What have you done today with your Austin Seven

[Tony Griffiths]

"Mrs. Jones wasn't quite as impressed"
I recall taking - many years ago - a group of 12-year-old school children (Year 7) to the Manchester Museum of Science and Technology. One of the questions on the worksheet they had to complete was, "How does water flow uphill?" One of the girls asked what that meant, so I explained that, as she lived in a house on a hill, if she filled a bucket with water from the tap, took it outside and poured it into the gutter, it would run downhill. "So", I said, "The question is, how does the water get into your house and all the others on hills in Sheffield? You'll find the answer in the museum." Having found the exhibit of the giant steam-powered water pump, she raced back to me, full of excitement, exclaiming, "That's fantastic! I had no idea they existed. I'd just taken it for granted that, when you turn a tap, water comes out."
Years later, I happened to meet her when out shopping and asked what she was doing. She replied that she'd a PhD in engineering and was working for Ricardo, trying to develop a system that would allow engines to run without oil changes. "How's that going?" I asked. "Not very well!" she replied - and then went on to recall the visit to Manchester and how it had inspired her to become interested in engineering.
Looking at the Museum's website, here's something that I'd not known about: a hydraulic power system beneath Manchester's streets: https://www.scienceandindustrymuseum.org...id=1&pid=4