Wishlist #20; A National Museum of Brewing
We have some great national museums; maritime, science, railway. Er, computing. Um, customs and excise... so where's the National Museum of Brewing? After all, it's an industry revolutionised by transportation, embodied by science. Enhanced by computing? Often shafted by HMRC...
The closest we've had was the Bass Museum in Burton-on-Trent. MolsonCoors closed that down in 2008 and it has to be said that it was looking rather tired and emotional at the end of its days. That may be the result of under-investment; it has to be said that allowing free entry for CAMRA members - surely a key visitor market - didn't seem to be the most commonsense business model.
We may well yet see that collection rehoused. But a brewing museum is too great a concept to be entrusted to a single brewing concern. As an industry which has shaped the rural and urban landscape of this country; that has played a pivotal role in economic and social history; that reveals something about the very core of our national identity... we deserve a National Museum of Brewing.
Something that's dynamic and interactive. Where machines work. Where shires tramp around. Where aromas and flavours can be found. Where brewery archives - not just Bass's - can be bequeathed. Where universities develop formal partnerships for research into brewing science and social history. Where a microbrewery brews - in those historic styles I've mentioned a few weeks ago.
Not a visitor centre, an exhibition, a stultified archive. But a living, breathing, respiring, fermenting place.
There are a few sites in a certain East Staffordshire town that would be suitable. Political will, brewer's desire and popular support could combine to give us the museum that all topers deserve.
The closest we've had was the Bass Museum in Burton-on-Trent. MolsonCoors closed that down in 2008 and it has to be said that it was looking rather tired and emotional at the end of its days. That may be the result of under-investment; it has to be said that allowing free entry for CAMRA members - surely a key visitor market - didn't seem to be the most commonsense business model.
We may well yet see that collection rehoused. But a brewing museum is too great a concept to be entrusted to a single brewing concern. As an industry which has shaped the rural and urban landscape of this country; that has played a pivotal role in economic and social history; that reveals something about the very core of our national identity... we deserve a National Museum of Brewing.
Something that's dynamic and interactive. Where machines work. Where shires tramp around. Where aromas and flavours can be found. Where brewery archives - not just Bass's - can be bequeathed. Where universities develop formal partnerships for research into brewing science and social history. Where a microbrewery brews - in those historic styles I've mentioned a few weeks ago.
Not a visitor centre, an exhibition, a stultified archive. But a living, breathing, respiring, fermenting place.
There are a few sites in a certain East Staffordshire town that would be suitable. Political will, brewer's desire and popular support could combine to give us the museum that all topers deserve.
Sounds like a terrific idea. Of course, in this day and age, that sort of thing would be much, much easier to set something up online...
ReplyDeleteIt could be Wiki-based, with an associated blog for news and updates, and could collate memorabilia (images & video) from beer lovers & historians everywhere, it would be a massive undertaking and a real labour of love. But if, say, CAMRA were to devote some financial resources to it, or if someone with the gift of the gab were able to persuade some of the UK's brewers to stump up a supporting annual stipend, then it would definitely be feasible.
Might not be as good as the bricks-and-mortar real thing, but it would be able to open its virtual doors to a much wider audience as a result.