Unlocking Hidden Stories

We care for more than 15,000 items across our three museum sites at Ellesmere Port, Stoke Bruerne and Gloucester, representing the most comprehensive history of inland waterways in the UK, and the largest in the world.

Each item in the collection has a story to tell, from the building and development of the waterways through to their decline and later revival.

Unlocking Hidden Stories seeks to tell the human story behind the objects by championing little known and often unseen items from the collection. Drawing on a wealth of knowledge and passion from our staff, volunteers and visitors we seek to uncover new narratives that can help us better understand our inland waterways and our connection to them today.

Listen up

Hear from Rebecca Mason, enterprise manager and Michelle Kozomara, marketing manager and what objects they've picked from the collection.

This project is supported by National Lottery Project Grants from Arts Council England.