National Transport Trust's Red Wheel (RW) heritage plaque scheme seeks to highlight the most important sites of transport heritage and bring them to the attention of a wider and younger audience, by the erection of bespoke commemorative plaques backed up with a comprehensive website.
Whereas English Heritage 'Blue Plaques' commemorate significant people, Red Wheels commemorate significant places and 'things'.
The Red Wheel programme is recognised by English Heritage as the principal transport heritage programme ... and RWs are deliberately precisely the same size as the authentic EH 'Blue Plaques'.
Red Wheel site nominations are invited and evaluated for:
- their importance as sites of engineering and transport development.
- the rarity of their features.
- existing public awareness - where a 'hidden gem' may be deemed more worthy than a 'Waterloo Station'.
- public access / 'something to see' / likely to make a satisfying visit.
To nominate a site for a Red Wheel plaque Please complete the on-line nomination form.
You will also need to have some digital photographs of the site available to be emailed to the Trust during the evaluation process.
The Red Wheel programme was originally piloted by National Transport Trust in Derbyshire in 2009, before being rolled-out across the country.
To date, over 175 RWs have been unveiled and details of over 900 significant heritage locations are recorded in the Trust's heritage site database. The majority of RWs have arisen as a result of the Trust’s own research but nominations are welcomed from members of the public.
RW plaques, which cost approx £760 incl. VAT and delivery (we are sometimes able to achieve a small discount), are mostly funded by the Trust but contributions to costs are welcome and recipients are expected to assist with any necessary applications for Listed Building Consent, erection of the plaque etc.
Red Wheel Heritage Plaque – A Guide for Site Holders v6 (download updated PDF document)