Surrey Industrial History Group

SIHG Zoom Meeting: Fireworks, Guns & Superguns

Periods: 

A talk about the history of Superguns and Gerald Bull, the designer of the ultimate Supergun for Saddam Hussein and Iraq. I spent some time in the arms industry and  became unwittingly involved in the Supergun project. This eventually led to me giving evidence to the Government enquiry into 'Arms to Iraq', as well as several other enquiries including 'Arms to Iran'.

SIHG Zoom meeting: A Journey along London's Lost Route to the Sea

The talk examines why the Wey & Arun Canal was built and traces the route from Shalford to Pulborough and beyond.  Facts and figures about the infrastructure (locks, bridges and aqueducts) are given. The decline, fall and restoration; together with plans for the future are also discussed. The talk will be given by Simon Knapman of the Wey and Arun Canal Trust.

SIHG Zoom meeting : Bringing back the Brighton Belle

Periods: 

The story of the project to restore and return to mainline service the world's only Pullmam EMU (electrical multiple unit). The talk will cover the origins of the Brighton Belle , its time in service, and what happened to the rolling stock when the service ended in 1972. It will also cover the restoration of four cars and plans to operate the train in the future. The talk will be given by Stuart Wilkinson from the  Brighton Belle Trust.

SIHG Zoom meeting: Croydon-A Model Airport (1916-28)

Periods: 

The talk will show how detailed computer models were used to reconstruct the history of the airport from archive maps and photographs. The development of Croydon Airport will be covered from the RFC airfield on Plough Lane, the RAF development in 1918, the Civil airport in 1920 and finally the new airport in 1928. A selection of aircraft and airline history will be included, and also the development of facilities such as Radio, Air Traffic Control, the Met Office and Customs.   The talk will be given by Roger Potten, Historic Croydon Airport Trust.

SIHG Zoom meeting: Copper mining , two mines -old and new, and aspects of recycling.

The lecture covers an Industrial Archaeology trip to the Parys Mountain mine in Anglesey in 2012 and to a large mine in Arizona in 2013.  The refining processes are covered as are the multitude of applications for copper, stressing the importance of the metal. Copper is widely recycled and the talk will touch on personal involvement, making a contribution to a charity and the recovery of copper.    The talk will be given by Doug Bateman, Farnborough RAE and U3A speaker.

SIHG Zoom meeting: London Bridge a gateway to London for 1000 years

Events: 

For about 2000 years there has been a bridge at the site of the present London Bridge and during that time London has grown from a small Roman bridge head and camp to be a world megalopolis. Until 1750 it was the only bridge in London and the next bridge over the Thames  was  upstream at Kingston. In fact , there have been a number of different structures on the site, each called London Bridge, and the talk will outline their story over two millannia.  The talk will be given by Doug Irvine, CivilEngineer.

SIHG Zoom meeting : When the Railways came to Guildford

Events: 
Periods: 

The illustrated talk covers the history of the railways coming to Guildford in 1845 and its impact on the town to the various forms  of traction from steam to diesels and electrics of present day. A tremendous selection of unseen photographs will be included. The talk will be given jointly by David Rose, Local historian & writer and Geoff Burch, ex-railwayman and author.

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