The Midland Railway Trust which runs the Midland Railway at Butterley near Ripley in Derbyshire has announced it has become an Accredited Museum.

Offering heritage rail journeys alongside a large Museum Complex where visitors are encouraged to investigate and enjoy. The museum has a huge array of artefacts relating to the Midland Railway, its predecessors and successors and offers a celebration of Derby as a centre of railway engineering excellence. Midland Railway also offers a programme of events that welcomes families, enthusiasts, specialist groups, school visits and researchers.

The Accreditation is a benchmark for well-run Museums and Galleries and is administered by Arts Council England via the UK Accreditation Partnership and means that Midland Railway – Butterley is both managed and governed to the nationally agreed industry standard demonstrating that it is taking good care of the collections, sharing them with visitors whilst keeping them safe into the future.

As well as celebrating Midland Railway-Butterleys excellent work, the Accreditation also creates exciting funding opportunities, allows them to host touring exhibits and also gain access to a host of professional advice and support.

The award also provides confidence to donors and sponsors wishing to support the museum in its bid to preserve heritage railways whilst inspiring future generations.

Chris Deeth, Senior Museum Volunteer, said: “We are delighted and proud to have achieved Accredited status. A small team of Trust volunteers have worked on the project to achieve this over the last 5 years. We have been so grateful for the support of our Accreditation Mentor, Hazel Crozier, College Curator, RAF College Cranwell; Museum Development East Midlands; Derby Museums Trust and members of the Derbyshire Museum and Heritage Forum. We must also thank the National Lottery Heritage Fund for a grant which pump primed the initial development of this project. Finally, we must acknowledge the work of those volunteers who have gone before us, who developed the Museum Collection and set up a system on which we have been able to build.”

Liz Johnson, Director Museums and Cultural Property at Arts Council England said: “We’re delighted that the Midland Railway Trust has been successful in gaining their Accreditation status. This means that their Collections will be looked after and maintained offering inspiration, enjoyment and learning for the local community and visitors to enjoy now and in the future.”

You can find out more on their website at https://www.midlandrailway-butterley.co.uk/