The 2017 Clinker Memorial Lecture will be given at the Mechanics Conference Centre, 103 Princess Street, Manchester, M1 6DD on Saturday 14th October 2017 commencing at 2.00pm.

The lecture, given by Richard Byrom, is entitled William Fairbairn: the experimental engineer – a study in mid-nineteenth century engineering.

William Fairbairn (1789-1874) was one of the greatest of nineteenth century engineers yet is strangely overlooked. Apart from being the leading international mill-builder and the leading experimental engineer in the middle quarters of the nineteenth century, he was much involved in railways and other transport: