Monday 26th February 2024. Coventry Transport Museum

10 members made their way to Coventry, and despite a little difficulty in direction finding from the car park, we all got there safely. Our guide for the morning, Matthew, showed us around the key exhibits explaining how Coventry's industry had evolved from ribbon-making and watch-making through sewing machines, to bicycles, motorbikes and cars. At one time Coventry boasted over 50 car makers, although many would-be entrepreneurs didn’t last very long. At its peak in 1960 over 81,000 people in Coventry were employed in motor vehicle and aircraft production. Now only the Chinese owned LEVC remains assembling electric black-cab taxis from Chinese made parts.

One of the most fascinating areas of the museum is the bicycles. From the hobby-horse which had no pedals and was scooted along and the bone-shaker with pedals directly on the front wheel, it is interesting to see the development of the bicycle as people tried sometimes strange designs including the James Starley's famous penny-farthing before his nephew John Starley developed the Rover safety bicycle with two same-sized wheels and chain drive in 1885. It also had the near universal diamond shaped frame we all know.

After the first motor car (technically a 3-wheeled cart) was patented in 1886 by Carl Benz in Germany, car design evolved rapidly. They quickly acquired covered bodies, pneumatic tyres, brakes!, steering wheels instead of tillers, lights and all the modern accoutrements which we take for granted now. Walking round the museum it was amazing to see how fast they developed into something resembling the modern car.

The post-war section gave us all a chance to say 'I had one of those', or my dad or someone in my family did.

Finally the museum houses three land speed record cars, Thrust 2, Thrust SSC and Bloodhound LSR. Actually they are the previous and current record holders and the would-be next holder. All designed and built by the same British team they have held the LSR since 1983. Thrust 2 achieved 633mph and Thrust SSC 763mph, breaking the sound barrier in the process, the only land vehicle ever to do so.

The museum houses over 240 cars, 100 motorbikes and 200 bicycles and is a fascinating place to spend a few hours if you have any interest in transport. We barely had time to have more than a glimpse of it.

Wednesday 24th January 2024. City of Caves, Nottingham

For our first outing of the year, we returned to the caves under Nottingham which used to be accessed from the Broadmarsh shopping centre. As that no longer exists, the entrance is under the tram flyover coming up to the Lace Market. Despite the fact that we had visited before some 7 years previously, this proved popular with members and sold out quickly with 20 of us heading to Clifton South in the morning to catch the tram into the city.

We were welcomed by our guide who was to show as around the caves and tell us all about them. There are apparently over 800 caves under Nottingham, all man-made, carved into the soft sandstone. We were only to see six of them, but they were all fascinating with a rich history.

Some of the caves date back to at least the 9thC and were mentioned by the Bishop of Sherborne in his ‘The Life of King Alfred’ of 893.

It isn’t so noticeable now but the city, like the castle, stands or stood on a cliff overlooking the Trent marshes. This made it easy to tunnel into the cliff face to create some of the caves. Others were dug down from the houses above to create water wells and cess pits. These later expanded into storage areas and later still into cheap dwellings. Two caves dug in from the side in 1250were originally a home but after a rockfall in 1400 were abandoned. By 1500 they had been cleared and turned into the only known underground tannery in Britain. The front opening allowed them access to the river were they would wash the skins in the town’s drinking water! This was banned, so they snuck out at night to do it anyway.

Many of the caves were interlinked particularly the pub cellars, which allowed much illegal activity such as cock-fighting and gambling to go on unnoticed and with many exits should the authorities come looking. The Chartists used to meet in one of the caves.

Also many of the caves were inhabited from at least the 17th century until 1845 when the law was changed banning the renting of cellars and caves as homes for the poor. By this time they had degenerated into one of the worst slums in Britain, rife with disease.

Some good came of the caves during WWII when some of the caves were joined and turned into as many as 86 public air-raid shelters, and one of them is set out as it might have been then. A severe bombing raid on 8th May 1941 created much damage above but all those below were unharmed. The sand that was dug out for the shelters was used to fill sandbags.

This was a most interesting tour and our guide talked us though the various phases of the caves uses explaining it all very clearly and informatively.

Afterwards we retired to the Canalhouse pub which, in keeping with our Industrial Heritage theme, was once a canal warehouse and actually has a wharf inside the pub complete with floating barge. The food and drink were pretty good too!

We returned by tram to Clifton South to pick up the cars and hence home.

Wednesday 22nd November 2023. Planning meeting for next year

16 members came to the Bulls Head in Market Street to try to plan next years trips. There were plenty of good ideas and we have got a reasonable list of places to visit. A few members are researching the feasability of many of them and hopefully we shall shortly be able to publish at least the first few visits.

We won't be meeting in December as something called Christmas gets in the way and so our next trip will be on Jan 24th next year. Details to follow

Wednesday 25th October 2023. Abbey Pumping Station and Wigston Framework Knitting Museum

We had a full house of 20 members for this trip which was as many as Wigston could cope with. The pumping station has no car park but you can use the CP at the National Space Centre next door. On arrival it was obvious that it was still half-term somewhere as the CP was almost full and there were kids everywhere! But it was a lot quieter in the pumping station itself which had much more to offer than just the big steam beam engines. There were displays and exhibits of old and even ancient water pipes going back to Roman times plus descriptions of how water is stored in reservoirs and delivered to the towns. And of course how the sewage is pumped out of town to the treatment works. More unexpected was the display of many of the products manufactured in Leicester from Clyde cars, motorcycles, bikes, along with displays of Victorian bathware and similar objects as well as many details about the trams of Leicester Corporation which ran until 1949.

Of course the beam engines and the whole room built around them are the stars of the show, except that they are only in steam 3 or 4 times a year. Today was not one of them! Nonetheless the massive engines, built by local firm Gimson in 1891 and in use until 1964, are a wonderful sight to see, with the elaborate Victorian decoration so unlike anything that would be done nowadays. An excellent, free, museum that deserved more than the 1hr we had before moving on.

Getting across town to Wigston proved a lot easier than expected but on arrival at the pub they announced that they had no record of our booking! Despite that they managed to accommodate us all and served up some rather nice food, however it understandably took them a little longer than if they had known we were coming, which put us about 20 mins late for our next stop, the Framework Knitting museum.

Wigston Framework Knitters Museum is a Master Hosier’s house with a two story Victorian frameshop in the garden. The house dates from the last years of the seventeenth century and shows signs of various alterations. At the rear is a cobbled yard and a water pump. A two storey workshop extension has been added to the rear of the house. The museum is unique, because when the last master hosier, Edgar Carter died in 1952, the workshop was locked and left. The family would let no-one inside. Edgar’s last surviving daughter was living in the house until she died, aged 88, in the late 1960’s. The house was due to be demolished to make way for road widening but a preservation order saved it and the workshop behind. The museum was set up in the late 80’s to preserve the buildings and to open it to the public. Our 3 guides showed us around the house, workshop and outside explaining the many unique features and remarkable level of preservation, and describing their future plans. A fascinating glimpse into a Victorian era which lasted barely unchanged until the 1960’s.

Next month we shall get together to try and sort out a programme for next year.

Wednesday 27th September 2023. -

We didn’t meet this month as Mike was busy with many other duties and distractions.

Next month on the 25th we intend to fit in two shorter local visits in one day. Abbey Pumping Station in Leicester in the morning and in the afternoon a guided tour of Wigston Framework Knitters Museum in, of all places, Wigston! Details will follow soon.

That will be our last trip of the year, with our annual planning meeting taking place in November. Suggestions for next years trips will be very welcome.

Wednesday 23rd August 2023. Cromford Mill

The group made our way up to Cromford without hold-ups and booked in for our guided tour and got our obligatory coffees before being introduced to Cliff, our guide for the morning. He started by showing us around the mill yard and explained the history of Richard Arkwright and how he started from humble beginnings in Preston as the son of a tailor. His parents couldn't afford to send him to school and so he was taught to read and write by his cousin. He was apprenticed to a barber and wig-maker and set up shop in Bolton. Despite his lack of education, he was a keen inventor and with John Kay, a clockmaker, set about designing a spinning machine.

Arkwright patented the spinning frame which replaced human fingers and was initially powered by horses. It could spin several threads of cotton at the same time. He and John Smalley of Preston initially set up a small horse-driven factory in Nottingham despite having not yet perfected the spinning frame. Before this factory was running he had started in 1771 to build another mill at Cromford but this time powered by water drained out of the local lead mines and channelled to Cromford to drive a large water wheel. This would be the world’s first water powered mill which employed 200 people. He built a second mill alongside the first 4 years later. Cliff continued to astound us with stories about Arkwright the man, and his business enterprises.

