Landscape with Technology: Essays in Honour of L. T. C. Rolt ed. by R. Angus Buchanan (review)

L. T. C. Rolt (1910-1974) was an English enthusiast and storyteller whose interests spanned all types of transportation. Trained as a mechanical engineer, he found his vocation as a writer, beginning with his account of life on a canal in Worcestershire, published as Narrow Boat (1944). Best known for his engineering biographies of I. K. Brunel (1957), George and Robert Stephenson (1960), and Thomas Telford (1967), Tom Rolt also wrote company histories as well as a volume of ghost stories. The lesser-known Mechanicals (1967) provided a very readable history of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers founded in 1847. In Winterstoke (1954) he produced an intriguingly detailed historical geography of an imaginary town set in the English Midlands, showing the transformation of the landscape by industrialization. Landscape and a strong appreciation of place provided a theme and titles for his three-volume autobiography, The Landscape Trilogy (2005).

Rolt's legacy extends far beyond his publications. His active work in the restoration of derelict canals and moribund railways as well as service to such organizations as the Science Museum in London and the Council for British Archaeology provided inspiration for thousands of volunteers and work for many professionals.

The centenary celebrations of 2010 in Chester (Rolt's birthplace), Tywyn, Wales (Talyllyn Railway), the National Railway Museum in York, the Cheltenham Literature Festival, and various centers on the English canal network show the range of his success in helping to create what has become the new industry of heritage tourism. Many of his books also were reissued to mark the centennial, with new introductions by his widow Sonia Rolt. The Association for Industrial Archaeology's annual Rolt Lecture and the Newcomen Society's Rolt Prize are lasting reminders of his work in popularizing the history and conservation of past technologies.

Landscape with Technology draws its contributions from Rolt Fellows and members of the History of Technology Seminars at the University of Bath. The first paper focuses on UNESCO's World Heritage Convention, introduced in 1972 and now covering 900 sites in 148 countries. Keith Falconer examines the thirty-nine world industrial sites designated since 1978 and outlines the background to the selection of the nine UK sites. Appropriately, Ironbridge was among the first British sites, designated at the same time (1986) as more traditional selections such as Stonehenge and the Giant's Causeway. Falconer's attractively illustrated essay interweaves contemporary issues with Rolt's own appreciation of industrial landscapes. The paper by Geoffrey Wallis on safety issues around the working of historical machinery highlights a major issue for museums and also provides a context for the cover photograph of the picturesque Crofton pumping engine house on the Kennet & Avon Canal near Marlborough. An 1812 Boulton and Watt beam engine is still at work there.

Other essays cover a wide range of topics. Brenda Buchanan explores the role of British gunpowder engineering in the construction of the great harbor mole at Tangier from 1661 to 1684. Linkages between Bristol and the Caribbean are traced through the management of a sugar plantation on Nevis from 1775 to 1815. The rise and decline of distilling in Bath and Bristol is covered in another essay. While most papers are concerned with the past, one discusses engineering education and another the possibilities of using space planes instead of the usual expendable launches.

Angus Buchanan adds a new dimension to the life of James Nasmyth, who was not only a great mechanical engineer but also a devoted amateur astronomer. (This volume, edited by Buchanan, is incidentally also a tribute to his long association with the history of technology, first at Bristol and then at Bath.) Peter Stokes has a particularly evocative paper, not only on his professional life testing aero engines for de Havilland and successor companies, but also on his volunteer work in restoring historical steam engines at Crofton and Kew. His interest in the history of technology...