engineering

A possible Elizabethan bridge over the Thames at Blackwall….

Aug 18, 2022

buildings, Science, travel

Blackwall Tunnel, bridges, Elizabeth I, engineering, London, past maps, Robert Adams

Wandering around the net in search of one thing does, as we all know, often turn up something else entirely. I came upon this site which tells of a map from a period following the one in which we’re mainly interested, but I found it intriguing. It seems the present Blackwall Tunnel mightn’t be…
London’s Greatest Bridges (with Rob Bell)

Sep 1, 2021

buildings, Science, television reviews

America, architectural history, bascules, Blitz, bridges, Channel Five, Charles Barry, church of St. Magnus, Claudius, concrete, engineering, Gothic facade, Haberdashers, Henry II, Horace Jones, houses, Isambard Brunel, John Barry, London, London Bridge, Marc Brunel, Parliament, Port of London, River Thames, Rob Bell, Roman Britain, Rotherhithe Tunnel, shops, steel, stone, Tilbury, Tower Bridge, towers, wood

The series began at London Bridge itself. From an engineering perspective, Bell explained that the wooden Claudian bridge was the first across the Thames , built on no fewer than twenty-nine artificial islands, making it very difficult to negotiate. It was replaced with a very similar stone unit by Henry II. The Haberdashers were very…
da Vinci and the RAF centenary

Nov 11, 2018

anniversaries, art, battles, Science

air warfare, aviation, engineering, First World War, George Stubbs, horses, Italy, Leonardo da Vinci, painting, parachute, portraits, renaissance, Royal Air Force

Leonardo di ser Piero “da Vinci” (below left) was nearly six months older than Richard III, having been born in the Republic of Florence on 15 April 1452. Over his lifetime, which ended in 1519, he is best known for his paintings, such as The Last Supper or la Gioconda. However, he also left us…
A very busy presenter

Oct 20, 2018

anniversaries, battles, Science, television reviews, travel

Barmouth, Battle of the Solent, Burnham-on-Sea, Dartmoor, Devon, Dorset, engineering, Exeter, France, Henry VIII, HMS Victory, Horatio Nelson, llangollen, Manchester, Mary Rose, Plymouth, railways, Rob Bell, Ruabon, Science, Scotland, Sheffield, Somerset, Trafalgar, Wales

Rob Bell seems to be on television a lot at the moment. Although he is an engineer and not quite a historian, many of his programmes go back in time as structures were built. Walking Britain’s Lost Railways, for instance, goes back under two centuries because of the subject matter, but Great British Ships (both Channel…
Strange Times by Joan Szechtman

Apr 14, 2018

battles, Book Reviews, buildings

“Strange Times”, Discovering Diamonds, Edward V, engineering, Francis Viscount Lovell, Henry VII, Joan Szechtman, Loyalty Binds Me, Minster Lovell Hall, Paul Murray Kendall, Ricardian fiction, Richard III, Richard III Society, Richard of Shrewsbury, Science, sequels, Sharon Kay Penman, Stoke Field, The Sunne in Splendour, This Time, time travel

Today, we interview Joan Szechtman, an American writer who has just published her third time-travel novel about King Richard the Third. Fans of Joan have read her books, THIS TIME, which was published in 2009 and LOYALTY BINDS ME which was published in 2011. Her third Richard the Third novel, STRANGE TIMES, has just been…
Cutting Crime: The Role of Forensic Engineering Science – including the undoubted crimes perpetrated upon Richard III….

Mar 19, 2018

archaeology, law, Science

crime, engineering, forensic science, Leicester dig, Richard III, royal remains, University of Lincoln

This talk on April 17, at the University of Lincoln, Brayford Pool Campus, Isaac Newton Building, Lincoln, might be interesting. Among other things, the study of Richard’s remains will be discussed. I quote: “…the talk will discuss how this adds to our insights into stabbing attacks. Finally, the audience will see how the modern forensic…
THE CROSSRAIL RAILWAY PROJECT – A PORTAL INTO OLD LONDON

Jan 1, 2018

archaeology, buildings, Science

Bethlehem Hospital, Black Death, cemeteries, Charterhouse Square, Crossrail, Elizabeth line, engineering, excavations, Farringdon, Great Plague, human remains, Liverpool Street. Royal Oak, Paddington, River Fleet, Romans, Worcester House

UPDATED POST ON sparkypus.com A Medieval Potpourri https://sparkypus.com/2020/05/14/crossrail-a-portal-into-medieval-london/ No doubt archaeologists thought all their Christmases had arrived at once when first they heard breaking news of the building of Crossrail, Europe’s largest infrastructure – which will be called the Elizabeth line and will open in phases from late 2018 – and the exceptional opportunities the…
Rei(g)ned in?

Jun 17, 2017

buildings, humour, Science

Channel Five, Charles II, Dan Jones, denialists, Edward II, Elizabeth I, engineering, Great Fire of London, Henry VIII, Lily Cole, Richard III, Rob Bell, Samuel Pepys, satire, Suzannah Lipscomb, television reviews

I don’t know how to tell you this but Dan Jones has made further appearances on our television screens this spring. Thankfully, both C5 three-part series have featured him as a sidekick to Suzannah Lipscomb, so his prejudices against various monarchs have had little exercise. The first of these was about Elizabeth I, featured Lily Cole…