Join us as we discover more about the story of how Isambard Kingdom Brunel overcame in-fighting and controversy to the bring the railway to Plymouth and build the Royal Albert Bridge.
Find out more about how the heated rivalary between Plymouth and Devonport delayed the railway's arrival into the Three Towns, petitions to Parliament and Brunel's thwarted plans for a train ferry at Torpoint.
The talk looks at the cost-cutting measures that altered Brunel's plans for the the Royal Albert Bridge, and the wild rumours that surrounded his failure to attend the opening ceremony in May 1859.
The talk will be given by Owen Ryles, Chief Executive of the Plymouth Athenaeum. Owen is a Fellow of the Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, the Linnean Society and the Zoological Society.
His previous talks include Education, enlightenment and entertainment: Plymouth Mechanics’ Institute 1825-1899 , Walking through the storm: William Snow Harris v The Admiralty, Bitten by Barnacles: The Life of Charles Spence Bate and Charles Hamilton Smith: Writer, Illustrator, Solider, Spy.
