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‘RAF Planes that won the Battle of Britain were built on German Machinery’ by Dr Jonathan Aylen
2023-02-14 14:00 - 16:00 (Europe/London) | NEWCASTLE Discovery Museum, Blandford Square, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear, NE1 4HZ
Why the Jewish Refugee Engineer, Ludwig Loewy was crucial to Britain
The late 1930’s brought break-neck growth in aircraft production in Britain to meet the needs of re-armament. These planes for the RAF used new technology for aircraft construction and more powerful engines. But the light alloys used to build them were manufactured on German machinery! This paper tells the compelling story of Ludwig Loewy, a refugee Jewish engineer who fled from the Nazis and brought the crucial light-metals technology needed for rearmament from Germany to Britain in 1936.
About The Lecturer
Jonathan Aylen is a recent President of the Newcomen Society. He has researched aerospace technologies including missile guidance systems and Britain’s early atomic bombs. He has also written on innovation in rolling mill technology and on revolutionary computer technology at British Rail. This lively presentation draws on his current work on refugee engineers. Dr Aylen is a visiting researcher at the University of Manchester.

'Mechanisation in UK Coal Mining - the Nationalised Years' by Drs Mark Pegg & John Kanefsky
2023-02-08 18:00 - 20:00 (Europe/London) | LONDON Alan Baxter Gallery, 75 Cowcross St, Clerkenwell, London, EC1M 6EL
Photo Credit: Crown Copyright (Expired – Pre 01-06-1957)
This event is both an in-person and on-line event. To reserve a spot for either option, please visit the lecture’s Eventbrite page.
The rise and fall of the coal industry was one of the key drivers of Britain’s industrial, technological and economic history over three centuries and more.
Increasing mechanisation under the nationalised industry after WW2, and the managed retreat from large scale coal mining, presents a fascinating study in the history of engineering and technology.
Drs Pegg and Kanefsky had ringside seats in the cataclysmic changes in the industry from the late 1970s, both as researchers and managers. This presentation focuses on how the previously sluggish mechanisation of mining under private ownership accelerated under state ownership, and analyses the key economic and technical drivers of increasing capital intensity. As well as the better known underground mines, it also looks briefly at how the mechanisation of the opencast sector developed.
Large scale coal mining is of course now a thing of the past in the UK, and seems likely to remain so as geology, politics and economics combine against any revival, but is still a huge industry worldwide.
About The Lecturers
Dr Mark Pegg MA(Oxon) D.Phil Cgr CCMI FCIPD
Mark teaches, consults and researches on strategy, leadership and team development. After Oxford University he worked in the UK coal mining industry in deep mines and headquarters where he was the Chairman’s personal assistant researching modern coal mining history. After working as a management consultant, he became a Director of a Business School and CEO of the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education with extensive experience in the UK, Europe, Middle East, Far East and Africa. Recent clients included Rolls-Royce plc and the UK Senior Civil Service. He is a Companion of the Chartered Management Institute and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.
Dr John Kanefsky PhD MBA
John studied and taught at the University of Exeter in the 1970s, and was awarded his PhD “The Diffusion of Power Technology in British Industry 1760-1870” in 1979.
He then joined the National Coal Board, first as one of the authors of their history of coal mining and co-curator of the COAL art exhibition then, until privatisation, in management at national HQ (focusing on capital investment and corporate affairs) and at Opencast HQ where he led on planning and licensing. He was subsequently at the Coal Authority and thereafter had a varied career in the NHS and educational research before retirement.
He is now an Honorary Fellow of the University of Exeter. His current research focuses on 18th century steam power and on Devon in the 18th and 19th centuries.

'Reverse Engineering' by Dr. John Moyle
2023-02-01 19:00 - 21:00 (Europe/London) | BIRMINGHAM Think Tank, Birmingham Science Museum,, Curzon Street, Birmingham, West Midlands, B4 7XG
This event is both an in-person and on-line event. To reserve a spot for either option, please visit the lecture’s Eventbrite page.
Dr. John Moyle will talk on the subject of “Reverse Engineering”, sometimes called “back engineering”. This is a process in which machines, weapons, architectural structures, software and other products are “deconstructed” to extract design information from them.
About The Lecturer
Dr. John Moyle is a Chartered Engineer, retired Physician & Anaesthetist plus historian with a particular interest in telegraphy and medical technology.

