Press Releases
The People's Museum
Date:
2006-05-18The National Waterfront Museum is one of some 70 museums to feature in a special series to be shown on BBC2 later this month.The People's Museum begins on BBC2 on Monday 15 May at 3.30 pm. Four museums appear in each programme, with each museum putting forward a star item. Viewers will be invited to vote for their favourite star item from each programme: the winner will be included in a virtual People's Museum.
We are scheduled to be broadcast on Thursday 8 June at 3.30 pm — and our star item is the Penydarren Locomotive.
Why this? Well, the Penydarren tramroad locomotive, built by Cornish engineer Richard Trevithick in 1803–04, was the first steam locomotive to run on rails anywhere in the world. On 21 February 1804, the locomotive ran from Penydarren in Merthyr Tydfil to Abercynon, a distance of nine miles, hauling ten tons of iron billets and seventy excited ’passengers’ who had clambered aboard! Up until then, the fastest mode of transport for mankind was on horseback: by the end of the 19nth century, steam-powered railways had reached most corners of the world, whisking large numbers of people along at speeds of over sixty miles an hour. This locomotive truly initiated a transport revolution.
We will post more information on how to vote us into The People's Museum as soon as we can.