As noted in our previous post, we hope to make an application to the National Archives for a grant, and their criteria require that a community group should partner with a GLAM organisation.

Roving Museum Chair Agnes Fough has had a long working relationship with Ashton’s Portland Basin Museum. In 2022, the museum approached Agnes to be part of a pilot project called Common Strands, which focussed on the local cotton industry and its links to the transatlantic slave trade. They also partnered with a local secondary school, with Agnes leading history workshops and artist Rachel Wood leading on an artistic response to the students’ historical learning. In 2025-26 they again worked with Agnes and Rachel. Agnes played a key role in helping the museum create a new dress which is now on display in the museum.

So Agnes approached Rachel Cornes, Museums Manager, to ask whether they would consider being our GLAM partner, and they have agreed to do so.

Portland Basin Museum is housed within the restored nineteenth century Ashton Canal Warehouse in Ashton-under-Lyne. The museum combines a lively modern interior with a peaceful canal side setting. It is an exciting family friendly museum, with something for all the family. Find out more about them on their website, here: https://www.tameside.gov.uk/librariesandleisure/museumsandgalleries/portland-basin-museum