Dalkeith Water Tower is a significant Scottish historical civil engineering landmark built in 1879. The tower was internally stripped and converted to a dwelling in the late 1980s. Today (2024) it can now be rented as a holiday let. All levels in the tower are accessed by a spiral staircase located on one side of […]
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Japanese Visitors following in the Footsteps of Kaichi Watanabe
Dr Manako Yabe from Japan is currently a Research Associate at Heriot-Watt University’s Department of Languages and Intercultural Studies and has taken a keen interest in the Forth Bridge. This interest has been generated by her awareness of Kaichi Watanabe’s association with the Forth Bridge. Professor Paxton on a visit to Japan met a number […]
Museum’s website attracts 12,000 visitors so far this year
Each month the museum’s website attracts hundreds of visitors from all over the world. So far this year (1 January – 14 September) there have been 12,000 visitors representing 155 of the 195 countries in the world. Selected countries and visitor numbers are: Africa South Africa 115 Kenya […]
ICE President Visits the Museum
Professor Anusha Shah the President of ICE visited the museum on 3 September. Professors Paul Jowitt and Roland Paxton in the company of Professor Muhammed Basheer (head of EGIS at Heriot-Watt University) introduced her to a number of our more interesting exhibits including the Forth Bridge Hydraulic riveter, the Queensferry Crossing model and the portraits […]
Donation from CILT Scotland
The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) Scotland recently donated a medallion of office, chain-of-office and badges. For an article on this donation see http://ciltscotland.com/sr18112023.php. See 2023/009, 2023/010, 2023/011 and 2023/013
The Paxton Archive
The website now hosts The Paxton Archive which comprises more than 150 papers and other documents on a wide variety of historical and biographical civil engineering topics written by Professor Roland Paxton over several decades. This important archive is now available at your fingertips right here.
Visit by Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport Scotland
Fourteen members and guests of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport Scotland visited the museum on Tuesday 16 May. To read more about the visit click here.
UK Slide Rule Circle
The UK Slide Rule Circle is reaching out to the wider public particularly engineers to let them know of the Circle’s existence and to enable anyone who felt so inclined to join. Many civil engineers of a certain vintage who visit the museum go gooey-kneed at the sight of a slide rule. For those familiar […]
Spanning the Centuries: Sir William Arrol’s legacy in Steel, Stone and Culture
The museum has recently lent a number of objects to South Ayrshire Council Museums and Galleries for an exhibition co-curated with Friends of Seafield House relating to Sir William Arrol. The exhibition is titled Spanning the Centuries: Sir William Arrol’s legacy in Steel, Stone and Culture. To see the media release click here. The exhibition […]
Oldest Piece of Marine Ironwork Anywhere?
The museum has in its collection a ship’s rudder which was repurposed for use as an engineering anchor plate to secure one of the chains on the Gattonside pedestrian bridge near Melrose. The bridge was opened in 1826 and the rudder dates from that time. The museum has discovered that this rudder, made of malleable […]