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Building work on the UK's new National Stadium for football is now under way at Wembley Park on the outskirts of London on the same site as the recently demolished Wembley Stadium. Erected in 1923, the stadium with its famous concrete 'twin towers' staged the nation's major sporting events and is now part of English folklore. Yet, the famous stadium would never have existed where it did, if the wishes of a 19th century Northern mill owner's son had been carried out.
Edward Watkin was born in Salford in 1819 and entered his father's business on completing his education. He was an energetic out-going young man with big ideas and left the cotton business in 1845 to take full advantage of the railway boom. He took up a position as secretary to the Trent Valley Railway Company, which eventually was sold to the London North Western Railway Company. Young Watkin followed courses and quickly rose through the ranks to become general manager of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincoln Railway. He was soon promoted to chairman and also held the same position at the London Metropolitan and Southern Railway Companies and was a director of the Great Eastern and Great Western Companies.
As if all this was not enough, he was an MP and represented three different constituencies during his lifetime. He was later knighted. Watkin showed no sign of his ambitions abating, even in his advancing years.