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DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260304T190000
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UID:16817-1772650800-1772658000@www.newcomen.com
SUMMARY:'Housing the Great Exhibition in 1851' by Dr. Jim Andrew
DESCRIPTION:Image Credit: The Original Crystal Palace in Hyde Park – Painted for H. R. H. Prince Albert by Messrs Nash\, Haghe & Roberts R.A. \nJoining us IN PERSON – just turn up\, there’s no need to register\nJoining us ONLINE – click on this zoom link before the event to join in \nThis is a joint event with Thinktank\, Birmingham Science Museum \nThe Great Exhibition planned for the summer of 1851 was languishing in a committee until\, in June 1850\, Joseph Paxton was asked for a design of a building to go in Hyde Park\, London.  \nThe temporary building was possibly the largest single constructed building anywhere in the World\, yet it was designed within a month and opened in ten months. \nAbout the Speaker\nDr Jim Andrew is a former museum manager at Birmingham Science Museum\, and is currently Chairman of Newcomen Midlands.
URL:https://www.newcomen.com/activity/housing-the-great-exhibition-in-1851-by-dr-jim-andrew/
LOCATION:BIRMINGHAM Think Tank\, Birmingham Science Museum\,\, Curzon Street\, Birmingham\, West Midlands\, B4 7XG
CATEGORIES:Shed Talks (Newcomen Online),UK - Midlands Branch
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.newcomen.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/26-03-04_HousingTheGreatExhibitionin1851-V3_1920x1280.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="Newcomen - Midland Branch":MAILTO:midlands@newcomen.com
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260311T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260311T193000
DTSTAMP:20260416T154534
CREATED:20250915T150907Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250922T090837Z
UID:16540-1773252000-1773257400@www.newcomen.com
SUMMARY:'Vernacular Practice: Joseph Whitworth’s papers on Flatness & Threads' by John Gardner
DESCRIPTION:This event is both an in-person and on-line event. No need to register – just come along or click this zoom link to join on-line. \nThis lecture examines the relationship between workshop practice and standards for threads and flatness by analysing two influential papers by Joseph Whitworth\, which achieved a broad readership after being published in the 6d Mechanics’ Magazine in 1841. These papers are: \n1. “Plane Metallic Surfaces and the Proper Mode of Preparing Them” (read at the British Association meeting in Glasgow in 1840\, published in Mechanics’ Magazine\, no. 910\, 16 January 1841\, pp. 39-42).\n2. “A Uniform System of Screw Threads” (read to the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1841\, published in Mechanics’ Magazine\, no. 951\, 30 October 1841\, pp. 340-344). \nThe argument is that these papers remain relevant in modern engineering standards. Whitworth’s proposal for standard screw threads significantly contributed to the construction of the Crystal Palace in 1851\, which was completed in just 190 days using approximately 30\,000 nuts and bolts. This was achieved despite there being no standardized thread form until 1905. The contemporary engineer James Nasmyth highlighted the chaos and expense caused by the lack of a standardized thread form\, where each bolt and nut was unique\, leading to confusion and inefficiency: \n‘No system was observed as to “pitch”\, i.e.\, the number of threads to the inch\, nor was any rule followed as to the form of these threads. Every bolt and nut was thus a specialty in itself […] all bolts and their corresponding nuts had to be marked as belonging to each other; and any mixing of them together led to endless trouble\, hopeless confusion\, and enormous expense.’ (James Nasmyth\, Engineer: An Autobiography (1883)\, p.131.) \nWhitworth’s proposal advocated for a practical\, workshop-based method to promote his thread form\, rather than relying solely on theoretical principles. \nResearch for this talk has involved working with the London Science Museum and the Crystal Palace Museum. Original bolts from the Crystal Palace and towers were examined\, measured\, and remanufactured establishing that Whitworth’s vernacular thread form was used to build the Palace. The plane metallic surfaces standard that Whitworth helped achieve\, which relied on hand-scraping\, initially annoyed his workers who thought hand work a retrograde step after using machines. Nevertheless\, the method he published on stands to this day as process through which to achieve a high degree of flatness. In this talk\, John Gardner will discuss Whitworth’s papers on flatness and threads\, their origins in workshop practice\, and their legacy in engineering standards. \nAbout the Speaker\nJohn Gardner is Dean of the Doctoral School at Anglia Ruskin University.  \nJohn’s recent publications include: ‘Thread form at the Crystal Palace’ (Journal for the History of Engineering and Technology\, 2024); The 1830s\, with David Stewart (CUP\, 2024); ‘Waterloo to Peterloo‘ in The Oxford Handbook to Romantic Prose\, ed. by Robert Morrison (OUP\, 2024); ‘Liberalism’ in The 1820s\, Innovation and Diffusion ed. by Matt Sangster and Jon Mee. (Edinburgh University Press\, 2023); ‘Shelley’s Steamship’ Keats-Shelley Journal 71 (2022); and ‘A Dangerous Education; the Early Mechanics’ Institutes’ in Institutions as Networks (CUP\, 2022).  \nJohn is currently working on a monograph entitled ‘Engineering Romanticism’.
