Richard Marks

Unravelling the history of industry, railways, medicine, science & engineering. Professional historian with PhD, speaker, author.
Represented by Past Preservers

[Richard Marks @IndustryPast]

I have been thinking about the value of business history outside of academia over the last few days. It has a lot of merit and is of more use to the business community than you might think.
So I wrote a blog with my thoughts on why which can be found here:
https://t.co/a4PFtqipPK

[Richard Marks @IndustryPast]

I have written a piece for the Royal History Society. It discusses why History PhD students should value what they have achieved since it has value to businesses as well as in academia. It can be found here:
https://t.co/gSFZAZTL5Z

[Richard Marks @IndustryPast]

...and that's done ! Just finished the new book on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway @nymr. Bundled up and sent off to the publisher @penswordbooks ...Occurred to me that this is my 9th book !
Also signed off the cover for the book...
#railway #YorkshireMoors #history

[Richard Marks @IndustryPast]

@Pastpreservers Thankyou

[Richard Marks @IndustryPast]

A little bit of an update from me !

I have just been informed that I have been elected as a full Fellow of the Royal Historical Society 'in recognition of [my] contribution to historical scholarship'.

I am rather chuffed to be honest. Time for a proper cup of tea ! (Right now...)

[Richard Marks @IndustryPast]

In other news, I will be running a talk on Friday 15th May for @rest_less_uk about the history of Britain's heritage railways. It's the 75th anniversary of the reopening of the first - The Talyllyn Railway. I will be talking about why & how so many were saved.
Bookings are now open here:
https://t.co/pLtI8gestz

[Richard Marks @IndustryPast]

@Nusbacher Hard place to work. Its hard enough firing a steam locomotive but at least there is fresh air coming into the cab. Engine rooms of warships are hot and noisy, and also when the ship is in action all the watertight doors are shut...Not an easy place to get out of in a hurry.

[Richard Marks @IndustryPast]

I am going to be talking about the history of British Rail Engineering Limited at the Bristol Society of Model and Experimental Engineers on the 20th May at 7pm.
Why not come along and find out more...

[Richard Marks @IndustryPast]

Just finished the last quick run through of my presentation for tomorrow's The Road to Apollo: The First Steps into Space for @rest_less_uk . We will be looking at how it all started long before Artemis.
There are just a few places left and it starts at 11:30BST tomorrow. Sign up here https://t.co/i8mj2Y3tmy

[Richard Marks @IndustryPast]

@AntCoulls @Rail_Photter @Team_idris Totally agree. It should be indoors in the museum not on a roundabouts outside. Shows a total disregard for our industrial heritage.

[Richard Marks @IndustryPast]

A new talk coming soon. I will be talking about the early days of the Space Race for Rest Less (@rest_less_uk) on the 13th April - Bookings are being taken here: https://t.co/i8mj2Y2Vx0
The Road to Apollo will dive into the raw, experimental early years of the Space Race — when rockets exploded as often as they flew, politics overshadowed engineering, and every launch was a gamble with global prestige on the line.

[Richard Marks @IndustryPast]

Probably not. It was a ground breaking design for sure, but the lack of materials, fuel and having the Eighth Air Force and Bomber Command disrupting German productive capacity constantly would have stopped it being mass produced if the Germans had attempted to. It was a fighter and light bomber. There was no need for it in the late 1930s so its highly unlikely that it would have been developed earlier. A counter-factual history would need to consider that if the Horton was built in numbers in 1939, Britain would have had the Meteor and probably Vampire earlier and the US would have been into the jets too, with the Soviet Union probably well on the way to MiG-15.