Imagination
Inspiration Innovation
The Explosion
of Physical Power
The Industrial Revolution in England, Scotland,
and Wales was the beginning of real power and speed
– the immense power and speed of the machine, the engine that drives
civilization. Humanity went from foot travel to high-speed trains and
automobiles and jets, from slow handwork to mass production. The
beginnings of this transformation involved impressive imagination, inspiration,
and innovation.
We will have the opportunity to explore how the
culture of Great Britain allowed the Industrial Revolution to occur and how the
agricultural revolution led to it. We will seek to understand the
engineers and inventors who were a part of this great change. Not only
will we look for the impact of the Revolution on business, but we will also
explore its impact on society, politics, and the arts. To experience this
historical upheaval, we will visit museums, galleries, and sites that will help
us visualize what life was like then and compare it to what life is like now.
Begin in London
We will get the overall picture of the innovations that began the Industrial
Revolution by visiting the Science Museum.
Then we’ll cross the street to the Victoria and Albert Museum, where
the cultural effects of the Industrial Revolution will be seen (including the
first “world’s fair” in the glass palace).
The Great Western Railroad Museum, once a
major hub in the Victorian rail network, to see how the steam engine
affected transportation, which affected everything else.
Side trip to Stonehenge
To marvel at the technological mysteries that early Britons performed
thousands of years before the Industrial Revolution.
Travel to Bristol
Look at the effects of sea-going
transportation on the Industrial Revolution.
Some argue that Bristol merchant venturers were directly responsible for
the industrial age as their money was invested in developing iron for trade with
West African slavers. Highlights here will include Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s
first iron steamship, the SS Great Britain, a host of other maritime industrial
relics in the Industrial Museum, and the Clifton Suspension Bridge.
Get a feel for the history of the people of Wales before, during, and after
the Industrial Revolution by going through the St. Fagan outdoor Museum of Welsh
Life.
Soak in the life of the Industrial Revolution at the outdoor Black Country
Living Museum, with its underground coal mine, recreated village and, and the
famed Newcomen engine – the world’s first steam engine.
A canal barge ride will help to begin to teach something about the
incredible transport system that the locked in waterways of the canals provided.
A ride on the Severn Valley Railway through glorious countryside will help
bring us to the very cradle of the
Industrial Revolution, to see the world’s first iron bridge and the Museum of
the Gorge. We will visit Blist’s
Hill (a recreated Victorian town), the Coalbrookdale Museum of Iron, the
Coalport China Museum and Jackfield Tile Museum, as desired.
See the center of pottery production at the Victorian Gladstone Pottery
Museum, with its bottle kilns.
Some industrialists were enlightened
men, building model villages for their workers; Lord Leverhulme was one such and
we’ll see his Port Sunlight settlement. Then
to a remarkable piece of canal engineering, the vertical Anderton boat lift.
To the Museum of Science and Industry in the five buildings of the world’s
oldest passenger railway station in the center of the city.
Then to George Orwell’s famed Wigan Pier, where we’ll perhaps witness the
workings of a great steam driven wheel and hear the deafening roar of the cotton
machines.
Owen established a utopian cotton-spinning mill in the beautiful valley of
the Clyde River, where he provided decent homes, fair wages, free health care,
and a new education system for the villagers (including the first nursery school
in the world).
Travel to Glasgow in Scotland
A visit to the Motherwell Heritage Center, with a look at mining.
Side trip to Edinburgh in Scotland
Savor the majesty of the Scottish capital, with its castle and royal palace.
A visit to Beamish, the North of England Open Air Museum, to experience the
life of workers in the times of the Industrial Revolution.
Then to the Darlington Railway Centre and Museum.
Visit the National Railway Museum, as well as perhaps side trips to the
Jorvik Viking Center and the Minster and city wall.
To the magnificent Masson Mills, founded at the beginning of the Industrial
Revolution by Arkwright (inventor of the water frame and “Father of the
Factory System”). Displays the
entire process of textile production from beginning to end.
Perhaps stay the night in Willersley Castle, built by Arkwright as his
extravagant home. Explore quaint
Cromford Village, where Arkwright housed his workers.
Marvel at the City of Dreaming Spires and a center of university education.
Back to London
Recommended visits to the London Canal Museum and the London Transport
Museum, as well as a recommended side trip to Westminster Abbey.
SO
Join Us in the United Kingdom
Studying the Industrial Revolution where it actually began will be
extremely exciting. But you can also learn a lot about it on the
internet. What follows are some of my favorite links.
Start out with a brief introduction to the inventors
(though this barely hints at their cleverness, it will wet your whistle)
Now go to the BBC's
presentation, with some fantastic animations (look at them all; they are
fun)
To look at economic matters, start with the question: were the common
people better off? And here is another site discussing economic
matters fully
Also, look at the development of "scientific
management" in the Industrial Revolution
Some British history
pieces of the period are fascinating
Social issues surrounding the Industrial Revolution are compelling.
Begin with the Victorian Web. Look
at this site on Victorian
social life. Here is a good site on factory
life—both the bad and good. Take a look at how the Industrial
Revolution caused people to move
around from place to place and even country to country. And here is
another good site on social
issues.
There are some lectures by the great historian Toynbee,
and some wry comments by H.G. Wells.
There are some good articles
on the Industrial Revolution, and some primary
source documents for those who really want to dig in. There are some biographies
of people important to the Industrial Revolution, and a Steam
Engine Library for those who want to study well the real power of the
Industrial Revolution.
There are a number of good summaries of the Industrial Revolution: 1,
2, 3,
4,
5, and a short focus on water
power.
There are also sites with lots of good links: 1,
2, 3,
4,
and 5.
Last but not least is a site full of clipart
from the Industrial Revolution
I'm sure that there are lots more good sites. Just do a Google search
and enjoy.