Victorian town to reopen in May

A Victorian town museum is due to reopen next month, following a takeover by the National Trust.

Blists Hill is one of a collection of museums telling the story of the birth of the Industrial Revolution in Shropshire's Ironbridge Gorge.

The attractions were closed following the takeover in March, but visitors have been reassured there will not be major changes.

The Museum of Iron and the Furnace Kitchen are also due to open in May, followed by the opening of Enginuity and the Jackfield Tile Museum to schools and pre-booked weekend visits in June.

The National Trust said exact opening dates would be revealed "in the next few weeks" and the remaining museums would reopen "in a phased fashion over the rest of the year".

It was announced in October that the National Trust would take over the running of museums in the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, with the help of a £9m government grant.

Previously, the 10 museums and 35 listed buildings and scheduled monuments had been run by the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust, which was established in 1967.

The National Trust said it knew when it took over it would face challenges in reopening the attractions and that it was making "considerable investment in IT and other infrastructure".

It said that work had "proved more challenging and time-consuming than originally anticipated".

As a result it said the Toll House in Ironbridge, a small museum on the historic Iron Bridge, would reopen in mid-June, not April as previously announced.

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