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Stalinism, espionage and Marshall Aid: How US strip mill technology came to Europe
2021-09-20 18:30 - 19:30 (Europe/London) | SHEFFIELD Kelham Island Museum, Alma Street, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S3 8RG
An in-person and online lecture from Jonathan Aylen
Stalinism, espionage and Marshall Aid: How US strip mill technology came to Europe
Like railways in the 19th century and the internet in the 21st century, steel strip production was a technology that unlocked growth in a range of user industries during the 20th century.
Invented in America in the 1920’s to supply the fast-growing auto industry with steel sheets, the continuous wide strip mill rolled hot ribbons of steel strip which were gathered into coils to feed car makers press shops, food canners and a range of consumer durable industries.
These giant strip mills spread from the US to Europe and Japan just before and after the Second World War, transforming steel from a craft industry into large scale, continuous mass production. On the face of it, a straightforward example of technology transfer.
The lecture tells the remarkable stories behind this transfer. How the USA supplied advanced technology to Stalinist Russia before World War II and were paid in gold bullion for their efforts while the American origins were airbrushed out of history. How the Germans carried out industrial espionage to build their “own” equipment which they then tried to sell back to the USA. How equipment for Britain was commissioned under wartime conditions. And how American largesse re-built the shattered post-war economies of Europe.
This lecture focuses on the less orthodox aspects of a story first told in a book with Ruggero Ranieri – Ribbon of Fire – and a recent article in the International Journal for the History of Engineering & Technology. In so doing it sheds light on the troubled history of Europe before the Second World War and some of the more unusual sources available to historians of technology.
Questions may be submitted via email before the lecture to events@Newcomen.com or via Zoom chat during the lecture.
About the Speaker
Jonathan Aylen is President of the Newcomen Society and a Senior Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Manchester.
The Venue
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.

The Newcomen Society AGM 2021
2021-02-17 16:00 - 18:00 | This is an Online Event
The Annual General Meeting of The Newcomen Society for the Study of the History of Engineering and Technology will be held online on Wednesday, 17 February 2021 at 4 pm. The main business will be to receive and approve the Accounts, the Report of the Directors, the Independent Examiner’s Report and the Report of the Trustees. The meeting will elect Honorary Officers and receive a report on the ballot to elect members of Council.
Members will receive the full Agenda by e-mail (or by post for those who do not use e-mail) along with ballot papers for the election of Council Members and details of the online voting procedure.

The Famous ‘Flying Scotsman’ - Marketing, Circumstance and Chance
2020-12-15 18:30 - 19:30 | This is an Online Event
An Online Lecture from Bob GwynneIn the UK approximately 110,000 steam locomotives were built, but just one seems to be universally known amongst the British public. Author, curator and Flying Scotsman expert Bob Gwynne will attempt to answer the question as to why the ‘Flying Scotsman’ is so famous.
Expect unusual images and ‘people’ stories that cover more than 90 years of ‘marketing, circumstance and chance’ in a lively presentation that will provide some insight as to why the 3rd ‘A1’ locomotive built by the LNER for a specific job, became a ‘UK plc’ brand as familiar as HP Sauce and Big Ben.
About the Speaker
Bob Gwynne is an outstanding speaker from the National Railway Museum in York and author of a book on the Flying Scotsman. It is a topic that needs no introduction!
The event will be hosted by Jonathan Aylen – President of the Newcomen Society
Questions may be submitted via email before the lecture to events@newcomen.com or via Zoom chat during the lecture.
Booking information:
Tickets are free but subject to availability and are only available in advance through Eventbrite. To secure your place we recommend you book in advance.
Please click on the link below to register via Eventbrite, who will then email you a confirmation immediately after registration. You will receive a separate email with a link to access the event auditorium on the evening prior to the event itself. This link will be active approximately half an hour before it starts. The event auditorium will also provide access to the other items included in your ticket.
Please Note – Each link is unique and should not be shared; also as this is a Zoom Webinar, whilst you will be able to see and hear the Chairman and Speaker, they will not be able to see you and you will not be able to see other participants.
The Newcomen Society reserves the right to alter the event and its line-up, or cancel the event. The Newcomen Society will not be liable for any additional expenses incurred by ticket holders in relation to the event.
Your email address is held by the Newcomen Society to enable it to send you information like this. Your email address will never be used for other purposes or revealed to third parties. If you do not wish us to continue holding your address, please contact us at events@Newcomen.com and we will delete your details from our records.

