Whatever Happened to British Manufacturing – British Manufacturing History

Category: Whatever Happened to British Manufacturing

3 Posts

Whatever Happened to British Manufacturing

Great audience for my talk for the City of Lincoln branch of the Historical Association

March 15, 2023 — 0 Comments

Whatever Happened to British Manufacturing

Fossil fuels powered the industrial revolution, but that is not the whole story.

November 7, 2022 — 3 Comments

Whatever Happened to British Manufacturing

Whatever Happened to British Electronics Manufacturing

November 5, 2022 — 0 Comments

Motor Industry Exhilaration

I thrill when I read about British motor companies doing well. It is in my blood. I then pause to reflect. Successive British governments have neglected manufacturing, preferring to see salvation in financial services. This worked in the sense that the better paid in financial services made a great deal of money, which found its […]

The elephants in the manufacturing room

As I explore the successes of British manufacturing, I am always aware of the elephants in the room: slavery, factory conditions and global warming. The evil of Slavery provided cheap cotton to Manchester spinners and weavers and, in due course, to the mills powered by water and then by steam. The massive production of cotton […]

A view from the last Coronation that resonates today

By me, as I type, is a Coronation stool used by either my father or mother seventy years ago. My father, Major General Sir Leslie ‘Bill’ Williams was Representative Colonel Commandant RAOC although his day job was as export director of the Rootes Group with a particular focus on the Middle East. The photograph was […]

Century old textile factory powered by hydroelectricity – in Spain

The town of Anna some 60km inland from Valencia is blessed by ample supplies of water and spectacular waterfalls. The water was first used as a mill. It was then transformed to electricity generation with help from the Volta company for the nearby village and then to power a textile factory. It fell out of […]

A very affirming review from acclaimed author Andrew Lownie

I will thrilled to find this review on Amazon. Wide ranging and full of interest A clever idea to bookend the story of British manufacturing between the 1951 Great Exhibition and 1951 Festival of Britain. Based on extensive research and linking a whole plethora of British industries, this makes fascinating connections between the various drivers […]