they had transport laid on for us

lay [leɪ]

poser ⇒ 2 (a) mettre ⇒ 2 (a), 2 (c) étendre ⇒ 2 (a) préparer ⇒ 2 (d) pondre ⇒ 2 (e), 3 (a) imposer ⇒ 2 (f) porter ⇒ 2 (g) soumettre ⇒ 2 (h) dissiper ⇒ 2 (i) laïque ⇒ 4 (a) profane ⇒ 4 (b)

(pt & pp laid [leɪd])

1 pt of lie

2 transitive verb

(a) (in specified position) poser, mettre; (spread out) étendre;

∎ to lay sb/sth flat coucher ou étendre qn/qch (par terre);

∎ lay the cards face upwards posez les cartes face en l'air;

∎ lay the photos on the shelf to dry mettez les photos à plat sur l'étagère pour qu'elles sèchent;

∎ he laid the baby on the bed il a couché l'enfant sur le lit;

∎ she laid her head on my shoulder elle a posé sa tête sur mon épaule;

∎ euphemism to lay sb to rest enterrer qn;

∎ she laid the blanket on the ground elle a étendu la couverture par terre;

∎ familiar to lay eyes on sb/sth voir qn/qch^□ ;

∎ to lay it on the line ne pas y aller par quatre chemins

(b) (tiles, bricks, pipes, cable, carpet, foundations) poser; (wreath) déposer; (mine) poser, mouiller; (concrete) couler;

∎ to lay lino on the floor, to lay the floor with lino poser du linoléum;

∎ a roof laid with zinc un toit recouvert de zinc;

∎ figurative the plan lays the basis or the foundation for economic development le projet jette les bases du développement économique

(c) (set → table) mettre;

∎ lay the table for six mettez la table pour six (personnes), mettez six couverts;

∎ they hadn't laid enough places ils n'avaient pas mis assez de couverts, il manquait des couverts

(d) (prepare, arrange → fire) préparer;

∎ to lay a trail tracer un chemin;

∎ they laid a trap for him ils lui ont tendu un piège

(e) (egg) pondre;

∎ American familiar figurative to lay an egg faire une gaffe;

∎ familiar figurative he nearly laid an egg (in surprise) il a failli en faire une jaunisse

(f) (impose → burden, duty, penalty) imposer; (→ fine) infliger;

∎ to lay emphasis or stress on sth mettre l'accent sur qch;

∎ to lay the blame (for sth) on sb faire porter la responsabilité (de qch) à qn;

∎ to lay a curse on sb/sth jeter un sort à qn/qch

(g) Law (lodge) porter;

∎ to lay a complaint déposer une plainte, porter plainte;

∎ to lay a matter before the court saisir le tribunal d'une affaire;

∎ to lay an accusation against sb porter une accusation contre qn;

∎ charges have been laid against five men cinq hommes ont été inculpés

(h) (present, put forward → question, request) soumettre ( before sb devant qn);

∎ he laid all the facts before me il me présenta tous les faits;

∎ she laid the scheme before him elle lui soumit le projet

(i) (allay → fears) dissiper; (exorcize → ghost) exorciser; (refute → rumour) démentir

(j) (bet) faire;

∎ I'll lay you ten to one that she won't come je te parie à dix contre un qu'elle ne viendra pas

(k) very familiar (have sex with) s'envoyer;

∎ to get laid s'envoyer en l'air

(l) literary (strike)

∎ to lay a whip across sb's back fouetter qn

(m) literary (cause to settle) faire retomber;

∎ the rain helped to lay the dust la pluie a fait retomber la poussière

(n) (with adjective complements)

∎ to lay oneself open to criticism s'exposer à la critique

3 intransitive verb

(a) (bird, fish) pondre

(b) = lie vi

4 adjective

(a) (non-clerical) laïque;

∎ in lay dress en habit laïque

(b) (not professional) profane, non spécialiste;

∎ the book is intended for a lay audience le livre est destiné à un public de profanes

