industrialheritageireland.info

I was out at Skerries Mills yesterday as a visitor - with a non IH social group that I am a member of. As it is 12 years since I was there (the IHAI had their AGM there in 2000 - I remember it distinctly as I was elected to the IHAI Council at said AGM), it was good to see the venue again and I got to appreciate it more as I know a bit more about milling than I did in 2000. The guide was excellent, there was nothing in his spiel I could fault, no heresies and the group I was with were impressed also - they felt that the level of technical info was just right, not too little but more importantly, not too much.

And now for the complaint. We were a group of 8. One of our group (not me) chanced her arm and tried to swing a discount for us as a group, however, we were curtly advised that these only apply to groups of 10 or more. Fair enough. However, what the surly receptionist did not let us know was that on the wall only 2 metres away from the till, there were Skerries Mill promotional leaflets which gave 20% off the entrance fee.

Personally, I not griping about paying €6.25 instead of €5. I am a qualified accountant and am paid reasonably well for the day job I do - I can afford it. However, this country likes to think that it has a high class tourist experience and as IH is a niche interest within society, sloppy standards and not knowing your product are not acceptable - even if you are a CE worker.

Days Hotel Belfast - located in a lovely area of Belfast where the Union Jack flies from every lamppost and the kerbstones are painted blue white and red.

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I have just watched the RTE Nationwide programme from last Wednesday which featured Ardnacrusha, which is celebrating its 85th anniversary this year.

It is to my regret that I have never been in a position to pass through the navigation lock at Ardnacrusha, not being a boat owner. On an IHAI trip to Britain in 2007, part of the tour saw us go on a boat trip through the Anderton Boat Lift. In this case, British Waterways have an on site boat and sell the experience as a tourist attraction.

What chance of WI and ESB - one North South body and the other a commercial semi state - co-operating to set something similar up at Ardnacrusha?

Days Hotel Belfast - located in a lovely area of Belfast where the Union Jack flies from every lamppost and the kerbstones are painted blue white and red.

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Per this article on the BBC, Botallack Mine in Cornwall has been named by US TV channel CNN as one of the place to see before you die.

Days Hotel Belfast - located in a lovely area of Belfast where the Union Jack flies from every lamppost and the kerbstones are painted blue white and red.

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Apparently he is still alive so obviously the flower pots were removed from Ardnacrusha, lest the Great Enda trip over one and drown.

Days Hotel Belfast - located in a lovely area of Belfast where the Union Jack flies from every lamppost and the kerbstones are painted blue white and red.

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I have created a page listing the heritage week events of an IH nature. This can be accessed here.

Days Hotel Belfast - located in a lovely area of Belfast where the Union Jack flies from every lamppost and the kerbstones are painted blue white and red.

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Finally something useful to have emerged from the NI Assembly. Per the BBC, Alex Atwood, Environment Minister in the Assembly has called for the charge for tourists to visit the Thompson Dock - historic location of the Titanic during its fitout - to be scrapped.

Days Hotel Belfast - located in a lovely area of Belfast where the Union Jack flies from every lamppost and the kerbstones are painted blue white and red.

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I don't know if this is a good thing - in terms of employment for the 32 people in question (plus spinoff employment from them spending money) - yes, or if it indicates that we have regressed down the value chain, no.

However, it reminds me of a conversation I had with a former boss of mine many years ago about agriculture. He was from a farming background and was (as farmers are wont to do) complaining about how badly farmers are treated (ahem). In defence, I put it to him that perhaps Ireland had become too high cost to allow for farming as an industry and as without subsidy, most farming in Ireland would not take place, we should just stop doing it. His response was that we needed to produce food here for consumption and I cited envelope manufacturing as something that we used to do but didn't anymore as Ireland had become too high cost - ergo, if farming had become too high cost, it was time to move on.

I wish this enterprise all the best and may it provide employment to many.

Days Hotel Belfast - located in a lovely area of Belfast where the Union Jack flies from every lamppost and the kerbstones are painted blue white and red.

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H/T to www.irishwaterwayshistory.com for this link to an article in the July/August 2012 edition of Engineering Inc, which is a report on a survey of Waterways Ireland's structures for the purposes of creating an asset management database.

Days Hotel Belfast - located in a lovely area of Belfast where the Union Jack flies from every lamppost and the kerbstones are painted blue white and red.

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One of the things I do outside of IH is involvement in an online based social group known as "A Sober Slice of Dublin" which is a group which organises social events around not getting drunk. Yours truly has agreed to organise a visit to the Maritime Museum in Dun Laoghaire on 9th September 2012.

Membership of "A Sober Slice of Dublin" is free - entrance charges for venues visited obviously apply. If this floats your boat (sorry!), please join up to "A Sober Slice of Dublin" on Meetup.com and RSVP "Yes" to this event.

Days Hotel Belfast - located in a lovely area of Belfast where the Union Jack flies from every lamppost and the kerbstones are painted blue white and red.

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The BBC has reported on the archaeological find of iron age iron furnaces in Inverness as part of an archaeological dig on the site of the Inverness Campus complex.

Days Hotel Belfast - located in a lovely area of Belfast where the Union Jack flies from every lamppost and the kerbstones are painted blue white and red.

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