BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Newcomen.com - ECPv6.17.5.1//NONSGML v1.0//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH X-WR-CALNAME:Newcomen.com X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://www.newcomen.com X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Newcomen.com REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H X-Robots-Tag:noindex X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Europe/London BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:+0000 TZOFFSETTO:+0100 TZNAME:BST DTSTART:20250330T010000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0000 TZNAME:GMT DTSTART:20251026T010000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:+0000 TZOFFSETTO:+0100 TZNAME:BST DTSTART:20260329T010000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0000 TZNAME:GMT DTSTART:20261025T010000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:+0000 TZOFFSETTO:+0100 TZNAME:BST DTSTART:20270328T010000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0000 TZNAME:GMT DTSTART:20271031T010000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:+0000 TZOFFSETTO:+0100 TZNAME:BST DTSTART:20280326T010000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0000 TZNAME:GMT DTSTART:20281029T010000 END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261208T180000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261208T193000 DTSTAMP:20260820T112830Z CREATED:20260820T112830Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260820T112830Z UID:16946-1796752800-1796758200@www.newcomen.com SUMMARY:'Metroland - Engineering\, Economy & Social Change 1863-2026' by Dr Mark Pegg DESCRIPTION:Image Credit: Lecturer’s copyright \nThis 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. \nDr Mark Pegg discusses how one railway line changed London social and economic life by connecting city workers with the Chiltern Hills and beyond. The talk explores the civil\, mechanical and electrical engineering challenges of the steam powered and electric rolling stock\, that enabled trains to carry passengers and goods on steep gradients from London to Buckinghamshire while supplying the rapidly growing London market with coal\, fresh food and dry goods. \nMetroland was made more famous by Sir John Betjeman who wittily observed the change the railway brought to new London suburbs that grew up to provide homes in a rural environment with smoke-free air for London’s rapidly growing population\, particularly the workers who commuted daily into the heart of the City.\nThe phrase ‘Live in Metroland’ was coined by the Metropolitan Railway to promote the line in 1915 used until it became part of the London Transport Board in 1933. \nOpened in 1863\, the Metropolitan Line from Baker Street to Farringdon was the first underground railway in the world\, extending to Aldgate in 1876. At first\, it was strictly an inner-city line\, extension to Aylesbury in 1898 transformed the line into rural Buckinghamshire\, also sharing tracks with the Great Central’s ‘London Extension’ which ran into London Marylebone. Electrification went live to Rickmansworth in 1925 and later to Amersham and Chesham in 1961. Metroland is still changing today with more homes and the construction of HS2 and East-West the revival of the old Oxford to Cambridge ‘Varsity’ line. \nAbout the Speaker\nDr Mark Pegg read history at Oxford University where his published doctoral thesis was British Broadcasting and Society 1918-1939. \nHe worked in the UK coal mining industry in deep mines and headquarters where he was the Chairman’s personal assistant and also researched the modern coal mining history. After working as a management consultant\, Mark became a Director of a Business School and CEO of the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education. He has extensive experience in the UK\, Europe\, Middle East\, Far East and Africa with clients including central governments\, Rolls-Royce plc and the UK Senior Civil Service. \nMark is a Companion of the Chartered Management Institute and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. URL:https://www.newcomen.com/activity/metroland-engineering-economy-social-change-1863-2026-by-dr-mark-pegg/ 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/2026/08/26-12-08_MetrolandEngineeringEconomySocial-Change_1920x1280.