5 noun

(a) very familiar (person)

∎ he's/she's a good lay c'est un bon coup

(b) (poem, song) lai m

►► Religion lay brother frère m lai;

lay days starie f, jours mpl de planche;

Art lay figure mannequin m;

lay person profane mf, non-initié(e) m,f;

lay preacher prédicateur(trice) m,f laïque;

lay reader prédicateur(trice) m,f laïque;

lay sister sœur f converse

➲ lay about inseparable transitive verb

familiar (attack) attaquer^□, taper sur^□ ;

∎ she laid about him with her umbrella elle l'a attaqué à coups de parapluie, elle lui a tapé dessus avec son parapluie;

∎ to lay about one (hit out) frapper de tous côtés

➲ lay aside separable transitive verb

(a) (put down) mettre de côté;

∎ she laid her knitting aside to watch the news elle posa son tricot pour regarder les informations;

∎ figurative you should lay aside any personal opinions you might have vous devez faire abstraction de toute opinion personnelle

(b) (save) mettre de côté;

∎ we have some money laid aside nous avons de l'argent de côté

➲ lay back separable transitive verb

(of horse → ears) rabattre, coucher

➲ lay by separable transitive verb

British (provisions) mettre de côté

➲ lay down separable transitive verb

(a) (put down) poser;

∎ she laid her knife and fork down elle posa son couvert;

∎ to lay down one's arms déposer ou rendre les armes

(b) (renounce, relinquish) renoncer à;

∎ to lay down one's life se sacrifier

(c) (formulate, set out → plan, rule) formuler, établir; (→ condition) imposer; (→ duties) spécifier;

∎ as laid down in the contract, the buyer keeps exclusive rights il est stipulé ou il est bien précisé dans le contrat que l'acheteur garde l'exclusivité

(d) Nautical (ship) mettre en chantier ou sur cale

(e) (store → wine) mettre en cave

(f) Music (record → song, track) enregistrer

(g) Agriculture (field, land)

∎ he has laid down five acres of barley il a semé deux hectares et demi d'orge

➲ lay in separable transitive verb

(stores) faire provision de;

∎ to lay in provisions faire des provisions;

∎ we've laid in plenty of food for the weekend nous avons prévu beaucoup de nourriture pour le week-end;

∎ Commerce to lay in goods or stock faire provision de marchandises

➲ lay into inseparable transitive verb

(a) (attack → physically) tomber (à bras raccourcis) sur; (→ verbally) prendre à partie, passer un savon à;

∎ he really laid into his opponent il est tombé à bras raccourcis sur son adversaire;

∎ she laid into the government for their hard-line attitude elle a pris le gouvernement à partie pour son attitude intransigeante

(b) (eat greedily) se jeter sur

➲ lay off

1 separable transitive verb

(a) (employees) licencier; (temporarily) mettre en chômage technique

(b) (in gambling → bet) couvrir

(c) Insurance

∎ to lay off a risk effectuer une réassurance

(d) Football

∎ to lay the ball off for sb placer le ballon en bonne position pour qn

2 inseparable transitive verb familiar

(a) to lay off sb (stop annoying, nagging) ficher la paix à qn;

∎ just lay off me! fiche-moi la paix!;

∎ I told her to lay off my husband je lui ai dit de laisser mon mari tranquille^□

(b) (abstain from)

∎ to lay off the chocolate ne plus manger de chocolat^□ ;

∎ to lay off the cigarettes s'arrêter de fumer^□ ;

∎ you'd better lay off the booze for a while tu devrais t'arrêter de boire pendant quelque temps^□ ;

∎ familiar lay off it, will you! laisse tomber, tu veux!

3 intransitive verb

familiar (drop the subject) laisser tomber;

∎ lay off! (leave me alone) fiche-moi la paix!

