Tour of the Kirkaldy Testing Works and its 116-ton machine.

A tour of Kirkaldy's Testing Works at 99 Southwark Street, the world's first independent commercial materials testing house, opened on 1 January 1874. It was run by David Kirkaldy, whose patented 116-ton Universal Testing Machine tested bridge samples and engineering structures from around the world to destruction, turning Victorian 'opinions' into 'facts'. Today passionate volunteers lead tours of the authentic workshop with its working machines, bringing the story of materials testing and the Kirkaldy family to life – visitors might even get to break something themselves.