A patent granted in London 250 years ago to James Watt for his fuel-efficient beam engine ignited the Industrial Revolution, fuelled by coal, then oil and gas. This is a 12-mile tour around London highlighting the ‘before’, ‘after’ & ‘what next?’ of that. From the imposing pre-industrial Tower of London to the soaring Shard and much more…..
LEADERSHIP
Pre-industrial Westminster Hall. 1094-1398. The Court of Chancery, ceremonially seated here, awarded Patent 913 to James Watt on 5/1/1769. That triggered the Industrial Revolution, slow at first then gathering pace – especially from the mid 1900s
Igniting THE AGE OF CARBON. 1776 Watt’s coal-fired steam-powered beam engines pumped flooding mines. Coal, iron & steel transformed industry, new enterprises evolved.
Coal fired the furnaces gave us affordable transport
PRE-INDUSTRIAL 1818. Working from 75 Long Acre, coach builder Denis Johnson’s made over 300 wood framed/ iron wheeled ‘pedestrian curricles’ similar to those introduced in Paris in 1817 by Baron Karl von Drais. A luxury plaything crafted for the wealthy.
THE AGE OF CARBON 1885 Starley’s ‘Rover’ safety bike in the Science Museum. Frame made from steel tubing. Chain driven tech from the factories. A safer & faster bike than the earlier ‘Penny Farthings’ Cheaper too. Affordable mobility for the masses did wonders for the gene pool.
SUSTAINABLE 2026. Brompton foldable electric city bike. The days of fuel burning cars on our city streets are numbered. Brompton sell foldable electric bikes at 69 Long Acre, right next to Johnson’s workshop of 200 years earlier.
Stone, timber, thatch. Pre-industrial building methods were slow and limited.
The Tower of London 250 years to build.(1066-1300s). Turret height 32m. Built to impose William the Conqueror’s authority on the capital of England.
Southwark Cathedral Mainly 200 years to build (1220-1420). At 50m tall, the tallest building in London in 1561 after the destruction of the spire of Old St. Paul’s. Traditional London start point for Canterbury pilgrims.
The Globe Theatre. Sam Wanamaker’s faithful 1997 reconstruction of Shakespeare’s 1599 original. Timber frame, thatched roof.
Building higher, building faster
Wren’s St. Paul’s 35 years to build (1675-1710). Dome height 111m, then the highest in Europe. 65,000 tons of Portland stone
John Burnet’s Adelaide House 4 years to build (1921-5). London’s 1st steel-framed ‘skyscraper’. 13 floors, 43m height.
Renzo Piano’s ‘Shard’, 3 years to build. (2009-12). Height 310m. 14,000 tons of steel anchored on a core of 100,000 tonnes of concrete (over 110,000 tons of CO2 generated).
New methods, new solutions.
SUSTAINABLE to build. Buro-Happold’s thin-shelled roof (2000). 3,312 double glazed panels enclosing the Great Court within the 1827 British Museum’s neo-classical building.
Maritime power
PRE-INDUSTRIALGolden Hinde(1577) 1973 working replica of Drake’s wooden galleon. Both circumnavigated the globe. 102′ long, 150 tons, 385 sq.m. sail, max speed 8 knots, 80 crew. 22 cannons, 3/4 mile range.
CARBON FUELLED HMS Belfast (1936). Steel-built cruiser. 613’long, 11,553tons 32 knots, 800 crew. 12 six-inch guns. 14 mile range – now aimed at Scratchwood motorway services.🤭 Oil-fired boilers 4 steam turbines, 80,000 hp. 30 tons/hr of fuel; 120 tons/hr CO2.
CARBON FUELLED Tower Bridge (1886-94) Designed by Horace Jones. Built by John Wolfe Barry & Henry Marc Brunel. Roadway bascules lifted by steam-powered hydraulic engines. Clearance increases from 29ft to 135ft, allowing ships into the Pool of London. 11,000t of steel, clad with granite & Portland stone .
Public Transport. From horsepower, through carbon fuels, to electric power.
The George Inn is London’s last surviving galleried coaching inn. Prior to the railway there were 120. William Chaplin’s stagecoach business used 1800 horses and employed 2,000 men offering travel across the country. 11,000 horse-drawn Hansom cabs operated until taxis arrived. The last operated in 1947
Public road transport In London today there are around 9,000 busses, 30,000 black cabs, 100,000 app based cars and 2,600,000 private cars – a growing number being electric power. (Thanks, ULEZ!)
Electrically powered rail. Once coal- then diesel powered, all rail transport through London Bridge station is now electric.
The Age of Carbon. Houses of Parliament.1837-60. Within 70 years Britain was the dominant superpower Pugin, Barry. Its pompous Gothic Revival style glorifies Britain’s superpower status, fruits of the Industrial Revolution. Within, our elected leaders now grapple with the consequences.
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Our progress has been at the expense vulnerable less developed nations. Here’s a chance to contribute by pound-matching a small, very practical initiative run by Kenyan smallholders taking responsibility for positive action into their own hands, organising themselves, finding ways to adapt, sharing their learning. We’re raising funds to meet half the cost of a small second-hand tractor and trailer to help these smallholders up their game. Click the thumbnail here to chip into our tractor fund. There’s more detail on our crowdfunding page. https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/peter-bedingfield and also HERE.
