Industrial, maritime and transport

Casting a bell at Taylor's Bellfoundry. Photo: Katelyn Collins.
Celebrating the innovative buildings, transport and technology that helped shape the modern world.
Since 1994 we have awarded £630million to 1,600 industrial, maritime and transport projects across the UK.
We want to help more people conserve their local industrial heritage and pass on skills to younger generations.
What do we support?
Projects we fund include:
- printing presses
- pumping engines
- windmills
- historic ships
- locomotives
- natural landscapes transformed by industry
Project ideas
Our funding could help people:
- uncover and record people’s memories of our industrial past
- give a disused site a new purpose
- restore and maintain operating machinery
- reveal the history of industry in your area
- explore the nation's network of canals
- provide staffed visitor facilities and learning resources
- help young people learn new skills and care for their heritage
See the stories and projects below for more inspiration.
How to get funding
If you have an idea for a project, we would love to hear from you.

News
National Lottery funding for three volunteer-led projects in Scotland
Three new projects in Scotland, with volunteering at their heart, have secured significant support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

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Launch of £100million Heritage Horizon Awards
We will invest £100million over the next three years in ambitious, innovative and transformational projects that will revolutionise UK heritage.

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New life for the derelict Sheerness Dockyard Church
Once a symbol of Britain’s proud naval heritage, the future of Dockyard Church now lies in the hands of Kent’s aspiring young business leaders.

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Marvellous mills to explore this National Mills Weekend
The ultimate in sustainable power, hundreds of windmills across the country are opening up their doors to the public for National Mills Weekend (11-12 May). We've chosen some of our favourites.

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Edinburgh’s pioneering Wellington boot factory reborn
The people of Fountainbridge in Edinburgh are this weekend celebrating the reopening of a building they love - a symbol of their industrial past and a reminder of how their community was shaped by the Wellington boot.

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New exhibition tells story of Teesside's steelmaking history
Opening today (5 April) at Kirkleatham Museum in Redcar, Steel Stories brings together local voices for the museum's "best exhibition yet".

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Yorkshire Jubilee steam locomotive returns to rails after 25 years
Often referred to as the Yorkshire Jubilee, the Bahamas 45596 has recently benefited from a five-year volunteer-led restoration programme. Until February 2019, it had not hauled a train on the mainline for 25 years. Built by the London Midland & Scottish Railway Company, this historic engine was one

News
Iconic viaduct to be restored thanks to National Lottery money
The National Lottery Heritage Fund has awarded the Severn Valley Railway Charitable Trust nearly £854,000 to repair Falling Sands Viaduct, in the West Midlands, and to explore the railway’s early history.

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Windermere Jetty opens its doors with help from volunteer John
The £20million project received over £13m of funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, to revamp the site where the original Windermere Steamboat Museum stood and ensure that the historically significant collection of over 40 steamboats were not lost to history. Windermere Jetty is one of the

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7 top heritage openings to try this spring
As we say goodbye to the winter months, there are plenty of National Lottery-funded heritage attractions to discover across the UK.

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National Lottery support keeps memories of Tiger Bay burning bright
Thanks to National Lottery funding, a new project will look at the history of Tiger Bay through the eyes of people who came from across the world to work in Cardiff.

Argraff artist o'r Ddistyllfa Penderyn arfaethedig yn safle gweithfeydd copr hanesyddol Hafod Morfa Abertawe.
News
Breathing new life into Swansea’s old copperworks
Swansea's former Hafod Morfa Copperworks site will be transformed thanks to £3.5million from the National Lottery.