Sign Up For This Event Here

Babbage And The Abstraction Of Mechanism
2020-11-17 18:30 - 20:00 | This is an Online Event
Above image – Detail from Plummer’s Difference Engine Number 3 – Photo credit Adrian Johnstone
An Online Lecture from Professor Adrian JohnstoneCharles Babbage has been called the ‘Great-Uncle’ of modern computing, a claim that rests simultaneously on his demonstrable understanding of most of the architectural principles underlying the modern computer, and the almost universal ignorance of Babbage’s work before 1970. There has since been an explosion of interest both in Babbage’s devices and the impact they might have had in some parallel history, and in Babbage himself as a man of great originality who had essentially no influence at all on subsequent technological development.
In all this, one fundamental question has been largely ignored: how is it that one individual working alone could have synthesised a workable computer design over a short period, designing an object whose complexity of behaviour so far exceeded that of contemporary machines that it would not be matched for over one hundred years?
The key, as is well understood in modern engineering contexts, is to abstract away from the full complexity of a concrete system. The complexity barrier was also faced by the electronics industry in the 1970’s and 1980’s, and triggered a switch from visual descriptions of large scale digital electronic devices to text-based Hardware Description Languages similar in style to that of a software programming language. Babbage too faced an overwhelming complexity barrier, and his response was indeed to design a system of hardware abstractions which he called his Notation. The ideas allowed him to reason in the abstract about chains of cause and effect in his mechanisms, and he believed the Notation to be his crowning achievement.
His ideas were not taken up: one near contemporary rejected it because there could be many concrete machines that had the same notational description, which of course was precisely the point.
In this talk Professor Johnstone will outline Babbage’s life and times; describe the functioning of the adder that is at the heart of Babbage’s mid-period designs and describe aspects of his notation that pre-date by 150 years similar concepts in Hardware Description Languages.
About the Speaker
Adrian Johnstone is Professor of Computing at Royal Holloway, University of London. He was a founding committee member of the Computer Conservation Society, and principal investigator for the Leverhulme Trust funded project Notions and Notations: Babbage’s Language of Thought.
The event will be hosted by Jonathan Aylen – President of the Newcomen Society
Booking information:
Tickets are free but subject to availability and are only available in advance through Eventbrite. To secure your place we recommend you book in advance.
Please click on the link below to register via Eventbrite, who will then email you a confirmation immediately after registration. You will receive a separate email with a link to access the event auditorium on the evening prior to the event itself. This link will be active approximately half an hour before it starts. The event auditorium will also provide access to the other items included in your ticket.
Please Note – Each link is unique and should not be shared; also as this is a Zoom Webinar, whilst you will be able to see and hear the Chairman and Speaker, they will not be able to see you and you will not be able to see other participants.
The Newcomen Society reserves the right to alter the event and its line-up, or cancel the event. The Newcomen Society will not be liable for any additional expenses incurred by ticket holders in relation to the event.
Your email address is held by the Newcomen Society to enable it to send you information like this. Your email address will never be used for other purposes or revealed to third parties. If you do not wish us to continue holding your address, please contact us at events@Newcomen.com and we will delete your details from our records.

Sign Up For This Event HerePlummer’s Difference Engine Number 3 : Photo credit Adrian Johnstone

Cold War To Coal Trains: TOPS
2020-10-13 18:30 - 20:00 | This is an Online Event
An Online Lecture from Jonathan Aylen
British Railways’ first computer based train operating system
TOPS (Total Operations Processing System) was a computer system implemented by British Railways (BR) from 1973 to control its freight traffic. It allowed BR to keep tabs on its rolling stock across the whole rail network using IBM 370 mainframe computers in London. It was a major step towards modern management of railways in the UK.
TOPS was developed in the USA through collaboration between IBM and Southern Pacific. The software had its origins in the US Strategic Air Command’s SAGE – Semi-Automatic Ground Environment – system which gave early warning of Soviet bomber attacks on the US. TOPS was not so much “swords into ploughshares” as “Cold War to Coal Trains”.
The research exhibited in this talk is the summary of a collaboration between Bob Gwynne of the National Railway Museum, York and Jonathan Aylen to understand the history of computerisation on British Railways. The research shows how railways shaped society and their contribution to modern management.
Questions may be submitted via email before the lecture to events@Newcomen.com or via Zoom chat during the lecture.
About the Speaker
Jonathan Aylen is President of the Newcomen Society and a Senior Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Manchester.
Booking information:
Tickets are free but subject to availability and are only available in advance through Eventbrite. To secure your place we recommend you book in advance.
Please click on the link below to register via Eventbrite, who will then email you a confirmation immediately after registration. You will receive a separate email with a link to access the event auditorium on the evening prior to the event itself. This link will be active approximately half an hour before it starts. The event auditorium will also provide access to the other items included in your ticket.
Please Note – Each link is unique and should not be shared; also as this is a Zoom Webinar, whilst you will be able to see and hear the Chairman and Speaker, they will not be able to see you and you will not be able to see other participants.
The Newcomen Society reserves the right to alter the event and its line-up, or cancel the event. The Newcomen Society will not be liable for any additional expenses incurred by ticket holders in relation to the event.
Your email address is held by the Newcomen Society to enable it to send you information like this. Your email address will never be used for other purposes or revealed to third parties. If you do not wish us to continue holding your address, please contact us at events@Newcomen.com and we will delete your details from our records.

Sign Up For This Event HereOther Upcoming Events . . .

CANCELLED Timeball Towers
2020-09-29 18:30 | MANCHESTER Alliance Française, 125 Portland Street, Manchester, M1 4QD
A presentation by Dr Roger Kinns

Wealden Iron
2020-09-22 18:30 - 21:30 | This is an Online Event
An Online Lecture from Dr Tim Smith
For some 338 years the Weald was home to a major iron industry with some 109 forges and 119 furnaces, the last of which closed in 1813.
However, the area supported a much older iron industry stretching back some 2,300 years. Early furnaces were small, made of clay and stone, and produced a solid spongy mass of iron called a bloom that was never molten but could be hammered into useful shapes. Knights’ armour, weapons, horse and ox shoes, nails and tools were all made from this bloomery iron.
In 1490, the very first blast furnace was built in Britain, on the Weald, at Buxted in East Sussex. Called blast furnaces because bellows blew a continuous blast of air into the furnace near its base, these furnaces produced molten iron that could be cast direct from the furnaces into useful items such as fire backs, salt pans and later cannon and shot.
To make tools, horse and ox shoes, nails and hand weapons, the iron had to be refined in forges to reduce its carbon content. For this the iron was cast into large ‘beams’ 2-3 metres long weighing half a tonne or more, called ‘sows’. These sows were refined at the forges by burning off the tip of the sow under a blast of air and hammering the resultant mushy mass into long bars. The beating of the water powered hammers gave rise to the name ‘hammer pond’.
Sign Up For This Event HereAbout the Author
Dr Tim Smith, is a graduate in Metallurgy and has been a member of the Historical Metallurgy Society since his student days at Brunel University. Tim is a leading global expert on modern iron and steel technology.

As one of the first Newcomen Events to be conducted online as a result of the Corona Virus pandemic, this talk attracted great praise: “excellent”; “entertaining”; “fluent”; “informative”; “an excellent lecture on a subject of great interest” and from a member in the USA: “The webinar yesterday was excellent – very good talk and excellent slides. It has certainly set the bar high”

CANCELLED Summer Meeting - South Yorkshire
2020-07-15 - 2020-07-19
A Summer Meeting to remember, based in Sheffield, focused on modern technology and industrial visits in an area of vibrant manufacturing activity.

