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02 March 2009 14:58
An appointment with history
This morning I set out to drive to AGA's hugely historic Coalbrookdale foundry in Telford - a means of transport that would, of course, not have been possible were it not for the Industrial Revolution that sparked into life at this United Nations-designated site of worldwide significance.It was 300 years ago at the foundry that Abraham Darby, one of the great engineering figures, first smelted iron ore using coke. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Visiting the site to meet up with BBC presenter Helen Mark and AGA managing director Gerald O'Brien for a recording of Radio 4's Open Country brings into sharp relief just how much of the modern world we take for granted today would not have been possible without Darby's age-defining innovation back in 1709.
Three centuries and such awe-inspiring progress - from the humble iron cooking pots first cast at the foundry to the car I parked at the impressive industrial complex just a stone's throw from the landmark Ironbridge that became the engineer's best-known legacy.
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