After a brief visit to meet the virtual Mr Arkwright courtesy of audio visual magic, we walked the half mile up to Cromford village where Cliff again regaled us with stories about the houses that Arkwright built to attract workers to his mills. We toured the backstreets of the village and saw the ponds created to store water for the mill, the cottages and even the town jail. We returned alongside the river Derwent and the large house (Willersley Castle) Arkwright built for himself but never saw completed and we finished at the family chapel, now a Grade 1 listed parish church.

Cliff spoke to us for over 2 ½ hours with an endless stream of fascinating facts many of which I can't now remember, and answered all our many questions, but the whole story of Arkwright, once the richest commoner in Britain, would take many more hours to tell completely.

Arkwright was knighted, became High Sheriff of Derbyshire and died leaving a fortune of £500,000 (approx £60m in today’s money) and in the process started the industrialisation of Britain and the world.

We finished the day with a nice lunch at a historic pub in Wirksworth before driving home.

Wednesday 26th July 2023. Snibston Colliery

Stuart Warburton, former curator of Snibston Discovery centre, and now secretary of Snibston heritage Trust which operates the tours described to us the initial history of Snibston and Coalville.

In the early 1800s mines at Hugglescote, Whitwick and Swannington had difficulty in transporting coal to Leicester and onto the canal network and couldn’t compete with the mines in South Derbyshire and Notts which were on the canal network.

William Stenson owner of the Whitwick mine and John Ellis a wealthy weaver approached George Stevenson with a view to building a railway between Swannington and Leicester. Stevenson agreed but put his son Robert in charge. This would become one of the very first locomotive railways in the world and opened in 1832 enabling coal to be sent cheaply to Leicester.

George Stevenson was persuaded to invest in a mine of his own and sunk a shaft in what was then known as Long Lane, close to his new railway. This became Snibston colliery and the area which rapidly became industrialised was by 1833 called Coalville.

Snibston mine was operational by 1833 and closed in 1983 after 150 years of continuous production.

Our tour now continued led by a former Pit Deputy who showed us what the mine was like in its last years. There are two mineshafts and winding gear still standing. One shaft originally had a fire lit at the bottom of it such that the draft from it would take hot air up the shaft which sucked cooler fresh air down the other shaft for ventilation. This second shaft also contained the man-riding lift to get miners in and out of the mine and also coal out. Later, fan-powered ventilation was used.

Scattered around the area are various excavating machines of increasing power, efficiency and danger! It was pointed out to us the hazards faced by miners on a regular basis and how easy it was to lose fingers, toes, hands or even lives. We then toured the remaining buildings where we were shown how simple technology such as tallies (brass tokens) recorded every man who went down the mine and who came out again. Electronic systems were tried but were not as reliable as physical tokens.

It was also explained how they checked for the 3 dangerous gases to be found in mines, CO2, CO and methane. When mines rescue teams went down the mine after an accident they still carried canaries as they were the most reliable detector of carbon monoxide.

After a visit to the pay-room, we saw the medical room where the nurse would treat all the injuries and ailments of the miners. In the event of an incident down below she and a doctor would don overalls and helmet and go down to treat a miner who may be trapped or unable to be moved, even doing emergency amputations if needed!

Finally we were shown how blasting was done and how different explosives from black powder, through nitro-glycerine to dynamite made the work of extracting coal faster and safer.

A fascinating two hour tour through the recent history of mining which one or two of our members had experienced first-hand.

Wednesday 28th June 2023. Liverpool Docks

Unfortunately this trip had to be cancelled. I think the intention to travel by train put some people off, worried about possible strikes, whilst several others were on holiday or had been there recently. So, there were not enough numbers to make the trip worthwhile. Maybe another time.

Wednesday 24th May 2023. Crich Tramway Museum

Your correspondent, and trip co-ordinator, was unable to attend this month but Bob B lead the troops to Crich and got them all signed in and paid for on a group discount. Apparently everyone had a good time, the weather was kind being particularly warm and dry for this time of year. Crich stands on a high plateau and can often be very chilly when everywhere around is warm, but not this time. I heard that as well as much travelling on the trams, touring the museums and walking of the woodland trails, the onsite vintage pub and tea rooms were well patronised!

Thursday 27th April 2023. Gladstone Pottery Museum

The Industrial Heritage Group visited Gladstone Pottery Museum in Stoke on Trent for their April trip. 26 members of the group assembled at the museum for a self-guided tour around the various buildings and exhibits. Large way-markers took you round the site in a particular order so that you could understand the whole pottery making process from start to finish.

We first entered the slip house where the raw materials were mixed together with water to form a slip. Slip was stored in settling tanks and stirred to prevent it from hardening. Magnets were used to remove iron and it was sieved to remove lumps. The liquid was then pressed between cloths to remove the excess water and then taken to the pugging house where it was slammed and knocked about to remove air pockets and to make it suitable for working.

The clay products were either made by turning the clay on a potter's wheel or sometimes by the use of moulds which were made and stored in the mould making room. Gladstone has 4 Bottle Oven kilns and each piece of pottery went through a process of 3 firings in these kilns. Before the first firing each item had to be left to dry in the drying room and then the items to be fired were placed in saggars or large clay pots which were stacked up in the bottle kilns. During firing the kilns would reach a temperature of 1250 degrees Celsius and a firing would take several days.

The fired pottery was now ready to be sent for glazing in the glaze shop before being fired again to harden the glaze. Decorating or painting the products was the final part of the whole process and the work was mainly done by women using different metal oxides to produce the colours. The pottery was hand painted but in later times the use of transfers became more common. A final firing turned the metal oxides into the desired colours.

For decades the sight of these bottle kilns dominated the landscape of Stoke on Trent but today most of them have been demolished as firing is done in gas or electric ovens. Not that there are many working potteries left in Stoke. The group were enthralled with the experience of seeing this whole industrial process and saddened by the poor working conditions that the men women and children had to endure.

After the tour we went for lunch at the Toby Carvery in Trentham before returning home.

Wednesday 22nd March 2023. Silverstone Interactive Museum

This month we had an interesting visit to the recently opened Silverstone Interactive Museum at the famous racing circuit.

I don't think any of us had been to Silverstone in recent years and it was fascinating to see how much the infrastructure has developed over the years. Apart from having its own junction off the A43 leading to a dual carriageway approach to the circuit, there are a large number of buildings dedicated to motorsport engineering including the huge 3 buildings comprising the Aston Martin F1 factory which are under construction. Once parked in one of the vast near-empty car parks it was a short walk to a very imposing museum building.

Despite some confusion over how to pay, since their invoice to us arrived too late the day before for us to make payment, and their bank details appearing to be wrong anyway, and the pay desk not being able to take our money! we were allowed in without paying (yet).

The café's cashless card readers were not working either so all transactions had to be by cash, but they had little change. Not a good start. But it got better. Suitably refreshed, we entered the museum proper, having still not paid but with paper wristbands acting as tickets.

The whole museum has state-of-the-art computer-projected displays and sound systems. The museum covers the history of the site from its earliest days as Luffield Priory in the 12th century, through the war years as a Wellington bomber airfield to the start of motor racing on the disused airfield runways and perimeter roads. There were plenty of exhibits to get hands-on with, some for kids and some suitable for us big kids.

On the lower floor were various displays of significant race cars and bikes and memorabilia such as helmets and overalls of famous drivers past and present along with films, pictures and posters of the evolving circuit. There was also a large hands-on section explaining how various parts of cars and motorbikes work such as suspension, tyres ,engines and gearboxes along with actual F1 and MotoGP (bikes) engines and other bits. Very enlightening for the casual observer and enthusiast alike.

We returned to the café for a very pleasant lunch (the contactless cash machines working now, as was our ability to pay for the museum!)) where we found out that some race cars would be coming out to practice on the circuit shortly. We could go outside to stand by the track as several older and current sports racing cars hurtled round noisily. This was a great way to end our visit, and after many minutes watching the cars, we headed home.

Next month we shall do something completely different and visit the Gladstone Pottery Museum in Stoke, currently the home of the C4's Great Pottery Throw Down series of shows.

Thursday 23rd February 2023. Rolls Royce heritage Trust Museum

This proved to be very popular. RR said that they could only take 15 people on a guided tour of their excellent collection, but 34 people wanted to go! We persuaded RR to lay on 2 tours and restricted it to 30 people, with the remainder on a waiting list. Some members on the list unfortunately had to drop out, but it meant all those on the waiting list got a place.

