Why are the words ‘Facts not Opinions’ carved over the door at 99 Southwark Street?
This is Kirkaldy’s Testing and Experimenting Works, and it was the world’s first independent commercial materials testing house, right here in Bankside’s original innovation district. From the day it opened on 1 January 1874 huge samples of bridges and other engineering structures arrived here from around the world to be tested to destruction on David Kirkaldy’s patented 116-ton ‘Universal Testing Machine’. Kirkaldy’s ‘facts’ were transforming the ‘opinions’ that underpinned Victorian cities.
Today, thanks to a small group of passionate volunteers, you can still experience David Kirkaldy’s single-minded ingenuity. Take the tour and you will see – and smell – the authentic workshop with its working machines, bringing the story of materials testing and the Kirkaldy family to life. It’s a direct link with a pioneering age of engineering and thanks to an education programme being developed with local schools, now it is inspiring future generations. Go and visit - you might even get to break something yourself!
[post_title] => 5 Aug - Kirkaldy Testing Works tour [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => closed [post_password] => [post_name] => 5-aug-kirkaldy-testing-works-tour [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2025-06-20 01:20:39 [post_modified_gmt] => 2025-06-20 00:20:39 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://betterbankside.co.uk/?post_type=event&p=6398 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => event [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [3] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 6394 [post_author] => 11 [post_date] => 2025-06-10 16:13:08 [post_date_gmt] => 2025-06-10 15:13:08 [post_content] =>Join ghost signs expert Sam Roberts for a leisurely stroll through Bankside, learning about the area's fading painted signs. Sam will tell the stories of the signs and the companies they advertised, supported by a collection of archival photography and other contextual images.
Join Katie Wignall, Blue Badge Tourist Guide and Founder of Look Up London on a walk revealing the exciting, inspiring and courageous women of Bankside.
The walk will explore the stories of woman who lived and worked in Bankside, from social pioneers like Octavia Hill, to famous writers like Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley as well as shedding light on lesser known women like unsung heroines Alice Ayres and Janet Johnson.
Wander the backstreets and beautiful hidden gardens of Bankside as you discover the street names, plaques and hidden details that reveal these incredible women.
Meet at Southwark Station - WhatThreeWords - exact location.