October 14, 2008

Forgemasters helps in two restoration projects

Sheffield Forgemasters is helping bring the city’s industrial heritage back to life with two major restorative projects.

Kelham Island Industrial Museum, part of the Sheffield Industrial Museums Trust is currently rebuilding after last June's devastating floods and Forgemasters is helping the museum on its road to recovery with the restoration of one of the museum's star attractions, the River Don Engine.

Dr Graham Honeyman CEO of SFIL said that "The Kelham Island Industrial Museum was hit very badly by the floods, as were Forgemasters, so we were determined to help them in any way we could. The museum provides a great insight into the history of the steel industry, which is obviously something very close to our heart at Forgemasters, and the sooner it is open to the public again the better."

Forgemasters is also helping the oldest surviving water wheel in Sheffield. The Shepherd Wheel, once part of a small scale knife grinding workshop, has stood in Bingham Park for more than 400 years and The Friends of Porter Valley in collaboration with Sheffield City Council, are planning to restore the historical site.

The GBP 1 million restorations will preserve the original external appearance of the buildings and restore the internal machinery to full working order, so that visitors can see how the wheel functions.

Forgemasters has made an ingot of corrosion resistant corten steel which will be forged to a slab later this year and then used to make new buckets for the wheel.

Dr Honeyman said that "The Shepherd Wheel is an important part of Sheffield's industrial past. Preserving this historical artefact will allow future generations to learn about of the heritage of the manufacturing industry which once thrived in this area."