Introduction

We've all visited a museum,an ancient monument,a heritage site,walked through a historic town maybe,which are packaged as a tourist attraction.During your visit you probably would have been introduced to the stories of the place you were visiting.Perhaps this information was communicated to you by an information board,a film,a tour guide,or even delivered to you by your phone?And apart from telling you about that place,perhaps one of these methods of communication made you laugh,made you feel sad,or you recognised that you have had a similar experience albeit in another context,or revealed something to you that you hadn't known before?Perhaps it made you stop and think about the lives,the fortunes and misfortunes of the people that lived their lives out at that place.Perhaps you felt you made a connection with the place?

It is heritage interpretation that aims to deliver these experiences to you.Because the place you visited is,more than likely,culturally important—be that locally,nationally or internationally—it's crucial that the messages that we communicate about that place are effective.(https://www.daowen.com)

If the owners or the mangers of these heritage sites want to engage with their visitors,make their histories clear,understandable,engaging,relevant,memorable;if they want their audiences to gain an insight into their heritage and to value it,to understand why its worth preserving,then they need to deliver effective and compelling interpretation.

Owners or managers of heritage sites may already know the value of their industrial or cold war heritage,but if they cannot communicate these values to their visitors then ultimately their cause is lost;they fail their sites,they fail the past.