Lancashire commits £1m to mill museums ahead of possible National Trust takeover 9 Aug 2019

Lancashire County Council has announced it will invest £1m in two mill museums over the next two years, ahead of a possible handover to the National Trust. Helmshore Mills Textile Museum and Queen Street Mill were among five museums which it ceased to fund in 2016 because of funding pressures; both reopened part-time in 2018. The money has come from the council’s reserves and Council Leader Geoff Driver said this had been done after ‘a lot of thought’, but added “once these museums are gone, they’re gone – they wouldn’t be reopened again and what a loss [that would be] to the heritage of the county. Queen Street Mill and Helmshore Mill are unique in the world and Judges Lodgings is such a vital part of Lancaster’s heritage and history – you can’t close these places and the [number of] visitors who are now coming illustrate the point.” BBC, Pendle Today