'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

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

'Invention & Design; Elkington of Birmingham' by Dr. Jonathan Berg
2022-12-07 19:00 - 21:00 | 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

'John Smeaton and the Calder Navigation' by Lesley Taylor & Shirley Levons
2022-12-12 19:00 - 20:30 | 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

'Concorde: An Engineering Failure?' by Dr Fred Starr
2022-12-14 17:30 - 20:00 | 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)

POSTPONED - 'The Vierendeel bridge story' by Bernard Espion
2022-12-14 18:00 - 20:00 | 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.

'The Pentrich Engine' by David Hulse
2023-01-04 19:00 - 22:00 | 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.

Presidential Address: 'Trying to secure the past' - innovation studies & the evolution of technology by Jonathan Aylen
2023-01-11 18:00 - 20:00 | 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

'Industrial & Maritime Heritage At Risk In Bristol's Western Harbour' by Geoff Wallis
2023-01-19 19:00 - 21:00 | 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!

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

'The History & Development of Autogyros & Early Rotary Wing Aircraft' by Capt. R Savage & Wg. Cdr. M. Quinn
2023-01-24 18:30 - 20:30 | 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.

'Reverse Engineering' by Dr. John Moyle
2023-02-01 19:00 - 21:00 | 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.

'Mechanisation in UK Coal Mining - the Nationalised Years' by Drs Mark Pegg & John Kanefsky
2023-02-08 18:00 - 20:00 | 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.

‘RAF Planes that won the Battle of Britain were built on German Machinery’ by Dr Jonathan Aylen
2023-02-14 14:00 - 16:00 | 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.

'The Development of Road Transport Technology in the Turnpike Age' by Dr John Kanefsky
2023-02-16 19:30 - 21:30 | BRISTOL BAWA, 589 Southmead Rd, Filton, Bristol, BS34 7RG
The fascination of historians and technologists with the railway, and the vast documented history thereof, has led to the under-appreciation of the huge advances in road transport during the century after 1750 – the so-called “Turnpike Age”, when long-distance travel within England became much faster, safer, more reliable and more comfortable.
This talk seeks to correct that gap. It examines how the technology of road transport developed in three broad areas:

the design and engineering of the roads, especially turnpikes;
the techniques of road construction and maintenance; and
the design and construction of the vehicles – coaches and waggons

The presentation will use examples from a wide range of sources, but with special emphasis on the South West and the roads between Devon and Bristol / Bath.
About The Lecturer
Dr John Kanefsky studied and taught at the University of Exeter in the 1970s.
He then joined the National Coal Board history project, afterwards moving into management. Following privatisation, Dr Kanefsky had a varied career at the Coal Authority; in the NHS; in educational research; and lecturing in economic history.
He is an Honorary Fellow of the University of Exeter. As well as Dr Kanefsky’s better-known research on steam power, he has written extensively about turnpike roads and is working on a monograph about the industrial history of Devon, with emphasis on road transport.

'Women in Electrical and Electronic Engineering' by Dr Nina Baker
2023-02-20 18:30 - 20:30 | SHEFFIELD Kelham Island Museum, Alma Street, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S3 8RG
Joining us IN PERSON – just turn up, there is no need to register
Joining us ONLINE- please visit the lecture’s zoom link which will be live from about 6:00 pm on the 20th Feb.
This presentation will remind us of contributions by women to the science, practice and application of electrical power and electronics from the late Victorian era to the Cold War. The story will start with arc lamps, take in the coming of electrification to the UK and women’s key part in that process, and conclude with some examples of women at the forefront of missile and rocket guidance developments in the Cold War period.
About The Lecturer
Dr Nina Baker is an independent engineering historian specializing in the history of women in engineering. Nina has had a varied career and on leaving school, she became a merchant navy deck officer, before taking an engineering design degree in her 30s, from the University of Warwick. She then gained a PhD in concrete durability from the University of Liverpool. She has lived with her family in Glasgow since 1989, working in a variety of roles – a materials lecturer in further education, a research administrator and, until 2017, an elected city councillor. Now retired, her interest in promoting STEM careers for girls has led her to become an independent researcher, mainly specializing in the history of women in engineering. She is Deacon of the Incorporation of Hammermen of Glasgow for 2022-2023.
About The Venue
The meeting will start at the usual time of 6:30 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.
All Newcomen meetings are free and open to all and there is no need to book seats in advance.
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 here.