'The History & Development of Autogyros & Early Rotary Wing Aircraft' by Capt. R Savage & Wg. Cdr. M. Quinn
2023-01-24 18:30 - 20:30 (Europe/London) | MANCHESTER International Anthony Burgess Foundation, Engine House, Chorlton Mill, 3 Cambridge Street,, Manchester, M1 5BY
The talk will chart the history of the development not only of the early Autogyros (as they were then referred to) but also rotary-wing flight in general. In broad terms, without the technology created in developing the Autogyro, we wouldn’t have Helicopters!
It’ll also touch on how the autogyro became the Cinderella to the helicopter, following the latter’s concentrated development during WW11 – and how the whole story of the autogyro may well be turning full circle!
Various personal flying adventures in gyroplanes may also be of interest, including Wing Commander Mark Quinn’s military helicopter flying and Paul Clark, known affectionaly to his friends as Kamikaze Clarky may also wish to describe learning to fly a gyrocopter – but that depends upon how much comedy the audience can stand!
About the Presenters
Captain R. Savage is a long-time pilot of Sport Gyroplanes, as well as helicopters and aeroplanes, while Wing Commander Mark Quinn is a retired RAF Puma Helicopter captain and now a Gyroplane Flight instructor.

'Things that go "Bang" in the Night' : A Short History of Industrial Explosives by Ian McKay
2023-01-23 18:30 - 20:30 (Europe/London) | SHEFFIELD Kelham Island Museum, Alma Street, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S3 8RG

'Industrial & Maritime Heritage At Risk In Bristol's Western Harbour' by Geoff Wallis
2023-01-19 19:00 - 21:00 (Europe/London) | BRISTOL BAWA, 589 Southmead Rd, Filton, Bristol, BS34 7RG
A number of interesting and important eighteenth century structures survive in the Cumberland Basin area of Bristol City Docks, both maritime and industrial. Many are still working, some have been abandoned, and not all are listed.
This lecture will look at the threats and opportunities presented by Bristol City Council‘s new Western Harbour Scheme.
About The Lecturer
Geoff Wallis is a Chartered Mechanical Engineer who trained as an apprentice at Rolls-Royce, Bristol. During this time he worked for four years as a volunteer at Crofton Pumping Station, which changed the direction of his career.
For thirty years he ran Dorothea Restoration Engineers in Bristol, specializing in the practical conservation of traditional wind & water mills, historic machinery and metalwork.
In 2007 Geoff became a consultant and is now trying to retire, so far without success!

Presidential Address: 'Trying to secure the past' - innovation studies & the evolution of technology by Jonathan Aylen
2023-01-11 18:00 - 20:00 (Europe/London) | LONDON Alan Baxter Gallery, 75 Cowcross St, Clerkenwell, London, EC1M 6EL
This event is also the Society’s Presidential Address & is both an in-person and on-line event. To reserve a spot for either option, please visit the lecture’s Eventbrite page.
Technical development often follows an evolutionary path. There may be a variety of solutions to a technical problem. A preferred approach often emerges. In turn, this may become a “dominant design”. Sometimes technology gets locked-in to a preferred solution which may not be the best outcome, but satisfactory for the time being. Evolution need not produce optimal outcomes.
This lecture gives examples of the evolution of technical knowledge, showing practical engineering solutions adopted by a range of twentieth century technologies. Evolution of technology is “Lamarckian” rather than “Darwinian” as solutions are directly incorporated into successive generations of a technology.
The central problem of an evolutionary approach is the elimination of human agents from the story – those who create the technology and those who guide its adoption. But evolution does have much to teach us, for example about selection of new technologies for a low carbon future.
About the Lecturer
Dr Jonathan Aylen is immediate past President of the Newcomen Society who has researched a range of twentieth century technologies including missile guidance systems, nuclear weapons, rolling mill design and computer use in steel production and on the railways. Currently Dr Aylen is a visiting senior research fellow at the University of Manchester. For more info please visit his Newcomen profile Dr. Jonathan Aylen

