Ronald Top examines how railways conquered the mountains, with a little help from George Stevenson. He's in the Alps to see how funicular railways work.

Why steam engines were developed during the Industrial Revolution to solve a range of engineering and social problems

Mark Williams learns how frantic competition among Welsh rivals drove the development and installation of the world's first steam locomotive

Mark Williams discovers how comfortable cotton fabrics became available to everyone with the introduction of water-powered textile mills

The use of gas to power the machines and inventions from the Industrial Revolution are explained by Mark Williams

How mass-produced, high-quality steel and the development of structured transport systems in northern England created a world-renowned industry

How Thomas Telford and the Darby family used iron to create new transport routes during the Industrial Revolution.

Flight has always been humanity's dream. Ronald Top discovers that thanks to some paper thrown onto a fire, a duck, a cock and a sheep, it was made possible.

Eiffel was the world's greatest exponent of the use of iron in construction, creating the his famous Tower in 1889. How did engineering in iron reach such heights?

For centuries craftsmen and women turned natural fibres into clothes. Ronald Topp explores what happened when machines began to replace manual labour.

Ronald Topp investigates the new techniques and ways of working that turned local potteries into an international industry.

How the Leeds and Liverpool Canal turned two rival counties into hotbeds of activity, bringing wealth to mill owners during the Industrial Revolution

Mark Williams discovers how engineer James Brindley tunnelled through hills in a straight line, and details the emergence of Josiah Wedgwood's pottery business as a global industry

Mark Williams discovers how 19th-century hats were made of rabbit fur that had been shrunk in urine

With industrialisation, there were more mouths in towns and cities to feed and fewer men left to work the land. So how did food production keep up?

Cities were traditionally developed around water until the railway age expanded their boundaries. As the population grew, how did they cope?

Ronald Top examines the beginnings of motor cars. Benz and Daimler were early pioneers, but prior to that there were attempts at steam-powered road vehicles.

Waterways are flourishing in Europe, but how is it that a system designed for 17th-century trade is still viable in the 21st? Ronald Topp finds out.