Blakelands, Milton Keynes and the Industrial Revolution

As discussed previously, some people in Milton Keynes Council get to have a lot of fun by choosing the themes and street names of the neighbourhoods that make up the new city. Admittedly, there are fewer new grid squares being created these days but I can only imagine the great deal of excitement that someone had with this!

I live in

Blakelands which I think was built in the early to mid-80s and it is a relatively small estate: it’s essentially a handful of streets surrounded by two industrial estates. This may sound awful but in reality, you’d hardly notice the industry as the roads are independent. We also have a lake within the grid square: Tongwell Lake. There is a path all the way around the lake which makes for many pleasant walks around there, as well as the chance to see all sorts of wildlife: we barely even notice that we are next to the M1!

The theme in Blakelands is Industrial Revolution (fitting, given the location within the industrial estates, I guess) however the street names, at least for me, were not that obvious or the ones that would be expected. One day over the holidays we were away from home and realised that not just could we barely remember the street names around ours (how embarrassing) but we also couldn’t identify any of the people whose names we could remember with the exception of Wedgwood. So we spent a very interesting afternoon doing some internet searches and learned an awful lot!

The Industrial Revolution itself of course should need no explanation: a period of growth from about 1760 to 1840 where the methods of production increasingly used machines to produce their outputs. Innovations in textiles, pottery, steam and other technologies in Great Britain led to innumerable changes to the way people lived.

As one would expect from such a long-ranging movement, there are many people involved and there are some notable people who contributed immensely so it must have been some challenge to choose a few to include in the Blakelands street names. There are only 10 streets named in the neighbourhood, and here they are, along with a short description of who they are and what role they played in the Industrial Revolution. But a note of warning: the street names do not include first names, so in a few instances I am not 100% certain that the individual I’ve assigned to the street name is the one that MKC would have chosen - if you spot any errors please do let me know!

I have included links to Wikipedia if you wish to know more but of course, there are other sources of information that you could use. Do share if you have anything to add to this list.

Wedgwood: Josiah Wedgwood (1730 – 1795) founded the Wedgwood company and was an entrepreneur, potter and perhaps even the inventor of modern marketing. He invented several new developments in pottery including finishes and glazes, and also revolutionised the production of these products.

Minton: Thomas Minton (1765 – 1836) was an English potter. Thomas Minton is thought to have worked on chinoiserie landscape patterns including willows, and to have prepared copperplates of them. He founded Thomas Minton & Sons in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, which grew into a major ceramic manufacturing company with an international reputation.

Bessemer: Sir Henry Bessemer (1813 – 1898) was an English inventor, whose steelmaking process would become the most important technique for making steel in the nineteenth century for almost one hundred years from 1856 to 1950. He also played a significant role in establishing the town of Sheffield as a major industrial centre. Bessemer developed his system for blowing air through molten pig iron to remove the impurities. This made steel easier, quicker and cheaper to manufacture, and revolutionized structural engineering. One of the most significant inventors of the Second Industrial Revolution, Bessemer also made over 100 other inventions in the fields of iron, steel and glass. 

Telford: Thomas Telford ( 1757 – 1834) was a Scottish civil engineer, architect and stonemason, and road, bridge and canal builder. He was dubbed The Colossus of Roads (a pun on the Colossus of Rhodes), and, reflecting his command of all types of civil engineering in the early 19th century, he was elected as the first President of the Institution of Civil Engineers.

Metcalfe: John Metcalf ( 1717–1810) was the first professional road builder to emerge during the Industrial Revolution. Blind from the age of six, Metcalf had an eventful life, which was documented by his own account just before his death. He was an accomplished diver, swimmer, card player and fiddler, but was better known for the period between 1765 and 1792 when he built about 180 miles (290 km) of turnpike road, mainly in the north of England and as such, he became known as one of the fathers of the modern road along with Telford, above. (note: I have seen the name spelt with and without the final “e” so I have followed the most common convention above) 

Huntsman: Benjamin Huntsman (1704 – 1776) was an English inventor and manufacturer of cast or crucible steel. Huntsman was able to make satisfactory cast steel, in clay pot crucibles. A flux was added, and they were covered and heated by means of coke for about three hours. The molten steel was then poured into moulds and the crucibles reused. This produced steel that was harder than what was commonly available at the time.

Hargreaves: James Hargreaves (1720 – 1778) was an English weaver, carpenter and inventor who lived and worked in Lancashire, England. He was one of three men responsible for the mechanisation of spinning: Hargreaves is credited with inventing the spinning jenny.

Smeaton: John Smeaton (1724 – 1792) was an English civil engineer responsible for the design of bridges, canals, harbours and lighthouses. He was also a capable mechanical engineer and an eminent physicist. Smeaton was the first self-proclaimed "civil engineer", and is often regarded as the "father of civil engineering". He pioneered the use of hydraulic lime in concrete, using pebbles and powdered brick as aggregate.

Yeomans: Thomas Yeoman (1709 or 1710 – 1781) was a millwright, surveyor and civil engineer who played a significant part in the early industrial revolution and became the first president of the first engineering society in the world, the Society of Civil Engineers, now known as the Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers (presumably in reference to John Smeaton, above).

Tanners: Tanners Wines Ltd (also known as Tanners Wine Merchants or simply Tanners) is a family-owned independent wine merchants company based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. It was founded in 1842 by William Tanner, a sea captain. Admittedly, this is my weakest entry here so would be grateful if anyone has any further ideas on other Tanners that it could be, as all my searches ended up in dead ends.

Let me have your comments!