Our Spring Event and AGM was held online on Friday 23rd May. This event was a taster for our Annual Conference to be held in Stirling in October 2025 on the subject of ‘Narratives and memories of industrial work and heritage’. The Spring Event featured three speakers:

STICK Conference STICK will hold our annual conference on Friday 11th October 2024. The theme of this conference will be Industrial Heritage Skills and it will be held at Discovery Point home to the world famous RRS Discovery. The STICK conference on Industrial Heritage Skills believes that it is evident that now, more than ever, industrial heritage skills are at risk and it’s only by having these conversations now can we do something about skills retention before they are entirely lost. Bookings now open here. Download our flyer to share with others. Earlier this year Historic Environment Scotland launched the Skills Investment Plan in collaboration with Skills Development Scotland (SDS) and sector stakeholders such as the Our Place in Time Skills and Expertise Group. This plan aims to ensure Scotland has the skills it needs to promote, manage and protect our historic environment. The STICK conference will explore whether this is the case, what is the status of Industrial Heritage Skills in Scotland today and share different projects and initiatives underway to address the challenges that managing and caring for industrial heritage collections present. The conference will feature the following speakers: Mel Ruth Oakley (DHT), Matthew Moran (HMS Unicorn), David Mann (SMM), Ross McKirdy (GTM) and Jim Mitchell (Conservation Engineers). There will also be a tour of RSS Discovery and a discussion panel on the future of industrial heritage skills. Programme 09.45 – 10:15 Registration 10.15 – 10.35 ‘Get Ready to Doc n Roll’, Mel Ruth Oakley (Dundee Heritage Trust) 10.35 – 11.00 ‘HMS Unicorn Conservation Challenges’, Matthew Moran (HMS Unicorn) 11.00 – 11.15 BREAK 11.15 – 11.40 ‘Powering Our People’ David Mann (Scottish Maritime Museum) 11.40 – 12.05 ‘Are industrial skills at risk in the heritage sector?’ Ross McKirdy (Grampian Transport Museum) 12.05 – 12.30 ‘The Skills crisis: How do we fix it?’ Jim Mitchell (Industrial Heritage Consulting) 12.30 – 13.10 LUNCH (40 minutes) 13.10 – 14.10 TOUR: RRS Discovery conservation project 14.10 – 14.50 Discussion Panel 14.50 – 15.15 Next Steps, Final Remarks and thanks FLYER Accomodation Attendees to the Conference who wish to stay over the night before and/or after the STICK conference can save 20% at the The Sleeperz Hotel (immediately above the station and a pedestrian crossing away from the venue) in Dundee. A 20% discount is available by using the code HERITAGE when booking. Early booking is advised. Pre-conference visit Also, there are a few places available for a visit to Verdant Works Museum, West Henderson Wynd, Dundee on Thursday 10th October, 2:15pm-3:30p. You can join Collections Curator Mel Ruth Oakley, who will be speaking at the STICK conference the following day, to see a trio of items from the costume collection and discuss the difficulties collecting the clothing worn by the working class who manufactured the textile, jute.  This will be followed by a demonstration of the textile machinery which was used to turn jute from fibre to fabric. There are limited places on a first come first served basis. Please contact the Curator at collections@dundeeheritage.co.uk for further details. Call for Papers STICK had a Call for Papers in early 2024 and welcomed a wide range of submissions. Proposals for papers (20 mins long) might include, but are not limited to, the following: What are Industrial Heritage Skills and why are they important? Identifying skills gaps for industrial collections Training opportunities Partnership working Materials training Overview of who is doing what and where regarding Industrial Heritage Skills

On Friday 3rd May, STICK will host its 2024 AGM and Spring Event with two talks about Maritime Heritage Skills from representatives involved in the HMS Unicorn and RSS Discovery ships. Our speakers and their talk titles are: “HMS Unicorn: Past practice and Future challenges” Matthew Moran, Director, HMS Unicorn Museum and Development “Lost skills and Forgotten Materials: RRS Discovery” Jim Mitchell, Industrial Heritage Consulting Ltd The event will also include the STICK AGM and papers relating to this will be circulated to members ahead of proceedings. If you would like to join STICK you can find out more and sign up for our mailing list here https://stickssn.org/get-involved/ . This will be an online event and registration is via zoom here.

The Scottish Transport and Industry Collections Knowledge Network (STICK) annual conference was held on Friday 27th October 2023 online. This followed on from the themed conferences STICK held in 2020 and 2021 on Art and Industry and Photography and Industry. Speakers included: The Making of The Big Mill (1963), Justin Parkes, North Lanarkshire CouncilYou Don’t See it Anymore, Tracey Fearnehough & Holger Mohaupt, Room 8 StudioThe Use of Moving Image in Recording Industrial Subjects, Miriam McDonald, Historic Environment ScotlandRevisiting Nuclear Film: Factual, Fictional and the In-Between, Gair Dunlop, University of DundeeOpencast Broadcast: Resurfacing Other Coal Stories, María A. Vélez-Serna, University of Stirling Tickets are FREE and available to book via Eventbrite click here The conference was held online and details of how to access circulated nearer the time.