8 drivers agreed to pick up all the others from home and we all arrived at RR early, in time for coffee (and breakfast for some!) from their excellent staff canteen. Our two guides introduced themselves and proceeded to show us around. The volunteer guides were extremely knowledgeable. Our guide Bob had started with RR in 1957 and retired in 1997. His stories about the history of the company, it's founders and also each of the engines on display, from the earliest to the latest Trent XWB (which is huge up close!), were fascinating. After 2 hours, which passed in a flash, we said our goodbyes and set off for lunch.

Finding a pub which would serve 28 people for lunch wasn't easy, but we had found a very good and large pub in Littleover for whom 28 was just a trifle and we had pre-ordered our food. The excellent food and drink kept us busy while we recalled the morning's tour. A good start to the season.

Wednesday 23rd November 2022. Hack Green Secret Nuclear Bunker

Hack Green was a Ministry of Defence site constructed in great secrecy during WWII. It is a large concrete structure with one floor at ground level and one below. Despite its thick walls and roof and blast doors, it doesn't really look as though it would withstand a direct hit from a large conventional bomb let alone a nuclear one.

It's original use was as a radar listening post to detect incoming Nazi bombers but after the war the present building was constructed as one of 12 such buildings across Britain to detect Russian planes and missiles. Its early warning system would allow our V bomber fleet to get airborne for a retaliatory attack on Russia before the UK was destroyed by nuclear weapons. This role only lasted until 1958 when it became part of the UK's air traffic control network. It closed in 1966 but it would have another life yet. As the Cold War developed, the UK Government decided that in order to present a credible civil defence structure, secret plans were drawn up to ensure that should war have broken out the government would survive to lead and reconstruct post war Britain. In 1976 Hack Green was purchased from the MOD by the home Office to provide one of several places for government to shelter if war was imminent. In total secrecy and at a cost of £32m the site was converted into the nuclear bunker. This took 8 years! It contained everything that the survivors would need to sit out the aftermath. Much of the equipment is either still in place or replacements found to show just what it would have looked like. There were radio rooms, radar monitoring, communications between the other bunkers, a BBC studio to broadcast to the surviving public and a BT exchange to connect all the phone lines. Despite having over 40 rooms it doesn't look as though it would have been exactly spacious for the 135 civil servants and military personnel locked inside. Strangely the bunker was only operational from 1984 to the mid 1990s. Hardly the height of the Cold War, although two Soviet false alarms suggesting nuclear attacks by the US occurred in '83. Fortunately the alarms were realised to be erroneous and no retaliation attacks were made.

In 2004 Hack Green opened as a museum founded by a former member of the Royal Observer Corps, Rodney Siebert, who had bought it from the government.

It now, as well as recreating the bunker as it was, houses many very interesting exhibits form its history. Not least of which is an actual (decommissioned!!) nuclear warhead from a Polaris missile. Also on display were many pieces of ephemera such as uniforms, radios, helmets, decontamination suits and all the bits and pieces needed to survive underground. There is also a large collection of Russian equipment including a mock-up of a Russian nuclear bunker and a selection of very senior Russian military uniforms.

A theatre was showing "The War Game" A 1966 harrowing docu-drama film showing very realistically the effects of a nuclear attack on a British town. It was intended to be shown on the BBC but they thought it too intense and violent and so banned it from TV. It was released as a feature film instead. I watched about 5 mins on the aftermath of the bomb. Not one for the faint hearted.

One could spend many more hours reading all the information on display than we had time for, but at least our tickets give us free entry for 12 months if we wish to return..

This was a most interesting, if not exactly enjoyable, visit because of its descriptions of, and equipment from, the Cold War era showing us just what would have happened if a nuclear war ever broke out, and just how close we came to that in the 1960s, 70s and 80s. The Cold War officially ended on Dec 25th 1991 with the collapse of the Soviet Union.

To wind down after this experience we visited a very nice pub in a pretty village nearby where the food, drink and service was very good. The Bhurtpore Inn is named after the British siege of the Indian Fort Bhurtpore in 1826 which was overseen by Lord Combermere on whose estate the pub was built. The pub still has an Indian theme and specialises in traditional curries but also has an extensive other menu and twenty two!! real ales, lagers and ciders on tap. We didn't try all of them.

Wednesday 26th October 2022. Jodrell Bank radio telescope

Saturday 24th September 2022. Severn Valley Railway

After having to cancel the trip to Ecclesbourne Valley Railway when it's only working steam loco broke down, and then cancelling the overnight trip to Brooklands Racetrack and museum when hotel prices in nearby Woking became ridiculously expensive, we had to arrange something else. A trip the SVR was planned for the Saturday as there would be more steam trains running at the weekend.

Unfortunately, due to the short notice and various holidays etc, only 8 people could come. The trip down to Kidderminster was uneventful and the two cars arrived within a few minutes of each other. The first foursome bought their tickets and headed for the café but when the second carload bought their tickets they were informed that there would be no steam engines running that day! The first group were not told at all! It seems that after some trackside fires, the local fire brigade had told them not to run steam locos due to the risk of sparks starting more fires.

Undetered, but disappointed, we boarded our train to Bridgnorth. The scenery was just as nice but there wasnt that lovely smell of smoke, oil and steam. On arriving at Bridgnorth, we walked up the hill to the castle ruins, through the beautiful park and into town where we had an excellent lunch at the picturesque and beflowered Old Castle pub. he food, and the beer, was excellent.

Returning to the station, we cauh the next train back to Highley and the museum at the Engine Shed were there was an exhibition and sale of O gauge model trains as well as all the full size stuff. After a quick cuppa, we boarded the train back to Kidderminster. The weather had been very kind with plenty of sunshine and some warmth. All agreed that it had been a good day out but would have been much better with a steam loco or two. it has now of course rained heavily and so I expect steam working will resume soon!

Thursday 28th July 2022. Shuttleworth Collection at Old Warden Airfield, Beds

11 members car shared from Ashby to Old Warden travelling in 3 cars and 1 motorbike. Apart from the usual crawl all along the M1 the journey was uneventful and we all arrived at similar times. Arrival was made a little complicated by the airfield having closed its main entrance right next to the hangers and instead diverting us, without particularly good signposting, right around the airfield for about 4 miles before ending back at the hangers. Buying tickets from a hut whilst queuing in the cars wasn't ideal either. However once we were in all was well. We could all sit outside by the grass runway with a cuppa and watch the world go by.

Once refreshed we headed for the museum sited in the 6 hangers. The amount of paraphernalia on display is awesome. From aircraft to tiny cap badges and models, via engines and propellers and uniforms and photographs, there is loads to see. The youngest planes are from WWII, but the vast majority are much older.

There are replicas of early 19thC attempts at building gliders and some replicas of early powered aircraft but most interesting are the original planes many of which are still airworthy.

The oldest is the world's oldest flyable aircraft, a Bleriot XI, built in 1909 just 6 years after the Wright Brothers first flight. The first example of this type was used by Bleriot himself to make the first ever crossing of the English Channel in 1909 by a heavier-than-air aircraft. Shuttleworth's example still flies today on special occasions, if the weather is settled enough.

Also on display are a number of old cars and motorcycles, three of which date from 1898/9.

Unfortunately no old planes were flying during our visit although a couple of modern Cessnas did land, but it was a very enjoyable trip, well worth the tribulations of the M1 to get there and back.

Wednesday 22nd June 2022. Stourbridge Glass Museum

17 members of Industrial Heritage visited the recently opened Stourbridge Glass Museum which is known as the new home of glass. We were taken on a guided tour around the museum which is set across two floors on the original site of the Stuart Crystal glass making factory.

We were told that George Ravenscroft established a glass house in London in 1673 patenting a process for making 'flint glass'. Over time most of crystal glass making production in England moved to the Crystal Mile in Stourbridge.

In 1827 an orphaned boy by the name of Frederick Stuart was sent to work at the Red House Glass Works on the Crystal Mile and by 1853 he along with Edward and Thomas Webb and Richard Mills formed the firm of Mills Webb and Stuart.

The current site was chosen as it has easy access onto the Stourbridge Canal which enabled the Stuarts to export the finished glass products from the site onto barges where the products were less likely to get damaged than if they had been taken away by horse and cart.

We learned how the addition of lead to the glass made the glass much more malleable and easy to work. We saw examples of the Cameo Glass and the Beaconsfield Pattern which is still used today.

Stuart Crystal was supplied to the Titanic most of which lies on the sea bed although a few sample pieces were said to have survived. Also some 22,000 items of Stuart Crystal were made for the ocean liner The Queen Mary.

One of the high lights of the trip was the visit to the 'Hot Room'. There we saw a glass lamp shade being made and were given a demonstration of the art of glass blowing. The glass making furnace was heated up to a temperature of 1400 degrees centigrade at which heat the glass starts to melt. Therefore the furnace is allowed to cool slightly before the molten glass is soft enough and ready to be fashioned into the required shape.

