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Saturday 10 January 2015

Scotland's Industrial Past and Present

Map of Scotland, 1845.
Michael Portillo's Great British Railway Journeys is back with a new series. This week on the programme he visited some industrial sites and we've been treated to some fascinating archive footage of workers. During the second episode he had a ride on the Waverley paddle steamer, and visited the David Livingstone Centre at Blantyre - I was especially interested as I did not realize that the famous missionary was a child worker in a cotton factory. Episode 3 was another treat as Mr Portillo visited a modern steel rolling mill, the Clyde Falls at New Lanark, and explored the Union Canal and the Falkirk Wheel, which I would love to visit one day. Over the next few weeks, I'll be taking a look at some of the fabulous heritage sites I visited last year, but haven't had time to blog about yet, as I'm busy writing Regency Spies.

Thursday 1 January 2015

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all my readers! If you need a leisurely start to the day after last night's celebrations, why not stroll over to my Jane Austen blog to read my latest post - on morning visits?

Illustration: Mr Elton leaves an intriguing paper with Emma and Harriet in Jane Austen's Emma. C.E.Brock illustration courtesy of the wonderful Molland’s website.