A Man for All Engines

James Watt was a mechanical engineer with a sideline in incredible inventions. He has recently re-appeared on our horizons in The Boat That Guy Built on BBC One on Wednesdays (watch tonight at 7.30pm).

Guy Martin, the programme’s narrator, reminds me somewhat of Fred Dibnah, the late steeplejack. Indeed Guy delights in the 1817 steam engine built by James Watt which is now a work of art on Dartmouth Circus, a roundabout at the start of the A38 motorway in our native Birmingham.

So what’s the connection to James Watt Esquire? Our workshops, where we toil to create new cufflinks, was Mr Watt’s home from 1777 to 1790. Imagine, just one year after the American Declaration of Independence was signed. During this time Watt invented the centrifugal governor. Clearly Watt was living in an inspirational location.

Perhaps we should create some appropriate cufflinks in his honour?