This was a very educational and informative trip and enjoyed by one and all.

Saturday 4th June 2022. Pappleworth Pumping Station, Nottinghamshire

Arriving at Papplewick Pumping Station on a cool June morning, we could see smoke billowing from the tall chimney, a coal-fired boiler was raising steam for the magnificent James Watt steam engine! We quickly collected an annual pass for free entry over the next 12 months and booked ourselves onto a late morning trip to the scary sounding underground reservoir. After walking past various craft stalls, we had a warm drink in the outdoor cafe.

A covered trailer towed by a vintage tractor, provided a 10 minute rocky ride up a hill to the underground reservoir, where we were met by our guide. After warnings about steep ladders and silt traps inside the reservoir, we heard some technical detail; the silt was from the limestone that filtered the ground water, it opened in 1880, closed in 1906 due to cracks and contained 1.5 million gallons to supply Nottingham's swelling population. These stark facts do not convey the feeling of awe as you step away from the ladder and into the gloom to peer at the magnificent Victorian brick-lined structure. Even the vaulted roof is both ornamental and precise, a hallmark of the Victorian age.

After lunch in the cafe, we ventured to the main attraction and the workhorses of the site, two James Watt beam engines. Only one of the six boilers was fired up, but this provided a very welcome warm ambience and adequate steam to power a single beam engine and the ancillary engines, such as the colliery winding gear. You do not have to be an engineer to be impressed by the massive metal parts of this engine as they rotate and oscillate smoothly, with the steam cylinder at one end and the water pump at the other end of a 13 ton beam. We also learned of two James Watt inventions associated with these engines, the speed governor and the parallel motion mechanism, precision engineering on a grand scale. If all this steam and heat does not float your boat' there were state-of-the-art remote-controlled boats and submarine being operated on the 'cooling water' lake. Even this ornamental feature had an engineering function!

Friday 27th May 2022. Quarry Bank Mill, Styal, Cheshire

Despite the distance of over 70 miles, all 4 cars arrived at the NT property at virtually the same time and yet we had taken different routes to get there. Only one of our group was not a NT member and Kevin has a Volunteers pass which allowed him to get them in for free. We were met at reception by someone to personally check us all in and give us our individual passes and walked us down to the house to meet our guide, Adrian, who turned out to be a member of Knutsford u3a.

After a quick cup of coffee Adrian led us into the mill factory to begin the tour. After explaining the Greg family history and how they had come from Belfast to start a cotton mill we were shown the various machines on display starting from early cottage looms through to the last spinning mule, as it is called, which was still working there in 1926. Various volunteers demonstrated how the machines and processes worked running them briefly so that we could get an idea of the noise levels and speed of the later machines. We had a quick look at the millwheel turning in the basement of the building. It is 40 ft long and 40 ft in diameter and was capable of outputting 100 HP. At any one time the buckets on the wheel contain 3 tons of water.

We were also told some gory stories of injuries to workers who hadn't followed the safety regulations. Surprisingly the number of serious injuries was much lower than one might expect, although the definition of 'serious' was perhaps a little different to today. Loss of a finger was considered 'mild'! The volunteers were extremely knowledgeable and more than pleased to chat for ages about life in the mill.

After a quick lunch, which was not quite up to usual NT standards as everything seemed to be running out as we stood in the queue, we walked up the path to the Apprentices House.

Samuel Greg had difficulty getting enough skilled men and women to work in the mill and had the bright idea of taking on apprentices to learn how to work the machinery. The boys and girls, aged 9 and up, were recruited from Workhouses around the country. The workhouses paid Greg 2 guineas per child to take them of their hands. The children were indentured to the mill for 12 years during which time they received no pay but did get free board and lodging and clothing. This was considered quite enlightened for the time, as the food was much better than the workhouse and there was much less cruelty to them. At the end of their indenture they were free to go elsewhere but many stayed on as paid employees living in cottages in the village.

The Apprentice house housed 90 children at any one time 2/3 of whom were girls as they were considered less troublesome! After working a 12 hour day and after supper they had an hours schooling so that they could read and write and learn basic skills - maths for the boys, needlework for the girls. The girls made all the apprentices clothes for the cotton cloth woven at the mill.

We heard many fascinating tales of life in the House, far too many to relate here. We could have spent far longer looking around the mill, the family house and the extensive gardens. Another time perhaps.

Wednesday 27th April 2022. Framework Knitters Museum, Ruddington

Purely by chance, the day after we had a talk at the monthly meeting about Jedediah Strutt and his improvement of the framework knitting machine, the Industrial Heritage group visited the Framework Knitters Museum at Ruddington.

We last visited it about 8 years ago, but the museum received a Lottery grant just before Covid lockdown which allowed them to buy some property next door along with a chapel, and spent the next two years developing a reception building, coffee shop, gift shop and an art gallery in the chapel plus some gardens which have greatly improved the site.

After coffee, we were split into 3 groups to visit the 3 main areas of the museum, namely the framework knitting hall, the workers cottages and the circular knitting stocking machines room. All were fascinating.

The knitting frames are much larger than expected, looking similar to a hand loom crossed with a domestic knitting machine. The mechanism is extremely complex even for a modern machine. How anyone built or even thought them up in the 16th century seems impossible. Our guide demonstrated one of the 19 frames packed into a room not much bigger than the average lounge. They are extremely hard work as well as being quite complex to operate. With 3 foot pedals and 4 or more hand levers to push and pull in just the right sequence would have taken plenty of skill and manpower. And I mean manpower as they were almost exclusively operated by men. Before the factory was built knitting frames were usually in peoples cottages. They were too expensive to buy and so they were rented from a landlord or other entrepreneur. The husband operated it whilst the wife sewed the stockings together and the children wound the bobbins from skeins of cotton or wool. Wives would also be sent out to buy replacement needles which were quite fragile and broke often if not looked after. Whilst needles were all the same, the way the mounted in the frame wasn't and so the needles had to be cast into lead holders which fitted each individual machine. When the factory opened, men were paid piece rates to operate the frames but still had to buy the cotton and pay for broken needles. Children aged 6 were limited to working 69 hours a week!

The cottages on site were built as back-to-backs with one rom upstairs and one room down and a small attic space for the children to sleep in. A family of 6 or more lived in the two rooms. There was no toilet - that was across the yard, as was the washroom. That's for washing clothes, no people. The only water supply was from a hand pump in the yard.

The manager fared slightly better in that theirs was a through-house i.e. it had a scullery downstairs and two bedrooms above. But they still shared the toilet and washroom. Cooking was done on the range in the living room.

Circular knitting machines were invented in the late Victorian era, mostly for use by lower middle-class women in order for them to earn a little extra money, whilst working from home. However the machines were expensive to buy and the agents who supplied the yarn and bought the output made all the money and the women made little. They were also used in workhouses where children were put to work for no pay other than their lodging. The machines could make stockings or scarves and with practise could make tapered tubes for stockings and socks and could even knit in the heels and toes all in one piece.

This was a fascinating visit which we all enjoyed greatly. We had to drag ourselves away after 3 hours in order to keep our appointment at the White Horse pub at the end of the street, which served some very nice food and drink with no complaints that we were over 30mins late arriving.

Wednesday 23rd March 2022. The Great British Car Journey - Ambergate

We had one new member, Rupert, and his friend Bob, a potential new member, join us this month for our trip to the recently opened car museum at Ambergate. This museum covers the era of the British car industry from the early 1920s to the present day, but mostly concentrating on the post-war era from the 50s to 90s. i.e. all the sorts of cars we remember. Either we had one, our friends had one or our Dad did. So it was a great reminiscence by all as we wandered around the exhibits. The museum cleverly give you each a tablet-like handset with earphones that give you the history of the period, of the men who designed and built the cars and of the individual cars themselves, some of which had interesting histories such as the Bently owned by Elton John which was Britain's most expensive production car when made. Ther were Jags and Jensens, Healeys and a DeLorean, Rolls-Royces and Bentleys. But there were also Minis and Metros, Allegros and Maestros, Hillman Imps and Hunters, Vauxhalls and Sunbeams and any manner of ordinary but still interesting cars. A most enjoyable trip down memory lane.

Wednesday 23rd February 2022. ACME Whistles factory tour, Birmingham

15 members met up in Ashby to share 4 cars for the drive into Birmingham. We had planned to go by train from Tamworth but HS2 preparation work meant that there were no trains running twixt Tamworth and New Street this week. As it happened, going by car proved less trouble than taking the train. Although the car park was inside the Birmingham clean air zone, all 4 cars were sufficiently modern to be exempt from the £8 charge.