'The Pentrich Engine' by David Hulse
2023-01-04 19:00 - 22:00 (Europe/London) | BIRMINGHAM Think Tank, Birmingham Science Museum,, Curzon Street, Birmingham, West Midlands, B4 7XG
This event is both an in-person and on-line event. To reserve a spot for either option, please visit the lecture’s Eventbrite page.
The Pentrich engine, designed by Francis Thompson, was constructed in 1791 to pump water out of a coal mine at Pentrich in Derbyshire.
David Hulse will describe its features and tell its history, based on his research while building a detailed 1/16th scale model of the original engine. Pictures of the model will be used to illustrate the talk.
About The Lecturer
In 1970, David Hulse started a project which was to occupy all his spare time for the next 45 years! He has researched and constructed in miniature the important steam engines which were built in the eighteenth century.
These engines paved the way for the industrial revolution in the British Isles and which spread to many other countries throughout the world. These eighteenth century engines are usually grouped together and called steam engines, however, they were not steam engines. Steam was used as a means of creating a vacuum against which the earth’s pressure could act. The correct terminology is that they were atmospheric engines.
Please visit David’s website: davidhulse.co.uk for more info.

POSTPONED - 'The Vierendeel bridge story' by Bernard Espion
2022-12-14 18:00 - 20:00 (Europe/London) | LONDON Alan Baxter Gallery, 75 Cowcross St, Clerkenwell, London, EC1M 6EL
DUE TO INDUSTRIAL ACTION THIS EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED
CHECK BACK LATER FOR RESCHEDULED DATE
The bridge’s origins and fate in the introduction of electrical arc welding in Belgium
This presentation will trace the history of the application of the girder without diagonals to steel bridges from 1895 onwards, when the Belgian engineer Arthur Vierendeel (1852-1940) filed a patent for it. Vierendeel then began a long battle, both in Belgium and abroad, to promote and impose the use of ‘his’ girder, which was not really accepted in Belgium – and still very cautiously – until the 1920s.
The presentation will also trace the circumstances that led to the massive use of this type of beam by the Administration des Ponts et Chaussées for the construction of some fifty bridges to cross Belgium’s Albert Canal in the years 1933-1938. This was the first time that electric arc welding was used on a massive scale, without any real hindsight, to make connections in steel bridges. It led to the collapse without warning of the Hasselt bridge on 13 March 1938, a date that can be considered as the beginning of another story, that of the brittle failure. The presentation will also discuss the aftermath of this resounding accident in its scientific and technical dimensions.
About the Lecturer
Bernard Espion is Professor emeritus from the University of Brussels (ULB) where he has taught structural analysis and design for 40 years, directing the laboratory of civil engineering 2000-2021. He has written numerous construction history papers dealing with heritage structures, bridges, reinforced and prestressed concrete structures, engineers and contractors, especially in Belgium.

