Trust chief opens museum’s £12m new look

Wednesday 7th October 2009, 7:59PM BST.

Ironworkers give a demonstration of the restored rolling mill at Blists Hill Victorian Town.

It was already Shropshire’s Victorian gem and last night the Blists Hill living museum site was unveiled as the jewel of the World Heritage site.

A £12 million development has seen an interactive visitor centre created which draws people not just into a replica of an old town, but into the noise, clamour, colour and tough times of Victorian living.

Massive images are projected on nine metre high walls telling the real story of life in the mining and hot metal industries and why the Ironbridge Gorge was so important in the development of the industry.

The work, which includes new streets, has been funded by Advantage West Midland to the tune of £8 million with the European Development Fund chipping in the rest.

Brendan Connor, AWM board member, praised the new development for all it would contribute to tourism, locally and nationally.

He said that the tourist industry in the West Midlands generated about £6 billion-a-year creating 115,000 jobs.

Visitor numbers to the 10 Ironbridge Gorge Museums were about 477,000. The Blists Hill development was officially opened by museum trust president Mike Lowe.

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