In a further display of engineering prowess, Ipswich’s Ransomes and Rapier constructed China’s first railway.
- Ipswich is the county town of Suffolk, England, located on the estuary of the River Orwell, about 60 miles (97 km) north east of London.
- The town has been continuously occupied since the Saxon period, and its port has been one of England’s most important for the whole of its history.
- Ipswich is a non-metropolitan district. The urban development of Ipswich overspills the borough boundaries significantly, with 75% of the town’s population living within the borough at the time of the 2011 Census, when it was the fourth-largest urban area in the United Kingdom’s East of England region, and the 42nd largest urban area in England and Wales.