'Refugees from Nazism in the British Clothing Industry' by Anna Nyburg PhD
2023-02-28 18:00 - 20:00 | MANCHESTER International Anthony Burgess Foundation, Engine House, Chorlton Mill, 3 Cambridge Street,, Manchester, M1 5BY
About the Presenter
Anna Nyburg’s PhD in 2009 was in Exile Studies and focused on the refugees from Nazism who transformed art publishing.
The doctorate formed the basis of her book Emigres: The Transformation of Art Publishing in Britain. Since then she has published further books on design and related areas, as well as co-making a film called Refuge Britain: Stories émigré Designers to be shown at an event at the Victoria & Albert Museum. The Clothes on our Backs is her third book.
Now a trustee of Insiders/Outsiders, she works on events for their festival. As a committee member of the Research Centre for German and Austrian Exile Studies, she is organising a conference on the Refugees in Trade and Industry in 2023.
Dr. Nyburg is an Honorary Lecturer in the Centre for Languages, Culture and Communication at Imperial College London where she taught languages for some 3 decades.
About The Venue
For all transport links to the venue, please visit: www.anthonyburgess.org/about-the-foundation/visiting-us/
There are also several (paid) parking options available:

Oxford Road (300 metres)
Piccadilly (600 metres)
Deansgate (600 metres)

'BSA: A Birmingham Company in World War II' by Dr. Jim Andrew
2023-03-01 19:00 - 21:00 | BIRMINGHAM Think Tank, Birmingham Science Museum,, Curzon Street, Birmingham, West Midlands, B4 7XG
Dr. Jim Andrew shares new insights on wartime organisation and operations
In the Second World War, BSA supplied about half the total UK production of small arms up to 20 mm cannon. They were heavily targeted by German bombers and in 1940 very serious damage was done to their main works in Small Heath. This talk details the firm’s efforts to recover or relocate some of its production to other factories and any other firms which could help. Little more than a month’s production was lost but there was also serious loss of life among staff, male and female.
About The Lecturer
The speaker, Dr. Jim Andrew, spent part of his early career at BSA, before moving to Birmingham City Council. He was, for many years, responsible for the exhibits in Birmingham Science Museum, and, although retired, still provides technical advice to the present Thinktank Museum. He spent a long time as Honorary Secretary of the Midlands Branch of the Newcomen Society, and is currently Chairman of Newcomen Midlands.

'Edmund Beckett Denison, the father of Big Ben' by Chris McKay
2023-03-08 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. To reserve a spot for either option, please visit the lecture’s Eventbrite page.
When the Old Houses of Parliament burned down in 1844, the plan was for a magnificent new replacement complete with clock tower.
From the very beginning the clock procurement was fraught with difficulties. A change happened when George Biddle Airy, the Astronomer Royal, was appointed referee for the Great Clock. He specified that the first blow on the hour bell should be accurate to a second. London clockmakers said the specification was impossible but Edward John Dent wanted to tender for the clock. Airy co-opted the help of Edmund Beckett Denison, a successful lawyer who had been educated in mechanics by a village carpenter.
Denison wrote a book in 1850 ‘A Rudimentary Treatise on Clocks Watches and Bells’. It was the first easy-reading on clocks. Denison was a crusty character – if it was not for his determination and faith in himself, then the Great Clock might still be under construction!
About The Lecturer
After graduating from Sussex University, Chris McKay spent 23 years in the electronics industry. Following redundancy, he fell into teaching technology in schools, ending up as the head of department in a top prep school. Following this, he spent some years restoring turret clocks.
McKay has always been interested in turret clocks and his book ‘The Turret Clock Keeper’s Handbook’ explains how to look after the church clock. ‘The Repair, Restoration, Conservation and Preservation of Turret Clocks’ followed to fill a big gap in horological education.
When 13 years old, McKay found Edmund Beckett Denison’s book on Clocks Watches and Bells and was fascinated by the description of Big Ben. After many years and much research, in 2010 Oxford University Press published Chris’s book ‘Big Ben: The Great Clock and Bells at the Palace of Westminster’.

Ken Barraclough Memorial Lecture : 'How Alloy Steel came to serve the Engineer' by Dr David Dulieu
2023-03-21 18:00 - 20:00 | SHEFFIELD Crowne Plaza Royal Victoria, Victoria Station Road, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S4 7YE
The Ken Barraclough Memorial Lecture & Dinner
Presented by Dr. David Dulieu, this is a joint talk with the Sheffield Metallurgical & Engineering Association – SMEA and the South Yorkshire Industrial History Society – ( SYIHS )
Please arrive at 5.30pm to be ready and settled for the start of the lecture.

