Ray Bridges Adam Hart Davies
Ray Bridges and Adam Hart Davies - Dartmouth Newcomen Celebrations
Newcomen Celebrations a Huge Success
The celebrations for the 300th anniversary of Thomas Newcomen’s creation of the first practical steam engine have been hailed as a huge success by organisers.
There was a week of special presentations and shows at the Flavel in July. They were all well supported and the show by TV personality and Newcomen enthusiast Adam Hart-Davies was a sell out. There was also a performance by the Budleigh Salterton Choir and a special play, written by the Dartmouth Players, about Newcomen’s life, called “From Floods Defend”.
The town also saw the arrival of a steam engine too!
Chairman of the Newcomen celebrations committee, Ray Bridges, said: “The week was a great success. There were over 800 attendances to the various events at the Flavel, the Opening, From Floods Defend, Adam Hart-Davis, the Newcomen Society and the Budleigh Salterton Choir, and heaven knows how many more to the Engine house which had volunteers all week.
“The Flavel exhibition, the Museum, St Saviours service on Wednesday and of course the steam engine on Market Square were popular. We had visitors from America, Germany, Holland and France. The Newcomen Society was impressed with the numbers attending their lectures: they expected their 18 Members and the addition of a few “enthusiasts”. In the event there were over 90 people at each one. We have established Thomas Newcomen in Dartmouth, complete with monument - now the rest of the world!”
First Published August 2012 By The Dart