CANCELLED Crofton Picnic & Steaming Day
2020-06-26 10:30 - 16:30 | MARLBOROUGH, Crofton Pumping Station, Crofton, Marlborough, SN8 3DN, United Kingdom
Newcomen Private Steaming Day and Centennial Celebration at Crofton Pumping Station, Friday, 26 June 2020.
All Newcomen Members are invited to a private steaming day and centenary celebration at Crofton Pumping Station, Great Bedwyn, Wilts SN8 3DN on Friday 26 June 2020, admission from 10.30am.
Dating from 1807-09, Crofton Pumping Station owes its design to John Rennie, engineer to the Kennet and Avon Canal Company. Its buildings include a sizeable engine house, which accommodates an 1812 Boulton and Watt engine, and an engine purchased from Messrs Harvey of Hayle in 1846. Since Newcomen members Ian Broom and Geoff Wallis played a significant part in restoring the engines and boilers, Crofton is a particularly fitting location at which to mark the Society’s first hundred years. Ian Broom’s book, The Crofton Story (Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society, 2013) offers an engaging and beautifully illustrated account of the pumping station’s history and preservation.
The day will include a welcome from the Newcomen Society President; a talk on John Rennie’s association with the site; guided tours of the engine house from Crofton volunteers and a demonstration and display of work by members of the Society of Ornamental Turners.
The nearest railway station to the site is Bedwyn; otherwise, it is accessible by road; for comprehensive directions go to www.croftonbeamengines.org/plan-your-visit. Parking will be available in a field close to the site.
The licensed café, the Engineman’s Rest, will be open if you wish to purchase lunch at the site. Otherwise, please feel free to bring your own picnic.

Tickets, to include light refreshments, cost £20 per head and is open to Newcomen Members and their guests only (please login to your membership to access the ticket link). If you are not a member and wish to attend, feel free to join the Society here

CANCELLED Henry Ford’s Holiday 1928
2020-05-21 19:30 | BRISTOL BAWA, 589 Southmead Rd, Filton, Bristol, BS34 7RG
A presentation by David Perrett – Bristol Industrial Archaeology Society Meeting (BIAS)

POSTPONED tbc History of ARM and Trends in AI
2020-05-13 17:45 | LONDON Dana Centre, Wellcome Wolfson Building, 165 Queen's Gate, Kensington, London, SW7 5HD
THE DICKINSON MEMORIAL LECTURE: A presentation by Professor Steve Furber – one of the developers of the Reduced Instruction Set Chip used extensively in your mobile ‘phone discusses the history of ARM and recent trends in Artificial Intelligence

CANCELLED History and Conservation of "City of Birmingham"
2020-05-06 19:00 | BIRMINGHAM Think Tank, Birmingham Science Museum,, Curzon Street, Birmingham, West Midlands, B4 7XG
Dr Jim Andrew explains the history and conservation challenges of this iconic locomotive

CANCELLED Joseph Quick
2020-04-28 18:30 | MANCHESTER Alliance Française, 125 Portland Street, Manchester, M1 4QD
CORRUPTION IN WATER ENGINEERING: A presentation by Nick Higham (Broadcaster) – The 19th century water supply industry in London relied upon consulting engineers for their development schemes. The outcomes were not always straightforward. A fascinating story from a natural raconteur.

