CANCELLED | 'Stephen Carter and the Micrarium in Buxton' by Viviane Quirke
2025-01-28 18:30 - 20:00 (Europe/London) | MANCHESTER International Anthony Burgess Foundation, Engine House, Chorlton Mill, 3 Cambridge Street,, Manchester, M1 5BY
THIS EVENT IS CANCELLED
An in-person event only. No need to sign up, just come along – all are welcome.
From pharmaceutical innovation to public engagement in the North West
In 1981, a new kind of museum opened in Buxton’s old Pump room. It was the ‘Micrarium’, created by Stephen Carter, who had previously been involved in cancer research at ICI’s Pharmaceutical Research Centre at Alderley Park in Cheshire. The Micrarium’s ambition was to make the microscopic world, which Carter had explored in his work for ICI, more readily accessible to the wider public. Unfortunately, Carter’s premature death in 1987, and the eventual displacement of the apparatus used in the Micrarium by digital technology, led to the ultimate demise, not only of the Micrarium itself, but of its idea as a museum.
This talk will illustrate the short-lived ‘World First’ use of microscopes in a dedicated museum setting which, through Carter, bridged the gap between scientific innovation and public engagement. It will touch on the importance of place – Carter’s home, where he did much of the work for the Micrarium, was situated between Alderley Park, with which he retained useful contacts even after he had retired, and Buxton in the Peak District. However, considering the resistance and sometimes outright opposition directed against the museum by some of the local inhabitants, my paper will also ask whether this was the right place to set up such a museum, at a time when the microscopic world was attracting public interest, but which perhaps clashed with the image of a traditional spa town.
About the Speaker
Viviane Quirke is a historian of science, technology and medicine. She has worked on the history of drugs and the pharmaceutical industry in Britain, France and the USA, and has published several articles, chapters and books on the subject.
Viviane retired from Oxford Brookes University in 2023, and is currently Research Associate at the University of Oxford and at University College London.

'Drifting into Digital Dependence' by Vaughan Pomeroy
2025-02-05 19:00 - 21:00 | BIRMINGHAM Think Tank, Birmingham Science Museum,, Curzon Street, Birmingham, West Midlands, B4 7XG
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Digital systems can be found in all sorts of unlikely, and arguably sometimes unnecessary, places that we increasingly depend on in modern life. Unlike most changes in technology where take-up follows a similar pathway from early adoption to market dominance, the digital revolution is more subtle. The distance between the operator or user and the ‘machine’ she controls becomes invaded by digital systems which have the seductive power to lull a sense of security whilst being an incomprehensible black box.
Using the modern merchant ship as the basis, the talk will consider the pathway towards adoption of new technology, the development of automation and the resulting impact on usability. When did we become dependent on digital systems without a manual work around? How should this sort of development be recorded for historical purposes to inform future generations? The speed of change is extraordinary, and the drivers for adoption are not always clear.
About the Speaker
Vaughan Pomeroy joined the British Aircraft Corporation at Weybridge from school in 1970 as an undergraduate apprentice. His daughter points out that it is now a museum! After graduating, Vaughan returned to Weybridge working on aircraft systems, particularly avionics. He joined the consulting engineers Mott, Hay and Anderson in 1974 working on a variety of infrastructure projects, before joining Lloyd's Register of Shipping in 1980.
Vaughan retired in 2010 as Technical Director, since when he has worked with Southampton University and with universities in Singapore.

'The sinking of the Empress of Ireland' by Hugh Ferguson
2025-02-12 18:00 - 19:30 | LONDON Alan Baxter Gallery, 75 Cowcross St, Clerkenwell, London, EC1M 6EL
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.
In the early hours of 29th May 1914, the British-built ocean liner RMS Empress of Ireland, on route from Quebec to Liverpool, was struck by a Norwegian collier near the mouth of the St Lawrence river, and sank within fourteen minutes. More than 1000 of the nearly 1500 people on board died – including 840 passengers, which was more than on the Titanic two years earlier or on the Lusitania a year later. This was one of the world’s worst peacetime maritime disasters, yet it has been largely forgotten.

Hugh Ferguson will relate the events leading up to the disaster, the event itself, and its aftermath – largely through the words of his father Ronald Ferguson, the young Chief Wireless Operator on the Empress, who sent out the SOS which alerted rescue ships, and who was the last to leave the sinking ship.

The talk will touch on several aspects of engineering, including early wireless and contemporary design of ocean liners. But it is primarily a dramatic story of human courage, tragedy and survival.

About the Speaker
Hugh Ferguson is an engineer, journalist and writer. He was formerly editor of New Civil Engineer magazine, managing director of the Institution of Civil Engineers’ commercial company Thomas Telford Ltd, and ICE’s Deputy Director General.
He is author or co-author of The Civil Engineers (2011), Engineers (2012), The Contractors (2013), Constructionarium (2016) and The Consulting Engineers (2020).

'The Trinity House Story' by Julian Parkes
2025-02-24 18:30 - 20:00 | SHEFFIELD Kelham Island Museum, Alma Street, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S3 8RG
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please email meetings.syorks@newcomen.com for zoom link
Have you ever wondered who looks after the major lighthouses around England, Wales and the Channel Islands? How did they come to be there in the first place?
Incorporated by Royal Charter by Henry Vlll in 1514, Trinity House is today a vital part of Britain’s maritime community. In addition to owning and operating lighthouses, lightvessels, beacons and buoys to keep safe all mariners at sea around our shores, Trinity House is called in to mark – and clear if required – wrecks, help develop state of the art electronic navigation tools for vessels of all sizes to overcome the vulnerabilities of GPS, and to act as Nautical Assessors in Admiralty Court cases.
Add to that a sizeable maritime fraternity which regularly advises on current maritime issues and future opportunities, and a charitable side that donates in excess of £5m a year to worthy maritime causes, and you start to get a picture of Trinity House.
About the Speaker
A Master Mariner, Younger Brother at Trinity House and Fellow of the Nautical Institute, Julian Parkes completed a traditional Merchant Navy deck apprenticeship, when he served world-wide on a range of general cargo vessels.

