The Industrious East puts people at the centre of Industrial Heritage. This Regional Route celebrates the industrious people of the east of England, their successes and achievements. Whether engineers and innovators or the working people and their centuries of effort and toil, the Route brings them all to life. It is part of ERIH— the European Route of Industrial Heritage — that stretches across the continent. more

Industrialisation changed the face of Europe. Consequently it has left us a rich industrial heritage. A gigantic network of sites spread all over the continent. It only has to be brought back to life. That is what the European Route of Industrial Heritage (ERIH) is doing. Come with us on an exciting journey of discovery along the milestones of European industrial history.

Each region in Europe has its own identity. In this respect European industrial heritage is just like food. Its strength lies in the fact that it unites many different traditions within a single idea. The Regional Routes link landscapes and sites which have left their mark on European industrial history. Germany´s Ruhrgebiet, for example. Or South Wales, a key region in the "world´s first industrial nation". Regional Routes are the smaller, but no less important, cogs in the large machine.

ERIH is a network of the most important industrial heritage sites in Europe. It is the common link between them all. From disused production plants to industrial landscape parks and inter-active technology museums. The backbone of the route consists of the so-called anchor points: the outstanding industrial monuments in the former heartlands of the Industrial Revolution, Great Britain, Netherlands and Germany. But this is just the beginning. For ERIH intends to grow further - right to the borders of Europe.