'Concorde: An Engineering Failure?' by Dr Fred Starr
2022-12-14 17:30 - 20:00 (Europe/London) | This is an Online Event
The challenge of designing a supersonic passenger transport, and the reason why Concorde fell short of the range and passenger capacity.
This is not about the Air France Concorde air crash. It is about the challenge of designing a supersonic passenger transport, and the reasons why Concorde fell short of the range and passenger carrying ability originally expected. As a result, commercial interest in Concorde fell away. Failure to meet targets is a feature of “engineering failures”, which impress the public and politicians, and appear successful, but no one buys them.
Operating very close to the speed of sound, or the Sound Barrier in other words, is extremely costly in terms of fuel consumption. Indeed, once Concorde was through the Sound Barrier, the faster it flew, the more economical was it, and the greater the range. However, high speed subjects an airframe to high temperatures, and given the strength and temperature performance of aluminium alloys, the best that could be hoped for was Mach 2.2, or 1450 mph.
Then there was the power needed to get through the sound barrier…..Approximately twice as much thrust is needed to fly at just above the speed of sound, as is required to fly just below it. And for supersonic flight a rather unusual type of jet engine is needed. All that Britain had was the Bristol Olympus, a really great engine, but dating from the early fifties. By 1960 it had already been “stretched” to meet the needs of the latest Avro Vulcan bombers. It was a huge challenge to produce even more thrust.
Another big issue was the sonic boom. Initially dismissed, when Concorde was first envisaged, it slowly became clear that sonic bangs, scores of times a day, could not be tolerated. Unfortunately, flying at subsonic speeds, over land, cut Concorde’s range.
As the design and construction of Concorde proceeded, weight increased. Afterburning became necessary at take off, and a longer period at afterburning thrust was needed when getting through the transonic range. Impacting on fuel demands and aircraft weight. Increased weight was too much for the aluminium structure at Mach 2.2. Restricting cruising speed to Mach 2.04 or 1345 mph. Range suffered, as at supersonic speed, slower means less economical flight.
A vicious circle had begun, where, in addition, the restriction on supersonic flight over land added to the range challenge. Concorde became good for nothing more than London-Washington and Paris-Washington. In addition, on hot days, out of Washington, passenger numbers were restricted. As were sales to airline companies, other than Air France and British Airways.
The talk ends with a few words about the hopes for “supersonic business jets”. This might interest genuine multi millionaires in the audience.
About the Lecturer
Dr Fred Starr FIMMM, FIE, MIMechE, C. Eng.
Usually, any biography about me has emphasised my British Gas/Metallurgy/Energy background. As the present talk is on Concorde, specifically “Was it an Engineering Failure” I thought it helpful to show, that while I have no formal training in aeronautical engineering, I have enough background to say something useful and different about the subject in point.
My interest in the technical side of aviation began when I was still in the Sixth Form, mainly through the series of articles that the aviation journalist, Roy Braybrook wrote in the magazine, “Flying Review”. Here he endeavoured to estimate the performance of the latest Russian fighters and bombers. He showed me that there was a science behind the design of aircraft. I eventually had the pleasure of meeting Roy in the Woodman, near Leatherhead, where I was able to tell him that his stuff had gone towards saving my career at British Gas. He sniffed, in his curmudgeonly way, until I told him that I had built a closed cycle gas turbine.
There was a long gap between reading Flying Review in the 1960s and the Closed Cycle Gas Turbine Project. When, in the late 1980s, after I had outlined the proposal to Grev Gibson, an Assistant Director at British Gas, London Research Station, in Fulham, I was told to get on with it. Since almost all of my spare time had been spent reading up on aircraft and aircraft engine design, I had enough basic knowledge to take the project forward. Doing the job meant I had to professionalise my hobby.
One of the key parts of the closed cycle is the gas turbine itself. But it has to be of an unusual type. Although having a high inlet temperature, it runs at a very low pressure ratio. For this reason, engine builders in this country couldn’t help. However, the Helicopter Division at Westlands told me that my best option would be a modified diesel truck turbocharger. Try Holset Ltd, in Huddersfield, they said. So a “Closed Cycle Demonstrator” was built on Coleshill Gas works. As well as the truck turbocharger, it incorporated a fired heater, printed circuit recuperator and fin fan cooler. The attached picture shows Grev Gibson and myself overlooking the Demonstrator. As you will see it was not intended to take off!
To register for this lecture (Eventbrite)

'John Smeaton and the Calder Navigation' by Lesley Taylor & Shirley Levons
2022-12-12 19:00 - 20:30 (Europe/London) | SHEFFIELD Kelham Island Museum, Alma Street, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S3 8RG
This is a joint meeting with South Yorkshire Industrial History Society (SYIHS)
Available both in-person and online.
Joining us IN PERSON – just turn up, there is no need to register
Joining us ONLINE- please use the Zoom Link below which will be live from about 6:30 pm on the 12th Dec.
If you wish to join us online the Zoom link is:- https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83188182714?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 831 8818 2714
Passcode: [REDACTED]
The meeting will start at a slightly later time of 7:00 pm and tea and coffee will be available from 6:00 pm. We look forward to welcoming you to what will be an interesting talk and discussion.
This talk will explore the background to the factors that lead to the River Calder being made navigable above Wakefield, and will cover the first four years of construction,1760-63, when John Smeaton, the engineer-in-chief wrote a weekly journal. This has been used as the basis of the talk (and our book) in combination with many other source materials such as plans, letters, minutes, accounts, Acts of Parliament and Parliamentary Journals.
It will outline the many years before the scheme gained Parliamentary approval, the people who drove the scheme forward, and the conflicts and disappointments they faced. The practical requirements will be brought into sharp focus: the planning, negotiating and financing, and the sourcing of labour, materials and equipment. As the work gradually progressed the story is often of difficulties faced on this volatile river and the disagreements which these setbacks caused.
About The Lecturers
Lesley Taylor and Shirley Levon are local historians from Wakefield with a shared interest in the eighteenth century. Upon retirement from teaching Lesley studied for an MA in local history at York University focusing on Wakefield in the eighteenth century. Shirley was a teacher who had researched her own family history for many years, but on retirement over twenty years ago became interested in local history, and the collaboration with Lesley developed. In 2014 they published a book based on the letters of two women who lived in Wakefield in the eighteenth century. Involvement in a project about Wakefield Waterfront led to the discovery of Smeatons’ Journal, and after considerable research, they based their recent book on the subject.
About The Venue
Please Note:- The parking arrangements at the Museum have changed and the car park adjacent to the river is now closed and is being used by the Museum Cafe and Bar as an outdoor seating area. Details of the new parking arrangements can be found at http://www.simt.co.uk/kelham-island-museum/plan-your-visit