➲ lay on separable transitive verb

(a) (provide) fournir;

∎ drinks will be laid on les boissons seront fournies;

∎ the meal was laid on by our hosts le repas nous fut offert par nos hôtes;

∎ they had transport laid on for us ils s'étaient occupés de nous procurer un moyen de transport;

∎ I'll lay on a car for you at the station j'enverrai une voiture vous chercher à la gare

(b) British (install) installer, mettre;

∎ the caravan has electricity laid on la caravane a l'électricité

(c) (spread → paint, plaster) étaler;

∎ familiar figurative to lay it on thick or with a trowel en rajouter

(d) American familiar

∎ to lay sth on sb (give) filer qch à qn; (tell) raconter qch à qn^□ ;

∎ let me lay some advice on you je vais te filer un bon conseil;

∎ did she lay a heavy one on me! elle n'a pas mâché ses mots!

(e) familiar (idiom)

∎ if you're not careful, I'll lay one on you! (hit) fais gaffe ou je t'en mets une!

➲ lay out separable transitive verb

(a) (arrange, spread out) étaler;

∎ he laid his wares out on the ground il a étalé ou déballé sa marchandise sur le sol

(b) (present, put forward) exposer, présenter;

∎ her ideas are clearly laid out in her book ses idées sont clairement exposées dans son livre

(c) (design) concevoir;

∎ the house is badly laid out la maison est mal agencée

(d) (corpse) faire la toilette de

(e) (spend) mettre;

∎ we've already laid out a fortune on the project nous avons déjà mis une fortune dans ce projet

(f) (knock out) assommer, mettre K-O;

∎ he was laid out cold il a été mis K-O

(g) Typography faire la maquette de, monter

➲ lay over intransitive verb

American (stop off) faire une halte, faire escale

➲ lay to Nautical

1 intransitive verb

se mettre en panne

2 separable transitive verb

mettre en panne

➲ lay up separable transitive verb British

(a) (store, save) mettre de côté;

∎ figurative you're just laying up trouble for yourself tu te prépares des ennuis

(b) (confine to bed) aliter;

∎ she's laid up with mumps elle est au lit avec les oreillons

(c) (ship) désarmer; (car) mettre au garage;

∎ my car is laid up ma voiture est au garage

SUBJECT AREA: Civil engineering, Land transport, Railways and locomotives, Telecommunications

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Gooch gained experience as a pupil with several successive engineering firms, including Vulcan Foundry and Robert Stephenson \& Co. In 1837 he was engaged by I.K. Brunel, who was then building the Great Western Railway (GWR) to the broad gauge of 7 ft 1/4 in. (2.14 m), to take charge of the railway's locomotive department. He was just 21 years old. The initial locomotive stock comprised several locomotives built to such extreme specifications laid down by Brunel that they were virtually unworkable, and two 2–2–2 locomotives, North Star and Morning Star, which had been built by Robert Stephenson \& Co. but left on the builder's hands. These latter were reliable and were perpetuated. An enlarged version, the "Fire Fly" class, was designed by Gooch and built in quantity: Gooch was an early proponent of standardization. His highly successful 4–2–2 Iron Duke of 1847 became the prototype of GWR express locomotives for the next forty-five years, until the railway's last broad-gauge sections were narrowed. Meanwhile Gooch had been largely responsible for establishing Swindon Works, opened in 1843. In 1862 he designed 2–4–0 condensing tank locomotives to work the first urban underground railway, the Metropolitan Railway in London. Gooch retired in 1864 but was then instrumental in arranging for Brunel's immense steamship Great Eastern to be used to lay the first transatlantic electric telegraph cable: he was on board when the cable was successfully laid in 1866. He had been elected Member of Parliament for Cricklade (which constituency included Swindon) in 1865, and the same year he had accepted an invitation to become Chairman of the Great Western Railway Company, which was in financial difficulties; he rescued it from near bankruptcy and remained Chairman until shortly before his death. The greatest engineering work undertaken during his chairmanship was the boring of the Severn Tunnel.

