Isambard Kingdom Brunel: The engineering giant with 'short man syndrome'

[whole diary]

[grahame]

From The BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page)

Allowing nothing to stand in his way, Isambard Kingdom Brunel built across gorges, tunnelled under rivers and through hills to construct railway lines, stations, bridges, viaducts and docks.

His three ships, the Great Western, Great Britain and Great Eastern, were the biggest, fastest and most advanced vessels ever seen. Yet the man who built the Clifton Suspension Bridge and the Great Western Railway was plagued by self-doubt, particularly when it came to his diminutive stature.

Rhian Tritton, the director of a new museum that celebrates the life of the renowned engineer, has selected some of the most illuminating of the thousands of items - which include previously unseen exhibits - on display at the Being Brunel attraction.

Long and intereting article up to a summary:

* Born on 9 April 1806 in Portsmouth

* Married Mary Horsley in 1836. They had three children: Isambard, Henry and Florence

* Built nearly 1,200 miles of railway, including in Ireland, Italy and Bengal

* His Great Western sailed from Bristol to New York in 15 days, in April 1838. In the same year work began on Bristol Temple Meads station

* His last work was the Three Bridges, an ingenious arrangement that allowed the routes of the Grand Junction Canal, Great Western & Brentford Railway and Windmill Lane to cross each other in west London

* Buried in Kensal Green Cemetery, London, on 20 September 1859. Thousands of railway workers and members of the public lined the funeral route

* Left a fortune of £90,000 in his will - the equivalent of £11m today

* Placed second in a 2002 BBC poll that asked the public to select the 100 Greatest Britons

[RichardB]

I read this piece earlier this morning and had never previously heard of the Three Bridges.  They are in Hanwell and I am in that part of west London quite often so next time, I'll go and have a look.   https://www.discoveringbritain.org/activities/greater-london/viewpoints/three-bridges.html   http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/features/windmill_lane_bridge/

[TaplowGreen]

I wonder what he'd think of the performance & leadership of the current "GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)"?

[Rob on the hill]

More about the new Being Brunel exhibition at ss Great Britain which opened today:
http://www.ssgreatbritain.org/about-us/being-brunel

[chuffed]

Not clear whether you have buy an SSGB ticket to access the museum, or whether you can go in(for free?) without visiting the ship. The website talks about the Brunel Institute...is this different again or has it been incorporated into this new museum ?

[plymothian]

Not clear whether you have buy an SSGB ticket to access the museum, or whether you can go in(for free?) without visiting the ship. The website talks about the Brunel Institute...is this different again or has it been incorporated into this new museum ?

You have to buy a ticket for SSBG, the museum being part of the attraction and included in the admission price, though that doesn't mean you have to go on the ship itself.

[Rob on the hill]

Not clear whether you have buy an SSGB ticket to access the museum, or whether you can go in(for free?) without visiting the ship. The website talks about the Brunel Institute...is this different again or has it been incorporated into this new museum ?

I'm guessing the Brunel Institute is still in the original visitor centre. The new museum is housed in a new building on the other side of the ship.
http://www.ssgreatbritain.org/brunel-institute/visit

[stuving]

I read this piece earlier this morning and had never previously heard of the Three Bridges.  They are in Hanwell and I am in that part of west London quite often so next time, I'll go and have a look.   https://www.discoveringbritain.org/activities/greater-london/viewpoints/three-bridges.html   http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/features/windmill_lane_bridge/

I was aware of Three Bridges from an early age, living a few miles north on the old road along Windmill Lane and then Oldfield Lane. However, I can't see how I could have visited it as we didn't have a car until I was 12, I don't think buses ever ran that way, and the trains stopped long before that. But I'm sure I knew there were only two bridges really.

[rogerw]

Passed under on the railway earlier this year

[JayMac]

A shame there isn't a 'Being Brunel museum only' ticket. I've been round the SS Gert Biggun more than once. £16.50 when you only want the museum is a little steep.

[RichardB]

A shame there isn't a 'Being Brunel museum only' ticket. I've been round the SS Gert Biggun more than once. £16.50 when you only want the museum is a little steep.

Think of it as a contribution to the investment that has gone in.

[JayMac]

Think of it as too expensive to justify a visit.

[chuffed]

I have emailed the following to SSGB Trust.

 I feel strongly that the trust has missed a
trick here by not having a Being Brunel museum only ticket. For a
pensioner on a fixed income, £16.50 is beyond what I am prepared to pay,
and needs to be set in a wider context, as somewhere like Beamish is actually
cheaper and much better value. I speak as a local and now disappointed
supporter who was one of the many who lined the banks of the river in
1970 as a 17 year old to welcome her home.

Ignore your core supporters at your peril!

[JayMac]

Think of it as a contribution to the investment that has gone in.

I've already made a contribution to that investment. I play the National Lottery. 70% of the funding for the 'Being Brunel' museum came from the Heritage Lottery Fund.