'Scottish Agricultural Implements' by Dr Heather Holmes
2023-03-28 18:30 - 20:30 | This is an Online Event
Due to unforseen circumstances this lecture is now
Online only for Mailing List Members.
We apologise for the change of plan.
In Scotland, the making of agricultural implements and machines developed into an important business during the second half of the nineteenth century with some firms becoming nationally and even internationally known. Their businesses ranged from small family run ones to large enterprises with branches throughout the Empire and activities were also wide ranging, comprising a variety of trades, including engineering, ironfounding, steam engine making and millwrighting.
This paper looks at challenges and opportunities arising from developing a directory of Scottish agricultural implement and machine makers between 1843 and 1914. This includes consideration of the sources of evidence recording the makers; the nature and character of the makers and their activity; the documentation of their activities; relations between makers; and application of the methodology of the directory other parts of Britain.
About The Lecturer
Dr Heather Holmes is an independent researcher. She received her doctorate from the University of Edinburgh in 1997. From a farming background at Balerno, Midlothian, she has an interest in the material culture of Scottish agriculture including agricultural implements, machines, newspapers and books. Her books include “As good as a holiday”: Potato harvesting in the Lothians from 1870 to the present (2000), Tattie howkers: Irish potato workers in Ayrshire (2005) and Scottish agricultural implement and machine makers 1843 to 1914: a directory (Scottish Record Society, 2020).
She runs the associated website and facebook pages of Scottish agricultural implement makers and has been published in a range of journals including The Agricultural History Review, Folk Life: Journal of Ethnological Studies and Journal of the Edinburgh Bibliographical Society.

‘Women in Engineering’ by Dr. Emily Rees Koerner & Prof. Graeme Gooday
2023-04-05 19:00 - 21:00 | 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.
A co-authored paper presented by Dr. Emily Rees Koerner and Professor Graeme Gooday.
In 2019 the Women’s Engineering Society celebrated its centenary (founded in 1919 when they held their first conference in Birmingham). The two speakers will present evidence of women’s roles in engineering during the 19th and 20th centuries, uncovered whilst they researched historical tales of women engineers in Birmingham and the Midlands.
They are now working on a broader history along with the International Network of Women Engineers and Scientists.

‘The UK’s first Industrial Gas Turbine’ by Geoff Horseman
2023-04-11 18:00 - 20:00 | NEWCASTLE Discovery Museum, Blandford Square, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear, NE1 4HZ
The UK’s first industrial gas turbine was developed by CA Parsons & Co beginning in the 1930s. The machine ran for the first time in 1945. All of the key elements: compressor, turbine, combustion chamber, exhaust heat exchanger and control technology were developed by CA Parsons & Co Ltd independently. The unit had to use the fuel available in WWII ie pool oil and was used to investigate the viability of operation on residual fuel oil and pulverised coal. Geoff Horseman, formerly Chief Turbine Engineer at Siemens CA Parsons Works, will tell the story of this machine using information and photos from the original development files.
About The Lecturer
Geoff Horseman worked at Parsons for 39 years from 1980 until 2019. He joined the Steam Turbine Design Dept in 1982 rising to Head of Turbine Design in 1991 and Head of Turbine-Generator Engineering in 1994.
Parsons became part of Siemens in 1997 and was joined by Westinghouse in 1998. Reorganisation led to the majority of new generator work moving to the Westinghouse sites while the majority of steam turbine work moved to the Mülheim-an-der-Ruhr and Newcastle sites.
In 1997, Geoff was appointed Chief Turbine Engineer, Siemens Power Generation.
On retirement in 2019, with Siemens permission he began to document the Parsons history so that it can be preserved in the Tyne & Wear Archive and other institutions.