'Invention & Design; Elkington of Birmingham' by Dr. Jonathan Berg
2022-12-07 19:00 - 21:00 (Europe/London) | BIRMINGHAM Think Tank, Birmingham Science Museum,, Curzon Street, Birmingham, West Midlands, B4 7XG
Dr. Jonathan Berg discusses the invention of electroplating and its commercialisation in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter

'The History of Television' by Paul Marshall
2022-11-22 18:30 - 20:30 (Europe/London) | MANCHESTER International Anthony Burgess Foundation, Engine House, Chorlton Mill, 3 Cambridge Street,, Manchester, M1 5BY

'A Short History of Societal Response to Major Accidents' By Professor Rod Smith
2022-11-21 18:30 - 20:30 (Europe/London) | SHEFFIELD Kelham Island Museum, Alma Street, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S3 8RG

'Fore & Aft - The Severn Ships Graveyard' by Paul Barnett
2022-11-17 19:30 - 21:30 (Europe/London) | BRISTOL BAWA, 589 Southmead Rd, Filton, Bristol, BS34 7RG

THIS EVENT IS POSTPONED : 'Newcomen Engine illustrations' by David Perrett
2022-11-09 18:30 - 20:30 (Europe/London) | LONDON Dana Centre, Wellcome Wolfson Building, 165 Queen's Gate, Kensington, London, SW7 5HD
This event is postponed due to rail strikes.
Please visit the website at a later date for details on rescheduled event.

'Brickyard Engines that drove Clay Mills in the Early 19th Century' by Elizabeth Thomson
2022-11-02 19:00 - 21:00 (Europe/London) | BIRMINGHAM Think Tank, Birmingham Science Museum,, Curzon Street, Birmingham, West Midlands, B4 7XG
Elizabeth Thomson considers a critical aspect for Britain’s urban growth

'Railways as World Heritage sites' by Anthony Coulls
2022-10-25 18:30 - 20:30 (Europe/London) | MANCHESTER International Anthony Burgess Foundation, Engine House, Chorlton Mill, 3 Cambridge Street,, Manchester, M1 5BY

'The Evolution of the Parsons Land Steam Turbine' by Geoff Horsman
2022-10-25 18:00 - 20:00 (Europe/London) | SHEFFIELD Kelham Island Museum, Alma Street, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S3 8RG
This is a free 1/2 day event starting a 14:00 at which Geoff Horsman will give two talks that outline the development and history of turbines with particular reference to the work of Parsons. The other talk will be in the afternoon while this one will be in the evening.
There will also be an opportunity to examine Parson’s No 2 Turbine which is held by Kelham Island Museum. Turbine No 1 is understood to have been the prototype while Turbine No 2 is almost certainly the first production model.
Also see The Turbine Plant on the Major Ocean Going Liners such as the ‘Titanic (first talk in the afternoon)
The Programme for the day (both talks) is as follows:
12:00 pm to 1:45 pm Tea and coffee and an opportunity to view the Parsons turbine that is held by Kelham.
2:00 pm Welcome and a brief outline as to how Kelham became home to Parsons first-ever turbine-generator supplied to a customer for commercial operation.
2:15 pm A History of Parsons and Pametrada Marine Turbines in the Great Liners
This talk will outline the evolution of Parsons and Pametrada’s most powerful marine steam turbines from the Mauretania and Lusitania via the Titanic, Aquitania, Île de France, Empress of Britain, Bremen, Europa, Queen Mary and Windsor Castle to the QE2. The creation of Pametrada which produced the engine designs for Britain’s most prominent shipyards to build – including John Brown, Harland and Wolff, Cammell Laird, Vickers Armstrong, Swan Hunters, etc – will also be described. There will be insights into passenger life onboard the ships as well as the engines.
4:15 pm Break
5:30 pm Film “Makers of Power”
6:00 pm The Evolution of the Parsons Land Steam Turbine
This talk will describe how the turbines produced for power station use changed from the World’s first turbine-generator of 1884 up until the time Parsons became part of Siemens in 1997. The keynote designs will be discussed including the machines for Calder Hall (the World’s first commercial nuclear power station), Drax (Britain’s largest power station), and Nanticoke (the largest coal-fired power station in North America). Reference will be made to the Kelham Island turbine generator in this talk.
8:00 pm Closing Remarks
About the Speaker:
Until his retirement, Geoff Horsman was Chief Turbine Engineer for Siemens at C. A Parsons Works in Newcastle. He is now the keeper of the historic archive at the CA Parsons Works in Newcastle.

