Working at the Face – Inspiration
It is often suggested that Marc’s inspiration for his tunnelling shield was the humble shipworm, Teredo Navalis. This tiny creature bores into ships’ timbers. Marc saw first hand the impact of Teredo Navalis up close when he worked in Chatham Dockyard. Ship worms, which are in fact clams rather than worms, use their shells on …
Pioneer of Prefabrication – Brunel’s Hospital at Renkioi
Would you believe that our hero Isambard Kingdom Brunel was a pioneer of prefabrication?
Doesn’t sound Victorian-style but in times of national crisis some extraordinary things can be achieved. We have recently been amazed by the speed of the herculean task of turning conference centres such as Excel into fully functioning hospitals for high-risk patients. In 1855 Isambard Kingdom Brunel was set a similarly daunting task. To design and create a state of the art modular hospital that could be produced in the UK and then transported and erected on an unknown site in a war zone thousands of miles away. He achieved the entire project in 5 months, here is the story:-
Happy East London Line Day!
What is your favourite train-related fact? For us, it has to be that the Thames Tunnel is the oldest structure on the oldest underground network in the world! Originally built for horses and carts, it was opened as a foot tunnel and tourist attraction in 1843. By the end of the 1860s it had been …
Digging the Tunnel
Thirty-six miners stood in individual cells inside the Tunnelling Shield. They faced a wall of wooden planks held in place by iron rods and butted up against the soil. Each miner would remove one plank at a time and dig away the soil to a depth of four inches. Then, replacing that plank he would …
Happy Birthday to Sir Marc Isambard Brunel!
Born on the 25th of April 1769 in Hacqueville, Normandy, France, he fell in love with an English woman (Sophia Kingdom) and, after a number of adventures, came to live in England to be with her. Their son was the famous Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Marc was an engineer at least equal in insight to his …
Happy Birthday Isambard Kingdom Brunel!
IKB By Gill Howard (Volunteer) This is my favourite photograph of IKB because without his hat and his usual working clothes, he appears more accessible and human. It makes me realise that as well as being an incredible engineer, architect, pioneer, hugely brave and driven individual, he was a father, a friend and a husband. …
Views from your window
Now that the spring is coming what are you seeing? Take some photos from your window and send the best one to us with a caption. We will publish a selection of these on our website. Above is Sarah’s photo. Her caption is: ‘Everything looks so bright and calm’. You can contact us on here …
How are you coping?
Please share your tips and mechanisms to cope. What works for you? You can contact us on here (or Twitter/Instagram/Facebook) or by email: hello@thebrunelmuseum.com We look forward to hearing from you! Here are a few useful resources we have found: https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/ COVID-19: A Drug & Alcohol Rehab’s Guidance for Better Mental Health
Learning and living from home
If you have children how are you finding it? If your child is interested in science and engineering here are some resources that the Brunel Museum recommends: https://www.borntoengineer.com/resources-for-home-school-lo… We would love to know about your experiences and useful resources you’ve found (and to share these with others in the community).
UPDATE: Museum will be closed from 18th March 2020 until further notice
In the light of the most recent government directive on the Coronavirus we are sorry to advise that the museum will be closed from 18th March until further notice. The wellbeing and safety of our staff, visitors and volunteers is paramount and we consider this to be the wisest course of action for the time …