Posted by Andy Clayton on November 27, 2012 at 07:25:04 user cousin_jack.
In Reply to: Re: BBC Radio 4 AR broadcast posted by Peter Roche on November 24, 2012 at 08:13:22:
I don't think AR had the view of steam engines that we do, now they are no longer an everyday phenomenon. He was rather derogatory of mechanical power in general, it's only through the eyes of Roger that any appreciation is shown. The engine at the start of PP is ignored as is the train at the start of CC. Lake steamers and other steamships are described in terms which portray them as an intrusion into an otherwise peaceful world. (Note Peter Duck's outburst against them!)
Rattletrap gets a good press in a knockabout way and the Come Along in CC is presented as very useful, but other powered machines are mere 'rude mechanicals'.
I would like to know if the Beckfoot launch was steam or internal combustion powered, I don't think it is written anywhere as to what propels it.