The UK Maritime Heritage Forum is an annual conference and networking event that brings together museum organisations, professionals, volunteers, and policymakers dedicated to preserving and promoting the UKโs rich maritime heritage. The event provides an opportunity to share knowledge, showcase best practice, and discuss challenges and opportunities facing the sector. Through talks, panels, and networking, the Forum helps strengthen collaboration and support in the maritime heritage sector.
The UK Maritime Heritage Forum will take place between 20 โ 22 October 2026 at The Historic Dockyard Chatham.
Join us from 18:00 for drinks, canapรฉs and entry to our temporary exhibition, In Turner’s Wake.
Following opening remarks, network with fellow delegates before the evening concludes at 20:00.
Wednesday 21 October
Day 2
08:30 – 09:50
Welcome & Keynote
Venue: Royal Dockyard Church
08:30 โ Registration, tea, coffee & pastries
09:15 โ Welcome
09:30 โ 09:50 โ Keynote Speaker (TBC)
Session 1 (09:50 – 11:00)
Maritime Place Making
Chair: Ken Hamilton
John Monasta and Sion Atkinson, A Shipโs Odyssey: The Arctic Corsairโs Final Journey โHomeโ and Its Impact on UK Maritime Heritage (Beckett Rankine/Hull City Council)
Dr Alex Ombler, Goole-built: Co-Creating with a Forgotten Shipbuilding Community, A Case Study (East Riding Councilโs Goole Museum)
Alexandra Wade, An overview of a changing climate on maritime heritage (Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust)
Hannah Bradbury-Crowther, Changing Audiences and Programming Challenges: Broadening Maritime Narratives Without Losing Core Engagement (Mercantile Marine Memorial Trust)
Ruth Boley, Schools, teachers and the Ocean environment (Royal Museums Greenwich)
Line Packer, Embodied – The Making of a Windermere Skiff (Windermere Jetty Museum)
12:35 โ 12:45 โ Q&A
12:45-13:15- AGM
13:15 โ 14:15 โ Lunch in the Dockyard Church
Session 3 (14:30 – 16:00)
Study Sessions
Ropery Experience, 60 minutes
Warships: Behind the Scenes Tour, 90 minutes
Collections: Behind the Scenes, 60 minutes
Royal Museums Greenwich Stores, 60min
Wednesday 21 October
Evening Dinner
18:00 – 22:00
Trafalgar Night Dinner
Join fellow delegates for a memorable Trafalgar Night Dinner, beginning with a drinks reception at 18:00, followed by a welcome speech and three-course dinner.
Thursday 22 October
Day 3
08:30 – 09:50
Welcome & Keynote
Venue: Royal Dockyard Church
08:30 โ Registration, tea, coffee & pastries
09:15 โ Welcome
09:30 โ 09:50 โ Keynote (TBC)
09:50 – 11:15
Funding Session & Workshop
Introduction to the workshop session: Hannane Ford (Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust), Projects and lessons learnt from Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust
10:05 โ 10:35 โ Breakout workshops
10:45 โ 11:15 โ Feedback in the Dockyard Church
11:15 โ 11:30 โ Break, tea, coffee & biscuits
11:30 – 13:00
Heritage Boat Owners
Chair: Louise Macfarlane
Julian and Alison Cable, The Association for Gaff Rig Sailing (Association for Gaff Rig Sailing)
Tony Woodward, The Future for Individual Vessel Owners Preserving our Maritime Heritage (Narrowboat owner)
Eulilee Brown, The role of heritage institutions in safeguarding maritime skills: a case study from Shetland and Orkney. (Doctoral Researcher at Nottingham Trent University)
12:50-13:00- Q&A
13:00 โ 14:00 โ Lunch in the Dockyard Church
14:00 – 14:25
5 Minute Updates
Linda Gordon, The Port of Bristol Authority Photographic Collection: Newly accessible through Bristol Museums Collections
(TBC) on Coastal Pasts – Connecting Community with Coastal Heritage at Sandwich Bay
Paige Canavan-Smith, Women in Maritime Roles / Connecting theatre with heritage sites
Mary Montagu-Scott, Updates from the Bucklerโs Hard Shipyard trust
Aaron Jaffer, Black and Asian Seafarers: A Visual History:
Aaron Jaffer: Adlard Coles โ Bloomsbury.
14:30 – 16:55
AI & Digital Technology
Chair: Meredith Greiling
Luca Rapisarda, Empowering large-scale research with AI data extraction (Lloyds Register Foundation)
John Beiner (Compass Games) and Dr Lucas Haasis (German Maritime Museum in Bremerhaven), Community, Crowdfunding, and a New Case for Video Games in Maritime Heritage.
15:10 โ 15:25 โ Break, tea, coffee & biscuits
Robert Rumble, When AI meets the Archive: How IWM is reimagining access to Sound Archive collections (Imperial War Museums)
15:45 โ 16:55 โ Q&A
16:55 – 17:10
Closing Session
16:55 โ 17:05โ Robin Diaper, Introduction to UKMHF Hull 2027
We are grateful to the following partners for supporting the UK Maritime Heritage Conference at the Historic Dockyard.
Beckett Rankine is the UK’s leading independent maritime civil engineering consultancy, renowned for delivering innovative and sustainable solutions for maritime infrastructure around the world. From ports, harbours, jetties, marinas to coastal defences, waterfront regeneration and maritime heritage projects, their expert teams plan, design, and deliver landmark developments that help shape the maritime sector.
With a reputation for pioneering engineering, award-winning projects and a strong commitment to research and innovation, Beckett Rankine continues to push the boundaries of maritime infrastructure design and delivery.
We are delighted to welcome Beckett Rankine as the Headline Sponsor of the UK Maritime Heritage Forum 2026. As part of the conference programme, John Monasta, Associate Director at Beckett Rankine, will be joined by Hull City Council to present a fascinating paper on the Hull Maritime Project. As the Arctic Corsair enters dry dock to complete an ambitious eight-year restoration journey, the presentation will explore how maritime heritage has been harnessed as a catalyst for regeneration, tourism and community renewal, and consider whether Hull’s landmark project provides a blueprint for the future of maritime heritage across the UK.
Through their support, in the form of ten bursary tickets, the Foundation is helping to remove barriers to participation, helping early-career professionals, volunteers, researchers and smaller organisations connect, share knowledge, and contribute to the future of maritime heritage.
As part of the forum, members of the Heritage Centre team at Lloydโs Register Foundation will present โEmpowering Large-Scale Research with AI Data Extractionโ, a paper exploring how artificial intelligence can help unlock the rich historical information contained within the Lloydโs Register of Shipping archives. Working with technology partner Cognitiv+, the project is converting historic shipping records from 1768โ1935 into searchable digital data, creating new opportunities for maritime research.
Historic records can often be difficult to work with, containing handwritten notes, complex annotations, and changing formats. By using AI alongside expert review, the project has successfully extracted and interpreted these records with a high level of accuracy, making the information far easier to access and analyse.
The next phase of the project will create a comprehensive dataset covering the entire collection, allowing researchers to search and compare vessel information on a scale that was previously impossible. Future development aims to link records across different editions of the register, enabling researchers to follow the life of individual ships over time and uncover new insights into maritime history. This work demonstrates how new technologies can help preserve the past while opening up exciting possibilities for future research.
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