'The Turbine Plant on the Major Ocean Going Liners including Titanic' by Geoff Horsman
2022-10-25 14:00 - 16:15 (Europe/London) | SHEFFIELD Kelham Island Museum, Alma Street, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S3 8RG
This is a free 1/2 day event starting a 14:00 at which Geoff Horsman will give two talks that outline the development and history of turbines, with particular reference to the work of Parsons. This talk will be in the afternoon while the other will be in the evening.
There will also be an opportunity from 12 noon to 1.45pm to examine Parson’s No 4 Turbine which is held by Kelham Island Museum. Turbine No 1 is understood to have been the prototype, while Turbine No 4 is almost certainly the first production model.
Also see The Evolution of the Parsons Land Steam Turbine (the second talk)
The Programme for the day (both talks) is as follows:
12:00 pm to 1:45 pm Tea and coffee and an opportunity to view the Parsons turbine that is held by Kelham.
2:00 pm Welcome and a brief outline as to how Kelham became home to Parsons first-ever turbine-generator supplied to a customer for commercial operation.
2:15 pm A History of Parsons and Pametrada Marine Turbines in the Great Liners
This talk will outline the evolution of Parsons and Pametrada’s most powerful marine steam turbines from the Mauretania and Lusitania via the Titanic, Aquitania, Île de France, Empress of Britain, Bremen, Europa, Queen Mary and Windsor Castle to the QE2. The creation of Pametrada which produced the engine designs for Britain’s most prominent shipyards to build – including John Brown, Harland and Wolff, Cammell Laird, Vickers Armstrong, Swan Hunters, etc – will also be described. There will be insights into passenger life onboard the ships as well as the engines.
4:15 pm Break
5:30 pm Film “Makers of Power”
6:00 pm The Evolution of the Parsons Land Steam Turbine
This talk will describe how the turbines produced for power station use changed from the World’s first turbine-generator of 1884 up until the time Parsons became part of Siemens in 1997. The keynote designs will be discussed including the machines for Calder Hall (the World’s first commercial nuclear power station), Drax (Britain’s largest power station), and Nanticoke (the largest coal-fired power station in North America). Reference will be made to the Kelham Island turbine generator in this talk.
8:00 pm Closing Remarks
About the Speaker:
Until his retirement, Geoff Horsman was Chief Turbine Engineer for Siemens at C. A Parsons Works in Newcastle. He is now the keeper of the historic archive at the CA Parsons Works in Newcastle.

'RAF Planes that won the Battle of Britain were built by German Machinery' by Dr. Jonathan Aylen
2022-10-20 19:30 - 21:30 (Europe/London) | BRISTOL BAWA, 589 Southmead Rd, Filton, Bristol, BS34 7RG
Having enlightened the people of Manchester in late September, Dr. Jonathan Aylen takes his fascinating account of Ludwig Loewy to the people of Bristol.
Why the Jewish Refugee Engineer, Ludwig Loewy was crucial to Britain
Ludwig Loewy was a Jewish engineer who left Nazi Germany in 1936 to set up an engineering firm in London as a refugee. Britain was re-arming and a new generation of aircraft was being developed based on light alloy “stressed skin” construction. Loewy Engineering had 2,000 German drawings and the expertise needed to build machinery urgently needed for alloy fabrication. The machines were otherwise supplied from Germany at a time of growing tension.
Loewy’s company developed rapidly, helped by a workforce of refugee engineers and managers. Loewy became a trusted advisor to the Government’s production programme for aircraft until his death in 1942. His former firm in Düsseldorf, Schloemann, was ‘Aryanised’ after his departure and continued to supply equipment to the UK until the outbreak of war and went on to help the German and Italian war effort.
Ludwig Loewy’s rapid assimilation owed much to earlier contacts with the UK, his welcome expertise in a sector that was growing at break-neck speed and customers who needed his technology. The Government welcomed his contribution to aircraft production at a time of rapid re-armament. Ludwig Loewy’s experience supports the view that German speaking refugee engineers were readily accepted in the UK over the period 1933 to 1945.