'Bank Quay: more than just a riverside dock' by Bob Bowden
2025-02-25 18:30 - 20:00 | MANCHESTER International Anthony Burgess Foundation, Engine House, Chorlton Mill, 3 Cambridge Street,, Manchester, M1 5BY
An in-person event only. No need to sign up, just come along – all are welcome.
A brief history of an early industrial estate
Bank Quay lends its name to both Warrington’s main railway station and the soap works which looms large behind it. But Bank Quay was already an important industrial complex / transport hub, and well into its 2nd century by the time the first railway arrived.
The real Bank Quay, as the name suggests, is actually hidden away on the River Mersey not 200yds away.
This is a very brief history of some of the more significant and interesting industries that have come & gone here over the last 300 years.
About the Speaker
Bob Bowden is a long standing member of the Newcomen Society.

'Leonardo Torres Quevedo: Pioneer of Computing, Automatics & Artificial Intelligence' by Francisco A. Gonzalez Redondo
2025-02-28 14:30 - 16:00 | LONDON BCS, 25 Copthall Ave, London, EC2R 7BP, United Kingdom
This event is both an in-person and on-line event. Please click on this link to book in-person tickets and zoom link option.
Please Note: The venue security requires in-person attendees to have booked their ticket in advance to secure entry.
This is a joint meeting with The Computer Conservation Society.
A comprehensive examination of the almost unknown Spanish pioneer in the fields of computing, automatics and artificial intelligence during the first two decades of the twentieth century: the engineer and mathematician Leonardo Torres Quevedo (1852-1936).
About the Speaker
Francisco A. Gonzalez Redondo is Professor of History of Science at the Faculty of Education, Universidad Complutense, Madrid, where he has taught since 1989 and where he was Academic Secretary between 2001 and 2009.
Francisco has written/coordinated more than 20 books and more than 200 articles/book chapters. He has curated more than 50 exhibitions, participated in more than 80 radio programs and given more than 300 conferences and seminars in Germany, Denmark, Spain, Italy, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Sweden and Switzerland.

'A Warwickshire Eclipse' by Mike Frost
2025-03-05 19:00 - 21:00 | BIRMINGHAM Think Tank, Birmingham Science Museum,, Curzon Street, Birmingham, West Midlands, B4 7XG
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On February 18th 1737, there was an eclipse of the Sun visible from Warwickshire. It was one of an extraordinary series of British eclipses which occurred in the eighteenth century, and inspired a generation of astronomers and cartographers to produce ever-more elaborate charts and maps of the eclipse tracks.
Henry Beighton – surveyor, engineer, draftsman and mathematician, drew one such chart to illustrate the 1737 eclipse. Mike Frost found this chart in the papers of Roger Newdigate, a young aristocrat who lived in Arbury Hall, Nuneaton.
Mike uses the story of these two fascinating historical figures, and the map that connects them, to trace the flowering of mathematical talent in the wake of Newton, Halley and others. In the case of Beighton and Newdigate, these talents played a direct part in bringing the industrial revolution to Warwickshire.
About the Speaker
Warwickshire’s Mike Frost is a Systems Engineer working in the steel industry. In his spare time, Mike is an astronomer who chases eclipses and visits astronomical sites worldwide.
Mike is a member of the Coventry and Warwickshire Astonomy Society, The Society for the History of Astronomy, The British Astronomical Association and The Royal Astronomical Society. He also writes articles and gives talks to societies around the UK & beyond. In April 2010, Mike became director of the Historical Section of the British Astronomical Association.

'The History of the Queen Mary Reservoir' by Nick Pollard
2025-03-12 18:00 - 19:30 | LONDON Alan Baxter Gallery, 75 Cowcross St, Clerkenwell, London, EC1M 6EL
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.
The Queen Mary Reservoir was built as a result of the huge expansion in unfiltered water capacity initiated by the Metropolitan Water Board, after it was formed in 1902 to take over London’s water supply from the previous private companies. Originally known as the Littleton Reservoir after the Middlesex village it virtually obliterated, on its opening in 1925 it gained its current name, and was the world’s largest free-standing reservoir (as opposed to one constructed by damming a river valley).
Beginning with a look at the area before the reservoir, the talk goes on to look at the massive engineering effort involved in the construction of the reservoir, including overcoming some unexpected geological challenges which forced a major redesign. An extensive railway network was put in place around the perimeter of the site to facilitate the work, and huge excavators were assembled on site. Also covered are the construction of the inlet channel from the nearby River Thames and the associated pumping station.
The reservoir was put to some surprising uses during the Second World War, and narrowly escaped being seriously damaged by bombing. The talk concludes with a look at the reservoir today and its use for leisure purposes in addition to its primary role in supplying London with water.
About the Speaker
Nick Pollard is the Chairman of Sunbury and Shepperton Local History Society and the Curator of Spelthorne Museum in Staines. He is recently retired after a 45 year career in engineering.
Nick has lived near the Queen Mary Reservoir for many years and became fascinated by its history.

'Marshall the energy: Some stories about the life & work of Dr Walter Marshall' by Dr Victoria Marshall
2025-03-18 18:30 - 20:00 | MANCHESTER International Anthony Burgess Foundation, Engine House, Chorlton Mill, 3 Cambridge Street,, Manchester, M1 5BY
An in-person event only. No need to sign up, just come along – all are welcome.
During the 63 years of his life, Dr Walter Marshall, or Lord Marshall if you prefer, was Director of the Atomic Energy Research Establishment (AERE) Harwell, Chairman of the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA), then Chairman of the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) at the time of the Sizewell B enquiry and the miner’s strike.
A decade later, he was instrumental in dealing with the fall-out (no pun intended) of the Chernobyl disaster and in establishing the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO).
This talk uses family archives to try and shed some light on a highly driven man who loved playing chess, doing origami and above all, understanding and explaining the nuclear world.
About the Speaker
Dr Victoria Marshall is a computer scientist working amongst physicists in the Central Laser Facility at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. She worked at AERE Harwell for three years, has worked at Rutherford for 35 years, and is now the Campus’ de facto archivist and employed (as opposed to retired) historian.
And, of course, she has known Walter Marshall since the day she was born!

