John Hearfield - history, RC networks, plumbing, Swaledale, windmills, war stories - an engineer trying to make sense of a puzzling world
Family and Social History
Family history
History, data and stories of Hearfield ancestors (& Knight, & Briggs) from 17th century Hampsthwaite onwards.
Population & National Debt
The population of England began to rise dramatically in 1800, as did the National Debt.
Parson Woodforde's £300
The country vicar James Woodforde managed to live comfortably on £300 a year in the 18th century. How did he do it?
What did bread cost?
If poor people lived mainly on bread, how much of their income did they spend on it?
Berlin-Weimar by air ... NEW
Why did Germany establish the world's first scheduled airline service in 1918?
The Weimar swastikas ... NEW
Was the Weimar Republic promoting the swastika as a national symbol in 1919?
Marion's pages
Swaledale's population fell drastically in the 19th Century. Why? What happened to the people? The Title Deeds of our Gloucestershire house led to a family from Madras, Mayfair, and a Wiltshire vicarage. Marion's wandering researches cover domestic sewers, Stainmore, thoughts whilst ironing, and those persistent cowkeepers. More fun than ironing.
Engineering
Electronics design pages ...
Articles on telecomms, physics, and engineering.
Telecomms: CBS2 exchange, Telephone 332, Reis' telephone, Cheap trunk calls, Wireless Set 'A', Chappe telegraph.
Physics: Capacitance, Energy in capacitors, Electric charge, Inductance.
Engineering: Cavity magnetron, Schmitt trigger, Product design, Heatsinks & reliability, RC network design, Time constant, Useful formulas, and Valves.
Plumbing - is 15mm pipe OK?
The physics and engineering behind the plumbing of a house water supply system, and how to design a system.
Why do the sails go round?
A windmill sail looks like a garden trellis, not an an aircraft's wing - so how does the wind make the sails rotate?
Entertainment