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SUBJECT AREA: Electricity, Land transport, Railways and locomotives

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Werner von Siemens was the eldest of a large family and after the early death of his parents took his place at its head. He served in the Prussian artillery, being commissioned in 1839, after which he devoted himself to the study of chemistry and physics. In 1847 Siemens and J.G. Halske formed a company, Telegraphen-Bauanstalt von Siemens und Halske, to manufacture a dial telegraph which they had developed from an earlier instrument produced by Charles Wheatstone. In 1848 Siemens obtained his discharge from the army and he and Halske constructed the first long-distance telegraph line on the European continent, between Berlin and Frankfurt am Main.

Werner von Siemens's younger brother, William Siemens, had settled in Britain in 1844 and was appointed agent for the Siemens \& Halske company in 1851. Later, an English subsidiary company was formed, known from 1865 as Siemens Brothers. It specialized in manufacturing and laying submarine telegraph cables: the specialist cable-laying ship Faraday, launched for the purpose in 1874, was the prototype of later cable ships and in 1874–5 laid the first cable to run direct from the British Isles to the USA. In charge of Siemens Brothers was another brother, Carl, who had earlier established a telegraph network in Russia.

In 1866 Werner von Siemens demonstrated the principle of the dynamo in Germany, but it took until 1878 to develop dynamos and electric motors to the point at which they could be produced commercially. The following year, 1879, Werner von Siemens built the first electric railway, and operated it at the Berlin Trades Exhibition. It comprised an oval line, 300 m (985 it) long, with a track gauge of 1 m (3 ft 3 1/2 in.); upon this a small locomotive hauled three small passenger coaches. The locomotive drew current at 150 volts from a third rail between the running rails, through which it was returned. In four months, more than 80,000 passengers were carried. The railway was subsequently demonstrated in Brussels, and in London, in 1881. That same year Siemens built a permanent electric tramway, 1 1/2 miles (2 1/2 km) long, on the outskirts of Berlin. In 1882 in Berlin he tried out a railless electric vehicle which drew electricity from a two-wire overhead line: this was the ancestor of the trolleybus.

In the British Isles, an Act of Parliament was obtained in 1880 for the Giant's Causeway Railway in Ireland with powers to work it by "animal, mechanical or electrical power"; although Siemens Brothers were electrical engineers to the company, of which William Siemens was a director, delays in construction were to mean that the first railway in the British Isles to operate regular services by electricity was that of Magnus Volk.

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SUBJECT AREA: Land transport, Mining and extraction technology, Railways and locomotives

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The Wylam wagonway passed Newburn, and Hedley, who went to school at Wylam, must have been familiar with this wagonway from childhood. It had been built c.1748 to carry coal from Wylam Colliery to the navigable limit of the Tyne at Lemington. In 1805 Hedley was appointed viewer, or manager, of Wylam Colliery by Christopher Blackett, who had inherited the colliery and wagonway in 1800. Unlike most Tyneside wagonways, the gradient of the Wylam line was insufficient for loaded wagons to run down by gravity and they had to be hauled by horses. Blackett had a locomotive, of the type designed by Richard Trevithick, built at Gateshead as early as 1804 but did not take delivery, probably because his wooden track was not strong enough. In 1808 Blackett and Hedley relaid the wagonway with plate rails of the type promoted by Benjamin Outram, and in 1812, following successful introduction of locomotives at Middleton by John Blenkinsop, Blackett asked Hedley to investigate the feasibility of locomotives at Wylam. The expense of re-laying with rack rails was unwelcome, and Hedley experimented to find out the relationship between the weight of a locomotive and the load it could move relying on its adhesion weight alone. He used first a model test carriage, which survives at the Science Museum, London, and then used a full-sized test carriage laden with weights in varying quantities and propelled by men turning handles. Having apparently satisfied himself on this point, he had a locomotive incorporating the frames and wheels of the test carriage built. The work was done at Wylam by Thomas Waters, who was familiar with the 1804 locomotive, Timothy Hackworth, foreman smith, and Jonathan Forster, enginewright. This locomotive, with cast-iron boiler and single cylinder, was unsatisfactory: Hackworth and Forster then built another locomotive to Hedley's design, with a wrought-iron return-tube boiler, two vertical external cylinders and drive via overhead beams through pinions to the two axles. This locomotive probably came into use in the spring of 1814: it performed well and further examples of the type were built. Their axle loading, however, was too great for the track and from about 1815 each locomotive was mounted on two four-wheeled bogies, the bogie having recently been invented by William Chapman. Hedley eventually left Wylam in 1827 to devote himself to other colliery interests. He supported the construction of the Clarence Railway, opened in 1833, and sent his coal over it in trains hauled by his own locomotives. Two of his Wylam locomotives survive— Puffing Billy at the Science Museum, London, and Wylam Dilly at the Royal Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh—though how much of these is original and how much dates from the period 1827–32, when the Wylam line was re-laid with edge rails and the locomotives reverted to four wheels (with flanges), is a matter of mild controversy.

