Latest news with #NationalLotteryHeritage
BBC News
20-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Southport MP calls for national organisation to save UK's piers
An MP has called for a new national organisation to preserve the UK's piers, which have become "dilapidated" and risk becoming Labour MP Patrick Hurley wants the government to set up a National Pier Service as the Merseyside town faces its third summer without its pier being open to the public. The structure, built in 1860, closed in December 2022 for health and safety reasons and its owner Sefton Council has estimated the cost of fixing it to be £ authority said it could not afford the repairs but it would continue to seek funding after an initial expression of interest to the National Lottery Heritage fund was not progressed. Hurley said his call for a National Pier Service was part of a wider demand for more support for the country's coastal communities, including a dedicated Minister for Coastal towns. The BBC has asked the department for communities and local government for a said seaside towns had specific challenges based around their seasonal economies, adding: "Bed and breakfasts, 2p slot machines, fun fairs and theme parks - all of the things that we go to the seaside for are all struggling across the country." He said towns needed a "specific policy response" to support them and the government needed a coastal communities is working with other MPs representing coastal towns, and said that Southport was not alone in being unable to maintain or repair its famous pier. Many of the attractions which made seaside towns "exotic" in the past now risked becoming relics of a bygone age if action was not taken, he added."So many piers are dilapidated," he said. "They've been stood in the sea for well over a century, and the salt water takes its toll."Andrew Brown who runs the Stand Up for Southport website said he was confident the funding would be found for the town's pier. "There is such a determination in this town", he said."This is a national landmark. We've got everything in place; we've got planning permission, we've got a plan, we just need the funding." Hurley has approached the National Trust to propose working together to maintain and run some piers. The heritage charity said it was in communication with the said he would also seek to explore if a new organisation, a "National Piers Trust" could be said he was talking to councils and organisations which maintain the UKs remaining piers, of which there are about 60, to see what he could learn from UK's leading charity for piers, the National Piers Society, which was founded in 1979 by the poet Sir John Betjeman, has campaigned to save several piers that would otherwise have vanished. It advises heritage bodies, local authorities, pier owners and the government on pier-related matters, but does not operate or run piers itself. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
BBC News
04-04-2025
- General
- BBC News
Historic Woodchester mansion could soon undergo major revamp
A Victorian Gothic mansion could undergo a £280,000 revamp to restore its chapel and roof. Woodchester Mansion near Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, has applied for up to £250,000 in National Lottery Heritage funding to secure its future. But to unlock the money, Stroud District Council has to match it with £30, voted on whether to approve the grant on Thursday evening.A council report advised leaders to support the funding, saying the money will enable "more people to access and enjoy this cultural and natural heritage" site. A mansion spokesperson wrote in a council report: "The mansion is at risk. Unable to conserve and repair the most vulnerable areas suffering decay and loss and with current repairs coming to their end of life."By 2035 we want to see the mansion thriving, financially stable, with the chapel conserved, and the roof repaired."The Grade-I listed building dates back to the 1850s, and was never was commissioned by William Leigh, but Victorian workmen mysteriously downed their tools and abandoned it mid-construction in building is owned by Stroud District Council and managed by Woodchester Mansion Trust.
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Gothic mansion could soon undergo major revamp
A Victorian Gothic mansion could undergo a £280,000 revamp to restore its chapel and roof. Woodchester Mansion near Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, has applied for up to £250,000 in National Lottery Heritage funding to secure its future. But to unlock the money, Stroud District Council has to match it with £30,000. Councillors voted on whether to approve the grant on Thursday evening. A council report advised leaders to support the funding, saying the money will enable "more people to access and enjoy this cultural and natural heritage" site. More news stories for Gloucestershire Listen to the latest news for Gloucestershire A mansion spokesperson wrote in a council report: "The mansion is at risk. Unable to conserve and repair the most vulnerable areas suffering decay and loss and with current repairs coming to their end of life. "By 2035 we want to see the mansion thriving, financially stable, with the chapel conserved, and the roof repaired." The Grade-I listed building dates back to the 1850s, and was never finished. It was commissioned by William Leigh, but Victorian workmen mysteriously downed their tools and abandoned it mid-construction in 1873. The building is owned by Stroud District Council and managed by Woodchester Mansion Trust. Follow BBC Gloucestershire on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630. National Trust to create more wildlife havens Huge recovery for butterfly once extinct in the UK New national forest to see 20m trees planted Stroud District Council
BBC News
15-03-2025
- Science
- BBC News
Future of Ely's ancient plane tree boosted by £121k grant
One of the country's largest and oldest London plane trees will be supported with a technique not previously believed to have been used in the UK. It was thought the tree had been given to the Bishop of Ely for his palace garden, which is now part of King's private school, in the Cambridgeshire cathedral city, by Charles II in the of school governors David Day said Italian experts will use morphophysiology, to "understand how to care and protect the tree going into the future".Funded by a £121,000 National Lottery Heritage grant, the project will also increase public accessibility to the tree "with garden opening days throughout the year", he said. Mr Day said morphophysiology "applies in particular to heritage and veteran trees".This is the study of tree shape and structure in relation to function to achieve the goal of sustaining life, according to The Arboricultural Association."It's the first time this method is being used in the UK, primarily led by an Italian team," he said. "One of the reasons the National Lottery Heritage provided the grant is because it its pioneering work and it will help to conserve other heritage trees throughout the UK in the future."Cable bracing installed in the tree in the 1940s and 1980s needs to be replaced. The survey will help inform how best to do that. Engineers from the University of Cambridge have also got involved, in another innovation claimed to be a first. Dr James Talbot, an associate professor at its engineering department, said: "We're trying to create a theoretical model of the tree to understand the design of the mitigation that's been proposed - the cabling arrangements."To do so, a laser scanner scanned the geometry of the will be converted into a structural model to help predict the motion of the wind on the tree, as well as its own natural movement, he said. Engineers are more used to working with seasoned timber than living wood - if they work with wood at all, Dr Talbot 30 King's Ely students have been finding out about the project as part of the school's science will begin in July and last four years. Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
03-03-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Fight to save Southport Pier 'will continue after funding blow'
A council leader has said she will not stop fighting for funding to fix a Victorian pier, despite being told a National Lottery Heritage grant would not be available for the project "at this time".Sefton Council leader Marion Atkinson told a council meeting on Thursday that the authority had made an expression of interest to the funding body for £10m to fix Southport pier, but had been "politely" told the organisation would not be inviting the council to make an application to the fund at the pier has been closed since December 2022 due to health and safety National Lottery Heritage Fund has been approached for comment. Earlier this year, the council secured listed buildings consent for the repairs to be made to the said despite the response from the National Lottery Heritage Fund the council would "apply again when the time is right" and added the council had done "all within our power to be ready to replace the pier when the money becomes available, we have a plan. We have commitment."She said the council would continue to apply for funding and speak to interested parties and "continue to raise the profile of the pier"."Let's be clear, the bottom line is the need for money, which the council does not have," she of the Liberal Democrat opposition and former Southport MP John Pugh said the National Lottery response was a "hammer blow" to the council's ambitions to get funding for the he added the council had found £20m of its own money to help pay for the new conference centre next to the pier, £32m to buy the Strand, £8m to loan to its own housing company and £54m over the last five years to bail out its failing Children's said: "Sefton can clearly fund the repair by appropriate use of revenue and capital resources. It just does not want to do so."The BBC understands Sefton Council submitted an expression of interest to the Heritage Lottery Fund for the maximum £10m which would require development and delivery over a number of council could submit a revised expression of interest, perhaps for a smaller amount, later in the year. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on BBC Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram, and watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer.
