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John Rennie The Elder
John Rennie (7 June 1761 – 4 October 1821) was a Scottish civil engineer who designed many bridges, canals, docks and warehouses, and a pioneer in the use of structural cast-iron. Early years John Rennie was born near Phantassie in Haddingtonshire (present day East Lothian). He was the youngest son of James Rennie, a farmer and brewer. He attended the parish school at Prestonkirk Parish Church, Prestonkirk. He showed an interest in machinery from an early age, and came to the attention of Andrew Meikle, a millwright and the inventor of the threshing machine, who lived on the Phantassie estate. At the age of twelve, Rennie started to work for Meikle, getting a grounding in practical mechanics. From 1775 to 1777, he attended high school in Dunbar. In 1779, with the support and approval of Meikle, he set up in business on his own account as a millwright. One of his first jobs was to construct a mill for his oldest brother, George Rennie (agriculturalist), George Rennie. From 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Albion Mills, Southwark
Albion Mills was a steam-powered flour mill situated on the southeastern side of Blackfriars Bridge in northern Southwark, London, then in the parish of Christchurch, Surrey. Matthew Boulton began plans for the mill as early as 1783; it was completed in 1786, and gutted by fire in 1791. Most of the notable engineering drawings and depictions of Albion Mills are in the Birmingham Central Library. Facility The building was designed by the architect Samuel Wyatt. The engines were supplied with water taken directly from the River Thames. At the time, they were "the most complete and powerful which had been produced by the Soho Manufactory". The mill's wheels and shafts were made of iron. An exception to this were some of the cogs, which were of hard wood, though others were of cast iron, as were the pinions. The teeth, some of wood and others of iron, were manufactured by chipping and filing into epicycloidal shapes. The shafts and axles were made of iron and the bearings of brass ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Crofton Pumping Station
Crofton Pumping Station, near the village of Great Bedwyn in Wiltshire, England, supplies the summit pound of the Kennet and Avon Canal with water. The steam-powered pumping station is preserved and operates on selected weekends. It contains an operational Boulton & Watt steam engine dating from 1812, making it the oldest working beam engine in the world in its original engine house and capable of doing the job for which it was installed. Description When the canal was built, no reliable water sources were available to fill the summit by normal gravitational means. However, a set of usable springs were found adjacent to the canal route about east of the summit pound, and about below it. Arrangements were made for these springs to feed the pound below lock 60 at Crofton Locks. Some years later a reservoir ( Wilton Water) was created to improve the supply to this pound, and this can now be seen across the canal from the pumping station. Water from below lock 60 was take ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Caen Hill Locks
Caen Hill Locks () are a flight of 29 locks on the Kennet and Avon Canal, between Rowde and Devizes in Wiltshire, England. Of the 107 locks on the canal, those at Caen Hill are numbered 22 to 50, and they are near the canal highpoint at Cadley Lock (number 54). Description The 29 locks have a rise of 237 feet in 2 miles ( in ) or a 1 in 44 gradient. The locks come in three groups: the lower seven locks (nos 22 to 28), from Foxhangers Wharf to Upper Foxhangers Bridge, are spread over ; the next sixteen locks (nos 29 to 44) form a steep flight in a straight line up the hillside and are designated as a scheduled monument and are also known as one of the Seven Wonders of the Waterways. Because of the steepness of the terrain, the pounds between these locks are very short. As a result, fifteen of them have unusually large sideways-extended pounds, to store the water needed to operate them. A final six locks (nos 45 to 50) take the canal into Devizes. The locks take 5–6 hour ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Dundas Aqueduct
Dundas Aqueduct () is an aqueduct in England which carries the Kennet and Avon Canal over the River Avon (the Somerset / Wiltshire border) and the Wessex Main Line railway. The aqueduct is near Monkton Combe, Somerset, and is about south-east of the city of Bath. It was designed by John Rennie and chief engineer John Thomas between 1797 and 1801, and completed in 1805. James McIlquham was appointed contractor. It is named after Charles Dundas, the first chairman of the Kennet and Avon Canal Company. The aqueduct is long with three arches built of Bath Stone, with Doric pilasters, and balustrades at each end. The central semi-circular arch spans ; the two oval side arches span . The canal crosses back across the Avon and the railway on another aqueduct at Avoncliff. This diversion onto the right bank of the Avon avoids the steep sides of the river valley at Limpley Stoke, and the need to cross the Midford Brook and River Frome. It is a Grade I listed building, and wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Kennet And Avon Canal
The Kennet and Avon Canal is a waterway in southern England with an overall length of , made up of two lengths of Navigability, navigable river linked by a canal. The name is used to refer to the entire length of the navigation rather than solely to the central canal section. From Bristol to Bath, Somerset, Bath the waterway follows the natural course of the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon before the canal links it to the River Kennet at Newbury, Berkshire, Newbury, and from there to Reading, Berkshire, Reading on the River Thames. In all, the waterway incorporates 105 Lock (water transport), locks. The two river stretches were made navigable in the early 18th century, and the canal section was constructed between 1794 and 1810. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the canal gradually fell into disuse after the opening of the Great Western Railway. In the latter half of the 20th century the canal was restored in stages, largely by volunteers. After decades of dereliction ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Todmorden