‘The Ken Barraclough Memorial Lecture - New discoveries of Sheffield industrial metallurgical history post Barraclough' by Ashley Tuck
2025-03-25 18:15 - 19:00 | SHEFFIELD Crowne Plaza Royal Victoria, Victoria Station Road, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S4 7YE
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This is a joint meeting between the Sheffield Metallurgical and Engineering Association and the South Yorkshire Industrial History Society
Ashley Tuck from Wessex Archaeology will update us on progress that has been made in recent years.
About the Speaker
Ashley Tuck is an archaeologist with over 20 years experience. He has been involved with research on Sheffield Castle since 2016 and led the field evaluation in 2018. Ashley began his career working as an excavator on industrial sites in Sheffield, before widening his experience, investigating sites of varying types and date using a broad spectrum of techniques. For a time, Ashley led the Wessex Archaeology archiving team in Sheffield.
He has written a large number of archaeological reports and publications including the monograph for Hornsea Project One and contributing to the book Sheffield Castle: Archaeology, Archives, Regeneration, 1927–2018.
With the work at the castle, Ashley hopes to help tell the story of Sheffield and contribute to our emerging understanding of the identity of the modern city. As nothing is currently visible above ground it can be hard to remember the significance and size of the castle. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to understand this medieval power centre and to explore the castle and its iconic and transformative meaning for people today.

'History of research in British Gas' by Chris Hodrien
2025-04-02 19:00 - 21:00 | BIRMINGHAM Think Tank, Birmingham Science Museum,, Curzon Street, Birmingham, West Midlands, B4 7XG
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The British gas industry has a long and proud history of technical innovation, but very little is known or appreciated by the general public.
Town gas production technology for gas lighting by the carbonisation (destructive heating) of coal was invented by William Murdoch in Redruth in 1793 and subsequently developed by him in Boulton & Watt’s Soho Foundry in Smethwick during 1995-1805, initially for the gas lighting of factories and mills. This was the first industrial scale example of what is nowadays termed the Process Industry, and long predated the better-known chemical industry.
The basic production technology remained unchanged into the 1950s, with gradual evolutionary equipment improvements, but formal R&D on both production and utilisation was considerably accelerated first during WorldWar 2, then by the nationalisation of the industry in 1948 and again with the formation of British Gas Corporation in 1973, forming a powerful fully vertically-integrated organisation covering all aspects of gas technology. This led to two successive and very successful total technical revolutions, from coal carbonisation to steam reforming of light oils in the 1960s-70s followed immediately by the conversion to North Sea natural gas in the 1970s-80s.
By the time of the privatisation in the early 1990s , British Gas was one of the most powerful, modern, technically advanced and profitable industries in the UK, with an R&D budget of c. £55M/year and a long term 25-year R&D strategy.
About the Speaker
Chris Hodrien is the son of two industrial chemists who met in the laboratory. He formed an intent to become an industrial Chemical Engineer at about age 11 and had by far the largest home chemistry set in the neighbourhood! Chris graduated with an M.A. in Chemical Engineering from Pembroke College, University of Cambridge in 1973 and went straight to work in cutting-edge world-class gas production R&D at Midlands Research Station, Solihull.
One important role (1974) was the introduction of brand-new computer-aided gasification process simulation methods, another (1980-83) was as team leader of the initial pilot plant for the world’s highest efficiency coal gasification process. A project for advanced low-cost drying of natural gas (1996-2000) won an internal Chairman’s Award for Chris.
Subsequently, the work was relocated to a new integrated national Gas Research Centre at Loughborough after privatisation in 1993, under the new banner of Advantica plc.
Chris is a visiting industrial tutor on biotechnology scale-up, industrial design and costing, bioenergy and process egineering for the University of Warwick.

'Presidential Address: A short version of the long history of automation on the railways' by Professor Felix Schmid
2025-04-09 18:00 - 19:30 | LONDON Alan Baxter Gallery, 75 Cowcross St, Clerkenwell, London, EC1M 6EL
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.
The presentation will commence by introducing very early mechanical systems, including some that were used on waggonways 300 years ago. These were quite primitive but reduced the labour requirement, e.g. by automating passing loops on tramways.
The automatic systems that came about in response to the Regulation of Railways Act 1889, which made the railway much safer and also improved its economy, will be discussed, followed by the origins of the train stop and warning systems that came into operation in the early 20th century. The electronic safety and operational management systems instigated by computerisation, where British Rail had a leading role, will be reviewed.
The presentation will finish with some reflections on fully automated railways and the role of machine learning and what is often termed artificial intelligence. Throughout the talk, the speaker will comment on the importance of including human skill and perception in automated systems for the railway.
About the Speaker
Felix Schmid is an Emeritus Professor of Railway Systems Engineering at the University of Birmingham and, currently, serves as the President of the Newcomen Society.
He has had a longstanding interest in railway systems and, more particularly, the automation of activities necessary for the safe and efficient operation of railways. Some automated systems support the work of people, others are carrying out tasks without regular interactions with humans.

