Interview with Richard Blackledge: Museums forge link to rich city heritage

How partnership between trusts and a funding boost will help tell Sheffield's whole story.
Helen Featherstone, the new director of Sheffield Industrial Museums Trust.Helen Featherstone, the new director of Sheffield Industrial Museums Trust.
Helen Featherstone, the new director of Sheffield Industrial Museums Trust.

From the old industries of metalworking to its progress in the new digital economy, Sheffield’s tale is one of discovery and innovation.

And it’s a story that will be recounted in its entirety, if plans come to fruition, in a link-up between the city’s two museums trusts.

Rol Smith, Laura Sturt and Eleanor Sturt look at the water wheel to celebrate national mills weekend and vintage power at Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet. Picture: Andrew RoeRol Smith, Laura Sturt and Eleanor Sturt look at the water wheel to celebrate national mills weekend and vintage power at Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet. Picture: Andrew Roe
Rol Smith, Laura Sturt and Eleanor Sturt look at the water wheel to celebrate national mills weekend and vintage power at Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet. Picture: Andrew Roe
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Helen Featherstone has just taken over as director at Sheffield Industrial Museums, custodian of the Kelham Island site, Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet and the Shepherd Wheel on the Porter Brook, which will benefit from £800,000 in Arts Council funding over four years.

The money – won as part of a bid alongside Museums Sheffield, which runs the Graves and Millennium Galleries, and Weston Park Museum – will be used to assemble a unified programme ‘telling the city’s whole story’, alongside a volunteer scheme giving the public the chance to gain experience across both organisations.

Helen says she is ‘delighted’ with the new investment – but that, regardless of the outcome, the two sets of museums were preparing to work more closely together.

“We can share different specialisms and skills and provide a more co-ordinated offer for people who want to volunteer or visit,” she says.

Telegraph in Focus Heritage
A series of photographs on the theme Sheffields Heritage focussing on the citys metal working skills and traditions. Taken at Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet, an 18th Century water-powered site where scythes and other edge tools were made from the raw materials to the finished products all on the same site. Even the steel was manufactured on site in the crucible steel furnaces.
 
Taken by MICHAEL HARDYTelegraph in Focus Heritage
A series of photographs on the theme Sheffields Heritage focussing on the citys metal working skills and traditions. Taken at Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet, an 18th Century water-powered site where scythes and other edge tools were made from the raw materials to the finished products all on the same site. Even the steel was manufactured on site in the crucible steel furnaces.
 
Taken by MICHAEL HARDY
Telegraph in Focus Heritage A series of photographs on the theme Sheffields Heritage focussing on the citys metal working skills and traditions. Taken at Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet, an 18th Century water-powered site where scythes and other edge tools were made from the raw materials to the finished products all on the same site. Even the steel was manufactured on site in the crucible steel furnaces. Taken by MICHAEL HARDY
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Helen admits she has a tough act to follow. Her predecessor, John Hamshere, stood down as chief executive after 23 years in June, and is credited with saving the River Don Engine at Kelham, steering the trust through tough cutbacks and pulling in hundreds of thousands of pounds in funding to pay for restoration work.

But she should have the pedigree to bring a fresh approach. While John was an industrial archaeologist, Helen’s background is in culture; she’s left a national role as senior manager for engagement and audiences at the Arts Council.

She grew up in Ecclesall, went to Dobcroft and Silverdale schools, and still lives in the same part of Sheffield. An MA in cultural policy and management at Sheffield Hallam University led to the start of her career, working for drama groups Dead Earnest and Vincent Dance Theatre.

Helen later held the post of senior arts development officer at Kirklees Council, before moving to the Arts Council in 2009.

Mystery Building - Kelham Island Museum.Mystery Building - Kelham Island Museum.
Mystery Building - Kelham Island Museum.
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“I’ve worked all over the country, so to work in Sheffield – which I know really well – feels quite nice, to bring those skills back to where I live.

“I loved art at school and visiting museums and heritage sites as a child.

“I’ve got some really lovely memories of being with my grandad watching the River Don Engine.

“Running industrial museums wasn’t necessarily something I thought of immediately. But you find different paths. I saw this job and the more I thought about it, the more excited I got.”

The mighty River Don Engine at Kelham Island MuseumThe mighty River Don Engine at Kelham Island Museum
The mighty River Don Engine at Kelham Island Museum
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She adds: “I want to do a lot of listening – to work with the staff, trustees, volunteers and visitors, and hopefully people who don’t visit as well, to find out what the museums mean to people now, and how they can mean more to them in the future.”

Helen accepts that money will be tight. The trust’s budget faces a five per cent cut this year, and the pressure is on to find new income sources, such as events.

Strengthening the volunteer base is vital, too. Helen is a trustee and former chair of Ignite Imaginations, a Sheffield-based charity that runs art classes, experience likely to stand her in good stead as she strives to connect with diverse communities.

“The sector term I suppose, which isn’t that friendly, is ‘audience development’ – that’s my background, working to connect people more clearly with arts and culture. That’s absolutely my specialism and what I intend to use to engage with people.”

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Older people will be especially welcome on Helen’s watch. “If you’ve always been a passionate and avid visitor of museums, why should you not be able to visit them just because you’re older?”

Helen, aged 39, is married to Dr David James, director of Sheffield Hallam University’s centre for sports and engineering research. They have a ‘very arts, sports and cultural household’, she says.

The Shepherd Wheel workshop waterwheel in actionThe Shepherd Wheel workshop waterwheel in action
The Shepherd Wheel workshop waterwheel in action

Sheffield is in the midst of a ‘really exciting time culturally’, she thinks.

“I’ve lived here for a long time, so I’m in touch with the cultural scene in Sheffield, and I know a lot of the people who work in the different cultural organisations.

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“I think the city has come a long way in the last few years.”

She cites Sheffield Theatres – which could have a West End hit on its hands with the imminent transfer of Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, an in-house production – as a prime example.

“The theatres are really performing well at the minute.

“You’ve also got people like Professor Vanessa Toulmin, building the festivals circuit and networks, and then things like the Year of Making – I’m really interested in the legacy of that.

“There are a lot of cities that say ‘Made In’ as a brand, but Sheffield really does have an identity around ‘Made In Sheffield’.”

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The Abbeydale hamlet, with its heritage in making scythes, is one of the places that helps to reinforce that identity, Helen says.

“It’s almost 1,000 years old, it’s remarkable the crucible still exists there.

“A key thing will be how to maintain those traditional crafts.

FACT FILE

Helen Featherstone will be concentrating on realising what she sees as the untapped potential of the Kelham Island Museum.

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In Helen’s eyes, the museum could be more closely aligned with the ambition to create an ‘urban village’ in the surrounding area, as homes, workspaces and fashionable restaurants spring up rapidly.

“There are a lot of interesting housing developments, and it will have more footfall than it’s ever had before. It’s becoming really vibrant. In terms of arts and cultural audiences, there are some quite interesting groups that live in and around that area, so I’m really interested in linking more with very local residents, as well as those of the Sheffield City Region and beyond.”

She says: “There are a lot of industrial heritage sites in South Yorkshire, and up into West Yorkshire, and as a collection they are potentially quite attractive to visitors. I’m interested in working in partnership with cultural partners within the city, and outside.”