Technology: Transport , Chemicals, Industrial Inventions
Transport as a research focus
Undertake an investigation into how modes of transport affected your area, and how they changed over time.
This is a huge subject - to make it manageable, divide it into phases
You will have fun being specific in your area - your canal bridges, your turnpike toll-houses and your street names will not be identical to everyone else’s.
Example 1: Before the railways: canal, river, turnpike road, packhorse track
Task: Gather in map and photographic evidence that illuminates pre-industrial and early industrial transport in your area
Stage one
Use either local maps or online free archives to identify features in your area
Eg the earliest OS map of your area will be available free from www.nls.uk, and will be very useful as a starting point for discussion
Is there a canal? When did it arrive? Is it still there / used? Any buildings, stables, warehouses, wharfs
Canal bridges are important…..they were built to accommodate rights of way that were already there when the canal arrived. Noting them in your local landscape gives pointers to what was there before the canal.
Stage two
Street, lane and road names aren’t accidental….
Park Lane…whose park? What were its boundaries? Is there still a big house?
Market street, Back lane, Mill Lane, Fishpool, Church Street….all may be part of a much older landscape.
Older maps and local lore can also point to field names that tell a story
Tenterfield, Southfield, Brickfield, Marlfield
Sometimes these are incorporated into later suburban road names
Stage three
How to bring findings together and tell others about them
A booklet? Facebook / website?
This is a huge subject - to make it manageable, divide it into phases
You will have fun being specific in your area - your canal bridges, your turnpike toll-houses and your street names will not be identical to everyone else’s.
Example 1: Before the railways: canal, river, turnpike road, packhorse track
Task: Gather in map and photographic evidence that illuminates pre-industrial and early industrial transport in your area
Stage one
Use either local maps or online free archives to identify features in your area
Eg the earliest OS map of your area will be available free from www.nls.uk, and will be very useful as a starting point for discussion
Is there a canal? When did it arrive? Is it still there / used? Any buildings, stables, warehouses, wharfs
Canal bridges are important…..they were built to accommodate rights of way that were already there when the canal arrived. Noting them in your local landscape gives pointers to what was there before the canal.
Stage two
Street, lane and road names aren’t accidental….
Park Lane…whose park? What were its boundaries? Is there still a big house?
Market street, Back lane, Mill Lane, Fishpool, Church Street….all may be part of a much older landscape.
Older maps and local lore can also point to field names that tell a story
Tenterfield, Southfield, Brickfield, Marlfield
Sometimes these are incorporated into later suburban road names
Stage three
How to bring findings together and tell others about them
A booklet? Facebook / website?
Example 2: New roads, 1920s onwards We are all acutely aware of the impact of road development and usage
Examine this at local level
Which came first - the roads or the houses / shops / factories….seems simple but when you start to pick over the sequence of events, you’ll find each area has a unique set of circumstances that led to change happening. Free online maps at www.nls.uk go up to the 1930s
Did you get a ring road in the 1930s?
As suburbs grew, how did most people travel? Eg how long were journeys 40 years ago compared to today
When did individual car ownership start to rise?
And what about car parking
How have bus services and passenger train services changed in your area since the 1920s?
Photographs, route plans, bus shelters, tram shelters…..
Has motorway development had an impact in your area? What is the impact - this might be as much to do with perception and feeling, as practical issues like congestion and journey times.
What are the travel and transport issues in your area now?
Suggestion: group visit to Manchester Transport Museum http://www.gmts.co.uk/
How to bring findings together and tell others about them
A booklet? Facebook / website?
Examine this at local level
Which came first - the roads or the houses / shops / factories….seems simple but when you start to pick over the sequence of events, you’ll find each area has a unique set of circumstances that led to change happening. Free online maps at www.nls.uk go up to the 1930s
Did you get a ring road in the 1930s?
As suburbs grew, how did most people travel? Eg how long were journeys 40 years ago compared to today
When did individual car ownership start to rise?
And what about car parking
How have bus services and passenger train services changed in your area since the 1920s?
Photographs, route plans, bus shelters, tram shelters…..
Has motorway development had an impact in your area? What is the impact - this might be as much to do with perception and feeling, as practical issues like congestion and journey times.
What are the travel and transport issues in your area now?
Suggestion: group visit to Manchester Transport Museum http://www.gmts.co.uk/
How to bring findings together and tell others about them
A booklet? Facebook / website?
A useful map of rail and canal transport around south Lancashire, from Mark Child of Salford U3A