This week we were treated to a blockbuster of a talk about the life of Lord William Armstrong. I confess I have only recently become aware of this man, born in Newcastle in 1810, who became a key figure in the creation of a ‘Northern Powerhouse’ for an expanding Great Britain. He was active in so many areas – science (especially electricity), inventions and engineering (especially bridges, reservoirs, ships and armaments). He and his wife also created a marvellous home, Cragside, in Northumberland, which with its landscaped gardens and surrounding estate is now owned and managed by The National Trust.

I was struck by how Armstrong was a ‘networker’ before the term was invented – sharing conversations and collaborating with his peers in society who included Brunel, Faraday, Stephenson and many others. His breadth of vision and his capacity for work across so many different areas were truly remarkable.

What an era that must have been! Our media is full of how our current age is a time of unprecedented change and opportunity (and risk), but Victorian times created so many innovations (engineering hardware rather than today’s virtual software) that powered our country (and our region) into a World leadership role.

Giants like Armstrong, who engineered those changes, became immensely wealthy, established and revered figures, who seemed to think about the less well off (Armstrong built and gave to the people of Newcastle lots of its present day infrastructure), and philanthropy was an important part of his legacy. Cragside itself remains a treasure for our nation to enjoy.

Our current crop of billionaires seem to be a less attractive lot than their Victorian peers, though some do endow vast funds to help improve our world. We seem less positive about the Amazons, Googles and Facebooks of today, and many major companies are owned by anonymous pension funds, whom we rely on but don’t regard or identify with.

Maybe it’s the passage of time that enables us to see the true contributions of these colossuses(i). Elon Musk (of Tesla and Spacex fame) may be seen in a hundred years’ time as the founder of a new world on Mars – quite a Columbus!