Meeting Programme October 2022 – April 2023
Meetings are held at Swarthmore Education Centre, 2-7 Woodhouse Square, Leeds LS3 1AD, on Saturday’s at 11:00 am unless otherwise indicated and visitors are always welcome. All are welcome to meet for lunch afterwards at The Fox & Newt. Wherever possible talks will be hybrid In-Person / Online and full details will be circulated nearer the time.
Autumn 2022
Saturday 15th October 2022 11:00 am Stuart Hartley – What Made Yorkshire Great
This talk outlines the things that made Yorkshire great, people, events inventions etc, many that you will not associate with Yorkshire heritage. Many everyday items were made and developed in Yorkshire.
Saturday 26th November 2022 11:00 am Stephen Caunce – Feeding the UK: Agricultures’ Long Mechanisation
Agriculture goes back millennia, and has generally been perceived as having become imprisoned by in-built reluctance to adopt new technical opportunities. Against that, historians in the late 19th century began to talk of a British agricultural revolution which mirrored its industrial precursor, including a central place for steam power. The speaker will outline his research which suggests that in Britain most components of both approaches need to be questioned, down to the adoption of tractors after WW2.
Saturday 17th December 2022 11:00 am – John Cruickshank – Spinning Through the West Riding
The West Riding woollen industry was a market leader in the textile industry, and a major exporter, long before the factory era and this talk will discuss the processes and technology of yarn-production before industrialisation.
Winter / Spring 2023
Saturday 28th January 2023 11:00 am – Mike Clarke – The Craftsman and the Industrial Revolution
Please Note – This will be an online talk and we are exploring if it will be possible to show it at Swarthmore for members who wish to meet in-person
A review of European technical publications from around 1800 suggests that technical theory and mathematics were far more advanced on the continent than in Great Britain, yet the Industrial Revolution began here. This talk explores the reasons behind 18th century technical development, the way the role of the craftsman was central to that development and why that role has changed, with the subsequent decline in the perceived importance of the craftsman. This research is based upon the speaker’s recent translation of the Austrian Sebastian Maillard’s 1817 book on canal building, and his current project translating Johann Hogrewe’s 1780 book on English canals.
Saturday 25th February 2023 11:00 am – Mike Turpin – War on the Home Front; World War 1 – The Devil’s Porridge
In World War I Britain quickly started to run out of munitions. This talk looks at the increased production following the 1915 Munitions Act and the social implications that followed. The talk focuses on the ‘Devil’s Porridge’ factory in Scotland and the Barnbow shell-filling facility here in Yorkshire.
Saturday 25th March 2023 11:00 am – Brian Hull – The Garforth Mines and the Aberford Railway
The Gascoigne mines in Garforth were served through the nineteenth century by the railways or waggonways, later powered by steam engines. The Garforth mines utilised both the public railway and also the private line to Aberford. The talk outlines these but focuses on the massive disaster of 1873 which brought mining operations to a standstill and almost caused the closure of all the Gascoigne pits. Showing incredible ingenuity the engineer Mr Wormald saved the day!
Saturday 15th April 2023 10:45 am – Section AGM and Members Presentations
If any member wishes to give a talk please let me know well in advance so that we can arrange the programme accordingly
Provisional visit to Leeds & Liverpool Canal Society’s 1947-built heritage craft “Kennet” in April 2023 (Date and booking details to be confirmed)
Mike Clarke has kindly offered HIS members a visit to the Leeds & Liverpool Canal Society’s 1947-built heritage craft “Kennet” which until Easter will be moored on the canal at Bingley as an interactive floating museum. “Kennet” is the only surviving L&L Canal River Class short boat accessible to the public and not converted for private use. On board, Mike will give us a talk about the boat and about Bradford and its canals, using his latest research. We will also view displays in the hold on the heritage of the canal, its boats and boat people. In the bow is a boatman’s cabin in which we can experience the conditions of life aboard, and the engine room will also open to view.
For directions to Swarthmore please visit:- https://www.swarthmore.org.uk/
For further information please contact John Suter on:- vicechair.ihs@yahs.org.uk