FOCUS on Industrial Archaeology

The people of Stroud are a bolshie bunch. They have sat on roofs to save high street shops; camped out in trees threatened with the chop; and now, a determined group of residents has stopped a wrecking crew demolishing a former clothing factory on the outskirts of the town. Hill Paul is not the prettiest of buildings. It's a four-storey, red-brick Victorian edifice, squat and solid, which cost £7,000 to build in 1898 and housed one of Gloucestershire's leading cloth companies. It has now stood empty for years: glass has fallen from windows, branches of ivy and buddleia have wormed their way through cracks in the brickwork and the building is surrounded by high fencing with signs warning of its dangerous condition.

The story began in November 2000 at a gathering of the Stroud Civic Society, where a handful of the town's finest were aghast to discover that a demolition order had been placed on "the old girl", as Hill Paul is affectionately known. A meeting was arranged for the following day and word-of-mouth, coupled with articles in the local paper, served to raise the temperature of public opinion. Local celebrity Jilly Cooper appeared on television bemoaning Hill Paul's fate and the Stroud News and Journal ran critical stories about the council's plans to demolish the building. The council had declared the building unsafe but experts brought in by the campaigners insisted the structure wasn't as perilous as its detractors claimed.

The owner of Hill Paul, Harper Homes, refused to deal with a rabble and insisted things must be done formally, so Hill Paul Regeneration Ltd was formed, and company directors negotiated a contract, stating their intention to buy the building for £1.3m. Meanwhile, doughty campaigners patrolled the area at night, formed human chains to block access to the building and lay in the way of bulldozers. "We had to find £65,000 to put down as a deposit, so individuals started writing cheques for £5,000" says Irene Hopwood, who started the campaign. "We then had until January 2002 to raise the rest of the money, and if we didn't find it by then we'd lose our deposit and the building would go back to Harper Homes". Over the following year £145,000 was raised. During that time the group approached several developers who concluded that the project wasn't viable but, at the last possible moment. they secured a deal with developer Chelbury Homes to turn Hill Paul into flats and the planning application has now been lodged.

It was as a group that the Hill Paul campaigners were able to shout loudest, but the group would have been nothing without its constituent parts. Such as Eddie Cook, who single-handedly fooled the wrecking crew in January 2001 by climbing to the top of the building, putting on a number of different hats and sticking his head out of various windows, enough to persuade the helicopter overhead that there was a whole army of people!

After several months of further negotiation, the exhausted but victorious campaigners have also been assured that they won't lose their investment because Chelbury has agreed that the main shareholders can use the money they contributed as deposits on flats, with the remainder being pooled to buy a shared flat. Some campaigners would have preferred to end up with a cinema or shops on the site, but the bottom line is that the structure has been saved.

The Hill Paul campaigners come from all walks of life ™ teachers, gardeners, businessmen, graphic designers, musicians ... But what they have in common is that they all care passionately about their town and are prepared to fight for it. "Looking back, we must have been absolutely mad", says Ms Hopwood. "But we felt so strongly about the building, and the fact that the council was prepared to see it demolished, But if you feel strongly enough about something, you can make a difference."

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Kempton Park Pumping StationThe Institution of Electrical Engineers News (submitted by Member Philip Kerslake)

Huge steam engines at Kempton Park Pumping Station provided water for London until 1980, when they were replaced by electric centrifugal pumps. Now volunteers are working to restore them.

The depth of interest in our industrial heritage was demonstrated when a 50-strong group visited the Great Engines at Kempton Park Pumping Station in west London. Members of Kingston IEE Group, their relatives and friends, stood in awe beside the massive triple-expansion steam engines - believed to be the largest in existence anywhere in the world and each rated at over 1000 h.p.

Escorted by some of the volunteers who are presently restoring the equipment, the group heard how the engines were constructed in 1927 at a cost of £94 000 and were finally taken out of service as recently as 1980. During their operational life, William and Bessie (named after Sir William Prescott, the Chairman of the Metropolitan Water Board, and his wife), delivered over 24 million gallons of water a day to London.

