Industrial heritage West Midlands (region)

the cast iron iron bridge @ coalbrookdale, opened in january 1781 , first large-scale object made out of cast iron; cast iron not reliably strong due impurities. wrought iron, carbon hammered remove carbon , impurities stronger; first large-scale wrought iron bridge britannia bridge on menai strait, possible due innovative box girder design robert stephenson

much of industrial revolution in united kingdom began in birmingham , black country area of west midlands. industrial revolution thought have begun when abraham darby substituted coke charcoal smelt iron, @ old furnace. black country may regarded world s first industrial landscape, while nearby ironbridge gorge claims birthplace of industry. world s first cast iron bridge in 1779 spans gorge. first self-propelled locomotive run on rails in 1803 @ coalbrookdale, built richard trevithick. first iron rails horse-drawn transport, made @ coalbrookdale in 1768 richard reynolds @ ketley ironworks. iron rails became successful in 1820 when made out of wrought iron @ bedlington ironworks in north-east england.

coalbrookdale night, of madeley wood company, painted philip james de loutherbourg in 1801

birmingham s industrial development triggered discussions @ lunar society of birmingham @ soho house, boulton s house, , products carried along bcn main line canal. soho manufactory first man-made-powered factory in world. chance brothers of smethwick built glass crystal palace in 1851. smethwick engine, @ thinktank, birmingham science museum, oldest working steam engine, made in 1779, , oldest working engine in world. smethwick main centre making lighthouse lanterns.

valor fires in erdington developed first radiant gas fire in 1967, balanced flue fire in 1973, , natural flame gas fire in 1978. erdington site, owned iceland s bdr thermea, closed in may 2012. company built gas cookers; since 2011 company has been part of glen dimplex, have site @ cooper s bank, south of gornalwood.

boulton, watt , murdoch, 1956 statue on broad street in birmingham; si unit of power watt, commonly found kw, replacement imperial measurement of horsepower

ditherington flax mill in shrewsbury first iron-framed building in world in 1797. thomas bolton & sons of froghall, staffordshire, made world s first transatlantic telegraph cable in 1857, having supplied submarine cable across english channel in 1850. gec telecommunications headquartered @ gec telephone , radio works in coventry, has become new century park, off a428 north of stoke aldermoor in eastern coventry. on 10 july 1890, trunk circuit telephone line opened between london , birmingham national telephone company; first time allowed phone calls between london , north. world s first coaxial cable laid between london , birmingham in 1936 give 40 channels telephone traffic. , brought use in 1938, later extended manchester in 1940.

the baskerville font named after inventor of typefaces

alexander parkes invented first man-made plastic (thermoplastic) in birmingham in 1856. arthur leslie large of birmingham credited inventing kettle in 1922. princess square, wolverhampton, site of britain s first traffic lights in 1927. infra-red cameras developed @ royal radar establishment in malvern (with emi electronics) in 1967. world s first maglev train operated birmingham airport in 1983. tallest freestanding structure in region chimney of ironbridge power station @ 673 ft. john baskerville of birmingham, former stone carver, largely invented fonts, or typefaces, printing.

much of uk s car industry centred in coventry , birmingham; of has gone. midland motor cylinder (part of birmid industries) of smethwick largest producer of automobile cylinder blocks in europe. fort dunlop europe s largest tyre plant. metro cammell in birmingham made of 1970s , 1980s lu underground trains. mg rover (a company of rover) closed in 2005 (from 1885), ryton plant, made 206, closed @ end of 2006, production moving trnava in slovakia, , plant @ kolín in czech republic. alfred herbert of coventry largest machine-tool manufacturer in uk many decades; brought down in 1970s advancing technology overseas, , complacent strategic decisions of management (caught rabbit in headlights), closing in 1982; many midlands manufacturing companies followed similar fates in 1970s , 1980s. tube investments based @ tube investments house, 5 ways, edgbaston (now marriott hotel).

1817 boulton & watt beam blowing engine re-erected on dartmouth circus roundabout, on a4540 , a38(m)

henry wiggin & co of hereford developed metal alloys necessary other midlands (and beyond) automotive , aerospace companies - inconel, incoloy , nimonic. lack of vanadium high-melting point alloys, caused royal navy action, prevented german me 262 engines being serviceable; had german world war 2 engineers had greater supply of vanadium , molybdenum, engine life (around 12 hours maximum, entering service in april 1944 end of war) of jet engine have increased more, have been significant war s outcome. bristol siddeley developed rocket engines black arrow @ ansty; in fact of r-r s rocket engines developed , built there @ r-r s industrial , marine gas turbine division; britain s smaller rocket engines missiles built bristol aerojet in north somerset. high duty alloys @ redditch constructed (forged) compressor , turbine blades whittle s first engines, , many of jet engines; made concorde s airframe hiduminium r.r.58 aluminium alloy.

maxaret, world s first abs braking system, invented in coventry dunlop in 1950s aircraft; john boyd dunlop scottish vet had first produced first pneumatic tyres in 1889. matthew piers watt boulton, grandson of matthew boulton, , born in area, invented aileron, important flight control surface in 1868, decades before first actual flight. triumph engineering famous motorbike firm in meriden. quarter of british wwi planes built in coventry. jensen interceptor ff first production four-wheel-drive car in world, designed major tony rolt, , built @ factory in west bromwich.

cadbury launched dairy milk in 1905, bournville in 1906, fruit & nut in 1928, whole nut in 1930, cadbury roses in 1938, , cadbury creme egg in 1971. george , richard cadbury built factory in 1879 , bournville in 1893, named after bourn brook. iceland (supermarket) opened first store in oswestry in 1970 - heralding onset of frozen food in uk. alfred bird invented egg-free custard in 1837 in birmingham - accidentally given guests @ home, being created wife had allergy eggs; invented baking powder in 1843 wife had allergy yeast.