In the early 18th Century John Padmore was at the centre of engineering innovation in the Avon Valley and South Wales. He built Ralph Allen’s railway, used to transport stone from Combe Down to the River Avon at Dolemeads in Bath; the cranes at Dolemeads, used to lift stone from Ralph Allen’s Wharf onto boats, as well as The Great Crane in Bristol, used to load and offload sea-going ships. This PowerPoint video by Antony Coverdale, chair of Saltford Brass Mill Project, looks at the work of this extraordinary engineer and polymath.

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