1

As I Came Through Sandgate

By John Telford

... I heard John Wesley sing. A visitor on the quayside on Sunday May 30th, 1742, would have stumbled into a crowd agape and a determined clergyman singing psalms.

2

Fricassée in France

By Laurence Sterne

In the opening lines of Laurence Sterne’s Sentimental Journey, the narrator explains the perverse whim that led him to leave his home shores behind.

3

Trouble at Belsize Gardens

By Clay Lane

In 1720, Welsh promoter William Howell opened a pleasure garden at Belsize House, but the pleasures drew the magistrates’ frowns.

4

A Conflict of Interest

By Adam Smith

Economist Adam Smith warned that when Western commercial interests get involved in policy-making abroad, war and want are sure to follow.

5

The First Steam Whistle

By Clement Edwin Stretton

After an accident at a level crossing, the bosses of the Leicester and Swannington Railway acknowledged that drivers needed more than lung power.

6

Private Risk, Public Benefit

By Michael Longridge

For George Stephenson, the motto of the Stockton and Darlington Railway was a code to live by.