Neil MacGregor presents a new series for BBC Radio Four celebrating the role and ambition of museums the length and breadth of the country, and in the process he'll be find answers to the question ‘What are Museums For in 2022’.

He begins the second week of his series visiting Museums that grapple with the appeal of looking back to the power and purpose of the 18th and 19th centuries. How can they tell the story of what often appears to be industrial decline while offering a positive vision for the future. Today he's in Derby, at the heart of the Industrial Midlands, where factory production began. Although the museum's collection includes a massive Rolls Royce Jet engine and a deconstructed Toyota car, the object they've chosen to illustrate their ambitions is a huge Harrison clock mechanism that used to run the city's Guildhall Turret clock. It had been in the museum's stores for many years but working with apprentices from the clock makers Smiths of Derby, it has now been restored. That process makes it the ideal choice for what is now Derby's 'The Museum of Making'.

Museums have always been telescopes trained on the past to help locate a sense of place in the present. Neil believes that role is an active one, responding to changes in the people museums serve and the shifting social and cultural landscape they inhabit. After spending much of his life at the centre of our national Museum life in London, Neil is taking to the road to discover more about the extraordinary work being done in Museums outside the capital, from Stornoway to Stowmarket, and Belfast to Birmingham.

In each episode he visits a single museum, inviting them to choose an object from their collections which they feel best illustrates their civic role, and the way they relate and want to relate to their local audience. Very rarely have they chosen a crown jewel from their often priceless collections. More often it's an object with a particular local resonance, or which helps tackle episodes from the past which are being viewed very differently by citizens in the 21st century.

He’ll be visiting the great national museums of Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland, as well as major city institutions in Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool and elsewhere. And in spite of the challenges of the last two years, everywhere he meets passionate teams who are dedicated to providing a unique experience for both local audiences and visitors from further afield.

Neil writes: “What’s going on in our museums is at once challenging and exciting and it can only really be understood by visiting as many as possible and finding out how they have approached what is a vital role in providing a sense of local, regional and national identity.”

Producer - Tom Alban
Original music composed by Phil Channell Show less