Pub Date : 2008-02-01DOI: 10.1179/175035207X204851
N. A. Smith
These are a few comments on Dr. Yeomans’ welcome and interesting attempt1 to generalise on the theory and practice of ‘reconstructions’ in which a number of the points raised are open, it seems to me, to further consideration and some difference of opinion. I largely agree with the author’s introductory remarks, all somewhat reminiscent of my own, albeit on a broader front, in connection with cathedral studies.2 However, I would not dismiss the purely visual or illustrative reconstruction too readily. I recall my own students being very struck by the sheer size of the Wright Brothers ‘Flyer I’ as well as aspects of other ‘mock ups’ so such things are not without their merits. Also from the fi eld of aeronautics is the intriguing fact that the reconstructed aeroplanes made for ‘Those Magnifi cent Men’ turned out to be more than mere fi lm stars. Although they were not, by all accounts, ultra-faithful copies of the originals, especially with regard to every little detail of materials and construction and not at all in the choice of engines, nevertheless they did fl y and their pilots found their behaviour in the air of some interest with regard to pre-WWI aviation. What mattered, essentially, were aerodynamics and power/weight ratios, not perfect reconstruction. Fortuitously, therefore, this unexpectedly instructive case emphasises that when a reconstruction is intended to investigate behaviour or performance, a crucial prerequisite is that purpose and method need to be very clearly defi ned. Slavishly accurate reconstruction for its own sake might be at least irrelevant and at worst an impediment to achieving useful results. To that extent on two fundamental points I fi nd myself in agreement with the author. If an engineering historical reconstruction is to be useful for research and scholarship then (i) it must be unambiguously clear what the problem is and (ii) the reconstruction must be designed, perhaps even exclusively, for that problem. Otherwise it is all too easy, and examples are numerous, to unwittingly drift away from the correct solution rather than to work with certainty towards it. Ship reconstructions raise some very basic issues. Personally, I doubt that Ra is all that well known, but in recent years the Athenian trireme, Olympias, certainly has been. The diffi culties of reconstructing a trireme and the problems of objectively testing it — not to mention the degradation of the whole enterprise by the combined effects of entertainment, nationalism and sporting enthusiasm — were matters I once raised.3 Some basic points emerged:
{"title":"Comments on 'Reconstructions as an aid to History' by David Yeomans","authors":"N. A. Smith","doi":"10.1179/175035207X204851","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1179/175035207X204851","url":null,"abstract":"These are a few comments on Dr. Yeomans’ welcome and interesting attempt1 to generalise on the theory and practice of ‘reconstructions’ in which a number of the points raised are open, it seems to me, to further consideration and some difference of opinion. I largely agree with the author’s introductory remarks, all somewhat reminiscent of my own, albeit on a broader front, in connection with cathedral studies.2 However, I would not dismiss the purely visual or illustrative reconstruction too readily. I recall my own students being very struck by the sheer size of the Wright Brothers ‘Flyer I’ as well as aspects of other ‘mock ups’ so such things are not without their merits. Also from the fi eld of aeronautics is the intriguing fact that the reconstructed aeroplanes made for ‘Those Magnifi cent Men’ turned out to be more than mere fi lm stars. Although they were not, by all accounts, ultra-faithful copies of the originals, especially with regard to every little detail of materials and construction and not at all in the choice of engines, nevertheless they did fl y and their pilots found their behaviour in the air of some interest with regard to pre-WWI aviation. What mattered, essentially, were aerodynamics and power/weight ratios, not perfect reconstruction. Fortuitously, therefore, this unexpectedly instructive case emphasises that when a reconstruction is intended to investigate behaviour or performance, a crucial prerequisite is that purpose and method need to be very clearly defi ned. Slavishly accurate reconstruction for its own sake might be at least irrelevant and at worst an impediment to achieving useful results. To that extent on two fundamental points I fi nd myself in agreement with the author. If an engineering historical reconstruction is to be useful for research and scholarship then (i) it must be unambiguously clear what the problem is and (ii) the reconstruction must be designed, perhaps even exclusively, for that problem. Otherwise it is all too easy, and examples are numerous, to unwittingly drift away from the correct solution rather than to work with certainty towards it. Ship reconstructions raise some very basic issues. Personally, I doubt that Ra is all that well known, but in recent years the Athenian trireme, Olympias, certainly has been. The diffi culties of reconstructing a trireme and the problems of objectively testing it — not to mention the degradation of the whole enterprise by the combined effects of entertainment, nationalism and sporting enthusiasm — were matters I once raised.3 Some basic points emerged:","PeriodicalId":232627,"journal":{"name":"Transactions of the Newcomen Society","volume":"28 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2008-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114636410","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2008-02-01DOI: 10.1179/175035208X258284
J. Aylen
