The IRONBRIDGE GORGE MUSEUMS Ironbridge Telford Shropshire TF8 7DQ
PRESS INFORMATION
Fun family days out at the Ironbridge Gorge Museums
Fascinating family days out are ensured at the ten award winning Ironbridge Gorge Museums, which are set either side of Shropshire’s beautiful River Severn valley.
Spend a day in Victorian England at Blists Hill Victorian Townwhere you can experience the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of life in earlier. Begin by exchanging modern money in the town’s bank for pre-decimal token coins, which can be spent in the authentic shops, workshops and pub. Listen to conversations between costume-clad characters going about their daily lives, see how medicines and pills were prepared in the pharmacy and hear gruesome tales surrounding the dentist’s chair and doctor’s surgery.
Enjoy a fun-filled day out that fuels the imagination at Enginuity and get involved with exciting, interactive exhibits. Work as a family to pull a steam locomotive by hand or generate electricity from flowing water.
The Ironbridge Gorge was also home to the beautifulCoalport and Caughley china as well as decorative tiles and clay tobacco pipes, all now housed in their original works. Marvel at magnificent china in Coalport China Museum and walk through period room settings adorned with decorative tiles atJackfield Tile Museum, also home to the world class John Scott collection of beautiful tiles and panels. Broseley Pipeworks is a wonderfully preserved time capsule, which has changed little since the workers left in the 1950s.
Walk in the footsteps of ironmasters and visit their former homes, the Darby Houses. See where they pioneered new iron smelting techniques in Abraham Darby’s original furnace and explore the industrial heart of the Gorge. Find out how the iron made here changed the world at the newly displayed Coalbrookdale Museum of Ironand learn how industry flourished at the Museum of The Gorge.
A more unusual attraction is the Tar Tunnel – originally intended to provide access between the Blists Hill mines and River Severn, it was found to be a source of natural bitumen. Today you can don a hard hat, enter the 900-metre tunnel and see the tar seeping slowly from the rock.
The finale of a trip to the Gorge must be a stroll along the banks of the River Severn and across the world’s first Iron Bridge, and imagine what life was like around 300 years ago when industrial development began.
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A great value Annual Passport Ticket allowing multiple visits into all 10 museums costs £26.50 per adult, £20.50 for seniors, £16.50 for children (16 years or under), £70 for a family of two adults and all their children and £50 for a family with one adult; under 5s free (terms and conditions apply); Passports can also be bought online in advance saving 5% and individual entry tickets are available at each museum. Activities will vary from day-to-day and some additional costs will apply.
For further information, contact the Ironbridge Visitor Information Centre on Tel: 01952 433 424 or visit The Gorge is easily reached via the M6 and M54 motorways exiting at Telford (M54 junction 4 or 6).
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For press enquiries, images or to arrange review visit please contact:
Pat EdgarRichard Aldred / Paul Gossage
PR Matters Ironbridge Gorge Museums
Tel: 01494 764932Tel: 01952 435900 / Fax: 01952 435999
Mobile: 07836 786043 Email:
Email:anuary 2018
Arts Council England, The European Regional Development Fund and Heritage Lottery Fund
support the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust