Over 300,000 historic items from the Science Museum Group* collection have been carefully moved into a new facility at the National Collections Centre in the Science and Innovation Park near Swindon in Wiltshire. The new Hawking Building, named after Prof. Stephen Hawking, is not a museum. It...
The Fontinettes Boat Lift (Ascenseur à bateaux des Fontinettes) in Arques, Pas-de-Calais. is a magnificent piece of 19th century engineering and architecture. It was built in the late 19th century at Fontinettes* to replace a set of five locks on the Neuffossé canal which linked/s the canalised...
Welsh Culture Secretary Lesley Griffiths visited the National Slate Museum in Llanberis this week to see how redevelopment work is progressing. Welsh Government funding of more than £1m has already helped progress the redevelopment, including maximising museum space for collections and activities and ensuring there is appropriate...
The Écomusée in the old port area of Saint-Nazaire focuses on the port’s historic, industrial and maritime heritage. Who knew!? Most Anglophones, me included, think the “Éco Museum” is something to do with the environment, and probably linked to the EOL-Wind Turbine experience nearby. I wouldn’t have...
The Dutch Mining Museum (Nederlands Mijnmuseum) re-opened in May this year (2022) in the old Kneepkens department store in Heerlen, south Netherlands. Heerlen is in that panhandle that extends south to Maastricht along the Meuse between Belgium and Germany, and includes the Limburg region, famous for its...
The Cukrownia Żnin (“Znin Sugar Factory”) in Poland is an industrial heritage project, repurposing an old sugar factory and preserving its magnificent 19th century buildings. Up until 2004, it produced sugar from beets. Now it is a hotel complex. If you like industrial design and architecture, this...
The Antoigné Foundry (Fonderie d’Antoigné) is an industrial heritage centre* run by volunteers of the Antoigné-Chappée Founders Association. It is located on the former site of a large ironworks, originally a small forge established in the 17th century at Antoigné in the commune of Sainte Jamme sur...
This is a niche blog about technically-minded travel. It reflects my own interests in the mechanical, technical, historical, engineering, transport and military world.
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