To Infinity …
From Concorde to the Matthew—five centuries of British exploration and innovation in one day. The aerospace museum showed how Britain pushed flight boundaries to supersonic passenger travel. Concorde was elegant, fast, ultimately unsustainable. The Matthew represents when crossing the Atlantic was as audacious as breaking the sound barrier. Both required technical innovation, financial backing, willingness to risk everything on unproven ideas. The Matthew led to centuries of transatlantic trade. Concorde lasted twenty-seven years. Different outcomes, same human drive.
Five Centuries in One Day
September 10, 2025
Walked to Coffee#1 with my laptop to test my VPN on a different network. It worked there. I think I've figured out the issue—Ian's local network address space (192.168.1) overlaps with my home network space. When I VPN in, it has trouble resolving addresses correctly. Some work to do when I get home.
We went to Tesco to stock up on supplies. Tesco has an interesting system—you pick up a hand scanner when you go in and scan each item as you put it in your basket. When you leave, you just pay. Quick and easy.
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| The Last Concorde |
Next we went into Bristol where I had a surprise waiting, though I didn't know it. Took the park and ride into town. We were wandering around the docks and saw the Matthew come in—a replica of John Cabot's ship that discovered North America, by some interpretations. It was cool. I took some pictures.
Then I found out that was where our fish & chips dinner was. We boarded and sailed down the Avon. The only negative was that it was pouring rain off and on. Other than that it was a fun trip and the fish was pretty good too.
From Concorde to the Matthew—spanning five centuries of British exploration and innovation in one day. The aerospace museum showed how Britain pushed the boundaries of flight, from early aviation through to supersonic passenger travel. The Concorde was the pinnacle of that ambition—elegant, fast, and ultimately unsustainable.
The Matthew represents a different kind of exploration, when crossing the Atlantic was as audacious as breaking the sound barrier. Standing on the replica, sailing down the same waters that connected Bristol to the world's trade routes, you get a sense of how exploration and commerce have always been linked.
Both projects required the same combination of technical innovation, financial backing, and willingness to risk everything on an unproven idea. The Matthew led to centuries of transatlantic trade. Concorde lasted 27 years. Different outcomes, same human drive to go farther and faster than anyone thought possible.
Images can be found here: https://beloretrato0.picflow.com/d43bka91mw/kj640334j2
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