The second of World Heritage UK’s annual networking meetings took place at the New Lanark Mills World Heritage Site in July. Over 30 delegates enjoyed exploring this remarkable place between Glasgow and Edinburgh, and hearing presentations from a variety of knowledgeable speakers.
The theme of the meeting was ‘Running the Business of World Heritage’ and there was plenty of commercial experience to share from UK and international WHS examples. We heard about the visitor centres at Stonehenge in Wiltshire and the Al Falaj in Oman, masterplanning at Kew Gardens and financial strategy at Fountains Abbey, telling the story at Durham Cathedral, customer experience at Edinburgh Castle and ‘big picture’ visioning at New Lanark itself. Plenty of discussion time too and the networking was enhanced with fine food at the Mill One Hotel restaurant.
Delegates to the 2017 World Heritage UK Networking and General Meeting. Copyright Chris Mahon
Thanks to David Holroyd, Justin Scully, Chris Blandford, Jane Gibson, Heather Sebire, and Gillian MacDonald for giving the talks, Graham U’ren, Beth Thomas and Sam Rose for chairing sessions, to Jane Masters and her tour guides at the New Lanark Trust for hosting us at the excellent Mill One Hotel and to Historic Environment Scotland for supporting the event.
David Holroyd and Graham U’ren presenting. Copyright Chris Mahon
If you haven’t yet visited the New Lanark World Heritage Site, do go if you can. There is an amazing cultural story to be heard here and the Falls of Clyde is a great natural feature without which the mills would not have been built.
