No Heritage Lottery Fund cash for Taylor's of Loughborough

Bad news from the Leicester Mercury:

An historic Leicestershire business, which is one of the last of its kind in Britain, has been delivered a shocking blow. 

Taylor’s Bell Foundry is reeling from the news it has failed in its bid for a grant for more than £8 million, that was due to be used to secure its future.

The Heritage Lottery Fund cash was set to be used to make the Loughborough business, which has its roots in the 14 century, viable for the future. 

There seems little hope of a similar grant being approved in the future as a decline in lottery ticket sales means the Heritage Lottery Fund will not be giving such large grants out anymore.

A post on the Loughborough Bellfoundry Trust's Facebook page says:

The Grade II* Listed buildings are still on the Historic England Heritage At Risk Register and require substantial investment to undertake the urgent repairs that will secure their future and the future of British bell making.

That may sound a bit apocalyptic, but with the closure of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry last year, Taylor's is, to the best of my knowledge, the last bellfounder in the country.