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See also: Stephenson, George

SUBJECT AREA: Land transport, Railways and locomotives

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George Stephenson was the son of the fireman of the pumping engine at Wylam colliery, and horses drew wagons of coal along the wooden rails of the Wylam wagonway past the house in which he was born and spent his earliest childhood. While still a child he worked as a cowherd, but soon moved to working at coal pits. At 17 years of age he showed sufficient mechanical talent to be placed in charge of a new pumping engine, and had already achieved a job more responsible than that of his father. Despite his position he was still illiterate, although he subsequently learned to read and write. He was largely self-educated.

In 1801 he was appointed Brakesman of the winding engine at Black Callerton pit, with responsibility for lowering the miners safely to their work. Then, about two years later, he became Brakesman of a new winding engine erected by Robert Hawthorn at Willington Quay on the Tyne. Returning collier brigs discharged ballast into wagons and the engine drew the wagons up an inclined plane to the top of "Ballast Hill" for their contents to be tipped; this was one of the earliest applications of steam power to transport, other than experimentally.

In 1804 Stephenson moved to West Moor pit, Killingworth, again as Brakesman. In 1811 he demonstrated his mechanical skill by successfully modifying a new and unsatisfactory atmospheric engine, a task that had defeated the efforts of others, to enable it to pump a drowned pit clear of water. The following year he was appointed Enginewright at Killingworth, in charge of the machinery in all the collieries of the "Grand Allies", the prominent coal-owning families of Wortley, Liddell and Bowes, with authorization also to work for others. He built many stationary engines and he closely examined locomotives of John Blenkinsop's type on the Kenton \& Coxlodge wagonway, as well as those of William Hedley at Wylam.

It was in 1813 that Sir Thomas Liddell requested George Stephenson to build a steam locomotive for the Killingworth wagonway: Blucher made its first trial run on 25 July 1814 and was based on Blenkinsop's locomotives, although it lacked their rack-and-pinion drive. George Stephenson is credited with building the first locomotive both to run on edge rails and be driven by adhesion, an arrangement that has been the conventional one ever since. Yet Blucher was far from perfect and over the next few years, while other engineers ignored the steam locomotive, Stephenson built a succession of them, each an improvement on the last.

During this period many lives were lost in coalmines from explosions of gas ignited by miners' lamps. By observation and experiment (sometimes at great personal risk) Stephenson invented a satisfactory safety lamp, working independently of the noted scientist Sir Humphry Davy who also invented such a lamp around the same time.

In 1817 George Stephenson designed his first locomotive for an outside customer, the Kilmarnock \& Troon Railway, and in 1819 he laid out the Hetton Colliery Railway in County Durham, for which his brother Robert was Resident Engineer. This was the first railway to be worked entirely without animal traction: it used inclined planes with stationary engines, self-acting inclined planes powered by gravity, and locomotives.

