National Trust sets out plan for latest attraction

A collection of museums which tell the story of the birth of the Industrial Revolution will not see major changes following a take over by the National Trust.

The handover at the Ironbridge Gorge Museums was completed on Monday and Mark Agnew, who will run the 10 sites, said: "We don't really want to change very much, we think it's a successful formula."

He said he wanted to "build on the successes" of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust, which ran the sites since 1967.

When the National Trust took over, 48 people lost their jobs, but Agnew said the remaining staff had all transferred over and were beginning their induction.

He said the National Trust had gathered together the staff on the day the legal transfer took place and that it was a "massive week for all the staff and volunteers".

It will take a couple of months to complete the handover he said, and that would involve everything from retraining to connecting to the National Trust's IT systems.

Once that is complete, he said visitors would see a phased reopening of the museum sites over the rest of the year.

The National Trust said it planned to have the Museum of the Gorge and the Toll House reopened in late April and then Blists Hill, the Museum of Iron and the Old Furnace in May, with other attractions reopening later in the year.

Agnew has worked for the National Trust in Shropshire for more than two decades, and is currently in charge of its Attingham Park estate near Shrewsbury.

He said he knew the Ironbridge museums were "really special places", with a strong connection to the local community and he was "really, really keen" to see that connection to remain.

"The big challenge we've got is to make them financially sustainable," Agnew said.

The museums make use of a team of volunteers to bring the history to life and he said he was in the process of transferring the team across.

He said the decision to make 48 people redundant was taken because some head office roles were not needed after the National Trust took over the management of the sites.

It was announced in October that the National Trust would take over the running of museums in the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, with the help of a £9m government grant.

The Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust ran 10 museums and 35 listed buildings and scheduled monuments, including Blists Hill Victorian Town, the Coalbrookdale Museum of Iron, and the Old Furnace.

Agnew said the priority was to make them more profitable and added: "The financial difficulties is why the trust is taking over."

The solution will involve increasing visitor numbers, and the National Trust has said it aims to increase annual visitor numbers from 330,000 to 600,000 in the long term.

That will partly be achieved by giving paid National Trust members access to the site.

Agnew said: "We're very much hoping that the support of National Trust members will help us to make Ironbridge sustainable and secure its future."

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