Ironbridge | Financial Times Magazine

The Iron Bridge in the Ironbridge gorge

Spanning a gorge in the West Midlands through which the River Severn flows stands a magnificent testament to the birthplace of our industrial revolution. The 'Iron Bridge' (as handsome as 'The Iron Throne'), the first ever cast-iron bridge built in the world and now  part of Ironbridge, a UN World Heritage site in Shropshire.

The FT Wealth magazine asked me to create a little photo study documenting behind the scenes at the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust who manage the 10 museums sprawled across the Ironbridge Gorge.  I spent my day wandering through the museums meeting and photographing some of the 200 + people who work there. One of the museums is  'Blists Hill', a incredibly impressive and comprehensive working Victorian town complete with real (sort of) Victorian townsfolk. 

L/ Conservation Buildings Maintenance Manager Mark Ashby surveys the mortar on one of the original chimney stacks at the Coalport China Museum

R/ Melissa Hammond who works in the Pharmacy at Blists Hill Victorian Village.

Baker Derek Shaw 

Maintenance workers restore the original brick path at the Coalport China Museum

Blacksmith Duncan Cooper who works using only Victorian tools

The  original Steam Hammer seen in the Iron Rolling Mill 

Gillian Crumpton curatorial officer at the Ironbridge museums

Senior Costume interpreter Alison Phillips

Actor Jo Halstead playing the Bakers Assistant in the Victorian Town Museum 'Blists Hill'.

Anna Brennand the current CEO of the Ironbridge Gorge Museums