'Learning Through Archaeology: The ROCKET Project' by Michael Bailey
2022-10-12 18:30 - 20:30 (Europe/London) | LONDON Alan Baxter Gallery, 75 Cowcross St, Clerkenwell, London, EC1M 6EL

'The Newcomen Engine Pumping House at Brislington' by David Hardwick
2022-10-05 19:00 - 21:00 (Europe/London) | BIRMINGHAM Think Tank, Birmingham Science Museum,, Curzon Street, Birmingham, West Midlands, B4 7XG
David Hardwick discusses the historical and archaeological appraisal of the standing building in Brislington

'RAF Planes that won the Battle of Britain were built on German Machinery' by Dr. Jonathan Aylen
2022-09-27 18:30 - 20:30 (Europe/London) | MANCHESTER International Anthony Burgess Foundation, Engine House, Chorlton Mill, 3 Cambridge Street,, Manchester, M1 5BY
Why the Jewish Refugee Engineer, Ludwig Loewy was crucial to Britain
Ludwig Loewy was a Jewish engineer who left Nazi Germany in 1936 to set up an engineering firm in London as a refugee. Britain was re-arming and a new generation of aircraft was being developed based on light alloy “stressed skin” construction. Loewy Engineering had 2,000 German drawings and the expertise needed to build machinery urgently needed for alloy fabrication. The machines were otherwise supplied from Germany at a time of growing tension.
Loewy’s company developed rapidly, helped by a workforce of refugee engineers and managers. Loewy became a trusted advisor to the Government’s production programme for aircraft until his death in 1942. His former firm in Düsseldorf, Schloemann, was ‘Aryanised’ after his departure and continued to supply equipment to the UK until the outbreak of war and went on to help the German and Italian war effort.
Ludwig Loewy’s rapid assimilation owed much to earlier contacts with the UK, his welcome expertise in a sector that was growing at break-neck speed and customers who needed his technology. The Government welcomed his contribution to aircraft production at a time of rapid re-armament. Ludwig Loewy’s experience supports the view that German speaking refugee engineers were readily accepted in the UK over the period 1933 to 1945.

'Reverse Engineering' by John Moyle
2022-09-26 18:30 - 20:30 (Europe/London) | SHEFFIELD Kelham Island Museum, Alma Street, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S3 8RG

'Gun making by machinery - the 1853 Enfield Rifle, mechanised manufacture and interchangeability' by Peter Smithurst
2022-05-23 18:30 - 19:30 (Europe/London) | SHEFFIELD Kelham Island Museum, Alma Street, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S3 8RG
An in person presentation by Peter Smithurst
For those who are unable to attend in person questions may be submitted via email before the lecture to events@newcomen.com or via Zoom chat during the lecture.
Booking information
If COVID restrictions permit this will be held as a joint In-Person and Online meeting and irrespective of whether you wish to join us In-Person or Online it is essential that you book your place via Eventbrite (see button below). Tickets are free but as we almost certainly will be limited as to the number of people who can attend in person and as we can only accommodate 100 attendees online we recommend you book early. Eventbrite will email you a confirmation immediately after registration.
In-Person meeting at Kelham Island Museum
For those of you who wish to join us in person we will meet from 6:00 pm, but it is prossible that COVID restrictions may mean that teas and coffee are not available.
About the Speaker
Peter Smithurst
About the Venue
An in-person and webcast (zoom) meeting.
As previously the meeting will start at 6:30 pm and tea and coffee will be available from 6:00 pm and we look forward to welcoming you to what we hope will be an interesting series of talks and discussions.
For those of you who are uncertain about attending in-person meetings at present, we are also pleased to announce that all this year’s programme of talks will also be available as a live webcast.
Kelham Island Museum has advised that although no social distancing restrictions will be in place for the meeting, we will need to keep a detailed register of attendees. To assist with this and to gauge demand for the in-person talk it would be very helpful if you could let us know if you wish to join us using the Eventbrite link below. Similarly, if you would like to join us online please book using the Eventbrite link below. We are very happy if you wish to “hedge your bets” and book for both the in-person and online talks at this stage and make a final decision nearer the time.
A group of members and guests will be meeting for a pre-talk meal and if you wish to join us please let me know so that I can advise them of the probable numbers.
All Newcomen evening meetings are free and open to all and if you are aware of any non-members who may be interested in this talk please feel free to forward this email to them.
Please Note:- The parking arrangements at the Museum have changed and the car park between the Museum and the river is now closed and is being used by the Museum Cafe and Bar as an outdoor seating area. Details of the new parking arrangements can be found at http://www.simt.co.uk/kelham-island-museum/plan-your-visit
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'Henry Ford’s Holiday in 1928' by David Perrett
2022-05-19 19:30 - 21:30 (Europe/London) | BRISTOL BAWA, 589 Southmead Rd, Filton, Bristol, BS34 7RG
An in person presentation by David Perrett.