'The life of L.T.C Rolt' by Dr Victoria Owens
2025-04-28 18:30 - 20:00 | SHEFFIELD Kelham Island Museum, Alma Street, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S3 8RG
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In 1926, Tom Rolt who was then sixteen years old, abandoned his public school education. Having taken a job with a small firm of agricultural engineers, he realised that he had found his life’s calling. But the way ahead was neither smooth nor easy. Having secured a premium apprenticeship, the firm which took him on foundered and although he eventually qualified as a mechanical engineer, the 1930s depression made it almost impossible to find regular employment.
Nothing daunted, with the encouragement of his mysterious companion ‘Cara’, he turned to writing. His literary career flourished alongside his association with the Vintage Sports Car Club, the Inland Waterways Association and the Talyllyn Railway. Between his Inland Waterways Association and Talyllyn phases, Angela, his first wife, left him to join Billy Smart’s Circus, and Sonia –an actress-turned-boatwoman – would become his second wife. Over the course of his life, he produced over thirty books, their subject matters ranging from canals and railways to engineering biography; company histories; a collection of accomplished ghost stories and a topographical survey of Worcestershire. He also wrote polemics about the plight of the craftsman in a world which relied increasingly upon mass production.
In this book, the first full-length biography of Tom Rolt and a complement to his auto-biographical Landscape trilogy, Dr Victoria Owens draws upon his surviving letters and unpublished manuscripts to tell the story of the engineer-turned-writer who made Britain’s industrial past the stuff of enduring literature.
About the Speaker
A member of the Newcomen Society, Dr Victoria Owens has worked in local government and the book trade. Now an independent scholar, her book Lady Charlotte Guest – the exceptional life of a female industrialist was shortlisted for the 2021 Wales Book of the Year and won the non-fiction award. Her other publications include James Brindley and the Duke of Bridgewater: Canal Visionaries (Amberley Publishing 2015) and Aqueducts and Viaducts of Britain (Amberley Publishing 2019).
Victoria’s latest publication, The Life of L.T.C Tom Rolt, came out in 2024.

'From craftsman’s bench to factory floor: the Birmingham Rule Trade 1750-1920' by David Bryden
2025-05-07 19:00 - 21:00 | BIRMINGHAM Think Tank, Birmingham Science Museum,, Curzon Street, Birmingham, West Midlands, B4 7XG
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During the 19th century, there was a marked change in the structure and form of the rule-making trade in Birmingham and Wolverhampton. Making rules for tradesmen across the UK and abroad to measure, lay-out and calculate, effectively vanished from Wolverhampton. Established craft skills, practiced in small Birmingham workshops by a skilled master, assisted by trained journeymen using techniques passed onto apprentices, were swept aside by mechanisation.
Despite the active opposition of time-served journeymen, unskilled young operatives of both genders came to dominate a growing workforce, along with a decline in the number of employers and the emergence of a few large manufacturing units – the rule factory. A leading activist in this change was the entrepreneurial John Rabone II (1820-1892).
Informal and formal records kept by the Rabone business and preserved in Sheffield and Birmingham, together with data drawn from Census returns, the local press, and publications by or for the rule manufacturers, have been examined for the first time.
About the Speaker
David J. Bryden BSc MA PhD FSA took a degree in engineering at Leicester in 1964 followed by a year taking a taught course in the history and philosophy of science at Oxford.
David was then employed for nearly four decades in various national and university museums. His PhD (Cambridge 1993) was awarded on the basis of publications on early scientific instruments and the British instrument making trade.
Retiring to the West Midlands, David has continued to research and publish.

'The Trinity House Story' by David Whitehead & Mike Hawthorne
2025-05-14 18:00 - 20:00 | LONDON Alan Baxter Gallery, 75 Cowcross St, Clerkenwell, London, EC1M 6EL
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.
Have you ever wondered who looks after the major lighthouses around England, Wales and the Channel Islands? How did they come to be there in the first place?
Incorporated by Royal Charter by Henry Vlll in 1514, Trinity House is today a vital part of Britain’s maritime community. In addition to owning and operating lighthouses, lightvessels, beacons and buoys to keep safe all mariners at sea around our shores, Trinity House is called in to mark – and clear if required – wrecks, help develop state of the art electronic navigation tools for vessels of all sizes to overcome the vulnerabilities of GPS, and to act as Nautical Assessors in Admiralty Court cases.
Add to that a sizeable maritime fraternity which regularly advises on current maritime issues and future opportunities, and a charitable side that donates in excess of £5m a year to worthy maritime causes, and you start to get a picture of Trinity House. Then add cadet schemes to train future Merchant Navy mariners and leisure seafarers, almshouses for the use of retired mariners, holidays in converted lighthouses and even public tours and private receptions offered in its stunning historical London HQ on Tower Hill.
About the Speaker
David Whitehead OBE is a former Director of the British Ports Association (1993 to 2016) and Director of Policy, British Ports Federation (1990 – 1993). David led the ports industry through a period of great change. He was heavily involved in the development of the Port Marine Safety Code and was a member of the Port Marine Safety Code Steering Group, which led on navigational safety policy for the entire maritime sector, for many years. David was also Chairman of the European Seaports Organisation for four years where he was responsible for leading on ports policy, including marine and navigational issues, with the EU institutions. In 2010, he was awarded the OBE for his services to the UK ports industry.
Captain Mike Hawthorne OBE RN has been a Younger Brother of Trinity House since 2021. His 36 years in the Royal Navy included working with Diesel and Nuclear Submarines, Naval Intelligence, Naval Procurement and Crisis Management Fleet Command. His roles included Navigation Training Officer, Command of HMS Tireless, Director Naval Intelligence Collection, Naval Operations and Command of Joint Forces Cyber Group.