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Newcomen - London Branch":MAILTO:office@newcomen.com END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20270113T180000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20270113T193000 DTSTAMP:20260911T140240Z CREATED:20260911T134906Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260911T140240Z UID:17016-1799863200-1799868600@www.newcomen.com SUMMARY:'Detroit on Thames – How William Morris built a car factory & changed Oxford forever' by Maurice East DESCRIPTION:Image Credit: By kind permission of Maurice East \nThis 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. \nBorn in 1877 at the height of the British Empire\, William Morris grew up in the villages of Cowley on the rural fringes of east Oxford. He left school at the age of 14 with no formal qualifications\, but it was soon evident that Morris was a natural mechanic and instinctive businessman. \nMorris became a teenage entrepreneur\, progressing from repairing bicycles in his parents front room\, to building his own motor garage and developing a prototype for the Morris Oxford and Morris Cowley cars. These vehicles which would earn him a vast personal fortune and result in the construction of a giant assembly plant at Cowley.\n \nWith collaborations with industries in the Midlands and America\, the new factory employed cutting edge technologies and offered higher wages to local people. The rapid growth of the business in the 1920s and 30s would attract tens of thousands of migrant workers from across the UK. The social and economic changes which followed transformed Oxford into a blue collar boom town with sprawling housing estates and a fierce reputation for union militancy.\n \nThis twentieth century industrialisation challenged the centuries old power balance between gown and town. For a few decades it appeared that the future of Oxford lay in chimney stacks not dreaming spires.\n \nAbout the Speaker\nMaurice East is a local historian who was born and raised in Oxford. He interprets the history of the city through the lens of growing up as a ‘townie’ and shines a spotlight on stories located off the usual tourist trail. His main area of research is the history of car making at Cowley and how the arrival of industry\, cars and blue collar workers changed Oxford in the early twentieth century. \nAlong with public speaking\, Maurice devises and leads unique walking tours around the city. He has worked on projects with the Museum of Oxford and the Oxford Preservation Trust. \nMaurice is also employed as a consultant at the History Faculty at Oxford University for the Making Cars project – The Cowley Car History Project | Community History. URL:https://www.newcomen.com/activity/detroit-on-thames-how-william-morris-built-a-car-factory-changed-oxford-forever-by-maurice-east/ 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/2026/09/27-01-13_DetroitOnThames_William-Morris_Oxford_1920x1280.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Newcomen - London Branch":MAILTO:office@newcomen.com END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20270210T180000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20270210T193000 DTSTAMP:20260911T142126Z CREATED:20260911T142126Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260911T142126Z UID:17019-1802282400-1802287800@www.newcomen.com SUMMARY:'Power In Trust: A long view of Coal-Fired Power\, fm Thomas Newcomen to Christopher Hinton' by Ben Russell DESCRIPTION:Image Credit: The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum\, London \nThis 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. \nThe closure of the coal-fired power station at Ratcliffe-on-Soar on September 30th 2024 quietly brought an end to the era of coal-fired power generation tracing back to Thomas Newcomen more than three centuries earlier. \nIn this paper\, Ben Russell will trace the history of the Central Electricity Board’s coal-fired power stations\, explore how they are being represented in the UK’s museum collections\, and place them within the context both of earlier developments and of what might replace them in future. \nAbout the Speaker\nBen Russell is Curator of Mechanical Engineering at the Science Museum\, London. He has curated nine permanent galleries and temporary exhibitions at the museum\, including Engineers (2023)\, Robots (2017) and James Watt’s Workshop (2011)\, as well as Cosmonauts (2015). \nBen is the author of James Watt: Making the World Anew\, (Reaktion Books\, 2014)\, and editor of Robots (Scala\, 2017)\, as well as a wide range of published and conference papers. URL:https://www.newcomen.com/activity/power-in-trust-a-long-view-of-coal-fired-power-fm-thomas-newcomen-to-christopher-hinton-by-ben-russell/ 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/2026/09/27-02-10_PowerInTrust_CoalFiredPower_1920x1280.