Leiston Museum Honors Industrial Pioneers
By Marilyn Loeser
I ts
quiet in the museum.
The only sound is footfalls made by a trio of tourists
passing by displays as they admire centuries of industrial ingenuity.
Its easy to imagine the ghosts of long-ago designers and
engineers talking about the latest ideas and products, the clamor of machinery
and the gears of industry turning between 1776 and 1981.
 For more than two centuries, Leiston a small community in
eastern Suffolk, England was a thriving manufacturing town dominated by
Richard Garrett & Sons, the owners of the Leiston Works.
 In
1778, Richard Garrett a blacksmith making farm implements such as sickles
moved from his first business location in Woodbridge to Leiston. There he set up
an agricultural engineering workshop which, under his grandson, Richard Garrett
III, became the first in England and one of the first in the world to use
production line techniques.
 Today, the only memory of this time is kept alive by
longtime Leiston residents and the Long Shop Museum. The museum is housed in
part of the original industrial complex where agricultural machinery,
steam engines,
trolleybuses,
munitions during military conflicts and any number of other products were made.
The Leiston Works is most famous for its portable steam engines and
threshers. The rest of the massive industrial compound has been demolished
and the land used for housing.
 In 1919, the family business joined forces with
Agricultural & General Engineers (AGE). The partnership failed in 1932 and
was purchased by
Beyer Peacock. The business continued as Richard Garrett Engineering Works
until it closed in 1981.
 As
with any museum, some rooms are dedicated to the founders, their accomplishments
and personal affects.
Several areas feature large black and white photos
illustrating another time when the bustling complex turned out everything from
clothes dryers to Gypsy wagons 200 years of Leiston's social and industrial
history.
Long Shop was built in 1852/53 for the assembly line
production of portable steam engines.
 Wandering
through the brick and concrete structure, guests will find an impressive
collection of products made at Garretts including traction engines, seed drills
and dry cleaning machines.
There also is a History of Steam exhibition which
illustrates the history of steam from its earliest period when it was
discovered that steam had power and energy to the 21st century and
Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) Nuclear Power Stations.
Whether your interest is in industrial history or just
history i n
general, you are sure to enjoy an hour or a day here in this time capsule Long
Shop Museum.
Long Shop Museum is located on Main Street, Leiston,
Suffolk.
For more information on times, admission and special
programs, check the website at
www.longshop.care4free.net. |