'Went the day well? - We plan, the Gods laugh: Success and Failure on D-Day' by Dr Phil Judkins
2025-05-19 18:30 - 20:00 | SHEFFIELD Kelham Island Museum, Alma Street, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S3 8RG
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The Allies’ success at D-Day paved the way for victory in Europe. The fighting in Normandy continued until August 1944, when Paris was liberated.
Many of the immediate strategic objectives of the landings were not achieved, including the failure to capture any of the key towns. But D-Day was still a huge success. More than 160,000 Allied troops and 6,000 vehicles had crossed the Channel and established a foothold in France.
About the Speaker
Dr Phil Judkins’ love of industrial archaeology stems from his childhood playground being an abandoned Victorian waterworks, with no Health and Safety to concern him! Cambridge’s Classical Archaeology course led to several years in ‘dirt archaeology’, followed by a management career which ranged from the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment to the City of London. Phil then gave structure to his abiding interest of historic defence electronics through a Cranfield PhD in the history of radar, and successive Fellowships at the UK’s Defence Academy and at Buckingham University’s Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies.
He currently chairs the Defence Electronics History Society and the Purbeck Radar Museum Trust, in addition to serving on the Committee of the South Yorkshire Newcomen Society, and lectures on defence topics throughout the UK, Phil’s particular perspective is to present the role of electronics in conflict as seen by all the contending parties, rather than from a single national perspective, so that he welcomes collaboration with colleagues internationally.

'The Polaris Missile System: Development and Operations' by John Boyes
2025-09-23 18:30 - 20:00 | MANCHESTER International Anthony Burgess Foundation, Engine House, Chorlton Mill, 3 Cambridge Street,, Manchester, M1 5BY
Image source: US National Archives NAID (public domain)
An in-person event only. No need to sign up, just come along – all are welcome.
The atom bombs dropped on Japan heralded new military possibilities as the post-war world became the Cold War. Seeing with great foresight the potential for developing nuclear power for the US Navy, Capt. Hyman Rickover pushed forward a research programme which culminated with the launch of the USS Nautilus, the world’s first nuclear powered submarine.
Still dependant on complex liquid fuels the US Navy, already partnering the Army in developing a ballistic missile for both services, withdrew from the alliance when solid fuels of sufficient energy became a practical proposition, setting up its own project under the leadership of RAdm. William Raborn. Thus was born the Polaris weapon system with the first missile-armed, nuclear powered submarine leaving on patrol in 1958.
Forty other SSBNs were to follow and when Britain’s Blue Streak and Skybolt plans were cancelled, Harold Macmillan and President Kennedy met in the Bahamas sealing a deal which saw Polaris also being supplied to the Royal Navy.
About the Speaker
John Boyes was born in Edinburgh in 1947. Educated at Rugby School, he qualified as a chartered accountant in 1973 and thereafter pursued a career in the motor industry until his retirement in 2005. Always interested in the military, he served for seventeen years in the Territorial Army’s Media Operations Group.
John’s particular interest is the history of missiles and he published his first book on the topic, Project Emily: Thor IRBM and the RAF, in 2008. He is the former treasurer of the RAF Historical Society and of the Bomber Command Association, whose Memorial to the 55,573 RAF personnel killed in the Second World War was unveiled in 2012.

'The Development of the HF Transceiver' by Bob Harris
2025-09-29 18:30 - 20:00 | SHEFFIELD Kelham Island Museum, Alma Street, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S3 8RG
Image source: KNL
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The period from about 1970 to 1985 saw significant changes in the design and construction of high-frequency (HF) radio transceivers. Whilst this talk will focus on amateur radio transceivers, the developments and changes also applied to commercial transceivers for the maritime and land mobile markets.
Bob Harris will cover the changes and set them in the context of the wider development of transmitters and receivers from Marconi onwards. The development of the technology, the circuit design and the construction practices will all be examined and supported by relevant theory.
The reasons for the rise to dominance of the Japanese brands such as Icom, Kenwood and Vertex will be discussed.
About the Speaker
Bob Harris has held an amateur radio licence since 1971 and has gradually built up a collection of old radio transceivers. These are from the mid-1970s until the mid-1980s, this period being one of significant technical change and innovation.
Professionally, Bob has an MSc in Modern Electronics and a BEng in Electronic Engineering. After initially working in the steel industry, he moved into teaching in further education. Latterly, he taught electronics and telecommunications at Sheffield Hallam University for some 30 years until his retirement

'The Hallmarking of Silver and Gold' by Dr Jim Andrew
2025-10-01 19:00 - 21:00 | BIRMINGHAM Think Tank, Birmingham Science Museum,, Curzon Street, Birmingham, West Midlands, B4 7XG
Photo Credit: Rodolph at the English-language Wikipedia
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This is a joint event with Thinktank, Birmingham Science Museum
The UK’s consumer protection started some seven centuries ago with the marking of gold and silver products to show purity, date tested and the maker. The method of establishing the purity of silver products evolved over many years with a need for both accuracy and the time taken to test items submitted for assaying, particularly in busy assay offices.
Jim Andrew will explain the system and how to access the details of date and maker, with examples from the last two centuries.
About the Speaker
Dr Jim Andrew is a former museum manager at Birmingham Science Museum, and is currently Chairman of Newcomen Midlands.

'Presidential Address: Maritime Regulation, a force for good?' by Vaughan Pomeroy
2025-10-21 18:00 - 19:30 | LONDON Alan Baxter Gallery, 75 Cowcross St, Clerkenwell, London, EC1M 6EL
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.
Regulation has become a target for many political voices, red tape restricting innovation and business which should be removed or constrained. Of course, regulations are introduced to achieve many different objectives. The lecture will look at the development of the current maritime safety regulatory regimes, international, national and non-statutory, to set out how innovation has been addressed, how specific concerns have driven change and attempt to quantify the benefits. It will conclude by considering current challenges and setting these against the safety gains of the past.
The lecture rests heavily on the experience of the speaker gained during forty years working in heavily regulated industries including thirty years with Lloyd’s Register of Shipping.
About the Speaker
Vaughan Pomeroy began his engineering career with British Aircraft Corporation at Weybridge. He then worked with Mott, Hay and Anderson, on the design and construction of infrastructure projects including tunnels, water supply and irrigation schemes, power generation and distribution and building services.
Vaughan then spent over thirty years until June 2010 with Lloyd’s Register, ultimately as the Marine Technical Director responsible for the technical policy of the marine business of that classification society.
He is an engineering graduate of the University of Cambridge, a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects, a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and a Fellow and Honorary Vice President of the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology and a Chartered Engineer.

