The Past at Work

1. E1. Before the Revolution

   Mar 25, 1980 · 25m

   The remains of the industrial revolution are still with us to visit, to enjoy and to interpret. But how did early industry begin? Anthony Burton visits a neolithic flint mine in Norfolk, a Roman gold mine in Wales and a wooden windmill at Bromsgrove.

2. E2. Steam and the Pit

   Apr 1, 1980 · 25m

   Before raw materials and coal could be taken from deep mines, an engine for pumping out water had to be developed. Anthony Burton goes underground at Britain's first colliery museum, looks at an original Newcomen steam engine and visits the oldest steam pumping engines still doing their original job.

3. E3. The New Iron Age

   Apr 8, 1980 · 25m

   The single greatest discovery of the industrial revolution was the ability to smelt iron using coke instead of charcoal and the development of casting and forging techniques to use it. Anthony Burton goes to Coalbrookdale to tell the story of Derby's success, visits a casting shop at Llanberis, and gets his nose to the grindstone in a water-powered forge in Devon.

4. E4. Spindle and Shuttle

   Apr 15, 1980 · 25m

   The spinner or weaver working on his own, at his own speed, gave way to mills sited to take advantage of water. These were superseded by factory towns dependent on cheap coal and cheap labour. Anthony Burton visits a weaver in Wales, a mill museum near Wilmslow, and Huddersfield.

5. E5. To Make a Teacup

   Apr 22, 1980 · 25m

   Demand for fine white and decorated pottery led to a search for new raw materials, the development of new processes, and encouraged new transport systems. Anthony Burton looks at processes and bottle kilns at Stoke-on-Trent; visits a water-powered flint mill in Staffordshire; and tries his hand at shovelling china clay in Cornwall.

6. E6. The Venice of England

   Apr 29, 1980 · 25m

   The development and improvement of the British canal system is summed up by the Birmingham Canal Navigation. Birmingham has more miles of canal than Venice. Anthony Burton follows one of the important industrial routes of the BCN from Farmers Bridge in the city centre by canal through Dudley tunnel to the Black Country Museum.

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