Ironbridge Gorge Museums to host annual Ironbridge Lecture

The prestigious Ironbridge Lecture will once again be hosted by The Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust on Tuesday 6th December in the Engine Shop at Enginuity in Coalbrookdale. The annual lecture, held in partnership with the University of Birmingham, will be delivered by the University’s Professor of Community History and Director of the Birmingham Lives project Professor Carl Chinn MBE.

A passionate and proud Brummie and West Midlander, Professor Chinn is a renowned social historian, newspaper columnist, public speaker, writer and campaigner for the rights of working-class people and the recognition of the importance of manufacturing. He is the author of 29 books that focus upon the history of Birmingham, the Black Country, and urban working class life in England between 1850 and 1960.

Steve Miller, Chief Executive of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust, commented: “The Ironbridge Lecture is always a high point in the Museum’s year, we are all very excited to be able to welcome such an eminent and entertaining speaker as Professor Carl Chinn MBE, especially in 2011 as we celebrate 25 years since the inscription of the Ironbridge Gorge as a World Heritage Site.”

With his lecture entitled ‘West Midlands: the Workshop of the World, c. 1750-1950’ Professor Chinn will follow in the footsteps of a long line of celebrated speakers including Gaye Blake Roberts, director of the Wedgwood Museum and popular historian Adam Hart-Davis. The Ironbridge Lecture was first established in 1986 as an annual public University lecture which aims to raise the profile of the work of the Ironbridge Institute and the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust whilst providing an opportunity for discussion of key current issues in the fields of heritage, industrial archaeology or related areas.

All are welcome to come and enjoy this free lecture. Tea and coffee will be served from 5.30pm in the Covered Bays adjacent to Enginuity with the lecture starting in Enginuity at 6.00pm.