Vanessa Collingridge and the team answer listener’s historical queries and celebrate the way in which we all ‘make’ history.
Programme 13
24 June 2008
Vanessa Collingridge and the team discuss listeners' historical queries and celebrate the many ways in which we all 'make' history.
The series returns Tuesday 30th September 2008.
The Lochnagar Crater
Thirty years ago Making History listener Richard Dunning bought a crater in northern France. It had been formed by a huge explosion from an underground mine that heralded the beginning of the Battle of the Somme on July 1st 1916.
Richard has been told that the blast was, at the time, the biggest ever and shook the windows in Downing Street. Making History travelled to France to find out more and consulted the Royal Logistics Museum at Deepcut Barracks in Surrey and the British Geological Survey in Edinburgh.
According to records held in Edinburgh the blast at Lochnagar was not measured. However, the one a year later at Messines Ridge was.
Vanessa Collingridge spoke to Professor Edward Royle from the University of York about the ‘Halls of Science’, what he describes as the Wikipedia of the 1830’s and 1840’s.
The Universal Community Society of Rational Religionists (Rational Society) was established in 1839, with the amalgamation of the Association of All Classes of All Nations, established in 1835 by Robert Owen, and the National Community Friendly Society established by Owenites in 1837; initial aim, promoted through the journal New Moral World founded by Owen in 1834, was to prepare public opinion for the `secular millennium'; Owenites were offered `social salvation'; in 1839 an agricultural community was started at Queenswood, East Tytherly, Hampshire; it existed for six years, but did not outlast Owen's rapid spending of funds and authoritarian leadership; in 1846 its last building was closed, limiting the activity of the Rational Society to the winding up of financial affairs.
The Rational Religionists were behind the ‘Halls of Science’. They believed in debate, sharing information and affecting change through that debate. They were built in several places – predominantly in the north… Liverpool, Manchester (where Engels regularly mixed with the chartists, Owenites, and those from the Anti-Corn Law League), Huddersfield (which still survives) and Bradford… They were owned by joint stock companies. The reason for their growth was that it was very difficult for radicals to hire public rooms for debate and so the Halls of Science became the focus for debate.
In 1854, 7 Cornishmen sailed to Australia in a 37foot fishing boat to find work. They made the journey safely but not all of them found the economic salvation that had driven them to undertake such a voyage. This autumn, Cornish adventurer Pete Goss will recreate their epic journey in a replica of the Mystery.
Vanessa has presented science and current affairs programmes for BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Discovery and has presented for BBC Radio 4 & Five Live and a regular contributor to the Daily Telegraph and the Mail on Sunday, Scotsman and Sunday Herald.
Contact Making History
Send your comments and questions for future programmes to: Making History BBC Radio 4 PO Box 3096 Brighton BN1 1PL
Vanessa has presented science and current affairs programmes for BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Discovery and has presented for BBC Radio 4 & Five Live and a regular contributor to the Daily Telegraph and the Mail on Sunday, Scotsman and Sunday Herald. 