The Call To Arms (Dickinson Memorial Lecture) by Stephen Furber
2022-05-11 18:00 - 20:00 (Europe/London) | LONDON Alan Baxter Gallery, 75 Cowcross St, Clerkenwell, London, EC1M 6EL
An in person and online presentation by Professor Stephen Furber
The ARM microprocessor dominates the world of mobile and embedded computing with over 200 billion ARM-powered microchips manufactured to date.
The origins of the ARM can be traced back to a small UK supplier of desk-top machines, Acorn Computers Ltd in the early 1980s, for whose staff the original ARM (then the ‘Acorn RISC Machine’) was a first attempt at designing a microprocessor.
A lot has changed over the subsequent 40 years, and today the ARM is used in almost all mobile phones, the world’s fastest supercomputer, and many other computing systems including the SpiNNaker brain-modelling computer at the University of Manchester.
This lecture is now available to watch in full on the Dickinson Memorial page.
About the Speaker
Professor Stephen Furber
Steve Furber is the ICL Professor of Computer Engineering in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Manchester. He received his B.A. degree in Mathematics in 1974 and his Ph.D. in Aerodynamics in 1980 from the University of Cambridge, England. From 1981 to 1990 he worked in the hardware development group within the R&D department at Acorn Computers Ltd, and was a principal designer of the BBC Microcomputer and the ARM 32-bit RISC microprocessor, both of which earned Acorn Computers a Queen’s Award for Technology. Upon moving to the University of Manchester in 1990 he established the Amulet research group which has interests in asynchronous logic design and power-efficient computing, and which merged with the Parallel Architectures and Languages group in 2000 to form the Advanced Processor Technologies group. From 2003 to 2008 the APT group was supported by an EPSRC Portfolio Partnership Award.
Steve served as Head of the Department of Computer Science in the Victoria University of Manchester from 2001 up to the merger with UMIST in 2004.
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'South Wales Colliery Winding Engines' by Brian Davies.
2022-04-21 19:30 - 21:30 (Europe/London) | BRISTOL BAWA, 589 Southmead Rd, Filton, Bristol, BS34 7RG
An in person presentation by Brian Davies
An illustrated talk using slides of surviving and many old and now demolished winding engines. The talk will be in three sections – first a survey of the steam winding engines that survived into the 1960s, illustrated by photos that Brian took then. Some of them on a tour with George Watkins; then a survey of the engines that survive; and finally he will detail some of the restoration work on the 1875 Barker & Cope engine at the Great Western Colliery near Pontypridd.

Cleveland's Innovative Engineers by Sue Parker
2022-04-13 18:00 - 20:00 UTC | LONDON Alan Baxter Gallery, 75 Cowcross St, Clerkenwell, London, EC1M 6EL
An in person and online presentation by Sue Parker
The Cleveland Institution of Engineers was founded in 1864 and has detailed accounts of its lectures from 1868 to 1942 with full text and illustrations.
Drawing from the CIE’s archives, Sue Parker reveals the innovative engineering solutions of the area’s leading engineers. Many of them were ahead of their time.
Did you know that attempts were made to start a Channel Tunnel in 1883, or that the transmitter in telephone microphones in the 1980s was invented by a vicar in 1880?

For those who are unable to attend in person questions may be submitted via email before the lecture to events@newcomen.com or via Zoom chat during the lecture.
Booking information
If COVID restrictions permit this will be held as a joint In-Person and Online meeting and irrespective of whether you wish to join us In-Person or Online it is essential that you book your place via Eventbrite (see button below). Tickets are free but as we almost certainly will be limited as to the number of people who can attend in person and as we can only accommodate 100 attendees online we recommend you book early. Eventbrite will email you a confirmation immediately after registration.
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