'On Metrology' by Terry Quinn (CANCELLED - please read)
2023-04-12 18:00 - 20:00 | LONDON Alan Baxter Gallery, 75 Cowcross St, Clerkenwell, London, EC1M 6EL
Unfortunately, due to the uncertain nature of events in France and particularly in Paris, our lecturer is unable to travel to give his lecture. This event has therefore been cancelled & will be rescheduled at a later date.
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.
Terry Quinn graduated in physics just one year before the great revolution in metrology began with the redefinition of the Metre in terms of the wavelength of light. From antiquity, practical dimensional measurement standards had all been based upon material artifacts and measurement of time on the rotation of the Earth. All of that changed in 2018 when the base units of the SI were redefined in terms of fixed values of a set of fundamental and atomic constants. In this lecture, Quinn will explain how practical measurement standards can be obtained from such definitions.
The above image shows “Toise du Perou” (the official unit of length in France just before the metric system). This is one of two Toises that were used to decide between two theories for the shape of the Earth – one by Newton in which the earth was flattened at the Poles and one supported in France by Cassini, who maintained that it is pointed like an upright rugby football. One Toise was taken to Lapland (the Toise du Nord) and one (this one) to Perou where the length on the ground of one degree of latitude was measured. The expeditions lasted some years in the 1740s and, of course, the results supported Newton’s theory. (Photo TJQ at the Paris Observatory 2017).
About The Lecturer
Terry Quinn graduated in Physics from Southampton University in 1959, moving to Oxford for his D. Phil in what was then the Metallurgy Department. The thesis supervisor was Professor William Hume-Rothery FRS.
In 1962, Quinn joined the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington where he worked on high-temperature measurement and standards. In 1967/68, Quinn spent a year at the then National Bureau of Standards in Washington, moving to the BIPM, Paris in 1977 as Deputy Director, becoming Director in 1988. He was Lady Margaret Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge in 1984/84 and retired from the BIPM in 2003. Quinn was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2002.

'Newcomen Engine Buildings in 18thC Europe' by David Hardwick
2023-04-20 18:00 - 20:00 | BRISTOL BAWA, 589 Southmead Rd, Filton, Bristol, BS34 7RG
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.
A Comparative Architectural History – This talk is adapted from one that the lecturer David Hardwick was asked to present to the conference on Early Steam Engines in Central European Mining on 8th October 2022, held in Banská Štiavnica, Slovakia. It builds on his previous research into the engine houses in Brislington (nr Bristol, England), Auchenharvie (Ayrshire, Scotland) and Dannemora (Sweden), to consider the evidence available, both physical and documentary, regarding what buildings elsewhere in Europe may have looked like.
About The Lecturer
David is a self employed chartered building specialist in historic buildings and particularly industrial archaeology. For more than a decade, he has been researching the nature of the construction of the buildings that housed the first engines following the invention of the atmospheric engine by Thomas Newcomen.

'Lady Charlotte Guest and Dowlais Ironworks' by Victoria Owens
2023-04-24 18:30 - 20:30 | SHEFFIELD Kelham Island Museum, Alma Street, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S3 8RG
Joining us IN PERSON – just turn up, there is no need to register
Joining us ONLINE- please use this Zoom Link which will be live from about 6:00 pm
Dr Victoria Owens examines how a pioneering businesswoman came to head the world’s largest ironworks.
When impoverished aristocrat Lady Charlotte Bertie married wealthy Welsh ironmaster John Guest of Dowlais in 1833, her relatives looked on with dismay. Yet despite their vast difference of background and age, over their nineteen-year long marriage, husband and wife enjoyed great happiness and much adventure. There would be ten children and while John built up an immense commercial empire, Charlotte championed Welsh culture.
Crucially, she taught herself John’s business from the inside. Over the years, she made the keenest observation of iron production, the fluctuations of the trade and the engineering innovations that touched upon its developments. When John died in 1852, she was therefore uniquely well-placed to succeed him as head of the works – a remarkable position for a Victorian woman. Not only did she endeavour to introduce reforms, but also – rather to her dismay – had to weather a potentially destructive strike. But success came at a price and with her star in the ascendant, Lady Charlotte suddenly chose to abandon all, leave Wales and marry her sons’ tutor!
This presentation (& Victoria’s book on the subject) traces the ardent, creative years of her first marriage, explores her determination – widowed – to preserve John’s legacy, and observes her growing devotion to her second husband, the scholarly Charles Schreiber.
We would like to congratulate Victoria on winning the 2021 Wales Book of the Year Non-fiction Award for her book Lady Charlotte Guest – the exceptional life of a female industrialist and copies will be available at the meeting.
About The Lecturer
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). She is currently working on a life of L.T.C Tom Rolt, to be published in 2024.