On 19 April 1821 Stephenson was introduced to Edward Pease, one of the main promoters of the Stockton \& Darlington Railway (S \& DR), which by coincidence received its Act of Parliament the same day. George Stephenson carried out a further survey, to improve the proposed line, and in this he was assisted by his 18-year-old son, Robert Stephenson, whom he had ensured received the theoretical education which he himself lacked. It is doubtful whether either could have succeeded without the other; together they were to make the steam railway practicable.

At George Stephenson's instance, much of the S \& DR was laid with wrought-iron rails recently developed by John Birkinshaw at Bedlington Ironworks, Morpeth. These were longer than cast-iron rails and were not brittle: they made a track well suited for locomotives. In June 1823 George and Robert Stephenson, with other partners, founded a firm in Newcastle upon Tyne to build locomotives and rolling stock and to do general engineering work: after its Managing Partner, the firm was called Robert Stephenson \& Co.

In 1824 the promoters of the Liverpool \& Manchester Railway (L \& MR) invited George Stephenson to resurvey their proposed line in order to reduce opposition to it. William James, a wealthy land agent who had become a visionary protagonist of a national railway network and had seen Stephenson's locomotives at Killingworth, had promoted the L \& MR with some merchants of Liverpool and had carried out the first survey; however, he overreached himself in business and, shortly after the invitation to Stephenson, became bankrupt. In his own survey, however, George Stephenson lacked the assistance of his son Robert, who had left for South America, and he delegated much of the detailed work to incompetent assistants. During a devastating Parliamentary examination in the spring of 1825, much of his survey was shown to be seriously inaccurate and the L \& MR's application for an Act of Parliament was refused. The railway's promoters discharged Stephenson and had their line surveyed yet again, by C.B. Vignoles.

The Stockton \& Darlington Railway was, however, triumphantly opened in the presence of vast crowds in September 1825, with Stephenson himself driving the locomotive Locomotion, which had been built at Robert Stephenson \& Co.'s Newcastle works. Once the railway was at work, horse-drawn and gravity-powered traffic shared the line with locomotives: in 1828 Stephenson invented the horse dandy, a wagon at the back of a train in which a horse could travel over the gravity-operated stretches, instead of trotting behind.

Meanwhile, in May 1826, the Liverpool \& Manchester Railway had successfully obtained its Act of Parliament. Stephenson was appointed Engineer in June, and since he and Vignoles proved incompatible the latter left early in 1827. The railway was built by Stephenson and his staff, using direct labour. A considerable controversy arose c. 1828 over the motive power to be used: the traffic anticipated was too great for horses, but the performance of the reciprocal system of cable haulage developed by Benjamin Thompson appeared in many respects superior to that of contemporary locomotives. The company instituted a prize competition for a better locomotive and the Rainhill Trials were held in October 1829.

Robert Stephenson had been working on improved locomotive designs since his return from America in 1827, but it was the L \& MR's Treasurer, Henry Booth, who suggested the multi-tubular boiler to George Stephenson. This was incorporated into a locomotive built by Robert Stephenson for the trials: Rocket was entered by the three men in partnership. The other principal entrants were Novelty, entered by John Braithwaite and John Ericsson, and Sans Pareil, entered by Timothy Hackworth, but only Rocket, driven by George Stephenson, met all the organizers' demands; indeed, it far surpassed them and demonstrated the practicability of the long-distance steam railway. With the opening of the Liverpool \& Manchester Railway in 1830, the age of railways began.

Stephenson was active in many aspects. He advised on the construction of the Belgian State Railway, of which the Brussels-Malines section, opened in 1835, was the first all-steam railway on the European continent. In England, proposals to link the L \& MR with the Midlands had culminated in an Act of Parliament for the Grand Junction Railway in 1833: this was to run from Warrington, which was already linked to the L \& MR, to Birmingham. George Stephenson had been in charge of the surveys, and for the railway's construction he and J.U. Rastrick were initially Principal Engineers, with Stephenson's former pupil Joseph Locke under them; by 1835 both Stephenson and Rastrick had withdrawn and Locke was Engineer-in-Chief. Stephenson remained much in demand elsewhere: he was particularly associated with the construction of the North Midland Railway (Derby to Leeds) and related lines. He was active in many other places and carried out, for instance, preliminary surveys for the Chester \& Holyhead and Newcastle \& Berwick Railways, which were important links in the lines of communication between London and, respectively, Dublin and Edinburgh.