'New Maps of Hell: the first years of naval drones & anti-shipping guided missiles' by Dr Phil Judkins
2025-10-27 18:30 - 20:00 | SHEFFIELD Kelham Island Museum, Alma Street, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S3 8RG
Photo Credit: Public Domain via the US Federal Government
Joining us IN PERSON – just turn up, there’s no need to register
Joining us on-line – Zoom ID: 819 9793 5066
In the Black Sea, Russia’s fleet has almost ceased to exist, thanks to a weapon we think of as ultra-modern. Except it isn’t. The first naval drone was German; its first casualty was an Ipswich man, and the year was 1917!
Dr Phil Judkins traces the history of naval drones and missiles, and defences against them, over the last century – a story with many surprises. In the Second World War, Germany’s devices, little recorded in history, sank one battleship, crippled two more, sank one heavy cruiser and crippled two more; even less recorded is that Britain’s first response was using electric shavers to jam radio command signals. Not admitted for over 20 years was the biggest single loss of life at sea to US forces, which occurred in an almost unknown battle between 40 German missiles and two US shipborne radio jammers.
The use of similar missiles is traced through the Falklands, and then brought up to date with the rapid pace of development in the Ukraine, and of British anti-drone devices such as DragonFire and the less romantically-named Ealing Project.
The lecture concludes with contemplation of the future of Britain’s naval carrier forces against the potential opposition of Chinese stealth Ju Tian drone ‘mother-ships’, each capable of carrying sizeable drone swarms with an Artificial Intelligence (AI) capability thousands of miles before release.
About the Speaker
Dr Phil Judkins’ love of industrial archaeology stems from his childhood playground being an abandoned Victorian waterworks, with no Health and Safety to concern him! Cambridge’s Classical Archaeology course led to several years in ‘dirt archaeology’, followed by a management career which ranged from the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment to the City of London. Phil then gave structure to his abiding interest of historic defence electronics through a Cranfield PhD in the history of radar, and successive Fellowships at the UK’s Defence Academy and at Buckingham University’s Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies.
He currently chairs the Defence Electronics History Society and the Purbeck Radar Museum Trust, in addition to serving on the Committee of the South Yorkshire Newcomen Society, and lectures on defence topics throughout the UK, Phil’s particular perspective is to present the role of electronics in conflict as seen by all the contending parties, rather than from a single national perspective, so that he welcomes collaboration with colleagues internationally.

'The Archaeology & History of LOCOMOTION No.1' by Peter Davidson & Michael Bailey
2025-10-28 18:30 - 20:00 | MANCHESTER International Anthony Burgess Foundation, Engine House, Chorlton Mill, 3 Cambridge Street,, Manchester, M1 5BY
Photo Credit: Gillett Crossings
An in-person event only. No need to sign up, just come along – all are welcome.
The project to learn about the history and rebuilding of the locomotive that started operation on the Stockton & Darlington Railway in 1825 was undertaken on behalf of the National Railway Museum.
A close examination of each component of the locomotive and tender was accompanied by a lengthy trawl through contemporary papers relating to the locomotive and the combination of the findings from both these studies revealed much about the locomotive that had previously been overlooked.
The operation of the locomotive between 1825 and 1841 was in three phases, with a substantial rebuild between each. Preparation for its post-operational display on a plinth outside Darlington North Road station from 1857 required a further rebuilding to a form that has been readily recognised since that time.
About the Speaker
Michael Bailey and Peter Davidson, both members of the Newcomen Society, have collaborated on three previous early locomotive archaeological projects, ‘Killingworth Billy’, Hetton ‘Lyon‘, and ‘Invicta‘; their findings have also been presented to the Society in previous years.
The authors’ expertise in early locomotive history and engineering has revealed much new knowledge on the subject. Michael Bailey is a Past President of the Newcomen Society and the current President of the Stephenson Locomotive Society and the British Overseas Railways Historical Trust.

'History of Research in British Gas - Part 2' by Chris Hodrien
2025-11-05 19:00 - 21:00 | BIRMINGHAM Think Tank, Birmingham Science Museum,, Curzon Street, Birmingham, West Midlands, B4 7XG
Photo Credit: Random Group
Joining us IN PERSON – just turn up, there’s no need to register
Joining us ONLINE – click on this zoom link before the event to join in
This is a joint event with Thinktank, Birmingham Science Museum
In April 2025, Chris Hodrien gave the first part of his account of the history of research in British Gas, including an introduction to the gas industry in the United Kingdom, and the consolidation and nationalisation of the industry in the mid-20th-century.
The basic production technology remained unchanged into the 1950s, with gradual evolutionary equipment improvements, but formal R&D on both production and utilisation was considerably accelerated first during WorldWar 2, then by the nationalisation of the industry in 1948 and again with the formation of British Gas Corporation in 1973, forming a powerful fully vertically-integrated organisation covering all aspects of gas technology. This led to two successive and very successful total technical revolutions, from coal carbonisation to steam reforming of light oils in the 1960s-70s followed immediately by the conversion to North Sea natural gas in the 1970s-80s.
By the time of the privatisation in the early 1990s, British Gas was one of the most powerful, modern, technically advanced and profitable industries in the UK, with an R&D budget of c. £55M/year and a long term 25-year R&D strategy.
In part 2 of his talk, Chris covers the later technical developments that resulted from the world-class research that he was involved in.
About the Speaker
Chris Hodrien is the son of two industrial chemists who met in the laboratory. He formed an intent to become an industrial Chemical Engineer at about age 11 and had by far the largest home chemistry set in the neighbourhood! Chris graduated with an M.A. in Chemical Engineering from Pembroke College, University of Cambridge in 1973 and went straight to work in cutting-edge world-class gas production R&D at Midlands Research Station, Solihull.
One important role (1974) was the introduction of brand-new computer-aided gasification process simulation methods, another (1980-83) was as team leader of the initial pilot plant for the world’s highest efficiency coal gasification process. A project for advanced low-cost drying of natural gas (1996-2000) won an internal Chairman’s Award for Chris.
Subsequently, the work was relocated to a new integrated national Gas Research Centre at Loughborough after privatisation in 1993, under the new banner of Advantica plc.

