And finally… Crowning glory

A model of Leeds’ Crown Point Bridge, originally displayed at the inaugural Great Exhibition of 1851, takes pride of place in a new exhibition at Leeds Industrial Museum.

The Crown Point Bridge model demonstrated what at the time were cutting edge techniques used to construct not only one of the city’s key access points, but a particularly  elaborate and aesthetically pleasing piece of civil engineering.

The bridge itself had been built in 1842 and was designed by engineer father and son George and John Wignall Leather. It was made of more than 400 tonnes of cast iron, wrought in a Sheffield ironworks.

The recreation of the bridge is set to feature in Engineery, a new exhibition at Leeds Industrial Museum which coincides with the upcoming 300th anniversary of Leeds’s own John Smeaton, dubbed the Father of Civil Engineering, who was born in 1724.

Other exhibits include the cylinder head from a Land Rover and a breathing aid designed and manufactured during the COVID-19 pandemic. And in great news for theodolite fans – there’ll be a vintage model on display!