CANCELLED Jonathan Aylen: Presidential Lecture
2020-04-27 18:30 - 20:15 | SHEFFIELD Kelham Island Museum, Alma Street, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S3 8RG
Travel to Kelham Island:
For directions to Kelham Island Museum please visit:- http://www.simt.co.uk/find-us
For further information please contact John Suter on:- meetings.syorks@newcomen.com

CANCELLED Learning Through Archaeology: Killingworth 'Billy'
2020-04-21 14:00 | NEWCASTLE Discovery Museum, Blandford Square, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear, NE1 4HZ
A presentation by Michael Bailey and Peter Davidson to be held in the Carpathia Room.
* * * * Places must be reserved * * * *
The origin of Killingworth Billy, preserved today at the Stephenson Railway Museum in North Tyneside, has long been a mystery. It was thought to have been built in 1826 by Robert Stephenson & Co., but full archaeological and archival studies were needed to establish its true place in the early history of railways.
In 2018 Michael Bailey and Peter Davidson had the opportunity to undertake these studies on behalf of Discovery Museum. It is now believed that Billy was initially fabricated and assembled in 1816 at Killingworth Colliery’s West Moor workshops, under the supervision of George Stephenson. The lecture will discuss the evidence which supports this view.
Michael Bailey and Peter Davidson are acclaimed researchers and writers on early railway history in the UK and abroad.
Entry is by free ticket available via Eventbrite here.
A free public talk in partnership with:

CANCELLED Colliery Winding Engines of South Wales
2020-04-16 19:30 | BRISTOL BAWA, 589 Southmead Rd, Filton, Bristol, BS34 7RG
A presentation by Brian Davies – Bristol Industrial Archaeology Society Meeting (BIAS)

CANCELLED The R101 Disaster
2020-04-14 18:30 | PORTSMOUTH Hood Room, The Royal Maritime Club, 78-80 Queen Street, Portsmouth, PO1 3HS
A presentation by Bryan Lawton

CANCELLED Edward Snell
2020-04-08 17:45 | LONDON Dana Centre, Wellcome Wolfson Building, 165 Queen's Gate, Kensington, London, SW7 5HD
LIFE & TIMES OF A YOUNG WEST COUNTRY ENGINEER IN THE 1840s: A presentation by John Cattell (Historic England)

CANCELLED History of Women in Engineering
2020-04-01 19:00 | BIRMINGHAM Think Tank, Birmingham Science Museum,, Curzon Street, Birmingham, West Midlands, B4 7XG
Professor Graeme Gooday explores the ongoing role of women in engineering and related sectors

CANCELLED History of Wealden Iron
2020-03-24 18:30 | MANCHESTER Alliance Française, 125 Portland Street, Manchester, M1 4QD
A presentation by Dr Tim Smith (Wealden Iron Research Group) – During the middle ages, the iron industry of Britain was clustered around the Weald of Southern England stretching from Kent to Surrey. This paper examines the technology and businesses behind the Wealden iron industry and discusses experiments to replicate their furnace practices.

CANCELLED Transport without Petrol
2020-03-19 19:30 | BRISTOL BAWA, 589 Southmead Rd, Filton, Bristol, BS34 7RG
A PICTORIAL HISTORY: A presentation by Rob Everett – Bristol Industrial Archaeology Society Meeting (BIAS)

Joseph von Baader (1763-1835)
2020-03-11 17:45 | LONDON Hans Rausing Lecture Theatre, The Science Museum, Exhibition Road, London, SW7 1AL, United Kingdom
INSPIRED BY BRITISH INVENTIONS: A presentation by Michael Eckert –
Bavaria offered little incentive for the new industrial age around 1800. Yet – due to the activities of the entrepreneurial scientist Joseph von Baader – the Industrial Revolution became manifest in Bavaria at least marginally in the form of hydraulic machinery, steam engines, gas light and other novel technologies. Baader’s innovations were inspired by extended sojourns in Great Britain where he had visited James Watt’s steam engines, John Wilkinson’s iron works and other industrial sites.
Unlike the breeding grounds of the Industrial Revolution in England and Scotland, however, the Bavarian sites and circumstances for the realization of new technological inventions were unusual. Baader used the transformation of the Nymphenburg castle park in Munich from the Baroque into the then fashionable English landscape garden as an opportunity to install new pumps for powerful fountain jets.
The castle park also served him as a proving ground for the demonstration of other new technologies (transportation systems, steam engines and gas light). The presentation will illustrate Baader’s activities with authentic documents, drawings, photographs and videos. The fountains at Nymphenburg are still driven by Baader’s hydraulic machinery which can be observed in operation at the original site.

