Tag: Southampton

Navvies at the Gloucestershire end of the Severn Tunnel

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Welsh steam coal was in high demand among steamship companies in England. Well-connected train transport was essential to meet this demand, which consequently led to the construction of the Severn Tunnel. Thomas Andrew Walker oversaw the project and expanded the site at Sudbrook (1880-1886, Wales) into a village with basic provisions for the navvies. However, navvy villages in New Passage in Gloucestershire were tainted by disease and unsanitary living conditions. Mead’s article investigates the problems the navvy settlements faced and their impact on New Passage and Bristol.

Constructing a rail ferry across the Severn: 1845-68

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"In the 1800s the pursuit of profit resulted in better wharves and plans for bridges and tunnels to bring coal from Wales. Adam Mead reminds us of the failures and financial losses involved in constructing Victorian marvels of engineering which we take for granted today".

The Shipwrecked West Indians in Stapleton Prison, Bristol (1796-1798)

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Penny follows the story of the captives of the Revolutionary War, and the course of events which led to their housing in Stapleton Prison, Bristol.