Where was I?

[bobneish]

Zawn is not a word you hear every day, but it hints at what I am searching for — something elementary, in a manner of speaking. Ergo, this object of desire will be found shortly — twice — within the narrative of this puzzle.

Driving through a Unesco World Heritage Site on a fine winter’s day, I head west-southwest on my quest, passing through a town once home to an engineer, born in 1754. Here, circa 1792, he became the first person in Britain to light his home with gas. This town merges almost seamlessly with a second, close to which a second engineer was born, in 1771. On Christmas Eve 1801, he made a little piece of history here. It was also in this town that a currier invented the safety fuse, which was subsequently manufactured in town one. Leaving both behind me, I soon reach a busy junction, where I turn northwest, opting to use lanes and B roads to bypass a busy little place. Inevitably, I get lost. Consulting my map, I am soon back on course again, but not before something catches my attention — a lighthouse. Sneaky: I almost missed it.

Hence, nine miles from the busy place, I find myself about 120ft above sea level, photographing a 56ft lighthouse that was established in 1900. Being adjacent to a national trail, I am tempted to explore the coast further, but return to the car to continue my quest for that object of desire — something that gave us the word “coinage”. Not far now. Just three miles later, in bright sunshine, I pull up at a place where the star attraction dates from 1840. Here, too, I am certain I shall find what I have been searching for. What, exactly might this be? Scientists will, of course, know that the answer is 50.

Question 1: Who was the currier?
Answer: William Bickford

Question 2: What is it that I sought?
Answer:


Anyone help with Question 2???

[writesbad]

You're very clever, Bob. However there is an informal convention on AB not to simply give the answers to Where Was I? It's not like a crossword with lots of clues where we might need some help with a couple. Obviously you are not obliged to respect that convention.

Keep trying. As the puzzle says, the answer is in the text, twice, shortly.

Good luck, and I hope you don't mind me mentioning this.

All the best
writesbad ;-)

[cuzz]

here's a clue - 50=tin

[mummabluberry]

I am annoyingly stuck with question 2......is it simply the name of a particular mine or is that too obvious?