The story of a young engineer growing up in England 100 years ago. Details of daily life set within a historical context provide a thought-provoking contrast to life today.

After a childhood in an Essex farmhouse, Harry went to school in Dorchester where his father became a partner in an iron foundry. A scholarship to the Central Technical College led to student life in Edwardian London when steam cars, omnibuses and the Twopenny Tube were replacing horse-drawn carriages.

Harry gained practical engineering experience at Marshall's of Gainsborough before emigrating to Canada in 1907, aged 24, after first seeing the country on the 1905 Atlantic cable laying expedition.