Workshops

Each workshop is a set of illustrated notes with a short list of simple materials.

The seven workshops

Tracing the story of a river townAsk “why here?” and find the evidence.
Reading old maps, directories and registersJudge a source before you trust it.
Water millsHow a river turned wheels, stones and early industry.
Bookbinding for beginnersSew a small notebook with a three-hole stitch.
Lettering with a dip penForm even letters with a broad-edged nib.
Plant dyeing at the kitchen tableColour cloth with tea, marigold flowers and walnut hulls.
Block printingCarve a block and print a pattern.

In brief: the main idea in a few sentences.
What it is, why it matters, how it is done: the idea in depth, with tables and steps.
Effects and legacy: what changed, and what remains.
Check yourself: questions with the answers hidden until you open them.
Basis of the facts: where the facts come from.

Big ideas and where they appear
Big idea	Where it appears	Example
Evidence and sources	Local history, maps and records	Compare a map with a directory before trusting a date
Using natural forces	Water mills	Falling water turns a wheel; more drop or flow gives more power
Structure and strength	Bookbinding	Sewn sections and grain direction make a book last
Form and spacing	Lettering	Even white space between letters makes writing easy to read
Chemistry in the kitchen	Plant dyeing	A mordant helps colour bond to the fibre
Repetition and reversal	Block printing	One carved block makes many mirrored prints
Why a place is where it is	River town and mills	Crossings and mill sites drew markets and bridges

A short chronology (dates as documented in the sources)
Date	Event	Workshop
First century BC	Vitruvius describes a gear-driven water wheel for grinding grain	Water mills
113	Trajan’s Column dedicated in Rome; its inscription letters are a model for capitals	Lettering
Around 800	Carolingian minuscule develops	Lettering
868	Diamond Sutra printed in China	Block printing
Around 1455	Gutenberg’s 42-line Bible	Block printing
1538	Parish priests in England ordered to keep registers	Maps and records
1759	Smeaton publishes his experiments on water wheels	Water mills
1837	Civil registration begins in England and Wales	Maps and records
1856	Perkin makes mauveine, the first synthetic dye	Plant dyeing
1906	Johnston publishes his manual of formal lettering	Lettering