Book Talk - ‘London’s Industrial Heritage’ with Geoff Marshall

Historian Geoff Marshall discusses London’s often overlooked industrial heritage and its implications on workers and the fabric of the city.

Historian Geoff Marshall discusses London’s often overlooked industrial heritage and its implications on workers and the fabric of the city, as told in his new book.

Apart from Lancashire, the greatest concentration of Boulton & Watt steam engines was in London, demonstrating the enormous and often overlooked significance of London as an industrial centre. London once had scores of breweries; the world’s first plastic material was synthesised in the East End; there was even a gasworks opposite the Palace of Westminster. Clerkenwell was a centre for watch and clock makers; the River Thames used to be full of colliers bringing coal from Newcastle; Joseph Bramah invented his water closet and hydraulic pump here, and Henry Maudslay made machines to make machines.

The story behind the many industries found in the capital is described in Geoff Marshall’s unique book. Geoff will be discussing his research and exploring some of the related social and political implications arising from this period of heavy industry.

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