Now, under the patient and hard-working attention of members of the Kempton Great Engines Trust, these magnificent machines are being brought back to life. With generous financial assistance from Thames Water, which puts to shame many other utility companies in their support of our industrial heritage, it is hoped that the pumping station will be able to open to the public in September 2002, with No 6 engine 'in steam'. Its 32-tonne flywheel has already made a few revolutions under steam from a new gas-fired boiler, much to the excited delight of the volunteers who had waited many months for the occasion.

Further information on the Great Engines can be obtained from the Trust‘s secretary, IEE member Ray Marie (Telephone 01932 223298).

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Waterblast

In September Roger Hedge received an e-mail from a gentleman in Pennsylvania who had discovered the HIAS website and was hoping that someone could help him. Tony Kadysewski (tonyka@epix.net) is researching an early mine ventilation / dehumidifier / chiller and is keen to discover more information.

"To the best of my knowledge its primary use was mine ventilation, but I am more interested in the de-humidification and air chilling features.

"Water from a stream or water source falls into a standpipe or short upward facing pipe. As it falls, air is entrained (trapped and mixed in), cooled and de-humidified by the cold water. The bottom of the pipe opens into a chamber. The entrained air bubbles out of the water into the top of the chamber while the water fills and flows along the bottom. New air brought in by the falling water causes a draught of air in the chamber top, which can then flow out providing fresh air circulation (say in a mine, where this system was originally used) or to provide cold, de-humidified air for cooling.

"I am interested in applications having a short fall distance, such as might be powered by a small surface stream falling over a low dam or weir. Anecdotal evidence hints that short fall distance systems require turbulent water falling en masse into the standpipe. I would appreciate any information or detailed plans you could provide, or any referral. All efforts benefit third world villagers in the remote Kansaliat Mountains of Negros Island, Philippines."

Roger e-mailed him to say that he would make enquiries but meanwhile another contact, Mike Gill, had replied to the query which was copied to Roger.

"What you describe was known in British mines as a Waterblast. In its crudest form, literally a waterfall, the system probably has a long pedigree. Its more advanced forms had to wait until iron pipes (6 or 8 inch diameter) were readily available in the 19th century. A column of pipes was set up in a shaft (usually over 100 feet deep) and a small stream of water was allowed to fall down its inside. The falling drops of water took air with them and created a flow of lightly pressurised air, which could be caught at the shaft bottom and fed into the workings along pipes. Sometimes, the top couple of feet (or so) of the column of pipes had holes made in it - in order to admit more air.

"You mention the system‘s possible use as an air cooler, but I have no data on that. I suppose that it would rely on the temperature of the water relative to the ambient air emperature. As most of the mines in northern England are quite cool, extra cooling would not be a particularly sought-after effect. Mines in Cornwall were much deeper and significantly hotter, but I have never heard claims that the ventilation system was particularly cooling - moving air at maximum humidity has little effect.

"You also mention that air was entrained (trapped and mixed in), but I do not think that was an important part of the waterblast's function. There are, however, examples of very long (deep?) waterblasts being set up in order to compress the air (to drive rock-drills, etc) using the weight of water. I believe that loss of air into the water, through entrainment, was a problem in these pressurised systems.

"I note that you are interested in applications with a short fall distance. I suppose that its effect will depend on how far the waterblast is from the place you are trying to ventilate. If you stand near a small waterfall, you will notice there is distinctly more air movement than a few yards away. Some waterblasts incorporated a small waterwheel, which used the waste water and drove a fan ™ to boost the air flow.

"I suppose that modern materials - the smooth internal bores of UPVC pipes, etc - might reduce friction and improve the system's efficiency. It might be worth trying dropping different sized droplets of water into the system and measuring their effect on air flow."