URL:https://www.newcomen.com/activity/vernacular-practice-joseph-whitworths-papers-on-flatness-threads-by-john-gardner/
LOCATION:LONDON  Alan Baxter Gallery\, 75 Cowcross St\, Clerkenwell\, London\, EC1M 6EL
CATEGORIES:Shed Talks (Newcomen Online),UK - London Branch
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.newcomen.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/26-03-11_VernacularPracticeJosephWhitworth_1920x1280.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="Newcomen - London Branch":MAILTO:office@newcomen.com
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DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260323T183000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260323T200000
DTSTAMP:20260416T154534
CREATED:20250922T103829Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260128T150440Z
UID:16575-1774290600-1774296000@www.newcomen.com
SUMMARY:'W. G. Fearnsides FRS: a geological model of vision and versatility' by Duncan Hawley
DESCRIPTION:Joining us IN PERSON – just turn up\, there’s no need to register\nJoining us ON-Line – click this zoom link (Passcode 114394) \nW. G. Fearnsides (1879–1968) was born in West Yorkshire. He was a first-class scholar in geology at the University of Cambridge and following an interesting interlude in the USA\, he returned to Cambridge\, initially as a freelance geologist\, then working in the Geology Department\, contributing to their focus of research on the rocks of north and central Wales. In 1913\, he was appointed the first occupant of the Sorby Chair of Geology at the University of Sheffield\, establishing the Geology Department at Sheffield and deciding to follow similar veins of research to Sheffield geologist H.C. Sorby. \nIn his time\, Fearnsides was an outstanding geologist of remarkable versatility\, especially in the fields of applied science. One of his key legacies was a better understanding of how to apply geology and the importance of research on resources\, especially coal\, iron ore and local refractory materials. Another legacy is in highlighting the importance of ‘home geology’ for national resilience and security. Arguably\, the raw-material-based industries of Sheffield and beyond would not have been so productive and resourceful in two world wars without the efforts of W. G. Fearnsides. \nW. G. Fearnsides was honoured by many scientific and professional societies. He received the gold medal of the Surveyors’ Institution in 1913 and the Greenwell Medal from the North of England Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. He was an honorary member of the Institute of Mining Engineers. \nAbout the Speaker\nDuncan Hawley is a native of Sheffield\, born and brought up in Wadsley on the northern edge of the city\, overlooking the industry in the Don Valley. One of his abiding memories of his youth is the sound of regular thumps from drop forges that drifted up from the valley. As Ken Hawley’s son you might expect him to be well-versed on tools – but he readily admits he knows ‘nowt’ about tools\, although he probably imbibed more about Sheffield tools and its industrial history than most. He always refers to a turnscrew\, never a screwdriver (which is an American term). \nDuncan attended High Storrs School\, then studied geology at UCL\, Aberystwyth and Oxford\, then followed a varied career as a geography and geoscience educator in schools\, field centres\, universities\, curriculum development and teacher education. He is known for his work on teaching physical geography. Throughout\, he maintained an interest in the history of geology\, and probably inherited something of his father’s collecting trait as he now holds a collection of early geological maps and other artefacts. \nDuncan is a Fellow of the Geological Society of London and Chairperson of the History of Geology Group and regularly publishes on the history of geology. Additionally\, he is active in geoheritage and geoconservation as Chairperson of the Sheffield Area Geology Trust and he keeps his hand in with local industrial heritage as a trustee of the Ken Hawley Collection Trust.
URL:https://www.newcomen.com/activity/w-g-fearnsides-frs-a-geological-model-of-vision-and-versatility-by-duncan-hawley/
LOCATION:SHEFFIELD Kelham Island Museum\, Alma Street\, Sheffield\, South Yorkshire\, S3 8RG
CATEGORIES:Shed Talks (Newcomen Online),UK - South Yorkshire Branch
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ORGANIZER;CN="Newcomen - South Yorkshire Branch":MAILTO:meetings.syorks@newcomen.com
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