The Shotton wide strip mill for rolling steel sheet was the second mill of its type built in Britain, commissioned in 1939. The project that was executed rapidly with meticulous cost control against a deadline of impending war. Once commissioned, the mill produced a consistent flow of profits. The focus of the article is on the process of purchasing, building and commissioning of US rolling technology in a British context. Shotton gives a detailed insight into the costs of adopting American wide strip mill technology in Europe, its output and profitability. The role of the US plant supplier, Mesta, in transferring ?know-how? as well as equipment is clear. So is the importance of a sophisticated local infrastructure in the UK which provided civil engineering, buildings and all the electrical equipment to time and cost. The ?know-how? and noble equipment were American. But, in spending terms, over two-thirds of the engineering was British. It was not a straightforward transfer of American production techniques. War intervened, so John Summers and Sons had to learn the management techniques required to run a strip mill for themselves. Even here fortune smiled, as wartime sales controls gave them breathing space to develop new management methods for strip production.
{"title":"Construction of the Shotton Wide Strip Mill","authors":"J. Aylen","doi":"10.1179/175035208X258284","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1179/175035208X258284","url":null,"abstract":"The Shotton wide strip mill for rolling steel sheet was the second mill of its type built in Britain, commissioned in 1939. The project that was executed rapidly with meticulous cost control against a deadline of impending war. Once commissioned, the mill produced a consistent flow of profits. \u0000\u0000The focus of the article is on the process of purchasing, building and commissioning of US rolling technology in a British context. Shotton gives a detailed insight into the costs of adopting American wide strip mill technology in Europe, its output and profitability. The role of the US plant supplier, Mesta, in transferring ?know-how? as well as equipment is clear. So is the importance of a sophisticated local infrastructure in the UK which provided civil engineering, buildings and all the electrical equipment to time and cost. The ?know-how? and noble equipment were American. But, in spending terms, over two-thirds of the engineering was British. \u0000\u0000It was not a straightforward transfer of American production techniques. War intervened, so John Summers and Sons had to learn the management techniques required to run a strip mill for themselves. Even here fortune smiled, as wartime sales controls gave them breathing space to develop new management methods for strip production.","PeriodicalId":232627,"journal":{"name":"Transactions of the Newcomen Society","volume":"85 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2008-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115765297","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2008-02-01DOI: 10.1179/175035208X258310
Peter Reed
{"title":"Acid Towers and the Control of Chemical Pollution 1823–1876","authors":"Peter Reed","doi":"10.1179/175035208X258310","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1179/175035208X258310","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":232627,"journal":{"name":"Transactions of the Newcomen Society","volume":"41 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2008-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121652858","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2008-02-01DOI: 10.1179/175035208X258257
D. Perrett
{"title":"I. K. Brunel in London","authors":"D. Perrett","doi":"10.1179/175035208X258257","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1179/175035208X258257","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":232627,"journal":{"name":"Transactions of the Newcomen Society","volume":"80 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2008-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123177709","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2008-02-01DOI: 10.1179/175035208X258301
J. F. Hansen
{"title":"Flexicon — Special Driving Belts","authors":"J. F. Hansen","doi":"10.1179/175035208X258301","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1179/175035208X258301","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":232627,"journal":{"name":"Transactions of the Newcomen Society","volume":"102 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2008-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126560030","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2008-02-01DOI: 10.1179/175035208X258220
M. Bailey
There has been an extraordinary outpouring of interest in Isambard Kingdom Brunel in recent years, particularly this bicentenary year. There have been books, papers, articles, talks, commemorative events, postage stamps, coins and a lot else besides, with much exaggerated rhetoric about the man and his career. The number of television programmes has been extraordinary, as producers, notorious for their skin-deep, subjective examination of topics, pursue their iconic hero. They exert a major infl uence on public perception. There is no doubting that Brunel was a talented, hard-working and professional engineer, but some extraordinary claims have recently been made in his name. Commentators assert that he was: ‘the greatest rail engineer of all time’,1 ‘the greatest engineer’,2 ‘the greatest Briton’,3 and, to quote the title of the new biography of Brunel, he was ‘The Man who built the World’.4 Brunel’s new-found fame has elevated him into a lofty position, whilst his infl uential contemporaries, particularly George Stephenson, Robert Stephenson and Joseph Locke, are now largely omitted from public consciousness. Even members of the Institution of Civil Engineers with on-line queries are now encouraged on their web-site to ‘Ask Brunel’. However, I will argue that he was but one of the many talented, innovative and hard-working engineers in that ‘golden era’ of British engineering in the mid-19th century.
