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Title: Isambard Kingdom Brunel: The engineering giant with 'short man syndrome' Post by: grahame on March 23, 2018, 10:23:23 From The BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-43323013)
Quote Allowing nothing to stand in his way, Isambard Kingdom Brunel built across gorges, tunnelled under rivers and through hills to construct railway lines, stations, bridges, viaducts and docks. His three ships, the Great Western, Great Britain and Great Eastern, were the biggest, fastest and most advanced vessels ever seen. Yet the man who built the Clifton Suspension Bridge and the Great Western Railway was plagued by self-doubt, particularly when it came to his diminutive stature. Rhian Tritton, the director of a new museum that celebrates the life of the renowned engineer, has selected some of the most illuminating of the thousands of items - which include previously unseen exhibits - on display at the Being Brunel attraction. Long and intereting article up to a summary: Quote * Born on 9 April 1806 in Portsmouth * Married Mary Horsley in 1836. They had three children: Isambard, Henry and Florence * Built nearly 1,200 miles of railway, including in Ireland, Italy and Bengal * His Great Western sailed from Bristol to New York in 15 days, in April 1838. In the same year work began on Bristol Temple Meads station * His last work was the Three Bridges, an ingenious arrangement that allowed the routes of the Grand Junction Canal, Great Western & Brentford Railway and Windmill Lane to cross each other in west London * Buried in Kensal Green Cemetery, London, on 20 September 1859. Thousands of railway workers and members of the public lined the funeral route * Left a fortune of £90,000 in his will - the equivalent of £11m today * Placed second in a 2002 BBC poll that asked the public to select the 100 Greatest Britons Title: Re: Isambard Kingdom Brunel: The engineering giant with 'short man syndrome' Post by: RichardB on March 23, 2018, 10:46:41 I read this piece earlier this morning and had never previously heard of the Three Bridges. They are in Hanwell and I am in that part of west London quite often so next time, I'll go and have a look. https://www.discoveringbritain.org/activities/greater-london/viewpoints/three-bridges.html http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/features/windmill_lane_bridge/
Title: Re: Isambard Kingdom Brunel: The engineering giant with 'short man syndrome' Post by: TaplowGreen on March 23, 2018, 13:03:32 I wonder what he'd think of the performance & leadership of the current "GWR"?
Title: Re: Isambard Kingdom Brunel: The engineering giant with 'short man syndrome' Post by: Rob on the hill on March 23, 2018, 14:09:45 More about the new Being Brunel exhibition at ss Great Britain which opened today:
http://www.ssgreatbritain.org/about-us/being-brunel Title: Re: Isambard Kingdom Brunel: The engineering giant with 'short man syndrome' Post by: chuffed on March 23, 2018, 14:49:12 Not clear whether you have buy an SSGB ticket to access the museum, or whether you can go in(for free?) without visiting the ship. The website talks about the Brunel Institute...is this different again or has it been incorporated into this new museum ?
Title: Re: Isambard Kingdom Brunel: The engineering giant with 'short man syndrome' Post by: plymothian on March 23, 2018, 14:53:44 Not clear whether you have buy an SSGB ticket to access the museum, or whether you can go in(for free?) without visiting the ship. The website talks about the Brunel Institute...is this different again or has it been incorporated into this new museum ? You have to buy a ticket for SSBG, the museum being part of the attraction and included in the admission price, though that doesn't mean you have to go on the ship itself. Title: Re: Isambard Kingdom Brunel: The engineering giant with 'short man syndrome' Post by: Rob on the hill on March 23, 2018, 15:55:28 Not clear whether you have buy an SSGB ticket to access the museum, or whether you can go in(for free?) without visiting the ship. The website talks about the Brunel Institute...is this different again or has it been incorporated into this new museum ? I'm guessing the Brunel Institute is still in the original visitor centre. The new museum is housed in a new building on the other side of the ship.http://www.ssgreatbritain.org/brunel-institute/visit Title: Re: Isambard Kingdom Brunel: The engineering giant with 'short man syndrome' Post by: stuving on March 23, 2018, 19:48:40 I read this piece earlier this morning and had never previously heard of the Three Bridges. They are in Hanwell and I am in that part of west London quite often so next time, I'll go and have a look. https://www.discoveringbritain.org/activities/greater-london/viewpoints/three-bridges.html http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/features/windmill_lane_bridge/ I was aware of Three Bridges from an early age, living a few miles north on the old road along Windmill Lane and then Oldfield Lane. However, I can't see how I could have visited it as we didn't have a car until I was 12, I don't think buses ever ran that way, and the trains stopped long before that. But I'm sure I knew there were only two bridges really. Title: Re: Isambard Kingdom Brunel: The engineering giant with 'short man syndrome' Post by: rogerw on March 23, 2018, 20:33:19 Passed under on the railway earlier this year
Title: Re: Isambard Kingdom Brunel: The engineering giant with 'short man syndrome' Post by: JayMac on March 23, 2018, 21:36:00 A shame there isn't a 'Being Brunel museum only' ticket. I've been round the SS Gert Biggun more than once. £16.50 when you only want the museum is a little steep.
Title: Re: Isambard Kingdom Brunel: The engineering giant with 'short man syndrome' Post by: RichardB on March 23, 2018, 22:35:06 A shame there isn't a 'Being Brunel museum only' ticket. I've been round the SS Gert Biggun more than once. £16.50 when you only want the museum is a little steep. Think of it as a contribution to the investment that has gone in. Title: Re: Isambard Kingdom Brunel: The engineering giant with 'short man syndrome' Post by: JayMac on March 23, 2018, 22:54:34 Think of it as too expensive to justify a visit.
Title: Re: Isambard Kingdom Brunel: The engineering giant with 'short man syndrome' Post by: chuffed on March 24, 2018, 07:55:54 I have emailed the following to SSGB Trust.
I feel strongly that the trust has missed a trick here by not having a Being Brunel museum only ticket. For a pensioner on a fixed income, £16.50 is beyond what I am prepared to pay, and needs to be set in a wider context, as somewhere like Beamish is actually cheaper and much better value. I speak as a local and now disappointed supporter who was one of the many who lined the banks of the river in 1970 as a 17 year old to welcome her home. Ignore your core supporters at your peril! Title: Re: Isambard Kingdom Brunel: The engineering giant with 'short man syndrome' Post by: JayMac on March 24, 2018, 10:45:55 Think of it as a contribution to the investment that has gone in. I've already made a contribution to that investment. I play the National Lottery. 70% of the funding for the 'Being Brunel' museum came from the Heritage Lottery Fund. ;) This page is printed from the "Coffee Shop" forum at http://gwr.passenger.chat which is provided by a customer of Great Western Railway. Views expressed are those of the individual posters concerned. Visit www.gwr.com for the official Great Western Railway website. Please contact the administrators of this site if you feel that content provided contravenes our posting rules ( see http://railcustomer.info/1761 ). The forum is hosted by Well House Consultants - http://www.wellho.net |