From the Jewellery Quarter it was a 15 min walk to the factory where we were shown upstairs (many stairs!) for a look round some of their products whilst enjoying tea, coffee and biscuits. We were joined shortly by their Chairman and Managing Director, Simon Topman, who gave us a most interesting and humorous history of the company and it's founder before showing us around the factory itself.

Joseph Hudson came to Birmingham from a farming background aged 12 to seek his fortune. He trained for 7 years in the local engineering workshops before deciding in 1870 to start his own company making whistles.

The Metropolitan Police were looking for a replacement for their cumbersome rattles that they used to communicate with each other on the beat but were not loud enough in busy Victorian streets and advertised nationally for new ideas.

Hudson thought that a whistle would do the job but it had to have a distinctive sound. He took his design to London were it was chosen as the new signalling device and an order for 21,000 whistles was placed. His discordant two tone whistle has become the standard for many police forces and every British Bobby still carries one.

From there he went on to sell referee's whistle, silent dog whistles and even whistles for the Titanic. They were able to recently make Titanic replicas from the same tooling, on the same hand-presses in the same building 100 years later. Whistles are still made almost entirely by hand from brass, silver or even gold, although some of the new cheaper whistles are plastic. Their dearest whistles can be diamond encrusted and cost 10s of thousands of pounds!

Simon enthusiasm for the history of his company was very evident as he treated us with a fascinating series of stories too numerous to repeat here but suffice to say he kept us entertained all morning. And the entirety of the fee we paid will go to support local children's charities.

Wednesday 26th January 2022. National Space Centre, Leicester

Despite trying to chose a day when there would be few children, it seems that schools are still visiting in large numbers and about 6 groups were milling about. However they were considerably quieter and better behaved than last time we visited. Despite that, we had a very enjoyable time looking at all the exhibits and even pressing a few buttons just like the kids!

The film shown in the planetarium was very up to date with a computer animation of the James Webb telescope which went into orbit on Christmas Day. The facts about it are amazing. The mirror which unfolds from 18 segments is 6.5m (21ft) across and it is orbiting 1 million miles from Earth. No chance of sending a repair team out that far, unlike the Hubble telescope which is only a little over 300 miles up.

Wednesday 27th October 2021. Visit to the Museum of Making, Derby

This museum has been undergoing a major renovation for many years, progress having been slowed by Covid of course. However it has finally opened and 20 of us went to have a look round. Entrance is free but it would still be worth going if you had to pay.

It is situated in the old Silk Mill building which is reputed to be the first ever fully mechanised factory in the world. The exhibits show off all the various industries and factories that have made Derby famous from silk, coal and pottery through to railways, bikes, cars and of course Rolls Royce plus many industries which we didn't know came from Derby. We spent a fascinating couple of hours there before heading of to Wetherspoons for lunch. It was great to be back out visiting places.

Next month we will have a discussion meeting to see where we can go next year when hopefully more places will be open.

Wednesday 22nd January 2020. RAF museum Cosford

The Group went to RAF Museum, Cosford today mainly for interest in the planes but also because it was a) free and b) needed no booking, so that it could be easily cancelled or postponed if there was bad weather. However we had no snow or ice or torrential rain to put us off and so we were able to car share happily to Cosford. After the obligatory coffee break on arrival we split up to wander the hangers at leisure.

Cosford houses many rare and unusual planes, missiles and engines, mostly from WW2 onwards. The Japanese and German planes, and particularly the German missiles of WW2 were scary to see how advanced they were. And the V2 rocket looks just like every schoolboys drawing of a rocket but bigger than you'd think.

Scarier still are the huge cold-war nuclear bombers - Vulcan, Victor and Valiant. An exhibition of the Berlin airlift and cold-war tensions reminded us how close we nearly came to extinction on more than one occasion.

On a lighter note, the strange and sometimes crazy prototype aircraft of the post-war race for supersonic flight produced some beautiful and strange planes like the Fairey Delta which broke the world speed record by over 300mph at its first attempt and the highly-polished all stainless steel Bristol 188 which should have flown at Mach 3 but ran out of fuel before reaching Mach 2.

The star of the show was though the much-larger-than-expected and ill-fated TSR2. Only 3 were ever built out of a planned 20-odd and only one ever flew; not the one at Cosford. The others were scrapped and three, including the flyer, were used for gunnery practice and destroyed.

Everyone, I think, had a good time with much reminiscing amongst those with any aeronautic history.

Wednesday 27th November 2019. Coffin Works & Pen Museum, Birmingham

20 members ventured into Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter by car, train, tram and finally by Shanks's pony on a cold damp day to arrive eventually at the Coffin Works museum.

Built in 1894 by the brass-founders Alfred and Edwin Newman as a factory to make coffin furniture ie the handles and other fittings on coffins which were stamped from brass and later aluminium. They soon realized that the way to make money was to cater to the rich who tended to leave their coffins on display in a mausoleum and therefore spent a lot more on bling than when the coffins were buried. This proved to be a successful move and the business flourished, eventually expanding to be a one-stop shop for undertakers as Newman Brothers now made shrouds and coffins and sold embalming fluid and all the other paraphernalia required. Our two guides showed us around the various parts of the works and told us the stories not just of the factory but also of the many individuals who worked there, often having careers of many decades. The business eventually came into the hands of a very shrewd woman, Joyce Green, who started as office secretary and at some point acquired shares in the company. When the last of the family died she became sole owner for the last ten years. When the business closed in 1998 she saved the building and all its contents to open it as a museum and after many financial troubles it opened to visitors in 2014.

After lunch at the nearby historic Shakespeare Inn we walked up the road to the Pen Museum where again we were split into groups to be shown around the various sections of the ex-pen factory. We soon discovered that a pen is/was what we would call the pen nib i.e. the steel tip. Birmingham was the centre of the pen trade and at one time 75% of all the world's pens were made in Birmingham. It was said that one person (usually women) could produce 18,000 pens a day, hand-stamping each one from a steel blank. 700 people worked in one factory of the many in the area. The manufacturing processes and the conditions that people worked in made for a fascinating story. Also interesting was how mass-production brought the price of a pen down such that a gross could be brought for the price of 1 hand-made pen so that schools could afford to teach pupils to write, vastly expanding literacy and hence further education to the masses.

Two very different factories but both from the late 1800's give a great insight into that era.

Wednesday 23rd October 2019. Soho House, Handsworth, Birmingham

We again had 24 members turn up, just as last month, this time to visit the house of one of the world's first industrialists, Matthew Bolton. Split into two groups we were guided round the building whilst our guides explained the history of the house, the Boultons and also the Lunar Society which Matthew Bolton co-founded.

Bolton's father had a small business in Birmingham making shoe buckles, metal buttons, snuff boxes and other small objects which were called 'toys'. Matthew took over the running of the business in 1749 at the age of 21. He married a wealthy woman, Mary Robinson but she died 10 years later. Boulton then married her sister which was illegal in church law but not in common law. After his father also died he used his inheritance and his wives' monies to greatly expand the business. He moved to the Soho area and bought 13 acres of land, eventually expanding it to over 100 acres, to build his Manufactory and Soho House. The manufactory continued to make 'toys' but also candlesticks, church flagons, vases and over similar items which were stamped out of thin plate and joined together. He used sterling silver for the wealthy, but also Sheffield plate and silver-plated copper which were much cheaper. One problem for Boulton was the lack of an assay office nearby. Silver pieces had to be sent to Chester to be hallmarked with the risk of them being damaged in transit. He petitioned Parliament for the establishment of an office in Birmingham and eventually was successful.

As the business increased, the factory was running out of hydropower to work the presses and so he contacted James Watt about developing a steam engine for the site. This was not to power the presses but to move water back up to the millpond so that there was enough water for the watermills.

When Watt patented an improved design in 1769, Boulton realised that this could be a profitable enterprise and so entered into partnership with Watt to design and make steam engines firstly as pumping engines for mines but later they developed a rotary output to directly drive machinery. Between 1775 and 1800 they produced 450 rotary engines enabling large-scale industry to develop throughout Britain.

By 1786 two-thirds of the coins in circulation in Britain were fake. Boulton petitioned Parliament again this time to stamp coins which couldn't be counterfeited and eventually got a contract in 1797. His steam-powered Mint could produce coins at the rate of 10 a second.

The Lunar Society started in 1755 when Boulton met Erasmus Darwin and they and others gathered for informal dinner parties to discuss new scientific subjects such as electricity, meteorology and geology. The group expanded to include Josiah Wedgwood, Watt, Joseph Priestly and many others, and Benjamin Franklin was a visitor, although it was said that there were never more than 14 at a time as that was the largest number to fit around Boulton's dining table.