{"title":"I. K. Brunel — Exploding the Myth","authors":"M. Bailey","doi":"10.1179/175035208X258220","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1179/175035208X258220","url":null,"abstract":"There has been an extraordinary outpouring of interest in Isambard Kingdom Brunel in recent years, particularly this bicentenary year. There have been books, papers, articles, talks, commemorative events, postage stamps, coins and a lot else besides, with much exaggerated rhetoric about the man and his career. The number of television programmes has been extraordinary, as producers, notorious for their skin-deep, subjective examination of topics, pursue their iconic hero. They exert a major infl uence on public perception. There is no doubting that Brunel was a talented, hard-working and professional engineer, but some extraordinary claims have recently been made in his name. Commentators assert that he was: ‘the greatest rail engineer of all time’,1 ‘the greatest engineer’,2 ‘the greatest Briton’,3 and, to quote the title of the new biography of Brunel, he was ‘The Man who built the World’.4 Brunel’s new-found fame has elevated him into a lofty position, whilst his infl uential contemporaries, particularly George Stephenson, Robert Stephenson and Joseph Locke, are now largely omitted from public consciousness. Even members of the Institution of Civil Engineers with on-line queries are now encouraged on their web-site to ‘Ask Brunel’. However, I will argue that he was but one of the many talented, innovative and hard-working engineers in that ‘golden era’ of British engineering in the mid-19th century.","PeriodicalId":232627,"journal":{"name":"Transactions of the Newcomen Society","volume":"140 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2008-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133250736","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2008-02-01DOI: 10.1179/175035208X258248
S. Brindle, M. Tucker
{"title":"I. K. Brunel's First Cast Iron Bridges and the Uxbridge Road Fiasco","authors":"S. Brindle, M. Tucker","doi":"10.1179/175035208X258248","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1179/175035208X258248","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":232627,"journal":{"name":"Transactions of the Newcomen Society","volume":"11 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2008-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124629980","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2008-02-01DOI: 10.1179/175035208X258239
S. Brindle
{"title":"I. K. Brunel — First Among Equals?","authors":"S. Brindle","doi":"10.1179/175035208X258239","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1179/175035208X258239","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":232627,"journal":{"name":"Transactions of the Newcomen Society","volume":"461 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2008-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116177819","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2008-02-01DOI: 10.1179/175035208X258329
R. Rennison, A. Scott
In the early half of the 19th century Hawks Crawshay & Sons — as it became — expanded to become the largest iron-based company on Tyneside. In the course of its history, the company was controlled by two families, Hawks of Gateshead for the fi rst 100 years or so, and the Crawshays for the last fi fty. Although the company reached its zenith in the second half of the century, by then it had been overtaken by the later establishments that came to dominate the North-East. In 1889 the company collapsed, apparently without warning. This paper is an account of the rise and fall of the company and is an attempt to recognise its contribution to the industrial development of the area. Hawks Crawshay & Sons was, in effect, established in the middle of the 18th century. Although legends abound, there is a dearth of reliable information about those early years when wrought iron was recycled at Gateshead. Accounts of the fi rm’s early history have been written by Evans1 and by Manders2 but little research has been carried out on the later years of the company. Although this account is unavoidably incomplete — no company records have survived — the 19th century history of the company is examined in some detail, particularly the period after the Crawshays took a controlling interest at the time of the construction of the High Level Bridge between Newcastle and Gateshead. Comparisons are made with other companies in the area, particularly with John Abbot & Co. who were neighbours in Gateshead and were both collaborators and competitors. The ultimate sudden failure of the company is analysed in some detail.
