Steel Stories - Kirkleatham interactive exhibition of the region's iron, steel and industrial heritage
Kirkleatham Museum in Redcar, UK will showcase a powerful celebration of Teesside’s steel and industrial heritage with the STEEL STORIES exhibition.
This interactive exhibition is the culmination of 12 months of community engagement and research, showcasing stories, artefacts and pictures from real people who worked and lived in the steel industry and community.
The Materials Processing Institute, based in Teesside, is part of the Teesside and wider steel industry and has been involved in innovation and research in the steel industry for over 75 years. The Institute is both pleased and proud to have supported and contributed to this steel stories project over the past year as it has been planned, developed and finally the exhibition opened to the public.
Using a variety of display techniques, different stories of steel will come to life throughout the museum and grounds including a walk through a locker room, stories told by real people, a fantastic and informative historic timeline showing just how significant Teesside has been in the iron and steel industry over the past 170 years, show reels of films from years gone by, as well as a look to the future as the stories of steel move from the past to the present and into the future.
Leo Croft, Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council’s Steel Stories Project Officer, said: 'Over the past year we've had amazing support from local people who have taken the time to share their Steel Stories with us.
'Ex-steel workers and their families have told us some incredible stories and donated items, including a section of an iron pole used by the first women, Nancy Lewis, to light a foundry furnace back in 1942. Nancy brought the pole in herself and told us all about her experiences, describing working in the furnace as ‘Hell’s kitchen’.
'We’ve put together what we think is the museum’s best exhibition yet. We’ve designed it to be informative and fun for both adults and children.’
Steel Stories is part funded by the National Heritage Lottery Fund and Tees Valley Combined Authority and supported by Teesside University.
Steel Stories is a free exhibition and runs from 5 April 2019 to April 2020 at Kirkleatham Museum in Redcar.
5 April 2019
