WADIHS

18 September 2003

"THE ROMANCE OF BRIDGES" This talk by JOHN H. BOYES. President of GLlAS, will look at the history of the aesthetic and practical design of bridges, together with comments on their local associations and their legends. The history of bridge building is, in part, the history of mankind itself.

16 October 2003

"LORD EBURY AND HIS RAILWAYS." Robert W Grosvenor, the 3rd son of the 1st Marquess of Westminster, inherited Moor Park estate in 1847. He was elevated to the peerage in 1857 as Baron Ebury. GEOFF SAUL will review attempts to build a railway line round London before 1855 and describe in more detail the local railway mania between 1859 and 1865 much of which has yet to see the light of day.

20 November 2003

"FARMING HISTORY ON FILM" For our film evening this year ALAN WILLMOTT will be showing a programme relating to the history of agriculture, Both the technical and the social side of farming have changed enormously over the last fifty years and Alan will take us back to a rural way of life that has now largely gone.

18 December 2003

SOCIAL EVENING An informal evening when we partake of food and drink and members show slides and photos taken during the year, or interesting items of historical interest.

15 January 2004

"THE HISTORY OF TECHNOLOGY IN AGRICULTURE" The impact of technology has been felt on agriculture as it has on most other industries. JOHN KILGOUR describes the history of agriculture from the field enclosures through mechanisation to the introduction of Precision Farming which brings together all the variables of land, weather and the other various inputs to optimise the desired product.

19 February 2004

"THE NEW WATERWAYS HERITAGE" Britain's inland waterways were the arteries of the Industrial Revolution, and gave us the legacy of colourful narrowboats, kingfishers and busy locks. But what new projects are being developed today and where are the hot spots? BRUCE HARDING an Industrial Heritage Specialist with British Waterways, looks at recent schemes, new works and exciting new plans across the UK., from Anderton to Bedford, from Falkirk to Liverpool, from Rochdale to Stroud.

18 March 2004

"THE YANGTSE RIVER THREE GORGES DAM PROJECT" This talk by GRAHAME NEALE and TONY COOKE describes the largest civil engineering project in the world. The aims of the project are firstly, to control the yearly flooding of the Yangtze River, secondly. to improve navigation of this major waterway, and thirdly, to generate a significant fraction of China's needs for electrical power. Both the advantages and disadvantages of the scheme will be discussed in the talk.