If any of our engineering members can shed more light on this subject, please contact Tony Kadysewski at his e-mail address.

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Clay Heritage Centre in line for massive faceliftThe Cornish Guardian July 25th by Ray Telford (submitted by Ian Harden

Wheal Martyn China Clay Museum is poised for a massive facelift to reflect its status as one of the UK's most important industrial heritage centres. Chief executive Peter Jennings came to the job in June to oversee a £800,000 first-phase development at the 26-acre site to double visitor numbers to the attraction - from 30,000 a year to 60,000 - over the next few years.

Peter says: "Wheal Martyn is essentially a local museum which tells the story of local people and their everyday lives. It's an exciting place because it contains the history of the china clay industry and reflects the area's many sociological changes over the years. For this reason it is one of the most important, if not the most important, authentic industrial museums in the country."

But for Wheal Martyn to achieve its full potential, Peter says massive investment is vital to upgrade the museum and the site's historic and nature trails. The attraction has directly benefited since the opening of the nearby Eden Project with visitors combining an Eden tour with visits to other local attractions such as The Lost Gardens of Heligan and Wheal Martyn.

"But I always impress on people that without the china clay industry there would be no Eden because it is itself built in an old clay pit, but Wheal Martyn is the real thing. China clay has changed the world. From plastics to paper, clay has had as much input into our daily lives as has coal or iron, but china clay has always somehow been devalued in this respect. But we want to tell the story of china clay and how it has shaped people's lives and the mid-Cornwall landscape."

He says expansion is vital for Wheal Martyn's future and to provide exhibition space for some 80,000 photographs and more than 5,000 china clay industry artefacts, including heavy machinery. Plans also include developing the museum's educational and research facilities which are already widely used by colleges and universities worldwide.

Wheal Martyn was established in 1975 by Cornwall's china clay producers to preserve and record the history of the area. The site is situated alongside the St Austell River in a valley which contains several china clay works - the museum itself is located in two old clay pits, Wheal Martyn and Gomm.

Wheal Martyn pit worked until the effects of poor trade forced its closure in 1931, but the clay dry continued to operate until 1969, working lower grade clay from pits further up the valley. It re-opened in 1971 and continues to be worked today by Imerys. The clay works opened as part of the museum in 1975 and in 1979 they were scheduled as an Ancient Monument.

Giant waterwheel is on the map by 1884

Wheal Martyn's giant 19th century waterwheel first appears on a map of 1884 and may have replaced an earlier waterwheel on the same site. The 35-ft wheel, the largest working waterwheel in the country, was made at Charlestown Foundry and was worked at Wheal Martyn until about 1940. It was later restored to working order in 1976. As china clay pits grew bigger and deeper, clay slurry needed to be pumped to the surface and waterwheels were used to operate the pumps. Many were replaced by steam engines.

By the end of the 19th century experiments had started to use high-pressure hoses to wash clay from the pit face. By the 1920s hoses were common and were operated by one man directing a jet of water onto the clay face. The hoses are now called monitors and operated by remote control. They can wash clay at a pressure of 300lbs per square inch.

