How Britain Worked

[RobboParticipant @robbo]

First saw Guy in the latest programme – timber mill in Wensleydale – and enjoyed it very much. No problem with the accent as it is the same as mine, whereas famous Fred talking was irritating ( count the ums and errs)

Phil

[Bill DawesParticipant @billdawes]

Personally I quite like Guy Martin and even as a Brummie (still working at 70, now helping spread the engineering gospel to Somerset) I have no problem understanding him.

He is also a pretty useful motorcycle racer, a breed that, from my experience, are generally quite mechanically minded.

I am also a fan of the great Fred Dibnah, but see no point in comparing him with Guy, he had many years head start on Guy for one thing.

But the real point surely is that Guy is helping to bring engineering back into the public domain after too many years as the poor relation of financial services, in itself an essential service but greed caused it to grow totally out of control, to the detriment of all of us, can you imagine such grotesque excesses in the tough real world of engineering?

It pleases me greatly, having spent all my working life in engineering, that politicians and the media are at last waking up to the fact that we all depend on and need engineering (in its widest sense).

There have been a few excellent TV progammes recently showing just how many world class engineering and manufacturing companies we still have and we need to take every opportunity to persuade those in power that we need to rebalance our economy towards more engineering and manufacturing again.

I am old enough to mourn the passing of many great engineering company names as much as the next man but also realistic enough to know that the world has changed, we now have a great opportunity to emabark on a new industrial revolution

More power to the elbow of the likes of Guy Martin, lets all bang the drum.

Bill D

[TerrydParticipant @terryd72465]

Posted by MICHAEL WILLIAMS on 31/10/2012 14:39:27:

As others have suggested the series is OK – sort of – and certainly better than no series at all .

In recent years there have been several series looking back at engineering and technology of bygone ages . What I find very sad is that there have been very few looking at what is happening now today and what is yet to come .

Enginering and Science is still as fascinating as ever and there is plenty going on but the general public almost never gets to hear about any of it .

Even the few programmes that do appear like Horizon episodes about cosmology , particle physics and fusion are presented against a background of crashing music by some drop out from a rock band wih a squeaky voice and in such a way that the average person would lose interest in a few minutes .

Anyone my age will remember presenters like Stanley Unwin , Raymond Baxter and James Burke presenting simple but fascinating general interest technical programmes and later the long running Tomorrows World programme was absolutely superb .

Let us always think of our ancestors achievements as amazing and something to be proud of – but let us all also move forward again and look at new frontiers .

Michael Williams .

Hi Michael,

I have just been watching a few episodes of 'The Ascent of Man' presented By Bronowski in hthe1970s. Perhaps you remember it? He was a quiet and dignified presenter, but despite English being his second language he puts over a huge enthusiasm and deep knowledge of his subject. No dumbing down of his subject matter in those days in order to popularise the subject but in its day it gained a huge following. It is now respected as one of the best ever science/cultural programmes.

Mind you they did like to use a lot of music evin in those days, but I didn't mind the odd bit of pink Floyd.

Best regards

Terry

[NJHParticipant @njh]

Hey Terry

| " I didn't mind the odd bit of pink Floyd."

Didn't MIND!!!!!!!

Has there been ANY band since them that are worth listening to? !

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

Mike, I'll be opperating a full size turbine (see my album) at the weekend, I have a model of the turbine so I can show guests at our museum how it works. Ian S C

[Cornish JackParticipant @cornishjack]

"presenters like Stanley Unwin , Raymond Baxter and James Burke"????

I am puzzled – my memory of 'Professor' Stanley Unwin was as a sort of funny man spouting mangled English which was almost intelligible!! I never saw anything of his with an engineering content. Has my remaining brain cell finally gone walkabout?

Speaking of mangled English, I recall with great affection the Great Egg Race programmes presented by Prof Heinz Wolfe – huge fun and a nice combination of entertainment and intelligence.

Rgds

Bill

[MICHAEL WILLIAMSParticipant @michaelwilliams41215]

Has my remaining brain cell finally gone walkabout?

Not walkabout exactly – more like : Overmuchlyangleodanglyomygosh-ping .

