Waterways and Railways between Thames and Severn
Mike Higginbottom
- Region:
- Anywhere
- Notice Period:
- Emergency (maybe less than one week's notice)
- Type:
- Architectural and social history
- Fee:
- Paid: Dependent on size of audience and distance travelled from South Yorkshire
- Category:
- History
- Updated:
- 4th July 2018
Linking London with Bristol challenged the greatest engineers of the canal and railway ages.
John Rennie’s Kennet & Avon Canal and Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s Great Western Railway are major achievements in British transport history, and the area between the Thames and Severn rivers has other fascinating waterways, such as the Stroudwater Navigation, the Thames & Severn Canal, and the Wilts & Berks and North Wilts Canals, as well as the Gloucester & Sharpness Canal bringing vessels to an inland port by avoiding a difficult river passage.
Two of Brunel’s greatest projects can be seen in Bristol – the Clifton Suspension Bridge and the SS Great Britain – and the Great Western Railway main line bristles with his accomplishments, including the Wharncliffe Viaduct, the Maidenhead Bridge, Swindon and Box Tunnel.
Views: 1368 | Enquiries: 3About Mike Higginbottom
I am a freelance history lecturer specialising in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries with a background in university extramural education.
I offer distinctive, life-enhancing insights into the past, particularly the recent past, for people who enjoy visiting places and recognising the human stories behind this historical heritage.
I lecture for the Arts Society (formerly the National Association of Decorative & Fine Arts Societies [NADFAS]) in the UK, Spain, Australia and New Zealand.
Whether lecturing, writing or guiding tours, I provide detailed information in a lucid and entertaining way. My publications and lectures are copiously illustrated, as much as possible using my own photography.
Mike Higginbottom Interesting Times is the brand for my history education work – tours, lectures and publications. My blog is a fund of interesting, sometimes quirky insights into places, people and historical events.
I'm based in Sheffield and willing to travel anywhere in the UK or further afield.
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- All the World's a Stage: the development of theatre buildings
- Dream Palaces: an introduction to cinema architecture
- Away from it all: the heritage of holiday resorts
- Beside the Seaside: the architecture of British coastal resorts
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- Victorian Cemeteries
- Victorian Sewerage
- Temples of Sanitation
- English Country Houses – not quite what they seem
- Sheffield's Cinema Heritage
- Demolished Sheffield
- A Look Round Attercliffe
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