The Trust has been busy raising its profile this spring. Our newly recruited team of volunteers is making a real difference, ensuring the doors of the Brewery Heritage Centre in Burton can be open at regular times. So far they have talked to hundreds of visitors who are very interested in the work to put the town’s brewery and pub heritage at the heart of a national attraction.
We have also been busy transferring two vehicles to the Black Country Living Museum and West Midlands Fire Service Heritage Museum. In their new homes they will be securely housed, well maintained and, more importantly, accessible to the public. I am pleased that vehicles that worked at the Cape Hill Brewery for so many years will be going back to their roots.
Work to rationalise and catalogue the archive and the library continues. As we work to protect and preserve the items in our care it is important that we apply good practice and keep only what is appropriate. Last year, Archivist Stephanie Nield identified a significant number of duplicate items and was keen to discover if another collection could benefit from them.
The decision was taken to offer these items to the National Brewing Library at Oxford Brookes University. This library of over 8,500 volumes relates to the scientific, technological, historical and social aspects of brewing and distilling and is a world-renowned collection. The Trust donation will enable the Library to fill gaps in their collection.
I mentioned last time that Steph Sykes-Dugmore and Helen Taylor would be joining our March board. I am very pleased that they are now both members of the Trust board, bringing significant experience of the museums and archive sector.
Our next major step as a Trust is to work with East Staffordshire Borough Council to submit a bid to the National Lottery Heritage Fund. It is anticipated that a NLHF grant will fund the plans to create a brewery heritage and social history experience within Bass House on the High Street in Burton upon Trent. The bid is a significant piece of work and I am grateful to all our Trustees, members, volunteers and contractors for their hard work and support as we progress this.
The Mayor and her consort visited Brewery Heritage Centre in April and was hosted by Trustee Chris Holden