[MICHAEL WILLIAMSParticipant @michaelwilliams41215]

Hi Terry ,

Yes – the Bronowski series was superb . I didn't know that the recordings still survived . I've got the book but actually seeing it all on screen again would be super .

I remember many other presenters – one of the best was Laithwaite – a very clever man and excellent lecturer for many years .

Remember the two Royal Institution Christmas Lectures for children ???

Trouble with all these people is that they are like poets and artists – the best ones are all dead .

Regards ,

Michael Williams .

[dazz dazzParticipant @dazzdazz87636]

I like guys show as he seems genuinely enthusiastic, favorite bit so far was his face whilst going down that hill on his pushbike, anyone remember model world with bob symes, and a few years back there was another model type program cant remember the presenter, what i can remember was a dirty gert big warship and the presenter building a model railway in the garden only to rip it up later

[Cornish JackParticipant @cornishjack]

Gray – yes, that's the one!! But which engineering progs did he present, please?

Rgds

Bill

[joegibParticipant @joegib]

I think Michael Williams was pulling our legs in mentioning Stanley Unwin!

Mention of Heinz Wolff brought back a mildly amusing memory. I used to see him quite often at a weekly London computer fair. One particular week the show was located on the 5th floor of the venue but there was a notice in the lift saying it was faulty and would not stop at the 5th floor. As it happened I entered the lift at the same time as Wolff and the show organiser. "Oh," says Wolff, "I'll press '4' and we can walk up". "Don't do that" says the organiser, "press '6' and we can walk down". "It's as long as it's broad" says Wolff, somewhat testily. "No, it's not", says the organiser, "if we go up to the 6th Floor, we'll gain potential energy and therefore expend less effort in walking down!". After a while Wolff smiled ruefully.

I had to laugh — not often you see a learned professor twitted in his own subject!

Joe

[MICHAEL WILLIAMSParticipant @michaelwilliams41215]

Joegib : I think Michael Williams was pulling our legs in mentioning Stanley Unwin !

**LINK**

There was actually a real professor that adapted Stanley  Unwins style of speach to get his points across in engineering lectures and he did present a few short programmes on TV and appear on programmes like  Brains Trust occassionally but I can't remember his name .

GRAY : "purimost of the honeyglow" – I haven't heard that expression in 50 years . Brings back memories of watching B&W television as a child .

Regards ,

Michael Williams .

Edited By MICHAEL WILLIAMS on 01/11/2012 21:04:28

[Ian PParticipant @ianp]

Posted by MICHAEL WILLIAMS on 01/11/2012 20:33:18:

Joegib : I think Michael Williams was pulling our legs in mentioning Stanley Unwin !

**LINK**

There was actually a real professor that adapted Stanley Unwins style of speach to get his points across in engineering lectures and he did present a few short programmes on TV and appear on programmes like Brains Trust occassionally but I can't remember his name .

GRAY : "purimost of the honeyglow" – I haven't heard that expression in 50 years . Brings back memories of watching B&W television as a child .

Regards ,

Michael Williams

Michael or Graham

Since Google does not know of 'purimost of the honeyglow' please can you enlighten me?

Ian P

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Having now watched the latest episode I find they failed to take the opportunity to mention the reason behind my previous post that it would be 'pure fun'. In Victorian England dog poo as collected off the streets for tanning was referred to as 'pure' . One of the lowest jobs for the desperate without social services to support them. Now you know this you will never look at a certain make of radio and a fair few music albums in the same light again.

[jason udallParticipant @jasonudall57142]

Posted by Bazyle on 01/11/2012 23:04:22:

…………………………In Victorian England dog poo as collected off the streets for tanning was referred to as 'pure' . …………………..

Hence purile ?

[AndyfParticipant @andyf]

Felt a bit disappoined by last night's Newcomen Beam Engine episode. If viewers missed a very fleeting remark during the first few minutes, they may have thought they were watching the restoration of a 250 year old engine, rather than of a 1986 reproduction. And, though handmade bricks and hand-hewed coal are also part of our industrial heritage, there was too much of our hero in the brickworks and down the mine at the expense of the engine itself.

