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?
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
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?
Electronics design ...NEW
Articles on RC network design, heatsinks, telephone circuits, the physics of electric charge, and the magnetron's wartime role in radar.
Entertainment