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Meetings and Activities

Rosie's Notes=====================================Rosie Voller

In June, John Selby, a member of the Farnborough Air Sciences Trust (FAST) and Andrew Norris who was recruited as a Consultant to FAST as well as being a member of Surrey IAS, gave an illustrated talk on RAE Farnborough. The history started in the late 1890s when the Balloon School was established and experiments were rather haphazard; the next experiment was a man-carrying kite and then gliders fitted with 50hp engines which caused a few minor crashes at 30ft high. By 1911 Geoffrey de Havilland aeroplanes were being tested and in 1918 the Royal Flying Corps became the Royal Air Force. Later the school became the Royal Aircraft Establishment, this name continuing until 1988 when it was changed to DERA. From 1918 until 1994 the Establishment had superb apprenticeship schemes producing some excellent engineers. What a shame these schemes were stopped throughout the country about the same time. The highlight of research was during and after WW2 when about 8,000 people worked at the site, and everything was kept secret - insiders and outsiders didn't know what really went on. Apparently anyone asking questions was liable to be prosecuted. The various wind tunnels produced speeds from 140 to 200 mph until 1942 when slots were inserted in the tunnels enabling the air to be sucked in, creating a powerful force similar to Dante's inferno, producing a windspeed of 650 mph. So much electricity was used that the experiments had to be worked on at night when the public used very little electricity. It is interesting to note that the earliest wind tunnel motor was dated around 1912, compared to the Newport transporter bridge motors which Rod Hall's notes on this year's SW&WR IAConference gives as 1906. Slough Estates are the owners and re-developers of the establishment, most of which is demolished and now a business park. Slough Estates agreed to a 5-year lease at a peppercorn rent, and the Trust received initial finance from Farnborough local council and Hampshire County Council as well as European money to carry out a feasibility study when at least five buildings were listed. MOD demolished a large percentage of artefacts, but some were saved and are held in storage ready to be used as part of an exhibition to reflect the history of the aviation in the 20th century and show the research and incredible achievements over the last century. What an interesting story!

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July was our outdoor visit to the Hovercraft Museum at HMS Daedalus and organised by John Hone. On arrival at Argus Gate we drove in convoy to meet the curator Brian Russell who gave an illustrated talk on the history of the hovercraft. The Friends of the Hovercraft Museum Trust, first set up in 1987, now has 350 members scattered around the world and the annual rent of £18,000 and running costs of £12,000 depends entirely on donations and fund-raising events. The MOD also takes 25% of the gate, the main event being held on the first Bank Holiday in May! (That's a bit mean). Brian told us how Sir Christopher Cockerell spent a lot of his time trying to persuade interest in his experimental craft (with a flexible skirt) which could travel over land and sea, and only when Earl Mountbatten became interested did Saunders Roe get it off the ground. TheSRN-3 was the first military hovercraft capable of a speed of 70 knots and carrying 180 fully equipped troops and 4 Landrovers and trailers. The SRN-6 and later craft had the advantage of being built in such a way that they can be stretched to increase the carrying capability and was used extensively by NATO to carry army personnel and stores. In the 1970s mine-sweeping exercises took place and during the winters the SRN-6 was also used for intercepting anti-drug smuggling and illegal immigrant runs. As sonar mine technology improved, the sweeping was less practical and guided missile trials were another part of the hovercraft exercise. The American navy and army also used hovercraft during the Vietnam war and, to put the enemy at a disadvantage, they flew helicopters overhead to mask the hovercraft noise on water. Saudi Arabia has purchased several of the smaller gas turbine inflatable rubber craft which can carry three persons and will collapse into a 1.8 metre box. After the slides we were split into groups to visit the museum and see the various artefacts as well as walking inside one of the larger hovercraft and checking out the cabins and the transport hold. Many of our members climbed the ladder to the cockpit in the roof. We all had a great evening except when we were out in the open and the wind was clearly out to get us doing a Mary Poppins!

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Our memberscame up trumps again in August when we enjoyed a real mix of IA interests, some taken while holidaying in our own country and visiting Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland and the USA. We were treated to railways, steam trains, aeroplanes, canals, locks, gunpowder works, docks, cinemas, a model farm, Delabole slate quarry and metal AA signs including the distance to London. The oldest pictures were of Armstrong Whitworth's Airship Works taken by one of our member's father at the end of WW1 showing various stages of airships as well as a completed R33.

