The English Industrial Revolution, generally taken as a period from 1750 to 1850, was a triumph of ingenuity and invention. It was the application of better manufacturing methods and new sources of power. The word ‘industry’ conjures up pistons, spinning wheels and steam. The second term might bring images of war and sadness related to the French Revolution. In this 100-year period England became the world’s leading industrial power.

What machines and processes created the industrial world? First the waterwheel, that existed long before the Industrial Revolution, was used in mines for pumping water and in the iron industries for driving air bellows and dropping hammers; second the mechanization of textile production; third the steam engine that made power available in the manufacturing industries and fourth iron, which made the railways and innovative bridge constructions possible.