The next event is at the London Metropolitan Archives in Clerkenwell, London EC1 on December 8 at 10.30am.
The collection, which the Brunel Museum acquired in 2017, features more than 30 individual drawings by the Marc and Isambard Kingdom Brunel and their draughtsmen and engineers, ranging from small pen-and-ink sketches of the tunnelling machinery to enormous lithograph prints of the entire tunnel.
Guides will be on hand to explain the collection’s unique history and how the Thames Tunnel came to be known as the “eighth wonder of the world”.
The structure opened to the public in 1843 and is the world’s oldest underwater tunnel. Originally for pedestrians, it was later converted into a railway line and today it forms part of the London Overground line.
To book tickets, click here
On December 7, the museum will hold an evening with Tim Bryan, author of Iron, Stone and Steam: Brunel’s Railway Empire.
In the book, Bryan, director of the Brunel Institute at the SS Great Britain, chronicles how, in almost 30 years, Isambard Kingdom Brunel created a rail network covering much of the south and west of England, the Midlands and Wales. The network included masterpieces like Paddington Station and the Royal Albert Bridge and still carries millions of travellers today. The book also describes how Brunel’s successes were matched by “monumental failures” – the ill-fated atmospheric system used on the South Devon Railway, and the far-reaching implications of the broad gauge for his railways, which ultimately cost millions of pounds when abolished.
The talk, at the museum in Rotherhithe, London SE16, will start at 7pm. To book tickets click here