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Dr Brian Oakleywas our September speaker who gave a talk about Bletchley Park and the German Military Enigma Cipher Machine (bearing in mind the Germans regularly changed a detail of their code). Brian gave an interesting insight into one of Britain's best kept secrets. Apparently nobody ever volunteered their services, workers were always hand picked - they were some of the best brains such as top graduates and linguists. The workers had to sign the Official Secrets Act, while living in an atmosphere of secrecy as were local residents who had little perception of the importance of Bletchley Park. (Thinking about the wartime secrecy aspect, I can remember seeing notices emblazoned in shops, buses and trains reminding everyone that CARELESS TALK COSTS LIVES). In 1941 just over 50% of the 900 workers were women working 8-hour round-the-clock shifts. Methods were devised to enable Allied Forces to decipher enemy secret communications and, with the extensive aid of BP, Rommel's intentions were correctly read so that Montgomery was able to halt and withdraw the Panzer Army's advance. Rommel's report on the battle was decrypted on 8th September 1941 showing his considerable losses of men, tanks, guns and motor transport. An even more complex cipher system was used exclusively for the most important messages passed between the German Field Marshal and Central Command, Berlin but eventually, after a vast amount of mathematical work, one of the cipher messages was intercepted and it was found that supplies to Rommel were severely restricted by our mastery of the enemy's code. There was a certain amount of deception when the Germans took the bait, and worked out that a pipe line was being laid which took up much of their time deciding on when to bomb this make-believe pipe line. Bill and I actually saw and enjoyed the film about Bletchley Park and Brian's talk added more interest to the story.

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Our October meetingwas a quiz organised by two of our members ™ John Silman and Tony Yoward ™ who set 60 slide questions covering all aspects of IA from Brooklands, a steam crane, the Anderton Boat Lift before its restoration, a smock mill, various canals, cliff railway, a Penfold letterbox, a treadmill, Temple Meads Railway Station to a hydraulic lift for lowering coffins from the chapel to the catacombs. Our Quiz Masters were really testing us by including 10 old and unusual IA items laid out on a table waiting identification, especially the two that they didn't know. The winners were Martin Gregory and Ruth Andrews who had the most correct answers.

About 60 members attended the November AGM meeting. Carol Burdekin (Minutes Secretary) was elected as Honorary General Secretary, and Wendy Barrett (Southampton City Council Planning Archaeologist) was co-opted as Minutes Secretary. Mateen Farooqui was re-elected and Rosie Voller was elected as a member of the Committee. Roger thanked the committee and co-opted members for their help and assistance in keeping HIAS on the map. Our thanks to Bill who organised the Photographic and Slide Competition. Andy Fish and Nigel Smith were this year's winners and each received a suitable prize.

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Reports

Water Dayschool===================================Rodney Hall

'A liquid: water and its applications' was the title of a seminar held at County Hall, Dorchester, on 12 October with an impressive range of speakers. Following a welcome from John Brown of the Dorset Industrial Society, the current chairman of the A.I.A., Mike Bone, led the proceedings with some West Country brewing history. Emphasising that in former times water in towns was often polluted or expensive, the drinking of beer by the poor was a much safer option. Brewing workers tended to be immune from the cholera outbreaks because they drank beer instead of water - as good an excuse as I have ever heard! The trend from domestic brewing using bought malt and hops, through public house and local breweries to the modern large breweries, was explained. When dark old beers became fashionable, the liquor was kept in huge vats and, when lager was made in the West Country in the 19th century, this led to an increase in the ice industry because of the low temperatures needed. Some results of Mike's research into earliest times in the area was seen, including old plans and surviving examples of brewery remains in Exeter, Bath and Dorset.

Well-known to early SUIAG members, Mike Tighe appeared in fine form with a very uncommon use of water - powering cliff railways. With most inclined railways the load was predominantly downhill where power was not needed. It was the rise of the seaside holiday when the resort was on top of a cliff, with holidaymakers wanting to go back from a day on the beach to their lodgings, that gave rise to the cliff railway and, until electricity came along, most were water operated. Examples of most existing water balanced railways were seen including the inland one at Bridgenorth. The Lynton-Lynmouth railway was noted as emptying water out of the bottom car to achieve motion whereas all the others added water to the upper car. Also noted was that there have been no fatalities in the history of cliff railways in Britain.

