Science and Fiction

Last week's commute was accompanied by H.G. Wells' 'The Time Machine', a book I've been intending to read for more years than I can remember. My closing impression of the novel was its huge influence over the science fiction genre that followed it - particularly Doctor Who; I found between its pages the shape and movement of the TARDIS, the colour of the time vortex and plenty of Saturday tea-time aliens. So much for an original TV show!

But it's my opening impression that really fired my imagination. The story begins with a group of well-heeled professional men gathered after a satisfying dinner in an opulent house, waxing-lyrical over scientific possibilities. Immediately a vision came to mind of Matthew Boulton's Lunar Society meeting in Birmingham's Soho House.

The Lunar Society was a club for some of the brightest minds in science, philosophy and learning of the 18th and early 19th Centuries. This power-house of industrial revolutionary thought came together in Boulton's home to discuss ideas and conduct experiments on electricity, geology and meteorology, amongst other topics.

Matthew Boulton himself was one of the leading figures of Britain's industrial age. In today's world he would probably be called a marketing guru or entrepreneur, being the business brains behind inventions by business partner James Watt, as well as innovating with a host of manufacturing processes.

Soho House

He acquired Soho House in what is now an inner-city suburb (Handsworth), but was then nearer countryside, and founded an estate which included the most modern and possibly the largest factory of its day. Now only part of the house remains, but it has been lovingly restored to its former Georgian splendour, and filled with artefacts belonging to Boulton and Birmingham's scientific heritage.

We enjoyed an excellent guided tour of the house thanks to Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery, which managed to pack into 45 minutes facts about the house and its features, the work of Boulton and the Lunar Society, and the personal life of the man. I walked out of the grand doors into the sunny garden completely inspired, and proud of the legacy of my adopted city,

So while the Lunar Society never did invent a time-machine, it doesn't take much of a stretch of the imagination to fancy that they could have done, just as Wells later envisaged!

Soho House is sadly only open in the spring and summer but is definitely worth the wait. Public transport is the metro to Soho Benson Road plus a short walk, or buses 74 and 79 down Soho Road. Soho House museum has also just received funding for a new exhibition and more refurbishment work - excellent news.