I'm not sure where this is pointing, but I think it's the future. A strange cast of people have occupied my reading in recent months - English and French, writers and scientists, aristocrats and hackers. Now, like a Heroes season finale, I find them converging on a single year. To keep track of the people … Continue reading 1794, so much to answer for
In December I blogged about the perilous state of Leeds' Temple Works. Neglected for several years, this Grade I-listed building had suffered a partial collapse, blocking the road outside with shattered masonry and opening up a gaping hole in the roof where sheep once grazed on a covering of grass. Six months on, I'm pleased to report … Continue reading Temple Works 3.0 Alpha
It was a privilege to present at this week's GeekUp Leeds on a topic close to my heart, the amazing industrial heritage of Leeds and why it should be an inspiration to those working in the technology sectors today. Thanks to Deb and Rob for organising another great event, and to the GeekUp participants for putting … Continue reading The history of Leeds: What every geek should know
In the spirit of Chris Heathcote's excellent abstract pointillist powerpoint toolkit, I spent a couple of happy hours putting together 20 slides about Leeds, its industrial heritage and why I find it so inspiring. I was too late to submit to this week's Ignite UK North event (but thanks, Imran, for the kind tweet in any case), … Continue reading Abstract innovation
Temple Works is a one-off. Its construction as a flax mill in 1840 must have made a powerful statement about Leeds' status as global pioneer of industry. At the time it was said to be the "largest single room in the world," with innovative air conditioning under the floor and sheep grazing on a grass-covered … Continue reading Help, our industrial heritage is falling down!
"I have got the Drawing for Your Arms in the Pediment done to a quarter of the size, shall order it to be such next week" - Robert Adam in letter to Sir Rowland Winn, owner of Nostell Priory, 1774 Now that's what I call unfinished.
Greetings from 2008! I'm really pleased you've picked the Early 21st Century Social History module this term. You're going to love it. But before you dive into the wealth of primary evidence we've left on the net, there's something we need you to understand. We know it doesn't look good, but we weren't really shallow … Continue reading Note to future historians: We know it doesn’t look good, but we weren’t really shallow time-wasters in the Noughties
"But daddy, if people didn't have computers, how did they buy things from the internet?" It's amazing how something we've come to take for granted hangs from such a fragile thread. As part of a new product trial for my employer, we recently had a visit from two very helpful telecoms engineers who checked out … Continue reading Thomas A. Watson Ate My Internet
In the graveyard of St Mary's Church, Whitby, we came across this unexpected result of the interplay between people and the elements. I love the idea that for some reason, after this tombstone was carved, they needed to change it. Maybe extra family members were added the original words wore away and had to be … Continue reading Only the afterthought remains
The payphone has bluescreened... ... the departure board has 404ed... ... the giant TV screen is somebody's Windows desktop... Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain! Since posting my three broken technology pictures, I've been suffering the blogger's equivalent of what the French call "l'esprit de l'escalier," and for which German has the … Continue reading Sous les pavés, la plage
On holiday in Cornwall this summer we visited Polperro, a Cornish fishing village so archetypal that it featured in Ptolemy Dean's BBC programme The Perfect Village. As the programme synopsis says: On the surface, Polperro looks as if it hasn’t changed for centuries, but in fact it exemplifies a delicate balance between the tourist village … Continue reading Polperro
From Simon Thurley's fascinating Buildings That Shaped Britain we learn that Isambard Kingdom Brunel had only once travelled on a train when he designed the gloriously non-standard Great Western Railway from London Paddington to Bristol. Now that, for good or ill, is the difference between innovation and design.
Whoops there goes another piece of the old Holbeck :( There must be an anagram in there, though. Collect enough old signs and you'd have a giant cast iron version of magnetic poetry...
Matt Edgar writes here 