Snapshot in Time: photography and industrial heritage STICK held its 2021 conference on Wednesday 17th November 2021 – “Snapshot in Time” – to discuss the importance of photography as a documentation and advocacy tool for industrial and transport heritage.

STICK’s online Spring 2021 event and AGM fell on 22nd April, also International Earth Day. Focussing on the themes of the future of heritage combustion engines and green initiatives, the event explored justifying, offsetting or sustainably running engines, navigating new climate regulations at local and national levels, funding partnerships, and the future of running heritage engines.

Our 2020 conference explored art and industry, with keynote Sue Jane Taylor joined by speakers from across the globe.

STICK Conference 2019 Summary: 100 Years of Women in Engineering” STICK held its 2019 conference at the Glasgow Women’s Library on November 6th. We welcomed a host of superb speakers and colleagues from heritage, culture, engineering and research backgrounds, as well as interested individuals.

Call for papers: 100 Years of Women in Engineering The Scottish Transport and Industrial Collections Knowledge Network (STICK) invites proposals for talks (around 30 minutes long) at our annual conference on 6th November 2019 at Glasgow Women’s Library.

Watt a Great Idea! 250 years of ethically curating, interpreting and working Watt engines, and the STICK Annual General Meeting

STICK Conference 2018 The 2018 conference was held at the Scottish Maritime Museum, Irvine on Friday 26th October on the subject of ‘Old Heritage, New Uses’.

STICK Conference 2017 The 2017 conference will be held Perth Museum and Art Gallery on Friday 29th September 2017. The subject is ‘Realising the Benefits of Our Industrial Collections’.

STICK Conference 2016 The 2016 conference was on the subject of ‘Unsung Heroes of Our Industrial and Technological Heritage’. It was held in Edinburgh at the National Museum of Scotland on Friday 28th October 2016.

Out of Africa: The Quest for a Locomotive for the Riverside Museum A free public talk will be given by Jim Mitchell, Principal of Industrial Heritage Consulting Ltd at 7:30pm on Monday 25 April 2016. The venue will be St. Cuthbert's Church, 5 Lothian Road, Edinburgh. This event is organised by the Wensleydale Railway Association, Scottish Branch. You can find more details on a downloadable flyer here.

STICK Conference 2015 The 2015 conference was on the topic of Collecting Steam. It was held in St John's Episcopal Church Hall, Greenock, on 17th October 2015. The conference programme can be viewed STICK Conference 2015 Programme

Watt’s The Story? Celebrating James Watt 2015-2019

STICK Conference 2014 The Annual Scottish Transport and Industry Collections and Knowledge network Conference took place on 18th October 2014 at the McManus Collections Unit in Dundee. The topic was ‘The Scottish Diaspora: International Mobility of Industry, Technology, Ideas, Products, People’.

STICK Conference 2014 The theme of the conference was the Scottish Diaspora: International Mobility of Industry, Technology, Ideas, Products, People.

STICK conference 2013 The Annual Scottish Transport and Industry Collections and Knowledge network Conference took place on Saturday 19th October 2013 at Scottish Historic Buildings Trust, Geddes Room, Riddle’s Court, Lawnmarket, Edinburgh ‘FORM OR FUNCTION: What is more important?’

Doors Open Days Since 2011, STICK has worked with the Scottish Civic Trust to help celebrate Scotland’s industrial and transport past by highlighting those organisations and sites participating in the Doors Open Days across Scotland.

STICK thinktank 2012 The 5th Annual STICK conference took the form of a discussion thinktank and was held on Saturday 20th October at Riverside Museum, Glasgow.

Steam Engines in Scotland – knowledge exchange STICK ran a knowledge exchange event in May 2012, entitled ‘Steam Engines in Scotland’.

STICK Newcomen and Beyond Event

STICK 2011 Conference Some of the talks and presentations are available to download below.

Scotland in Motion Conference – Call for papers Economic & Social History Society of Scotland – Spring Conference, Glasgow, 6-7 May 2011 – CALL FOR PAPERS.  Call for papers deadline: 31 January 2011

2011 Conference

3rd Annual STICK Conference The third annual STICK conference took place on the 16th October 2010 at Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum. This year’s theme was: Well oiled: the sustainability of industrial heritage provision in Scotland.

STICK Conference 2009 Our 2nd annual conference was held at The Scottish Coal Mining Museum, Newtongrange on Saturday 17th October.