IEEC1 – Conference Programme

Conference Programme

(11-13th May 2017)

Conference Venue: The Ironworks, Elsecar Heritage Centre, South Yorkshire, S74 8HJ

For further travel and suggested accommodation information, see the Conference overview page.

Thursday 11th May 2017

Morning Session

10.00 Venue Open for Registration
12.00 Welcome and Conference Opening Speech – John Hamshere and John Tanner
12.10 Agenda, Logistics and Arrangements – Steve Grudgings
12.15 Buffet and opportunity to tour the venue

Afternoon Session

– Chair David Perrett

13.15 Geoff Wallis – Restoring the Elsecar Newcomen Engine: high ideals, deep mysteries
13.50 Phillip Hosken – Cui Bono? Inventors and the beneficiaries of their endeavours
14.25 John Hunter – Pumping Engines at collieries on the north side of the Don Valley in the Rotherham area
15.00-15.20 – Refreshments
15.20 Tony Coverdale – John Padmore of Bristol and his use of a water commanding engine – 1695
15.55 John Kanefsky – Analysis of numbers of UK Newcomen engines built prior to Watt’s first engine of 1776
16.30 James Greener – “Yorkshire’s first engine”: Austhorpe 1714 (Short paper)
16.45 John Tanner – A short talk on “Elsecar Ironworks-Past and Future” followed by a guided site tour
17.15 Opportunity to meet fellow delegates and visit:

  • The restored Newcomen Engine which will be “working” (numbers limited)
  • The Elsecar Heritage Railway (EHR) workshops
  • Hemingfield Colliery (20 minutes away by guided walk)
19.00 Onwards Hot Buffet at the Market Tavern Elsecar (100 yards from Venue – drinks not included)

Friday 12th May 2017

Morning Session

–  Chair Richard Smith

07.45 Coach Trip to Rockley Engine House and Furnace – Guided by SYIHS
(there is a charge of £7 to cover costs)
08.30 Venue Open and Refreshments available
09.15 Welcome, Recap Day 1 and run through Day 2 agenda
09.20 Rick Stewart – John Smeaton and the Fire Engine
09.55 James Greener – Bromsgrove Revisited – The chain of events leading to Newcomen’s 1712 engines
10.30 Suhail Rana – Henry Beighton’s influence on and contributions to Newcomen’s work
11.05 Refreshments
11.25 Richard Lamb – James Watt’s analysis of the performance of the Ranter engine, Wednesbury and others
12.00 Victoria Owens – James Brindley’s steam engines, 1756-1759
12.35 Buffet Lunch

Afternoon Session

– Chair John Tanner

13.35 Peter King – George Sparrow and the spread of the steam engine in the north Midlands
14.10 David Perrett – Henry Ford and Herbert Morton’s 1928 engine collecting endeavours
15.00-15.20 Refreshments
15.20 Mike Nevell – Power and Innovation: Excavating pre-1812 steam engines in the Manchester area
16.00 John Barnatt– Investigating the 1794-95 Newcomen Pumping Engine at Watergrove Mine, Derbyshire
16.40 David Kitching – Hidden in plain sight – Nathaniel Wright’s pirate engine house at Norbury (Short paper)
17.00 End of Friday Programme
18.30 Coach departs Elsecar for Wortley Top Forge
19.00 – 22.00 Group and individual tours of Wortley Top Forge
19.45 Evening Meal (drinks not included)
22.00 Coach departs Wortley Top Forge for Elsecar (possibly routing via nearby Hotels etc.)
22.45 Coach arrives at Elsecar

Saturday 13th May 2017

Morning Session

– Chair Peter King

07.45 Coach Trip to Rockley Engine House and Furnace – Guided by SYIHS (there is a charge of £7 to cover costs)
08.30 Venue Open and Refreshments available
09.00 Welcome, Recap Day 2 and run through Day 3 agenda
09.05 Steve Grudgings – Discoveries and dilemmas –  Excavating the 1791 Serridge Engine House
09.40 David Hardwick – Surveying the UK’s oldest complete Newcomen Engine House, Brislington 1740
10.15 Les Turnbull – William Brown’s Giant Tyneside Engines
10.50 Refreshments
11.10 Ken Pointon – Constructing a Newcomen Engine in the 21st Century
11.45 Steve Grudgings – “Old Sarah” – A survivor until 1917 at Newmarket Silkstone Pit (Short paper)
12.00 Closing Address
12.10 Onwards, Delegates Depart
13.00 Venue Closes

Queries

For any queries regarding this information or assistance with your conference arrangements, please contact admin@earlyengines.org