the possibility to learn from the mistakes and successes of other sites provides invaluable information and excellent role models.

This report graciously acknowledges the time, effort and kindness of colleagues in Cornwall, Blaenavon and Portugal in enabling the necessary research.

Read the Managing Mining Landscapes report

Read the report in Portuguese

Link to ICOMOS Portugal

Blaenavon World Heritage Centre

The UK’s first dedicated World Heritage Centre has been officially opened in Blaenavon by First Minister for Wales, Rhodri Morgan. The £2.7 million visitors’ centre tells the story of how Blaenavon helped to change the world during the Industrial Revolution and the international importance of World Heritage status.

Dan Clayton Jones, Chair of the Heritage Lottery Fund Committee for Wales, said:

“This project has helped turn Blaenavon’s fortune around and is a fantastic example of the positive impact lottery players’ money can have in terms of conservation and regeneration, bringing a sense of pride back into the community, attracting visitors to an area and helping a local economy thrive”

RIBA award for centre’s building

The Royal Society of Architects in Wales (RSAW) announced that Blaenavon World Heritage Centre is the sole recipient of an RIBA Award 2008 in Wales.

Alistair Sunderland, Chairman of the RIBA Awards jury in Wales said:

“Creative, pragmatic joinery details and excellent construction on the one hand, and the evident, close involvement of the client on the other, are worthy of comment and indicative of the role of effective partnering in award winning projects.”

John Rodger MBE is Blaenavon Industrial Landscape World Heritage Site Co-ordinator, and ICOMOS-UK Member. He reports:

“The recently opened World Heritage Centre in Blaenavon has received an RIBA Award. This is the only building to receive an award in Wales in the last three years.

The new centre comprises two listed buildings Grade II* and Grade II which were the original St. Peter’s School built by the Ironmasters sister Sarah Hopkins on his death in 1815. The school was for the education of the worker’s children and was the first built by an industrialist in Wales.

The centre has two main aims. Firstly to promote awareness of World Heritage Sites and their “Outstanding Universal Value” and secondly to provide act as a focus for actual and intellectual access to the World Heritage Site which extends to 32,000 hectares and includes The Ironworks (1789) the best preserved of its period in the world and the Big Pit now the National Mining Museum winner of the 2005 Gubenkian Award as UK Museum of the Year.

The two historic buildings are linked by a bright new link in steel and glass. This reflects the aim of the Blaenavon Partnership not only to show pride in the past but to look to the future and achieve regeneration in this Welsh mining area which has suffered from the loss of iron, steel and coal making industries.

The prime uses of the centre is for education – all life learning and for local community use.

The World Heritage Site Warden Alvin Nicholas uses the centre as a base for his World Heritage Site voluntary rangers and a centre for guided walks to explore the cultural and natural features of this cultural landscape.

Awards were presented by the Rt. Hon. Paul Murphy MP, Secretary of State for Wales on 19 June to the architect Nial Phillips, The Contractor DAVLAN Construction and to Cath Thomas on behalf of the client Torfaen County Borough Council.”

Read Torfaen County Borough Council Press Release

Blaenavon World Heritage Centre website