Todmorden ( ; ) is a market town and civil parish in the Upper Calder Valley in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England. It is north-east of Manchester, south-east of Burnley and west of Halifax, West Yorkshire, Halifax. In 2011, it had a population of 15,481. Todmorden is at the confluence of three steep-sided Pennines, Pennine valleys and is surrounded by moorlands with outcrops of Aeolian processes, sandblasted gritstone. The Historic counties of England, historic boundary between Yorkshire and Lancashire is the River Calder, West Yorkshire, River Calder and its tributary, Walsden Water, which run through the town. The administrative border was altered by the Local Government Act 1888 placing the whole of the town within the West Riding of Yorkshire, West Riding. The town is served by and railway stations. History Etymology The name ''Todmorden'' is first attested in 1246, in the form ''Totmardene''; other pre-modern spellings include ''Tottemerden'', ''Totmereden'' and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Rochdale
Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wider borough. Rochdale is in the foothills of the South Pennines and lies in the Dale (landform), dale (valley) of the River Roch, north-west of Oldham and north-east of Manchester. Rochdale's recorded history begins with an entry in the Domesday Book of 1086 as ''Recedham Manor'', but can be traced back to the 9th century. The Rochdale (ancient parish), ancient parish of Rochdale was a division of the Salford Hundred and one of the larger ecclesiastical parishes in England, comprising several Township (England), townships. By 1251, the town had become of such importance that it was granted a royal charter. The town became a centre of northern England's woollen trade and, by the early 18th century, was described as being "remarkable for i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Rochdale Canal
The Rochdale Canal is in Northern England, between Manchester and Sowerby Bridge, part of the connected system of the canals of Great Britain. Its name refers to the town of Rochdale through which it passes. The Rochdale is a broad canal because its locks are wide enough to allow vessels of width. The canal runs for across the Pennines from the Bridgewater Canal at Castlefield Basin in Manchester to join the Calder and Hebble Navigation at Sowerby Bridge in West Yorkshire. As built, the canal had 92 locks. Whilst the traditional lock numbering has been retained on all restored locks, and on the relocated locks, the canal now has 91. Locks 3 and 4 have been replaced with a single deep lock, Tuel Lane Lock, which is numbered 3/4. History The Rochdale Canal was conceived in 1776, when a group of 48 men from Rochdale raised £237 and commissioned James Brindley to conduct a survey of possible routes between Sowerby Bridge and Manchester. Brindley proposed a route simila ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Rudyard Lake
Rudyard Lake is a reservoir in Rudyard, Staffordshire, located north-west of the town of Leek, Staffordshire. It was constructed in the late 18th century to feed the Caldon Canal. During the 19th century, it was a popular destination for daytrippers taking advantage of easy access using the newly constructed North Staffordshire Railway. The lake is still used for many water activities such as boating, canoeing, fishing and also for walks and recreational steam train trips. History Legend has it that the village of Rudyard, Staffordshire, Rudyard was named after Ralph Rudyard, a local man reputed to have killed Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field, although as the place-name, meaning 'a yard or enclosure where rue is grown' in Old English, was first recorded in 1022 and subsequently mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1086 it is more likely that Ralph, if he ever existed, was named after the village. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Crinan Canal
The Crinan Canal is a Canals of the United Kingdom, navigable canal in Argyll and Bute, west of Scotland. It opened in 1801 and connects the village of Ardrishaig on Loch Gilp with Crinan, Argyll, Crinan on the Sound of Jura, providing a navigable route between the Firth of Clyde and the Inner Hebrides, without the need for a long diversion around the Kintyre, Kintyre Peninsula, and in particular the exposed Mull of Kintyre. Today the canal is operated by Scottish Canals and is a popular route for leisure craft, used by nearly 2,000 boats annually. The towpath is part of National Cycle Route 78. The canal is a two-part scheduled monument. Loch a' Bharain, which serves as a feeder reservoir for the canal, is also a scheduled monument. History The canal was built to provide a shortcut for commercial sailing and fishing vessels and later Clyde puffers to travel between the industrialised region around Glasgow to the Scottish Highlands, West Highland villages and islands. Au ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Chelmer And Blackwater Navigation
The Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation is the canalisation of the Rivers Chelmer and Blackwater in Essex, in the east of England. The navigation runs for from Springfield Basin in Chelmsford to the sea lock at Heybridge Basin near Maldon. Initial plans faced spirited opposition from Maldon, which were overcome by avoiding the town and terminating at Heybridge, and the navigation opened in 1797. There were some teething problems, and the engineer John Rennie was called back on two occasions to recommend improvements. The impact of the railways was less severe than on many canals, as there was never a direct line between Chelmsford and Maldon. The sea lock at Heybridge was enlarged after the Second World War, but trade gradually declined and ceased in 1972. Unlike most canals, it was not nationalised in 1948, and remained under the control of the original company. The first leisure boats to use the navigation did so in 1973, when the Inland Waterways Association organised a ra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