Andy (rapidly turning into a grumpy old man)

[TerrydParticipant @terryd72465]

Talking of Heinz Wolff – he's still around and active at Brunel Uni – he had things well sorted. Here's a quote from an interview with him which I think most on ere will concur with:

"Wolff has lectured on the 'death of competence' and he thinks it's brought about by the abandonment of micromanipulation – doing something small and critical with the hand. 'Our engineering students can't make things. They might be able to design things on a computer, but they can't make things. And I don't believe that you can be an engineer properly, in terms of it circulating in your blood and your brain, without having a degree of skill in making things.' He explains that this is why apprenticeships were so good, because 'you actually made things while learning a bit of the theory'.

In neglecting to teach basic manual skills we are producing a generation that carries the seeds of its own impotence. Wolff believes that whilst all teachers agree children should be articulate and use language with precision and skill, 'they don't attach the same values to the use of their hands.'

Nothing else to add really,

Best regards

Terry

[Peter G. ShawParticipant @peterg-shaw75338]

Wolff believes that whilst all teachers agree children should be articulate and use language with precision and skill, 'they don't attach the same values to the use of their hands.

Those who can, do. And those who can't, teach. (And those who can't teach, teach the teachers.)

No offence meant.

Peter G. Shaw

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by Andyf on 12/11/2012 14:18:55:

Felt a bit disappoined by last night's Newcomen Beam Engine episode. If viewers missed a very fleeting remark during the first few minutes, they may have thought they were watching the restoration of a 250 year old engine, rather than of a 1986 reproduction.

But the worst bit was surely the Maintenance Volunteer … who attacked the taper on the Water Injector with what looked like a sheet of Sandpaper.

The mind boggled !

MichaelG.

[jason udallParticipant @jasonudall57142]

one thing I didn't know was the inbuilt striker in the miners lamp…

which leads me to wonder when they use miners lamps for carring the olympic flame (when not in the tourch) how do the get it in there ? ….I mean do they faf around disasembling the lamp or pop the striker?

[TerrydParticipant @terryd72465]

Posted by NJH on 01/11/2012 10:17:18:

Hey Terry

| " I didn't mind the odd bit of pink Floyd."

Didn't MIND!!!!!!!

Has there been ANY band since them that are worth listening to? !

Hi,

Have to admit I love Pink Floyd, ever since I was at Mothers in Erdington when they recorded one half of Umagumma.

I enjoyed this episode of the programme but I think they missed a trick in that the 1712 engine was installed by Newcomen at the Conygre pit less than a mile away from the Black Country Museum. I know he mentioned that it was 'just up the road' but a bit more detail might have brought the message alive.

In fact it is thought that the 1712 engine was the second Newcomen engine to be installed, the first being a couple of miles North towards Wolverhampton near what was known as the 'Stour Valley Line' (AKA the West Coast Main Line), (probably somewhere near Havacre Lane or Darkhouse Lane for those who know the area). I came across an old photograph of the remains of the engine house somewhere on the internet some years ago but can't find it now.

I have a personal interest in the area as I was born and brought just a couple of miles from the BCM and less than a mile from where the original Abraham Darby lived he was the grandfather of Abraham Darby III of Ironbridge fame. The old man was himself also connected with iron making from marital connections with the Earl of Dudley who had the Newcomen engine installed at Conygre pit.

I think Guy is improving by the way, but still prefer a more measured approach to presenting.

Best regards

Terry

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Posted by jason udall on 12/11/2012 16:39:55:

one thing I didn't know was the inbuilt striker in the miners lamp…

which leads me to wonder when they use miners lamps for carring the olympic flame (when not in the tourch) how do the get it in there ? ….I mean do they faf around disasembling the lamp or pop the striker?

My basic Davey lamp doesn't have a striker. They were lit on the surface. Sounds like a fancy version.

[modeng2000Participant @modeng2000]

Mine has a striker. It is a type GR6S made by The Protector Lamp & Lighting Co. Ltd. Eccles with the serial number 1605.

John

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