Friends of the Ironbridge Gorge Museums

An update from the Friends Committee (March 2024)

The onset of the main visitor season for the Museum is reflected in the increased range of activities that the Friends of the Museum are involved in; the Friends have been a source of support to the Ironbridge Gorge Museum for over 50 years, enabling it to tell the ‘Ironbridge Story’ to all its visitors.

Membership of the Friends provides financial support to the Museum but as a Friend there are many other ways to help: you could be a volunteer at one of the Museum sites, learn new skills by getting involved behind the scenes or by simply spreading the message about the Museum and the work of the Friends in supporting it.

As a Friend you will be entitled to attend our monthly programme of talks or enjoy exclusive experiences that enable you to meet the Curators, take behind the scenes tours and attend special events plus you will have the benefit of a 10% discount on your retail and catering purchases at the Museum along with free car parking at the Museum sites.

Friends Talks Programme Spring/Summer 2024

The Friends Talks are held in the Glass Classroom at Coalbrookdale and provide an interesting mix of topics related to the industrial age in general and the Ironbridge Gorge in particular, free to the Friends but available to anyone else at £1 admission.

Talks schedule

• March 27 Wednesday 2,30pm – Conserving the Historic Estate by Lucy Oldnall, Project Director.
• April 24 Wednesday 2.30pm – Exhibition of Iron (Exploring the Science of Iron) by Lauren Collier, Head of Interpretation at the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust. To be followed by a private tour of the Exhibition of Iron before it opens to the public.
• 29 May Wednesday 7.30pm – Maw &Co., Biggest and Best? By Robert Higgins
• 12 June Wednesday 7.30pm – Friends AGM followed by Collections and Learning Update from the Museum Collections and Learning Team

The Friends have always offered their support to the Museum in a variety of ways whether it is in the form of volunteering, advising or in providing vital financial assistance for a much needed project. Currently the public focus of one of the Friends projects is the rescue of the Sentinel engines housed at the Museum of Iron, Coalbrookdale; volunteers from the ‘Steam Team’ have been working on these rare engines throughout the winter, the current stage of their progress can be seen under the arch of the viaduct by the entrance to the Museum

The donation of the archive of the famous historian of the Industrial Age, LTC Rolt, was a real coup for the Museum but such a prolific writer on so many aspects of this Age left mountains of documents on canals, railways, motor transport and even a few ghost stories! To sort and catalogue this material required expert help and an army of volunteers, as the picture below shows:

 

In recognition of the great man and to mark the 50^th anniversary of his death there will be a Conference held at the Museum, in conjunction with Keele University, between 9-11 May 2024 (details available on the Museum website) at which many of the volunteers will be present.

The support of the Friends to the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust throughout the past 54 years has been acknowledged by the Trust as being vital to its existence, helping in its mission to preserve, interpret and explain the industrial history of the Ironbridge Gorge.

You can become part of that support by joining the Friends via the Friends Administrator at: Friends@ironbridge.org.uk and keep up with the latest news of our and the Museum’s activities by joining the Friends Facebook Page at: Friends of Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust. Or by joining us on Instagram: @friendsofigm.

Join our Facebook group

 

You can become part of that support by joining the Friends via the Friends Administrator at: Friends@ironbridge.org.uk and keep up with the latest news of our and the Museum’s activities by joining the Friends Facebook Page at: Friends of Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust. Or by joining us on Instagram: @friendsofigm.