Despite the serious discussions, much wine was drunk at these meetings sometimes, allegedly, as much as 6 bottles each! The name came about as they met during the full moon as the extra light made the journey home easier and safer. Presumably they relied on someone else to drive their carriages!

The stories of Boulton, Watt and others was made even more fascinating for being told in the original surroundings. Most of the furnishings in the house are original to the house, some are genuine period pieces and a very few are reproductions including the wallpaper made to the original patterns.

Afterwards we retired to a Victorian hostellery were we were served excellent food and local beer.

Thank you Henry, and particularly Julia, for a very well organised trip.

Wednesday 25th September 2019. Walsall Leather Museum

A surprisingly large group of 24 members were sufficiently interested in the history of leather manufacture to turn up at our usual meeting point to car-share to Walsall. Unfortunately on arrival the adjacent car park was completely, full leaving everyone to find parking spots in the surrounding streets but we (almost) all arrived in time for coffee before our two guides showed us around the museum.

We split into two groups and swapped guides at halftime. One group was first shown the history of Walsall and why it became the centre of the leather and particularly the saddlery trade in the UK. We also learned how leather is formed from the hides of various animals, some more suitable and some more rare than others. The rare hides (snakes, crocodile, ostrich etc.) are not necessarily the best just the most expensive. The distinctive pattern of those animals hides are often mechanically embossed onto cow hide as a cheaper substitute.

The second group first learned how the leather was worked, often by women, and cut, stitched and formed into saddles, bridles, belts and latterly, after the decline of the horse as a means of transport, into gloves, handbags and wallets etc.

Walsall still has a small number (34) of companies making premium leather goods for sale in London, New York and Japan. The Queen's handbags are made there.

The whole history, like that of so many other declining or extinct manufacturing jobs, is fascinating, and it is good to see museums reminding us of what were once major industries.

After looking round the museum shop selling handbags and wallets etc. we finished off by having lunch. Some opted for the nearby pub by the canal while others ventured further to a traditional Black Country pub dating back to 1627. I think it qualifies as Industrial Heritage by all by itself!

Another great day out.

Thursday 5th September 2019. Mountsorrel & Rothley Community Heritage Centre and Great Central Railway, Loughborough

Thirteen members of the group visited the site of the former Nunckley Hill granite quarry and to GCR, Loughborough, this Thursday.

The former Nunckley Hill quarry is now the site of the Mountsorrel & Rothley Community Heritage Centre. The site now houses a busy café (where the ritual initial cup of coffee was taken) and we were introduced to our guides. The group then toured the site, seeing one of two nature trails; exhibition halls; as well as open-air exhibits of the way the mineral extraction industry was run. Adjacent to the site was the recently restored branch line leading from near Mountsorrel, past Nunckley Hill, to Swithland on the Great Central Railway.

All the assets were assembled or created by local volunteers, including transporting and building the café and exhibition halls, assembled stone by stone from two disused farm buildings in the locality. Maps were distributed showing how the adjacent quarry had developed between the 1880s and early 1900s.

The U3a group agreed that the standards of exhibit presentation were very high, and set an example to other similar enterprises.

After stopping for lunch at the Quorndon Fox, the group reassembled at the newly created Gallery at the Great Central Railway's Loughborough Station, to meet Mike Gough MD/CEO of GCR. He told those present about some of the many development projects currently under way at the Railway. Members were given a booklet detailing associated projects in hand.

Participants then moved down to the GCR loco shed to see the many locos currently available for service, as well as four locos currently under restoration. They were given explanations of how a steam loco's valve gear works, and boiler injectors which maintain the water level in service. Finally the group toured the GCR Loughborough signal box, and were given an outline briefing of how the railway Block System of signalling works, and its safety aspects.

Thanks were given to the Mountsorrel and GCR guides who gave us an excellent presentation of the two operations.

Wednesday 31st July 2019. MQP Cliffe Hill Quarry, Markfield

Saturday 29th June 2019. Cragside House, Morpeth.

Wednesday 15th May 2019. Strutt's North Mill, Belper

This proved to be a popular trip and a good turn-out headed off in several cars to Belper on a bright sunny morning. On arrival the Mill laid on the very important coffee and biscuits whilst we watched a short film about the history of Strutt's Mill . We were then introduced to our guide for the day. We were first shown some of the various machines in use before the industrialisation of the cotton spinning process when it was still a cottage industry followed by some of the earlier machines developed by Jedediah Strutt including one which enabled ribbed knitting on an ordinary hand-operated frame. This made him relatively wealthy.

We have all heard of Arkwright and his cotton mill at Cromford which was the world's first water-powered cotton spinning mill. Arkwright was not a wealthy man, and his 'manufactory' was partly funded by Strutt and built in 1771 . Strutt then built his own mill in Belper 1776 to become the second such in the world. The original timber-framed North Mill was built in 1786 but burnt down in 1803 and was replaced by a new one designed by his son William. This was one of the first fireproof structures in the world using cast iron columns and brick floors. This is the building still standing today. Several other mills followed on the site until by the 1850s Belper had a population of 10,000 people.

Our tour continued into the basement to see the building's amazing construction and the site of the waterwheel (unfortunately now removed) which was 18 feet in diameter and 23 feet long. It was eventually one of 11 waterwheels on site and not even the largest!

We now assembled outside for a tour of Strutt's Belper, the streets of cottages which he built to attract workers to the area. We first walked around the attractive River Gardens which were provided for the workforce on their day off.

The mill mostly employed girls so he had to attract families with lots of them but also needed to find work for the men. Belper was traditionally a nail-making town therefore many men joined that trade but also framework knitting was common. (The mill incidentally didn't knit or weave cotton, it only produced spun yarn).

The cottages were better than average to attract incomers and are still standing today, occupying several, still-cobbled, streets. Strutt also built a school and a Unitarian chapel for the workforce. When the North Midland Railway came through Belper it would have cut the village in two, but Strutt insisted that the railway was built in an expensive cutting with 11 bridges over it so that the roads remain level and the trains out of site. It is regarded as one of George Stevenson's great achievements.

The whole area is fascinating and wandering the streets is like stepping back in time. Belper along with the whole of Derwent Valley is a Unesco World Heritage Site.

We retired to a nearby hostellery for an excellent and welcome lunch, very efficiently served by the landlord and his staff before travelling home.

Wednesday 24th April 2019. Taylors Bell Foundry, Loughborough

Loughborough's Bell Foundry is truly part of our Industrial Heritage. The company was founded in the middle of the 14thC when Johannes de Stafford was active only 10 miles from the present site. From 1784 the business was operated by the Taylor family and in 1839 moved to its present location. It is now the last remaining bell foundry in the country and the largest in the world.

As they weren't casting on the day of our visit, we 24 were shown a short film showing how the bell moulds are created and how the bell-metal is poured into the moulds. Bell metal is similar to bronze but with a higher tin content 22% rather than 12%, the composition of which was discovered in China 3000 years ago. Above all other materials, it gives a nice sound and also doesn't corrode.

We were then let into the bell museum back room and allowed to strike the many various old bells, of various tones and some of various metals, all to our hearts' content. It is surprising how little force is needed to make a loud noise!

From there we entered the factory proper to see bells both old and new being prepared for installation. Taylors do not just cast the bells. They make the headstocks from which the bells hang, the frames in which they sit and the steelwork or woodwork which fits into the bell towers. They also make the wooden bell wheels to which the rope attaches and which is used to make the bell swing. Everything is made pretty much by hand or by ancient machinery.

We then saw the only bit which is modern, that being the bell tuning. As cast, the bells are not necessarily in tune either to themselves (bells make several notes when struck) or to other bells in a set. Taylors themselves developed the Five Tone Principle in 1896 by which all five principle harmonics are fine-tuned to give a purity of tone. The tones are nowadays measured by computer but it is still down to one man to machine small amounts of metal off the bell by hand at the right places to get the bell in tune. Take off too much and the bell will sound flat and would be scrap!

Taylors claim to have cast more large bells than any other foundry in the world and have made more than 200 bells larger than 2 tons since 1862. The largest is Great Paul for St Pauls Cathedral in London weighing in at almost 17 tons and cast in 1881. However the largest functioning bell in the world was cast on New Years Eve 2000 in China and weighs a staggering 116 tonnes.

We then looked at the foundry shop itself, where the bell moulds are buried in the ground before casting. This is to get them low enough to be able to pour into safely but mostly so that they cool down slowly without cracking.

After a return to the museum shop for some of us to buy trinkets and mementos, we retired to the Three Nuns pub for lunch and to discuss all that we had seen and heard. Another great day out.

