50th anniversary conference 2024
Ironbridge image courtesy of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust
To mark the 50th anniversary of the death of LTC Rolt, the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust has partnered with academics from Keele University to organise a conference on 10 May 2024 to celebrate Tom's life and the continuing legacy of his work.
A generous donation to Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust in 2019 has enabled the completion of a catalogue of the entire Rolt Collection.
In August 2023, professional archivist Chris Pickford completed a year of work cataloguing and digitising the collection, with the support of members of the Shrewsbury and Wrekin branches of The Arts Society, co-ordinated by Tim Roberts. Around 30 Arts Society members contributed over 1,000 hours in voluntary time between them.
Following the completion of this substantial work, Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust, in partnership with Keele University, will host a conference entitled L.T.C. Rolt: Life, Work, Legacy, on Friday 10 May 2024.
The conference will be a major retrospective of Tom Rolt's life, work and legacy. It will seek to understand Rolt's drive and ambition, examine the full diversity of his written output, and chart the story of at least some of the organisations and initiatives he founded and supported.
The conference will be preceded by a drinks reception on 9 May and followed on 11 May by other activities, details of which are to be announced.
Submissions for the conference are welcomed. They may be on any aspect of Rolt's life, work, writing or historical context.
See also the Ironbridge Gorge Museum website.