Engaging with industrial heritage in the twenty-first century: a perspective from the work of the Industrial Heritage Support Officer

Introduction It is not an exaggeration to state that Britain’s industrial past created the modern world. Everything from the mass-produced technology, which shapes twentyfirst-century life, to our very view of ourselves began in Britain in the mines, quarries, furnaces, mills, factories and pump houses of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries (Palmer et al. 2012; Trinder 2013). Today, many former industrial sites and buildings are open to the public. From World Heritage Sites to local attractions, they are a key element of British national identity and heritage, and make a major economic and social contribution to the well-being of modern communities (Cossons 2008; English Heritage 2011). Yet the simple fact is that this remarkable legacy by no means equates to a secure future, even for existing preserved industrial heritage sites.