'Broadcast Britain' by Dr Mark Pegg
2025-11-18 18:00 - 19:30 | LONDON Alan Baxter Gallery, 75 Cowcross St, Clerkenwell, London, EC1M 6EL
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.
A Century of Change Personalities, Politics, Society & Culture 1922–2022
Dr Mark Pegg presented to the society in 2024 on the technology that enabled public broadcasting: 100 years of the BBC, crystal sets, valve radios and television through to the semi-conductors and microchips creating today’s multi-media age with computers, mobile phones and smart speakers.
By popular demand, members wanted more information on the people, social and cultural changes plus the impact of broadcasting on the way we live our lives.
This is a further presentation on the technology that uniquely entered our homes and changed us forever.

About the Speaker
Dr Mark Pegg read history at Oxford University where his published doctoral thesis was British Broadcasting and Society 1918-1939. He 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.
He is a Companion of the Chartered Management Institute and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

'A short version of the long history of automation on the railways' by Felix Schmid
2025-11-24 18:30 - 20:00 | SHEFFIELD Kelham Island Museum, Alma Street, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S3 8RG
Joining us IN PERSON – just turn up, there’s no need to register
Joining us ON-LINE – click this zoom link
The presentation will commence by introducing very early mechanical systems, including some that were used on waggonways 300 years ago. These were quite primitive but reduced the labour requirement, e.g. by automating passing loops on tramways.
The automatic systems that came about in response to the Regulation of Railways Act 1889, which made the railway much safer and also improved its economy, will be discussed, followed by the origins of the train stop and warning systems that came into operation in the early 20th century. The electronic safety and operational management systems instigated by computerisation, where British Rail had a leading role, will be reviewed.
The presentation will finish with some reflections on fully automated railways and the role of machine learning and what is often termed artificial intelligence. Throughout the talk, the speaker will comment on the importance of including human skill and perception in automated systems for the railway.
About the Speaker
Felix Schmid is an Emeritus Professor of Railway Systems Engineering at the University of Birmingham and, currently, serves as the President of the Newcomen Society.
He has had a longstanding interest in railway systems and, more particularly, the automation of activities necessary for the safe and efficient operation of railways. Some automated systems support the work of people, others are carrying out tasks without regular interactions with humans.

'Radical adoption of computer technology at Llanwern steelworks, South Wales – an object lesson for AI' by Jonathan Aylen
2025-11-25 18:30 - 20:00 | MANCHESTER International Anthony Burgess Foundation, Engine House, Chorlton Mill, 3 Cambridge Street,, Manchester, M1 5BY
Photo Credit: AI Generated by Random Group Ltd
An in-person only event. No need to sign up, just come along – all are welcome.
This is a joint meeting with the Computer Conservation Society.
Why do some automation projects succeed, while others fail? More broadly, how do organisations shape new technology – for good or ill? Why are some automation schemes supported and some resisted, subverted and discarded?
Here we document one historical example. Expect many photos of solid engineering, beehive hairdos and a walk-on part for Steven Spielberg’s dad.
Two pioneering applications of computers at Llanwern steelworks allow us to compare simultaneous adoption of parallel automation schemes. One succeeded, one failed. The two automation systems were implemented by the same team in the same location for use by the same workforce. Natural experiments such as this are one way to test theory.
By way of explanation we focus on a distinction between “physical technologies” and “social technologies”. The distinction is captured by innovation scholar Dick Nelson’s metaphor of The Moon and the Ghetto. Moonshots required technical solutions. The ghetto was an intractable, multi-dimensional wicked problem. Our experiment suggests it is harder to develop organisational routines for “social technologies” than for “physical technologies”.
The application of a GE 412 to process control of the new wide hot strip mill at Llanwern steelworks in the mid-1960’s in South Wales was precisely specified, technically successful and imitated worldwide. This essentially technical implementation was a “physical technology”. Use of three Elliott 803 computers for managerial tasks of information handling and order scheduling for the same mill was problematic. These management computers were essentially a “social technology.” Computers were far more readily integrated into routines for physical control of a rolling mill, than into the managerial task of scheduling. The research draws on interviews with those who participated in the schemes and private archive sources such as the surviving software.
About the Speaker
Jonathan Aylen is an academic researcher who now specialises in the history of technology. He has written on the development of computer guidance systems for Cold War missiles, the development of the first British atomic bomb and on computer control in the steel industry. His approach is to integrate oral history with unorthodox archive sources. Jonathan’s first exposure to computing was writing FORTRAN programmes for an ICL mainframe to support his research in economics.
Jonathan is a recent past President of the Newcomen society for the History of Engineering and Technology and his research output across a range of disciplines can be found here.

'The History of Measurement of Oxygen in Medicine' by Dr. John Moyle
2025-12-03 19:00 - 21:00 | BIRMINGHAM Think Tank, Birmingham Science Museum,, Curzon Street, Birmingham, West Midlands, B4 7XG
Photo Credit: Uusi Ajaja Creative Commons
Joining us IN PERSON – just turn up, there’s no need to register
Joining us ONLINE – click on this zoom link before the event to join in
This is a joint event with Thinktank, Birmingham Science Museum
Of the gases involved in life, oxygen is the most important!