Next month's outing will be a week earlier than usual, on May 15th, with a visit to Stott's North Mill at Belper, one of the very first factories in the world followed by a guided tour around the old town to show its connections to the mill.

Wednesday 27th March 2019. Amazon Fulfilment Centre, Rugeley

Saturday 23rd February 2019. Claymills Pumping Station

There were 22 members and 2 guests for our visit to the Claymills Victorian Pumping Station on its first 'steaming' day of the year.

After tea or coffee at the Stoker's Rest cafe, we were split into 2 groups for our guided tour. Our group was led by Steve, the other group by Mike, both very experienced and knowledgeable, they knew every nut and bolt on the site, Steve having been a volunteer for 25 years! They gave lots of technical detail on sizes, weights and powers and this can also be found on their excellent web-site (http://claymills.org.uk/index.html).

The first stop was the Dynamo House, with ancient looking 'blade' type breakers for switching on the DC circuits, far too dangerous for modern use. Onto the workshop, built in 1900 and restored from a ruinous state. All the machines were steam-driven via belts and pulleys, another health and safety nightmare, but an efficient use of the available steam and safe if you keep your hands away from moving parts. It also had a false floor covering a pit to allow work on traction engines. Up next was the forge, complete with a working blacksmith hammering away to make 4 large nails. ..no mass production here. Once outside, we stood in awe of the 35m chimney, belching smoke from the boilers, and were told the top 10m had to be replaced after the debris had been cleared by hand through a tiny soot door at the base. Also, outside was a sewer-cleaning steam engine being run for the very first time since restoration. One of the enthusiastic machine operators reminded the group that 2019 marked the 200th anniversary of the death of James Watt, and the 250th anniversary of his invention of the separate condenser...as if we could forget!

It was then time for the star attraction, the newly restored steam driven beam engine, Engine B. After 6 years of toil, the restoration engineer has now promised to get the last and very rusty Engine A, back to working order. Unfortunately, problems with the boiler prevented this engine running while we were there, but its gleaming polished brass and wood fittings left us is in no doubt it was a working masterpiece. So it was onto the boiler house were we saw coal from Russia or Columbia shovelled by hand into the mechanical stokers feeding the boiler, the bright red glow through the fire door lighting up the gloom. They also burn scrap wood to warm up the boilers to keep the temperature and the costs down but it all means more manual slog. With 5 boilers and with Engine A restored our guide said it would be the first site to have the capability to run all 4 engines at the same time. It also boasts having 32 working original ancillary steam driven engines, thanks to careful storage and cataloguing by the station's last Chief Engineer.

The finale was seeing Engine D in full operation and later, Engine C being started, a complex synchronised action requiring manual movement of the steam valves. The beams are unusual for their riveted box construction and the Watt speed governors are works of engineering art. Lastly, we went into the only bathroom on site, a tiny windowless room below ground level. The decor here, unaffected by daylight, was key to the redecoration of the engine halls back to their original colour scheme. Use of the bath was a special treat but to get hot water required careful control of steam flow directly into the bath water!

There are about 250 volunteers and about 5000 visitors per year. The visit gave an insight into the workings of these magnificent engines, the lives of those who worked there and the dedication of the volunteers who have restored and managed the site.

Wednesday 23rd January 2019. Coventry Transport Museum

Wednesday 28th November 2018. Museum of Timekeeping

The trip to the British Horological Institute's Museum of Timekeeping at Upton Hall near Southwell proved to be one of our most popular venues with 27 members coming along. We were met by one of our guides for the day, Dawn Barnes, who ushered us into the ballroom of the Hall where we were introduced to Viscount Alan Midleton, President of the BHI and former watch expert on the BBC's Antiques Roadshow, who gave us a talk on the history of British watch & clock making and of the BHI.

The first mechanical clocks were made in the 13th century by or for the church. They were not very accurate but they told people when to attend church services.

It was as early as the 17th century when clocks were accurate enough for people to realise that the world and the universe were not as regular as we thought. The sun did not go round the Earth exactly 24 hrs every day. It varied. Therefore Mean Time was proposed. This is the average length of day measured over many years. A solar day can vary by as much as 15 minutes throughout the year. Clocks, not the sun, now determined the passage of time.

Incidentally a clock is technically a timepiece which sounds the time. (The word clock derives from the medieval Latin 'clocca' meaning bell.)

The BHI was formed in 1858 to promote British horology The British were world leaders in clock and watch manufacture until WWI when the makers all went over to war work. In the meantime, the USA forged ahead with cheap mass-produced watches. During WWII the Swiss did likewise, leaving us with no market for our watches. The industry has been a specialised trade ever since making mostly high-end handmade watches.

Dawn then told us about the development of the GPO's speaking clock. For a small fee one could phone a number and hear the exact time and therefore set your watch or clock. The first speaking clock went into service in the UK in 1936 and four different machines and 5 different voices have been used up until the present day. The museum has the first 3 machines on display and were heard both the 1st and 2nd machines play. The 2nd has the familiar voice of Pat Simmons whose voice was used from 1963 to 1985.

Alan then showed us the watch actually used by Capt Scott on his ill fated expedition to the South Pole. It was a cheap alarm pocket watch as seen in a photograph of Scott in Antarctica. Although not suitable for accurate timekeeping, its alarm was used to wake the team every two hours so that they would move about, eat something warm and not get frostbite

Dawn told us the story of John Harrison 1693-1776 the inventor of the first truly accurate marine chronometer which could be taken aboard ships to enable them to calculate their longitudinal position. His final clock H4 was accurate to just 5 secs after 81 days at sea on arrival in Jamaica.

We then had time to wander round the museum to marvel at the hundreds of timepieces (which Alan personally winds every week on Tuesday at 11am) and wonder at the ingenuity of the clockmakers.

Afterwards we lunched at the Saracen's Head in Southwell which was where King Charles I spent his last night of freedom before being handed over to the Parliamentarians and his subsequent beheading.

Yet again an excellent visit and even those not particularly interested in clocks said how much they enjoyed the day.

Wednesday 17th October 2018. Triumph Motorcycles

Our much delayed trip to Triumph Motorcycles Factory Tour took place on the 17th. We had planned to go last year but the Visitor centre was not completed in time. So 13 members arrived at the Triumph factory gates on their huge site in Hinckley. The whole operation looking much larger than expected.

Triumph bicycles started in Coventry in the 1880's but inevitably turned to motorcycles in 1902. Having survived several previous bankruptcies and mergers it was rescued from bankruptcy yet again in 1983 by John Bloor of Bloor Homes fame, who invested £80m into the company, before he eventually broke even in 2000. He is still the sole owner but his son Nick is now CEO. The company owns 3 factories in Thailand making components and in India and Brazil assembling bikes for the local market. They currently make 50,000 bikes a year.

After the obligatory cup of coffee, we were introduced to our guide for the morning, Roy. In a slick operation we were divested of all cameras, smartphones and coats and kitted out with high-viz jackets and radio earpieces so that we could hear Roy over the noise of the factory. (Actually most of the noise seemed to come not from the machines but from a piercing siren which notified that the production line had stopped. This continued almost the whole time we were there as it also coincided with the workers lunchtime!

The tour started with the huge warehouse where all the incoming components and outgoing bikes are stored. Computerised forklift trucks put all the parts away in the right place and then take then out again when production needs them. From there we went into the factory proper and Roy explained how the various parts particularly the engine crankshafts and camshafts are machined to extremely tight tolerances. We then saw the engine-building line and the bike assembly. Different bikes come down the line and all the right parts miraculously arrive just in time to be fitted. Everything is very much state of the art. Such was Roy's enthusiasm that our 90 min tour was nearer 2 hours as everything was explained in detail yet there was still more to see.

After some lunch in the visitors' café, we had a look round the museum which includes some famous bikes such as Richard Gere's from 'Officer and a Gentleman' and Steve McQueen's iconic fence-leaping bike from 'The Great Escape'. Triumph bikes seem to have been the first choice for the movie makers at one time, having also starred in 'The Wild One' with Marlon Brando amongst others, but recently Japanese bikes seem to prevail.

An excellent tour and so very different to the equally excellent tour of Norton bikes last year where almost everything was done by hand.

Wednesday 26th September 2018. Cadbury World and Bournville model village

Friday 17th August 2018. Swindon and Didcot railway weekend

Wednesday 25th July 2018. Tattershall Castle and RAF Coningsby

Wednesday 27th June 2018. National Computing Museum Bletchley Park

Thursday 24th May 2018. Bristol docks, Temple Meads Station and Clifton Suspension Bridge

Wednesday 25th April 2018. Blists Hill, Ironbridge Museums, Staffs

Wednesday 28th March 2018. Lion Salt Works

Wednesday 28th February 2018. British Motor Museum, Gaydon

The Industrial Heritage group visited Gaydon museum today. Despite worries about the forecast snow, and various last minute cancellations by members due to illnesses, visiting tradesmen or other pressing needs, 11 of us eventually arrived at Gaydon.

