Workshop

 On Friday I gave my inaugural academic paper to a Freight Transport History workshop at Reading University. As I have previously written prior to the event I was nervous, as I have never presented to such a gathering before. I should not have been worried; it was a very friendly event. It was a great opportunity to meet with other transport historians from the amateur and professional orbit. In some cases I can now put faces to authors that I had only previously read.

 There were also an interesting variety of papers presented. The opening paper concerning the history of containers was surprising as it emphasised how key cranes were to the development of containerisation. Even in the first part of the 20^th Century mobile cranes could not cope with the weight of a container. I also enjoyed the presentation concerning canal history a subject about which I know little and the way that Sheffield’s steel works had developed in relation to transport links. Of course a paper on beer and how it was transported prior to World War 1 is always going to be popular.

It was great to have the support of Laura at the workshop; she certainly lowered the average age of the attendance and the amount of hair that everybody possessed. I was pleased with my paper. It was one of those cases where the amount of practice that I had done was invaluable. Years ago I attended a course on effective presentations where the virtues of practice were emphasised, familiarity with the content just means more confidence in delivery. The paper was well received, and I have been invited to speak at another meeting as well as being encouraged to pursue my research further.

Remote academia can be quite lonely so it was great to be able to network with my peers, discuss ideas and receive encouragement. There was only one downside; I had to face the M1 on a Friday night.