*** Thank you Richard for those kind words,and yes I will be writing for many years ahead,there is so much of interest to analyse and the diary blog is one way that will give people a better insight.
You will just love Ironbridge,dont forget to visit the working museum at Blists hill,you can get a ticket that enables you and your good wife to visit all of the establishments in that area,walk across the bridge to the other end and look carefully at the iron girders and how they were rivetted together,there is also a shop mid-way that sells small booklets etc.
Down river there is a modern equivalent of the bridge,however it has non of the character of the original which has stood the test of time.
The Severn Valley railway is wonderful,a real working railway run on a very professional basis,the lathes that are used to turn the huge wheels are worth looking at if the workshop is open,hard to imagine now that the whole set up was the inspiration of the late MP General Nabaro,what a man of foresight !
The much lamented and dear Fred will always be remembered,his programmes were and still are an inspiration to everyone interested in our industrial heritage,I just hope that in some small way his workshop or part of it will be preserved for the future,also the small mineshaft that caused so many problems in his garden needs saving.
I think that people are now beginning to appreciate our industrial heritage more than ever before,like a lot of things a lot has been lost, for example we had a wonderful steam plant ripped from a building at Sutton Stop near Coventry,it should have stayed there and been a working feature.
In Birmingham we have Sarem mill,another very interesting feature of that age,the wooden cog type wheels mesmerise you when in action.
As they say Richard 'Beauty is in the eye of the beholder' and how true this is,but the very people who made these machines also fascinate me.
Great to share my thoughts with everyone.
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Originally Posted by Bunkerbarge Barry,
I have to say I do appreciate your writings and thoroughly enjoy reading them. I sincerely hope that you may continue to write for masny years to come.
Now industrial heritage is a subject that always makes my ears prick up. My hero was Fred Dibnah and one of the most interesting TV programs I have seen in a long time was "Seven Wonders of the Industrial World". Absolutely fascinating stuff. You need to sail through the Panama canal then watch the episode about how it was made. The vision to do it is mind blowing.
I am also curently reading a book about the history of marine engineering written in 1937. It explains some of the very early steam engines that used sea water as feed. The brine pumps removed the concentrated brine and went through heat exchangers to warm the incoming feed water. Probably bore the rear off most people but I really enjoy coming up with such stuff.
We have one of the richest and most amazing industrial heritages in the world and we should all be proud of that fact and occassionally spend a bit of time learning about it.
This summer I am going on a day trip on a steam train to visit Iron Bridge in Shropshire. The story of how that was assembled is also absolutely amazing and I know I will just be in awe of the structure. |