On Thursday 22nd March 2018, Year 5 visited the Brunel Museum in Rotherhithe as part of their History project on the Victorians. The Museum is an educational charity run by volunteers and tells the story of one of the world’s great engineering dynasties. Brunel organised the world’s first underground concert party here in 1827, and the Museum celebrates and interprets music and theatre as well as engineering.
Isambard Kingdom Brunel was an English mechanical and civil engineer who is considered one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history, one of the 19th century engineering giants, and “one of the greatest figures of the Industrial Revolution, who changed the face of the English landscape with his ground-breaking designs and ingenious constructions. Brunel built dockyards, the Great Western Railway, a series of steamships including the first propeller-driven transatlantic steamship, and numerous important bridges and tunnels. His designs revolutionised public transport and modern engineering.
The children were lucky enough to meet Mr Brunel (well. An actor playing him anyway), who told the children all about the many revolutionary designs he had engineered during the Victorian era. The children really enjoyed hearing about the many ingenious contributions Mr Brunel had made during the industrial revolution, and are looking forward to a return visit soon!