Armour for the Grand Fleet
2020-03-10 18:30 | PORTSMOUTH Hood Room, The Royal Maritime Club, 78-80 Queen Street, Portsmouth, PO1 3HS
A presentation by David Boursnell – Developing steel armour from 1890 to 1916.

Discovering Sheffield Castle – Excavation & Analysis 1927–2020
2020-03-10 17:30 | SHEFFIELD Crowne Plaza Royal Victoria, Victoria Station Road, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S4 7YE
Ken Barraclough Memorial Lecture – A presentation by Prof. John Moreland, University Of Sheffield & Millie Rajice.

Henry Beighton
2020-03-04 19:00 | BIRMINGHAM Think Tank, Birmingham Science Museum,, Curzon Street, Birmingham, West Midlands, B4 7XG
THE KEY TO UNLOCKING THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE NEWCOMEN ENGINE: Suhail Rana discusses his research on this engineer and surveyor

Why Britain’s Railways Stuck With Steam Into The Space Age
2020-02-25 18:30 - 20:15 | MANCHESTER Alliance Française, 125 Portland Street, Manchester, M1 4QD
JOINT MEETING WITH THE STEPHENSON LOCOMOTIVE SOCIETY: A presentation by Bob Gwynne (National Railway Museum, York) – This talk examines some of the complex history behind moving on from the steam age on Britain’s railways and attempts to answer why the UK’s love affair with the steam engine hasn’t ended.
‘‘Sticking with Steam”. A look at why Britain’s railways stayed loyal to Georgian technology into the ‘Space Age’
Why did British Railways stick with steam traction for so long? Britain had long supplied electric railways equipment overseas and most UK railway engineers had long accepted that the future was in electric traction for most routes. This thought provoking paper spans from 1801 to 1958 and explores the complex interplay between government, economics, and engineers in shaping technical choices and considers some of the influences that led to steam locomotives remaining as a prime mover on Britain’s railways into the ‘Space Age’.
On the way, the paper will look at some little-known engineers such as Tommy Hornbuckle, Donald Watkins, Emil Reichel, Henry O’Brien, Alan Chorlton, and Henry Richards. This brand-new paper offers a fascinating exploration of both railway history and the broader drivers of technical change in industry.
Bob Gwynne is an associate curator at the National Railway Museum, makes regular television appearances discussing railway history and practice and gave the excellent paper on the Flying Scotsman to the Society in 2017.

Forging Identity: How People and Metal Shape Each Other
2020-02-24 18:30 - 20:15 | SHEFFIELD Kelham Island Museum, Alma Street, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S3 8RG
A presentation by Professor Julian Allwood – This is a joint meeting with the Institution of Mechanical Engineers

The Brunel Institute & Library
2020-02-20 19:30 | BRISTOL BAWA, 589 Southmead Rd, Filton, Bristol, BS34 7RG
A presentation by Nicholas Booth

From Airships to the Space Race (After AGM)
2020-02-12 17:45 | LONDON Dana Centre, Wellcome Wolfson Building, 165 Queen's Gate, Kensington, London, SW7 5HD
SOME WOMEN AND THEIR ENGINEERING ACHIEVEMENTS: (Following the AGM) A presentation by Dr Nina Baker – bringing to life engineering stories with which members may not be so familiar – those of some pioneering women engineers in the past century. From the women who made the first airships and the woman who made her name in their design, these stories will move onto the multitude of ‘lady boffins’ at the Royal Aircraft Establishment who helped take British aviation from biplanes to the first steps into space.

Pioneers of Armour Plate
2020-02-11 18:30 | PORTSMOUTH Hood Room, The Royal Maritime Club, 78-80 Queen Street, Portsmouth, PO1 3HS
A presentation by David Boursnell – The manufacture of iron plate in the 1860s.
