40 YEARS ON FOR THE NATIONAL WATERWAYS MUSEUM

[Ray T]

19 April 2016

 

40 YEARS ON FOR THE NATIONAL WATERWAYS MUSEUM

 

2016 marks the 40^th anniversary of the opening of the National Waterways Museum at Ellesmere Port and to commemorate this important milestone for the UK’s inland waterways, the museum is hosting a weekend of celebratory activities on 2^nd and 3^rd July.

 

The anniversary weekend will be packed full of things to see and do including the opening of its new ‘Window on the World’ experience, performances from the Museum’s artist in residence and the one-off chance to venture into the canal lock at the museum which will be specially drained for the replacement of two hand crafted oak lock gates.

 

Canal & River Trust’s Head of Museums Graham Boxer said “this is a very exciting time for the volunteers and staff at the museum as we celebrate our 40^th anniversary as well as opening the ‘Window on the World’ project. We will be inviting visitors to step back in time, meet the characters who worked on the slipway, and explore how the historic winch would have raised boats from the Manchester Ship Canal.”

 

Window on the World has been made possible thanks to generous grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Wolfson Foundation and AIM Biffa. It will showcase why Ellesmere Port was a ‘window on the world’ with the opening of the Port’s historic slipway, which was used for boat building and restoration between the 1840s and the 1920s. The Leeds and Liverpool short boat George is being rebuilt, and a grant of over £50,000 from the Wolfson Foundation has funded the preservation of the Mersey flat Mossdale.

 

Returning for the anniversary weekend will be Francesca Millican-Slater with her sell out performance of ‘Walking the Shroppie’, devised during Francesca’s ten month period as Leverhulme Artist in Residence at the NWM. There will also be the opportunity to take a look into the work the Canal & River Trust does to keep the canals and rivers open as work is carried out to replace the locks gates on the Shropshire Union Canal within the grounds of the museum.

 

For more details on the weekend, opening times and prices please visit canalrivertrust.org.uk/nwm or find us on Facebook.

 

ENDS

 

For further media requests please contact:

Michelle Kozomara, Marketing & Communications Manager,

Canal & River Trust – Museums

m 07917899222 e michelle.kozomara@canalrivertrust.org.uk