Episode 1

A visit to Cornwall illuminates the early history of the steam engine in Britain, which was developed to pump water from the tin mines.

Episode 2

How the advent of steam power radically changed the way people travelled.

Episode 3

The Lancastrian steeplejack’s continuing history of steam power charts the role of steam in Britain’s 18th- and 19th-century industrial expansion, and the use of huge stationary steam engines in mills, collieries and steel works until well into the 20th century.

Episode 4

The Lancastrian steeplejack’s continuing history of steam power looks at experiments in the use of steam for road transport that took place a full century before the invention of the car.

Episode 5

A look at how steam power revolutionised shipping, from the earliest paddle steamers with screw propellers to more modern vessels like the Royal Yacht Britannia.

Episode 6

The Lancastrian steeplejack’s history of steam power concludes with a look at today’s powerful steam turbines that generate electricity and the preservation of our steam heritage in museums.