The Industrial Revolution Roadshow
at Ironbridge Gorge Museums

This event took place on Sunday 28th September, 2003. The programme was broadcast at the end of the series. This is how people were invited to the event:

Come and join Adam Hart-Davis at the BBC's televised Industrial Revolution Roadshow. It'll be a day of challenges, guesswork, fun and games all based on the inventions and characters of the Industrial Revolution. You could get involved on camera or just enjoy the spectacle and the wonderful atmosphere of the museum - birthplace of the Industrial Revolution.

Over the summer people have been responding to Adam's Challenge to build working models of an Industrial Revolution object or machine, and they'll be bringing them up to Ironbridge for judging. There'll be a Great Iron Race; Mystery Objects; and lots of activities, things to look at and experiment with. And if you still want to build something, why not have a go and bring it to show Adam.

What sort of machines are we looking for? The Industrial Revolution produced steam engines; the first canals in Britain; proper road-making; and all sorts of industrial inventions like the flying shuttle, mechanical cotton-spinners and the powered loom for weaving the cotton. Also new were copying machines, gas lighting, steam powered cars, locomotives, and boats; the electric motor; the first photographs. And then inventors like Erasmus Darwin and Richard Lovell Edgeworth produced dozens of devices, some of which were never even built. Paddle-boats, parachutes. there's something for everyone.

You can find more background information on the web, at sites such as:

Teacher's Net - Industrial Revolution
People's History Museum
The Workshop of the World

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites.

To find out more about the Ironbridge Gorge Museums visit their website: www.ironbridge.org.uk or telephone their Tourist Information line on: 01952 884391. If you want to see how the world's first iron bridge was built, see this 3-D model of the construction process in action.

Adam and the team look forward to seeing you there!

Content last updated: 17/08/2005

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