He eventually retired to Tapton House, Chesterfield, overlooking the North Midland. A man who was self-made (with great success) against colossal odds, he was ever reluctant, regrettably, to give others their due credit, although in retirement, immensely wealthy and full of honour, he was still able to mingle with people of all ranks.

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SUBJECT AREA: Land transport, Railways and locomotives, Telecommunications

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After private education and an engineering apprenticeship, Crampton worked under Marc Brunel, Daniel Gooch and the Rennie brothers before setting up as a civil engineer in 1848. His developing ideas on locomotive design were expressed through a series of five patents taken out between 1842 and 1849, each making a multiplicity of claims. The most typical feature of the Crampton locomotive, however, was a single pair of driving wheels set to the rear of the firebox. This meant they could be of large diameter, while the centre of gravity of the locomotive remained low, for the boiler barrel, though large, had only small carrying-wheels beneath it. The cylinders were approximately midway along the boiler and were outside the frames, as was the valve gear. The result was a steady-riding locomotive which neither pitched about a central driving axle nor hunted from side to side, as did other contemporary locomotives, and its working parts were unusually accessible for maintenance. However, adhesive weight was limited and the long wheelbase tended to damage track. Locomotives of this type were soon superseded on British railways, although they lasted much longer in Germany and France. Locomotives built to the later patents incorporated a long, coupled wheelbase with drive through an intermediate crankshaft, but they mostly had only short lives. In 1851 Crampton, with associates, laid the first successful submarine electric telegraph cable. The previous year the brothers Jacob and John Brett had laid a cable, comprising a copper wire insulated with gutta-percha, beneath the English Channel from Dover to Cap Gris Nez: signals were passed but within a few hours the cable failed. Crampton joined the Bretts' company, put up half the capital needed for another attempt, and designed a much stronger cable. Four gutta-percha-insulated copper wires were twisted together, surrounded by tarred hemp and armoured by galvanized iron wires; this cable was successful.

Crampton was also active in railway civil engineering and in water and gas engineering, and c. 1882 he invented a hydraulic tunnel-boring machine intended for a Channel tunnel.

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SUBJECT AREA: Mining and extraction technology

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Huntingdon Beaumont was a younger son of a landed family whose estates included coal-mines at Coleorton and Bedworth. From these, no doubt, originated his great expertise in coal-mining and mine management. His subsequent story is a complex one of speculation in coal mines: agreements, partnerships, and debts, and, in trying to extricate himself from the last, attempts to improve profitability, and ever-greater enterprises. He leased mines in 1601 at Wollaton, near Nottingham, and in 1603 at Strelley, which adjoins Wollaton but is further from Nottingham, where lay the market for coal. To reduce the transport cost of Strelley coal, Beaumont laid a wooden wagonway for two miles or so to Wollaton Lane End, the point at which the coal was customarily sold. In earlier times wooden railways had probably been used in mines, following practice on the European continent, but Beaumont's was the first on the surface in Britain. The market for coal in Nottingham being limited, Beaumont, with partners, attempted to send coal to London by water, but the difficult navigation of the Trent at this period made the venture uneconomic. With a view still to supplying London, c.1605 they took leases of mines near Blyth, north of Newcastle upon Tyne. Here too Beaumont built wagonways, to convey coal to the coast, but despite considerable expenditure the mines could not be made economic and Beaumont returned to Strelley. Although he worked the mine night and day, he was unable to meet the demands of his creditors, who eventually had him imprisoned for debt. He died in gaol.

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