David Kirkaldy's Testing and Experimenting Works at 99 Southwark Street set the first international standards in materials testing; a science that has wide-reaching effects on everyday life today.

Today, this unique Victorian workshop keeps alive our direct link with Kirkaldy's innovation, at the heart of this bustling commercial district of London. The Kirkaldy Testing Museum preserves Kirkaldy's unique Universal Testing Machine - the huge hydraulic powered machine he designed and had built in Leeds - in full working order in the premises he built to house it.

As well as presenting the story of the family who ran the business for almost 100 years and of the wider development of materials testing, the workshop and the Universal Testing Machine provide a unique crucible for new experimentation and collaboration - which can inspire future generations of scientists and artists alike to continue enquiring into the properties of the materials on which we build our lives.

On the 2nd Saturday of every month, we will be demonstrating David Kirkaldy's Universal Testing Machine live from the Kirkaldy Testing Museum. Join us to see a machine over 150 years old pull apart a piece of iron from end-to-end and celebrate the vision of a forgotten hero of engineering science.

The event starts at 2 p.m. and we will be running the Machine at 3 p.m., with time before and after for tours around the Museum. If you arrive after 2 p.m., you may have to join an ongoing tour, depending on capacity.

More information at: www.testingmuseum.org.uk

Images: ©Peter Dazeley