It is easy to find examples of transport’s impact on history, but for several reasons it has proven harder to study its intricacies and effects, and over the last thirty years the subject has received little attention, with some even arguing that it has been progressively marginalised within scholarly circles. Whereas decades ago, no book on the nineteenth century would omit the construction of the canals and railways, now their existence and role in shaping the period’s history receives little acknowledgement. The ‘Making the Connections’ one-day workshop seeks to re-invigorate the study of the history of transport by bringing together scholars of different historical periods and from different disciplines. Sponsored by the National Railway Museum, supported by the York Management School’s Management and Organisational History Research Cluster, and run by the York Transport Historians Group – which was established in 2015 and is a joint venture by staff at the National Railway Museum and the University of York – the workshop aims to demonstrate and celebrate transport’s central importance to the grand tapestry of human existence.

Registration details will follow. The full registration fee for the workshop is expected to be around £29, and there are 10 student places available at £10 each.