Twenty ways to explore James Watt’s story

The special Watt anniversary year of 2019 is over . . . but there are still plenty of ways to follow in James Watt’s footsteps in 2020.

Here are just a few suggestions – well, 20 of them:

1. Attend the free Watt event at the Bo’ness Hippodrome on January 21, 2020.
2. Explore the Watt exhibits at the revitalised Watt Institution in Greenock.
3. Check out the ongoing Watt displays at the Riverside Museum in Glasgow.
4. Explore the site around Kennetpans – once home to Scotland’s first rotative Boulton & Watt engine.
5. Go on a walking trail around Birmingham and see sites linked with the great inventor.
6. Visit The Hunterian Museum at the University of Glasgow and see the model of the Newcomen Engine that inspired Watt.
7. See Watt’s former workshop at Kinneil Estate, Bo’ness – and visit the nearby museum.
8. Head for London – and see Watt’s Birmingham workshop rebuilt in the Science Museum.
9. Explore Watt’s links with the mining industry at the National Mining Museum at Newtongrange, near Edinburgh.
10. Get arty! The National Portrait Gallery in London features 17 portraits of Watt. You’ll also find a bust of Watt in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh.
11. Check out Crofton Pumping Station in Wiltshire. It’s home to an 1812 Boulton and Watt Engine. 
12. Visit Aston Hall in Birmingham – the impressive mansion that was once home to James Watt’s son, James Watt Jnr.
13. Head along to the National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh. It features a 1786 Boulton and Watt engine.
14. Check out another Boulton and Watt engine at Verdant Works in Dundee.
15. Explore the site around the famous Kelpies near Falkirk. One of the trails along the River Carron leads you to the site of the former Carron Iron Works, founded by Watt’s one-time business partner John Roebuck.
16. Take a break at Cusgarne in Cornwall. Boulton and Watt used to rent a house there. You can rent cottages in the grounds. 
17. Enjoy a visit to Soho House Museum in Birmingham. The mansion now museum celebrates the life of Matthew Boulton and James Watt. The Library of Birmingham also includes the world’s most important archive of the Industrial Revolution, the Boulton & Watt Archive.
18. Visit St. Paul’s Church, in the Jewellery Quarter of Birmingham. Watt used to worship there – and the pews used by the great man and his family are marked for you to visit.
19. You can also visit the site where James Watt is buried, Handsworth Parish Church in Birmingham.
20. Get a selfie with one of the many Watt statues around the country. You’ll find a map to key sites on this website.