The beginning of manufacturing

I am planning to post extracts from my books on British Manufacturing history 

As a process the Industrial Revolution really only became visible after it had been running for some years; there was no big bang. A number of interrelated factors contributed to it. I start by recognising features of the island nation.

Seafaring was a way of life for a sizeable minority, and this involved exploration of foreign lands as well as the more obviously fishing and coastal transport. The British were an adventurous people. They were also a trading people, and foreign lands offered opportunities for buying and selling. The British had been building ships in hundreds of places around our coastline for centuries. Ships were made of wood and powered by sail. As trade increased, so did the need for size and speed. A shipping industry began to grow. It was driven all the time by the magnetism of trade as adventurers discovered countries and their exotic produce, and merchants imported raw materials and exported goods in ever growing quantities and people in ever growing numbers.

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