'Refugees from Nazism in the British Clothing Industry' by Anna Nyburg PhD
2023-05-10 18:00 - 20:00 | LONDON Alan Baxter Gallery, 75 Cowcross St, Clerkenwell, London, EC1M 6EL
This is a repeat of a highly popular presentation put on at Manchester’s Anthony Burgess Foundation in February
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 Lecture will describe the influence of European Immigration, under the rise of Nazism, on the Clothing Industry.
Based on her book The Clothes on our Backs: How Refugees from Nazism revitalised the British Fashion Industry, in which she considers the trade in pre-war Germany and in particular, the more modern approach there compared to Britain. The expulsion of Jews and pathways into Britain follows, and then the wartime production changes. Individual case studies then show the refugees’ wide range of experiences in this country, but also their contribution to all aspects of the industry from manufacture to display.
About the Presenter
Anna Nyburg’s PhD in 2009 was in Exile Studies and focused on the refugees from Nazism who transformed art publishing. The doctorate formed the basis of her book Emigres: The Transformation of Art Publishing in Britain. Since then she has published further books on design and related areas, as well as co-making a film called Refuge Britain: Stories émigré Designers to be shown at the Victoria & Albert Museum. The Clothes on our Backs is her third book.
Now a trustee of Insiders/Outsiders, she works on events for their festival. As a committee member of the Research Centre for German and Austrian Exile Studies, she is organising a conference on the Refugees in Trade and Industry in 2023.
Dr. Nyburg is an Honorary Lecturer in the Centre for Languages, Culture and Communication at Imperial College London where she taught languages for some 3 decades.

'Medieval Windmills to Turbines' by Dr Bryan Lawton
2023-05-18 19:30 - 21:30 | BRISTOL BAWA, 589 Southmead Rd, Filton, Bristol, BS34 7RG
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 talk describes the experimental and theoretical work on windmills from Bacon‘s early experiments using paper sails and a bellows, through Smeaton‘s rotating arm device, Perry‘s more sophisticated rotating arm, and into the present day use of wind tunnels. The developments in scientific understanding are outlined.
About The Lecturer
Dr Bryan Lawton was a Western Region committee member for more than 20 years and recently stood down as Chairman. He has published five papers in the TNS/ IJHET and was one of the organisers of the “Piston Engine Revolution” and “Swords into Ploughshares” conferences. His two-volume work on the early history of mechanical engineering was given the American Society of Mechanical Engineers “Engineering Historian” award.

'Warships to Spaceships - The Life & Work of Sir Barnes Wallis' by Chris Henderson
2023-05-22 18:30 - 20:30 | SHEFFIELD Kelham Island Museum, Alma Street, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S3 8RG
Joining us IN PERSON – just turn up, there is no need to register
Joining us ONLINE- please use this Zoom Link which will be live from 6:00 pm and you may need the details below to log in:
Meeting ID: 834 8913 6970
Passcode: [REDACTED]
Leaving school without any qualifications, Barnes Wallis pursued his ambition to be an engineer and went on to become one of Britain’s greatest inventors. Known best for his invention and development of the ‘bouncing bomb‘ used by 617 Squadron to attack the Ruhr dams, Barnes Wallis’ career spanned over six decades working on warships, airships, aircraft, weapons and even a connection with the first manned spaceflight to the Moon.

'The River Don Engine' by Greg Harris
2023-09-25 18:30 - 20:30 | SHEFFIELD Kelham Island Museum, Alma Street, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S3 8RG
This event is both an in-person and on-line event. Sign up link coming soon.
Built by Davy Brothers in 1904 to drive the armour plate rolling mill at Charles Cammell's Grimesthorpe works, the River Don engine is the last surviving example of four 12,000 hp (8.9 MW) rapid reversing engines constructed to the same design.
The talk will explore the history of the engine through stories and facts, including photographs, working drawings, and a 3D computer model. These show the engine and rolling mill at work at Cammell Lairds from 1913 and subsequently at River Don in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s. The engine's move to and restoration at Kelham Island in 1978 and again after the 2018 flood will be described and the development of the 3D virtual model of the engine created for the museum by the speaker will be outlined.
About the Speaker
In 1989 Greg attended Parkwood Art College in Sheffield to study Art and Design. He obtained an NVQ in Auto Cad and then achieved his H.N.D at Norton College. Out of the blue he received a phone call from a small games company in Sheffield offering him a job. He really enjoyed the work and found like-minded people to work with. He also got the chance to work with game pioneers and learnt to use 3Ds Max which helped him to produce the virtual model for Kelham Island Museum of the River Don Engine which he will discuss.
After finishing off working with games in 2012, Greg became a self-employed artist and went on to produce a large range of illustrations depicting Sheffield past and present which is on sale in local galleries & museums throughout Sheffield. He also designed the mural for the Special Olympics held in Sheffield 2017 which was displayed on Pond Street and was invited onto Radio Sheffield to talk about creating the mural. Greg also sculpts, as well as volunteering at Kelham and the Lowedges Community Centre, supporting the craft group.
Sign Up For This Event Here (pending)