{"title":"The Ironworks of Hawks Crawshay & Sons, Gateshead: 1748–1889","authors":"R. Rennison, A. Scott","doi":"10.1179/175035208X258329","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1179/175035208X258329","url":null,"abstract":"In the early half of the 19th century Hawks Crawshay & Sons — as it became — expanded to become the largest iron-based company on Tyneside. In the course of its history, the company was controlled by two families, Hawks of Gateshead for the fi rst 100 years or so, and the Crawshays for the last fi fty. Although the company reached its zenith in the second half of the century, by then it had been overtaken by the later establishments that came to dominate the North-East. In 1889 the company collapsed, apparently without warning. This paper is an account of the rise and fall of the company and is an attempt to recognise its contribution to the industrial development of the area. Hawks Crawshay & Sons was, in effect, established in the middle of the 18th century. Although legends abound, there is a dearth of reliable information about those early years when wrought iron was recycled at Gateshead. Accounts of the fi rm’s early history have been written by Evans1 and by Manders2 but little research has been carried out on the later years of the company. Although this account is unavoidably incomplete — no company records have survived — the 19th century history of the company is examined in some detail, particularly the period after the Crawshays took a controlling interest at the time of the construction of the High Level Bridge between Newcastle and Gateshead. Comparisons are made with other companies in the area, particularly with John Abbot & Co. who were neighbours in Gateshead and were both collaborators and competitors. The ultimate sudden failure of the company is analysed in some detail.","PeriodicalId":232627,"journal":{"name":"Transactions of the Newcomen Society","volume":"30 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2008-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129317207","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2007-08-01DOI: 10.1179/175035207X204842
P. Wigfull
I was brought up with the legend of the Romping Lion that drove the old flax mill in Two Dales, a small village some two miles north of the Derbyshire town of Matlock. Born in 1859, my grandfather’s early years were spent in Brookbottom (Figure 1), a narrow lane in the village dominated by the shadow of the mill. He clearly remembered the roaring noise coming from the engine house which gave this mysterious machine its name. He showed me the pile of stones that had been the engine house, where the lineshaft crossed the road to what he called the Old Mill, the dams further up the valley of Ladygrove and Moss Castle (Figure 2), a semi-circular embankment built into the hillside far above the mill. It was only in the early 1970s that, reading Frank Nixon’s seminal work on the industrial archaeology of Derbyshire, I realised that the Romping Lion was not just some type of water wheel but a unique high-pressure water engine. It was the Dakeyne Disc Engine. However, it was to be another three decades before I decided I should find out exactly what the disc engine was and how it worked.
{"title":"The Dakeyne Disc Engine","authors":"P. Wigfull","doi":"10.1179/175035207X204842","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1179/175035207X204842","url":null,"abstract":"I was brought up with the legend of the Romping Lion that drove the old flax mill in Two Dales, a small village some two miles north of the Derbyshire town of Matlock. Born in 1859, my grandfather’s early years were spent in Brookbottom (Figure 1), a narrow lane in the village dominated by the shadow of the mill. He clearly remembered the roaring noise coming from the engine house which gave this mysterious machine its name. He showed me the pile of stones that had been the engine house, where the lineshaft crossed the road to what he called the Old Mill, the dams further up the valley of Ladygrove and Moss Castle (Figure 2), a semi-circular embankment built into the hillside far above the mill. It was only in the early 1970s that, reading Frank Nixon’s seminal work on the industrial archaeology of Derbyshire, I realised that the Romping Lion was not just some type of water wheel but a unique high-pressure water engine. It was the Dakeyne Disc Engine. However, it was to be another three decades before I decided I should find out exactly what the disc engine was and how it worked.","PeriodicalId":232627,"journal":{"name":"Transactions of the Newcomen Society","volume":"55 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2007-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114218161","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
京公网安备 11010802042870号
京ICP备2023020795号-1
扫码关注我们
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：