Revolution at Limehouse: The Power of Water, Jeremy Batch

What connects Limehouse Marina, Tower Bridge, the USS Enterprise and a National Trust property in Northumberland? All made use of hydraulic machinery first conceived by Blaise Pascal and later developed by Joseph Bramah, Sir William Armstrong and others, including the jigger (which is not a weevil), the hydraulic motor and the weight-loaded accumulator.

To see working examples of Armstrong’s hydraulic lifts you should visit Cragside (NT), his house in Northumberland, which was also the first in the world to be lit by hydroelectricity. But look across the marina from CA House and you’ll see one of his hydraulic accumulator towers (the best surviving example in Britain) which once drove the cranes, capstans, lock gates and bridges of the Regent’s Canal Dock, now celebrating its 200th anniversary.

Plus: how the Romans made their shelves level and their aqueducts not quite so level, and how they made water run uphill.

 

Date: Wednesday 3 February 2021

Time: 19:00

Place: Your own home or boat (Zoom webinar)

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