Chinese heritage delegation to visit Ironbridge
Telford & Wrekin’s mayor Councillor Kevin Guy is to meet a delegation of Chinese officials in Ironbridge today (WED 7 NOV) as part of their tour of British World Heritage Sites.
The group from the Chinese Academy of Cultural Heritage is being led by the Mayor of Huangshi, a city of two and a half million people in Hubei Province.
Steve Miller, the Chief Executive of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust, will also be meeting the party to discuss Ironbridge’s industrial heritage and explain the work that is done to preserve it and to interpret it for the 1 million visitors who travel to the Gorge each year.
The party will also be visiting Saltaire in Bradford as part of their tour. The tour is being carried out with a view to exploring World Heritage Status for the delegates’ area of China, a centre for industrial production in the 19th and 20th centuries.
The welcoming party will also include Professor Mike Robinson, Director of the Ironbridge International Institute for Cultural Heritage and Chair of Cultural Heritage at the University of Birmingham, and Mike Clark – who made the link with the Chinese group at a Beijing conference.
Councillor Guy said: “We are hoping that this will forge the way for another important international link for the World Heritage Site and have the knock on effect of more Chinese tourists visiting Ironbridge, boosting the local economy.
“It should be a fascinating meeting and I am looking forward to meeting the group and learning more about their area of China as well as telling them all about our wonderful borough.”
Steve Miller said: “This is an excellent opportunity to promote Telford and Wrekin to a high level delegation and I am delighted they are coming to visit the Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site.
“As well as an increase in tourism from China, we are hoping it will lead to some consultancy work for the Ironbridge Institute. We look forward to welcoming the party.”