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Newcomen - London Branch":MAILTO:office@newcomen.com END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20270310T180000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20270310T193000 DTSTAMP:20260911T144839Z CREATED:20260911T144839Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260911T144839Z UID:17023-1804701600-1804707000@www.newcomen.com SUMMARY:'Exploring Victorian Railway Uniform: Garments\, Archives & Re-enactment' by Anthony Dawson DESCRIPTION:Image Credit: By kind permission of Andrew S Mason \nThis 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 talk will explore the clothing worn by Railway Workers 1830-1910: what the garments were\, how they were made\, how they were issued and how they performed. \nBased on archival study\, examination of surviving garments and experimental archaeology\, it will show that these garments were made as cheaply as possible with little thought for comfort of the wearer or their safety. \nThere will be a chance to handle original uniform and accoutrements as well dress up in replica garments. \nAbout the Speaker\nAnthony Dawson is a railway historian and archaeologist\, and increasingly experimental archaeologist involved in excavating and reconstructing early wooden railways. \nHis interest in recreating and wearing 19th century railway uniform stems from operating the replica Planet locomotive at the Science & Industry Museum in Manchester. \nA graduate of the University of Bradford and the University of Leeds\, Anthony is a freelance heritage consultant and writer. In his spare time he plays the organ. URL:https://www.newcomen.com/activity/exploring-victorian-railway-uniform-garments-archives-re-enactment-by-anthony-dawson/ 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/2026/09/27-03-10_ExploringVictorianRailwayUniform_1920x1280.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Newcomen - London Branch":MAILTO:office@newcomen.com END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20270414T180000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20270414T193000 DTSTAMP:20260911T151410Z CREATED:20260911T151410Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260911T151410Z UID:17026-1807725600-1807731000@www.newcomen.com SUMMARY:'Governor-General Dalhousie & the early development of railways in India' by Diana Drummond DESCRIPTION:Image Credit: 1868 Postcard supplied by Dr D K Drummond \nThis 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. \nGovernor-General James Andrew Broun\, Marquess of Dalhousie\, is often referred to as the ‘Father of Railways in India.’ Through his Minutes of 1850 and 1853\, Dalhousie argued that ‘he alone’ was responsible for determining early railway development there. A further important idea\, that Dalhousie and his Minutes ‘established the basic blue print that was to guide the early decades of railway development in India’\, is also argued. (Ian J Kerr\, Building the Railways of the Raj\, OUP\, New Delhi\, p.26.)\n \nThis talk will ask if these claims are true. After first of all considering who Governor-General Dalhousie and his famous Minutes were\, it will turn to explore how the framing of these was influenced very significantly by railway promoters [e.g. Sir Rowland Macdonald Stephenson (1808-1895)]\, consulting civil engineers [E Baker\, the consulting engineer of the Government of India]\, resident engineers [George Turnbull\, Chief Engineer of the East Indian Railway Company]\, surveyors and contractors\, as they surveyed and constructed the earliest railways in India. Work on some of these rail lines commenced even before Dalhousie penned his Minutes. Dalhousie’s work therefore represents a synthesis of ideas drawn from his collaboration with many others. Even various groups in Indian society had some small influence on this future railway system. \nFinally\, how far the general plan of the trunk lines of India found in Dalhousie’s Minutes was redrawn in detail as pioneering engineers adapted this to the huge demands that the terrain and climate of the subcontinent placed upon them\, is examined.\n \nAbout the Speaker\nDi Drummond is best known for her book Crewe: Railway Town\, Company and People\, published by Scolar Press\, Aldershot\, 1995\, and for her contribution to The First Civic University: Birmingham 1880-1980: An Introductory History\, Eric Ives\, Diane Drummond and Leonard Schwarz\, The University of Birmingham Press\, 2000. \nDi researched\, gave international conference papers\, and published\, on railways of the British Empire while she was Senior Lecturer\, then Reader\, at the Leeds Centre for Victorian Studies\, Leeds Trinity University between 1995 and 2017. URL:https://www.newcomen.com/activity/governor-general-dalhousie-the-early-development-of-railways-in-india-by-diana-drummond/ 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/2026/09/27-04-14_GovernorGeneralDalhousie_RailwaysOfIndia_1920x1280.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Newcomen - London Branch":MAILTO:office@newcomen.com END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR