[carpetguy]

there are too many historic achievements in engineering and inventions to list and for such a tiny country, only one tenth the UK population our ancestors kept the mighty Romans at bay while every one else was conquered and we have a pretty impressive record against the constantly invading English only losing out to what was devastating new technology about 5 ceturies ago. the long bow.

Consider if you will,

The Steam engine, which brought the industrial revolution , the Telephone, The pneumatic tyre, The first mass produced car, Television,

A scot even founded your Bank of England and has produced a hugely disproportianate number of senior polititions over the years.

Scots were cannon fodder in the two world wars and Scots were the main trail blazers accross America and Canada

Think that will do for now

have a peacefull new year

robbie

[Damian]

Robbie, i am interested in the first "mass-produced car" you state(from Scotland) can you enlighten me on this as i was under the impression it was from elsewhere-namely my city.

Damian.

[carpetguy]

It was the Argyle and was manufactured in a custom built plant on Lochlomondside.  The building is still there and I believe it includes a museum with one of the Argyles.

Don't ask me for dates, as I have'nt a clue at the moment

Just remembered, there was another invention, way ahead of it's time, a monorail was built in Milngavie many years ago, which worked well, but was not given the necessary funding.

They have them all over the world nowadays

robbie

[CARPET KNIGHTS]

The steam engine was invented by trevithick in redruth cornwall!

[carpetguy]

Carpet Knights

Three people are credited with the early steam engine and a Thomas Savery had an early working model, which was very crude,

James Watt invented the first, efficient and effective working steam engine. Like much from Cornwall, your claim is incorrect.

Your ECO web sites are very attractive, pity the same can't be said about the people concerned.

robbie

[Len Gribble]

Robbie

Ant the Scot descendants of the Irish what ever happen to the pits (hope I’ve spelt it right)

The long bow, thought longshank sent in the Irish first as arrows cost money.  bank of england and all

Not sure about cannon fodder!  Haven’t you seen the film carry on up the kiber so you can’t blame us, I would also send in the Ghurkhas, (British being much impressed by the fighting and other qualities of the Ghurkha soldier)

Now it gets confusing Trevithick born at Tregajorran (not reduth) a British inventor where as Thomas Savery an Englishman born at Shilston (Devonshire)

Goron as a child he would watch steam engines.

Robbie

Now now.

Len

[CARPET KNIGHTS]

Richard Trevithick, was born in Illogan, Cornwall, in 1771. Richard was educated at Camborne School but he was more interested in sport than academic learning. Trevithick was six feet two inches high and was known as the Cornish giant. He was very strong lad and by the age of eighteen he could throw sledge hammers over the tops of engine houses and write his name on a beam six feet from the floor with half a hundredweight hanging from his thumb. Trevithick also had the reputation of being one of the best wrestlers in Cornwall.

Len Illogan is about 1 mile out of redruth his house was and still is in redruth!


In February 1804, Trevithick produced the world's first steam engine to run successfully on rails. The locomotive, with its single vertical cylinder, 8 foot flywheel and long piston-rod, managed to haul ten tons of iron, seventy passengers and five wagons from the ironworks at Penydarren to the Merthyr-Cardiff Canal. During the nine mile journey the Penydarren locomotive reached speeds of nearly five miles an hour. Trevithick's locomotive employed the very important principle of turning the exhaust steam up the chimney, so producing a draft which drew the hot gases from the fire more powerfully through the boiler.


Goron

[carpetguy]

I think James Watt had proven himself before your Cornishman was even born...........no idea how tall he was, or how good a wresler he was.........but, he was a professional engineer.

There were competitions for steam engines, in which the Stephenson Rocket triumphed.........no mention of your man

I'm not seeking to score points here, so not bothering to follow up any other engineering achievements

Len

If you wish to insult most Scots, your assumption about Irish descent will succeed..........The Scots did not descend from the Irish, although there was a little Irish migration to the Western Isles, the Irish are mainly Celtic as are the Welsh and Northern French ( from Brittany ) also the Spanish Basques.

What they all have in common, is that they are generally, smallish, dark and cursed with long memories.

The Picts and other ancient Scots have Northern European ancestry, with a smattering of French, which resulted from the Scots / French alliance against the English ( some time ago )

[John Kelly]

Robbie, Len, the Roman wall was not built to keep out the Picts. In fact North Northumberland and Scotland were largely uninhabited. The Romans built the wall to protect their livestock and people from the large bears and wolves which roamed free.
The population of Scotland descended from the Mackems and other miscreants which were banished over the wall for various missdoings (being a Mackem was reason enough)

[Len Gribble]

Robbie

Have no wish to offend. This site makes good reading http://www.siliconglen.com/Scotland/11_5.html

So the Scots are just like the English Heinz 57 bunch, in my case Anglo Saxon, French (there belief were persecuted so they came over to the west country) Spanish and last of all Irish me NAN what a fire-eater.

John

I can relate to that ant Steve one of them.

Goron

In the parish of illogan not the same!

Bit of a sad epitaph Richard Trevithick is buried in an unmarked grave at Dartford, Kent, where he was working when he died. Like many great men and women, Trevithick did not get the recognition he deserved during his lifetime. Indeed, his worth has only recently been recognised by many history books. (Think there’s a moral hear)

Len

[carpetguy]

Len
I was'nt regarding your comment as insulting, it was a generalisation and your generalisation about the mixture of races, was brought home recently, on a TV program, which took half a dozen, " fanatically " English types. Checked their DNA and showed that all but one had ancestry from, as far as the Middle East.

One woman wanted the program benned and even went to court.

What was apparent, was, the further North you look in the UK the greater the likeliehood of a North European genetic link, which is obvious in the features of the people.

The notion that Gauls may have settled in Northern Britain, is a non starter, but the Celts who settled in Wales and Ireland certainly moved up through Spain and France ( which was Gaul )

John

The Hadrian wall was built for military purposes and had a series of fortifications running it's length, where you get the idea that Scotland was virtually unpopulated surprises me, as there are architectural sites that go back 1000 years before the Romans and it's been recorded that the Romans were constantly harassed by the Caledonians, also, the Vikings were constantly carrying out raids around the Scottish shores, until eventually being routed by the resident Scots.

There are still bears in Scotland..........sometimes known as Rangers supporters.

Don't quite know what this has got to do with carpet cleaning, but just shows how we all have different perceptions on everything.

robbie

[John Kelly]

Robbie, I was joking. Know all about Scotland and a lot about Ireland. Did you know nearly 2 thirds of geordies are Irish/Scottish descent. They all came here to work in the armanents factories and shipyards which stretched all along the Tyne. Bit like whats happenning in China now.

[carpetguy]

Well aware of the Geordie connection John and there is also, a clear Scandinavian influence, I'm down your way in a week or so, will try to pop along.

robbie

[Len Gribble]

Robbie

I know but had to put that in as I have three Scottish friends and am always ribbing them.

Sadly I missed that program no need for a DNA I know where I came from, but there’s bound to be a spanner in the works somewhere and yes very proud to be ENGLISH.

Len (checking to see if I can get an Irish pastport)

[Kinver_Clean]

Steam engines were running long before they were put on wheels. Trevithic built stationary mine engines at first. There is a copy of one of his first engines at the Black Country Museum that has been built about 200 yds from the site of the original unfortunately the beam warped and it is not runnable at the moment, still pretty impressive though. People said about Stevenson that if you looked at a loco and saw lots of bits the same as other peoples then it must be a Stevenson, because he never had an original idea but the guts to force his way through. Timothy Hackworth from Shildon was a real innovator and had many ides pinched by Stevenson. Industrial espionage was alive and growing up fast!

Enough of my ramblings

Trevor