Derby Industrial Museum

Surely it's not rocket science to appoint someone interested in industry and displaying artefacts to run an industrial museum?

The Silk Mill had an 1865 Handyside winding engine, made about 100 yards upriver, and used at Morton colliery in Derbyshire. The sort of thing any right-thinking curator would sell his grandmother for.

Yesterday it was loaded onto lorries to go to a museum in Wales.

If you google the background, it sounds like there is no formal curator

The Re:Make project is a unique approach to developing a museum - encouraging visitors and volunteers to become citizen curators, designers and makers; learning new skills or applying skills they already have to support the redevelopment of Derby's Silk Mill (the site of the world’s first factory!).

Reminds me of a local paddle steamer boat here years ago that was pulled apart by enthusiastic volunteers, who promptly took a six inch angle grinder to the sliding surfaces of the valve gear on the engine. Well meaning but clueless. It may be a good thing the winding engine has gone to Wales to someone who knows what it is and particularly wants it.

It's gone to the Museum of Internal Fire, which might seem a strange destination for a steam engine.

I wish Derby Museum would constantly evolve and be worth a visit.

Brian

Ideal chance for someone to pop upto N. Wales with a tape measure and produce an interesting model. Like the way the eccentrics are on their own shaft that is driven by a lever part way down the conrod, Have not seen that one before.

Old drawing of engine

This is interesting.

They claim to have a 'significant collection of stationary steam engines'.

The industrial collection is 8.5% of their objects but takes up 25% of the space, and they want to make room for contemporary collections.

You may or may not agree with various aspects of their policy, but they do say they won't get rid of things 'primarily for financial gain', and passing to another collection is the preferred disposal route (the policy on destruction is interesting and not as scary as you may imagine).

Neil

The last time I went to the Silk Mill, thinking it was still an excellent industrial museum, I was shocked to find it was 'closed for a science fiction convention'. although if I was prepared to pay the entrance fee, I could go in!

Derby City Council, you must remember, are the people who had the 1930's art deco bus station demolished to make way for, amongst other things, a casino and a totally inadequate replacement bus station that has to be seen to be believed.

They are also responsible for demolishing the historic Cockpit Hill area, with it's lovely old buildings and connections with the historic Derby canal.

I've lived in Derbyshire for 27 years now, and the City Council can still shock me with their philistinism.

Regards,

John.

Poorly run council museums , look at Birkenhead on the Wirral , Had some of the worlds largest engineering firms located here and there is not one council run museum. The only one closed many years ago.

Looks like a trip to Internal FIre is on the cards then, i have not been there for a few years. Use to call in regular when it first opened and I could be the only one there and Paul would start up the engines just for one person.

Mike

PS it is not in North Wales

It would help if Internal Fire had better signage - I've seen their turn-off a few times, but the one time the SO and I had time for a visit we couldn't find it!

Neil

One could spend a long time looking round N Wales for the MoIF, it is about 8 miles north of Cardigan. The issue with the signage may well be a result of local planners , rather than any attempt by Paul and Hazel to hide........Private Eye has had quite a lot to say about planning policy in the area.

Edited By martin perman on 17/05/2017 10:00:48