The museum stands on the grounds of the Jaguar and Aston Martin test facility, but unfortunately the test track is hidden from sight so one cannot see any future models testing. We last visited Gaydon in Nov 2014 and quite a bit had changed thankfully. There are over 300 cars set out on display representing some of the best or most unusual vehicles produced by the British motor industry from the earliest times to the present day. Most of the cars are from the old British Leyland collection as unfortunately Ford, Vauxhall and the former Rootes group have declined to show any of their cars there. The few Fords and Vauxhalls that they do have been bought privately or are loaned by private collectors.

There is also a fairly new (not there last time) storage facility at the back called the Collections Centre where a further 250 cars not normally on display are stored along with the Jaguar Heritage Trust collection of prototype and rare Jaguars from their earliest days as Swallow Cars through to the present day. We all took the free guided tours of both the museum and Collection Centre to learn more about some of the most historic cars, and then wandered freely to try to look at everything else. One could spend days here and not study everything.

By 3pm the snow was falling heavily and so we decided to head home. The first few miles were quite treacherous but had mostly cleared by Warwick and the rest of the journey was not so bad. A great time was had by all.

Wednesday 24th January 2018. Pickford House and Derby Museum & Art Gallery

Wednesday 22nd November 2017. Leeds Royal Armouries

Wednesday 18th October 2017. Great Central Railway

Wednesday 27th September 2017. Duxford

Saturday 23rd September 2017. Barrow Hill Roundhouse

Wednesday 23rd August 2017. Forge Mill Needle Museum

15 members of the Industrial Heritage Group attended Forge Mill Needle Museum near Redditch. We were welcomed with coffee and excellent cakes before being introduced to our guide for the morning. The Redditch area was famous for its manufacture of needles of all shapes and sizes from the middle ages through to the 20th Century. By the 17th and early 18th Centuries, needle making had developed into a cottage industry with many people working in their own homes to carry out some part of the needle making process. Unbelievably there are over 30 different processes required to make a needle and each person or family specialised in one of those processes. As well as making the needles, Forge Mill had a scouring shed in which the black and somewhat dirty needles were transformed into the bright and shiny objects we all know as sewing needles. After our guided tour there was time to visit the rest of the museum with its display of all types of needles and equipment used for their manufacture. The Redditch area also produced high quality needles for use in surgery, gramophones and sail making. There was also a lucrative business in fish hooks and other angling tackle. The longest needle on display was 6ft long. What do you think that was used for? Everyone then adjourned to the nearby Beefeater for lunch and afterwards some took the opportunity to visit the adjacent ruined Bordesley Abbey and the small museum next to the needle museum.

Wednesday 26th July 2017. National Mining Museum, Wakefield

Wednesday 28th June 2017. The Royal Historic Dockyard, Chatham

Saturday 10th June 2017. Scunthorpe Steelwork preservation railway

Friday 12th May 2017. Visit to Norton Motorcycles, Donington

Wednesday 26th April 2017. Visit to Ironbridge Gorge

Wednesday 22nd March 2017. National Media Museum, Bradford

Saturday 25th February 2017. National Space Centre, Leicester

Wednesday 25th January 2017. The City of Caves and Galleries of Justice, Nottingham

Wednesday 23rd November 2016. The Donington Collection

The Donington Collection is well known for its Grand Prix cars, but much less so for its impressive collection of WW2 vehicles. 14 members assembled at the museum cafe at 10 am on a cold dreary day, glad to be inside for a while. The museum starts with the WW2 vehicles which are all in remarkable condition, most of them restored by the museum staff. Many of the cars, trucks and tanks are German, and impressively large particularly the full-track and half-track troop carriers one of which looked like a tracked charabanc, except for the gun racks! There are also dozens of motorbikes German, British and American; many very rare. A member of staff told us that of 12 known Harley Davidson copies of BMW bikes, the museum has 7 examples. However they don't have a single BSA M20 - the most common British Army bike of the war. The Grand Prix cars in the next halls are the largest collection on view to the public anywhere in the world. Dozens of McLarens, Williams, Force Indias and others. The earlier examples look terribly fragile compared with the modern ones and you soon realise why so many drivers died in the 60s 70s and even the 80s. The final hall full of stunning 50s Vanwalls, Ferraris, Maseratis and a replica Mercedes is the highlight of the collection. A couple or 3 hours is not enough time to do the place justice. I for one shall be going back again soon to browse at my leisure.

Wednesday 26th October 2016. Black Country Living Museum

Despite having to negociate the M6 and M5 in the rush-hour, all 18 managed to get to the museum before it opened, allowing time for a quick coffee. Our costumed guide, having introduced himself, led us briefly around the exhibition area and showed us a 5 min film about the Black Country before walking us down to the drift mine where we were kitted out with hard hats, plus torches for some of us, before our second guide led us into the mine. The hard hats were immediately useful as the walkway was only 5ft high in parts, although in one area the coal seam was 30ft thick and had all been excavated so it was like standing in a cavern. Apparently only the very best miners were used to bring the roof down so that no-one was hurt as it collapsed. When the torches were turned off, the darkness was total. You wouldn't want to be down there with out a light. In fact most of us agreed you wouldn't want to be down there at all for very long! Certainly not to work down there. But many did, and life expectancy of a miner in the 1880's was about 35 years! On emerging into the light, we all went our separate ways to enjoy the rest of the site. With houses and shops to visit complete with costumed charaters ready to explain what went on in the various premises, buses, trolleybuses and canal barges to ride on, a small transport museum to visit, and a pub, cafes and 2 fish and chip shops to sustain us, there was plenty to do. The only set-back was that as it was half-term it was quite crowded and the queue for fish and chips was reportedly over half an hour long. I hope they lived up to their award-winning reputation. Many of us settled for a pie and a pint in the pub. The different car-loads left in their own time but I think most were away by about 3pm to avoid the rush hour, but the traffic was again light and the journey back took less than an hour. A very good day out, and yet again we were lucky with the weather considering it was the end of October.

Wednesday 28th September 2016. Stoke Bruerne Canal Museum

15 members managed to avoid the worst of the road works on the M1 and got to Stoke Bruerne on time. The local guide gave us a very interesting introductory talk about the Boatmen and their families, from whom she is descended. She has researched most of the boat families and has 200 A4 files about them. Their life was not as hard as some imagine as pay was quite good and they often foraged for food so living costs were low. The museum is small but packed with information about the canals, their construction, the boats and the boat people. From there we took a 30 min boat trip up to and just into the tunnel. It takes an hour to go right through and an hour to come back, so we had to reverse out after a short way. Lunch was taken at the pretty thatched Boat Inn right on the canalside and afterwards we spent time watching various boats negotiate the locks. A bright sunny and warm day helped make it a lovely day out.

Wednesday 24th August 2016. Birmingham, Science Museum at Millenium Point and Staffordshire Hoard at the Museum and Art Gallery

Wednesday 27th July 2016. National Brewery Museum, Burton upon Trent

Wednesday 22nd June 2016. Daniels Mill and Severn Valley Railway

Wednesday 25th May 2016. Bletchley Park

Wednesday 27th April 2016. Midland Air Museum, Coventry

Wednesday 24th February 2016. Bombardier Train Works, Derby

Wednesday 27th January 2016. National Gas Museum, Leicester

18 members gathered for a guided tour around the small, but perfectly formed, gas museum. Our guide Janet confessed that she hadn't lead a tour since October and claimed to be a little rusty, but seemed to us to give a very good talk about the history of gas manufacture and of the various exhibits. Gas was originally used mainly for street lighting, but quickly came into the home and factories as a source of light and heating. Gas cookers soon followed. Interestingly early ovens had no floor or shelves, instead meat was hung from hooks inside just as it would be over an open fire. The meat fat and juices would have fallen on the kitchen floor! Other appliances that were gas powered included water heaters (geysers), irons, curling tongs and even a hair dryer. None of these appliances were flued; the flue gases were just released into the room! As electricity became a competitive energy source even a gas radio was developed but never entered production. As an ex-gas design engineer, it was embarrassing to see projects I had worked on displayed in a museum, but even more so to see my mother's current cooker on display! The museum was free to enter, but because we were given a guided tour and provided with tea and coffee, we felt a donation of £5 each was well deserved. Afterwards we retired to the excellent Victorian-styled Black Horse pub in Aylestone for lunch.