This lecture relates the history of measurement of oxygen in medicine, as a gas, in solution in bodily fluids and on haemoglobin; from the Haldane apparatus to Pulse Oximetry.
As a gas:

Haldane
Paramagnetic
(Raman spectroscopy)*
(Mass spectroscopy)*
Acoustic
Fuel Cell

Dissolved in Plama:

Clark electrode

Attached to Haemoglobin:

Non-invasive “Oximetry”
Pulse Oximetry

*Research only
About the Speaker
Dr John Moyle is a Chartered Engineer, retired physician & anaesthetist plus historian with a particular interest in telegraphy and medical technology.

'Conservation Engineering – Repairs to the Camellia House at Wentworth Woodhouse & Keppel’s Column' by Gez Pegram
2025-12-15 19:00 - 20:00 | SHEFFIELD Kelham Island Museum, Alma Street, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S3 8RG
Photo Credit: Andrewrabbott licensed under Creative Commons
Joining us IN PERSON – just turn up, there’s no need to register
Joining us on-line – Zoom ID: 860 9791 5034
This is a joint meeting with the South Yorkshire Industrial History Society
This presentation will outline the restoration work undertaken at Wentworth Woodhouse and Keppel’s Column.
The £5 million restoration of Wentworth Woodhouse’s Camellia House involved repairing structural elements, reinstating its glazed roof, and incorporating modern energy-efficient technologies like ground-source heat pumps and underfloor heating. The project successfully transformed the derelict Grade II listed building into a tea house and event venue, preserving the historic camellia plants while integrating contemporary design.
Keppel’s Column in Rotherham was the subject of a major restoration project completed in 2022, which addressed severe structural issues including cracking and stonework erosion, and replaced the deteriorating internal staircase. The column was stabilized using a series of vertical and horizontal ties The severely broken internal staircase, which had been a major structural issue, was replaced with new metal treads that tie the inner and outer brick shafts together. The missing rotating roof covering was reinstated to protect the column and its shaft, and the metal railings on the cap were replaced to replicate original components.
About the Speaker
Gez Pegram

'The Wright Brothers’ Last Laugh - The World's Return to Unstable Flight' by Dr Fred Starr
2025-12-16 18:00 - 19:30 | LONDON Alan Baxter Gallery, 75 Cowcross St, Clerkenwell, London, EC1M 6EL
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.
With their background in design and construction as bicycle mechanics, The Wright Brothers set out to build a flying machine. Nevertheless, success took half a decade of experimental engineering & even the Wrights themselves didn’t think much of their world renowned flight on 17th December 1903. On that day, they were lucky but they were only halfway there. Proper flying did not come until 1905.
The Wrights were not enthusiastic amateurs. As genuine engineers, they read the literature before starting work. An early insight, coming from bicycle design, was that aircraft not only had to be controlled, but a degree of instability was useful. The lecture will review what they did and summarise the Wrights’ other engineering achievements.
In the decades that followed, the unstable aircraft was considered an idiotic concept. Today, however, advanced fighters and even some commercial aircraft have adopted the Wrights’ approach. Instability gives better manoeuvrability, lower aircraft weight, and reduced fuel consumption. But there are dangers.
About the Speaker
Dr Fred Starr graduated as a metallurgist from Battersea College (now the University of Surrey) in 1966. He joined British Gas, London Research Station, in Fulham, where he remained for 30 years, moving from failure investigation, to leading the company’s research on high temperature materials.
However, the last ten years of Fred’s working life were geared towards energy conversion, principally with British Gas and the European Commission. This included Stirling engines, gas turbines and steam plant. It was a switch made possible by an amateur with a deep interest in the design of aircraft and aircraft engines, especially their history. In this respect, Fred’s one regret in life, is not knowing that the Newcomen Society used to meet at the Science Museum, just up the road from where he worked.
Formally “retiring” in 2007, Fred became an active member of the Newcomen Society. He got the Society to put on conferences on The Piston Engine Revolution (the development of the IC engine) and Swords into Ploughshares (how WWI transformed British Engineering). Fred has also published a three part paper in the Newcomen Journal on the development of materials for IC engine poppet valves.
He has also set up his own website, fredstarr.com, that has sections on industrial history.

'A short version of the long history of automation on the railways' by Felix Schmid
2026-01-07 19:00 - 21:00 | BIRMINGHAM Think Tank, Birmingham Science Museum,, Curzon Street, Birmingham, West Midlands, B4 7XG
Photo Credit: Benutzer:Bukk
Joining us IN PERSON – just turn up, there’s no need to register
Joining us ONLINE – click on this zoom link before the event to join in
This is a joint event with Thinktank, Birmingham Science Museum
This lecture was originally given as the Presidential Address to the Newcomen Society in London in 2025.
The presentation will commence by introducing very early mechanical systems, including some that were used on waggonways 300 years ago. These were quite primitive but reduced the labour requirement, e.g. by automating passing loops on tramways.
The automatic systems that came about in response to the Regulation of Railways Act 1889, which made the railway much safer and also improved its economy, will be discussed, followed by the origins of the train stop and warning systems that came into operation in the early 20th century. The electronic safety and operational management systems instigated by computerisation, where British Rail had a leading role, will be reviewed.
The presentation will finish with some reflections on fully automated railways and the role of machine learning and what is often termed artificial intelligence. Throughout the talk, the speaker will comment on the importance of including human skill and perception in automated systems for the railway.
About the Speaker
Felix Schmid is an Emeritus Professor of Railway Systems Engineering at the University of Birmingham and, currently, serves as the President of the Newcomen Society.
He has had a long-standing interest in railway systems and, more particularly, the automation of activities necessary for the safe and efficient operation of railways. Some automated systems support the work of people, others are carrying out tasks without regular interactions with humans.
