‘Hidden stories’: Historic England funds 56 projects on working-class heritage

Factories, nightclubs, lifesavers and pigeon-fanciers to be celebrated in films and community storytelling

Stories of an old bacon factory in Wiltshire, a rollerskating hotspot in Birmingham and a pigeon fanciers' enclave in West Yorkshire are to be celebrated as part of an attempt to preserve England's working-class heritage.

A beloved north-west nightclub, a London pub that helped launch the careers of 1970s and 80s pop and rock stars, and the bravery of a volunteer lifesaving brigade will also star in more than 50 projects funded by Historic England.