A seminar about the use of water could not miss water mills for long and, who better to talk about the subject than Martin Watts. Confining himself to Dorset or immediate surroundings, it was noted that Dorset millwrights produced some high-class engineering in the machinery within mills and this was as important as the building. Example of mills from the early Christchurch corn mill through those whose use changed over time to such as flax and fulling, many Dorset mills were seen. The work of millwrights such as Maggs of Bourton, Coombes of Beaminster, Hossey of Dorchester, and Sampson of Bridport in the interior and exterior of mills was not forgotten.

The Royal Commission carried out a survey of textile mills in the South West and Alan Stoyel was involved in that survey. Most mills in the area were waterpowered at some time and, with the theme of the day in mind, only those were covered. In the survey 962 sites were investigated and on 590 of them structures were extant with dates ranging from the 15th century to 1910. Included within textiles were not only woollen, flax and fulling mills but such as lace mills, drying stoves, rope walks, horsehair factories and the Handle (teasel) House at Trowbridge. Photographs of many interesting ones shown. Examples of changed and shared use of mills were noted and the speed with which important examples could be destroyed, eg where papers for listing were posted on Friday, a fire occurred on Sunday and the mill was demolished (for safety reasons) on Monday and Tuesday!

Back to corn mills and, to give an account of the life of a miller, a practising miller has to be the best person. Mildred Cookson has been that at Mapledurham Mill on the River Thames for the past 20 years. The site was mentioned in Domesday and the history of the present mill was followed with the aid of a model of the mill. An estate mill, it ground locally-produced grain, sending much of the flour and bran down the river to London until 1936, by which time one wheel had been replaced by a turbine to generate electricity. In 1977 the mill was restarted, restored to the condition as it last worked. The audience heard of many of the problems confronting a traditional mill in today's climate; the wooden waterwheel needs renewing about every 20 years, the paddles lasting only half as long; getting the right wood and the cost being significant. Tungsten carbide tips are used with the demise of blacksmiths who knew now to temper bill steel correctly. Floods are another problem.

The last speaker, Steve Capel-Davies, was a last-minute stand-in who reminded the audience of those who gained employment from the River Thames. In the upper reaches, rush cutters harvesting rushes for mats. Osiers for basket making needed cutting, bark stripping and merchandising before use. Fish and eels could be caught and sold. Innkeepers provided board, lodging and stabling for boatmen. Photographs of lock keepers, toll collectors, dredgers and maintenance boats were seen, not forgetting ferrymen for those wishing to cross the River. Builders of boats for commerce, leisure or sport - one by the name of Saunders later joined with a Mr Roe, the firm moving to the Isle of Wight. Below Teddington, on the tidal river, the scale of work associated with the River becomes larger and there was not time to do this justice. Paradoxically the River had a 17th century pound lock, pre-dating the canal age, and the last working flash lock.

All-in-all a very enjoyable and informative day or all, being kept well to time by John Brown.

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HIAS Rescue & Restoration Section / Hampshire Mills Group

An exciting time for the joint working party members, with the wind engine at Crux Easton "opened" in September. But more about that later. Here's a brief summary of work carried out over the past few months.

Mayfly Cottage, Timsbury:- Ongoing work cleaning out the wheel pit and pump, which once pumped water from the River Test to a header tank in Timsbury Manor House, and removing calcretion from the metal frame of the wheel.

Knowle Hospital, Fareham:- Aiding and advising Twyford Waterworks Trust on removing an engine.

Gailey (or Gaily) Mill, Kingsclere:- The group was asked by the owner, Lord Huntingdon, if it would clean out and survey the watermill as he is applying for planning permission to carry out alterations to one end, which is believed to have been an extension to the main mill containing steam-powered equipment for drying grain. The mill itself would not be affected. This mill stopped operating about 40 years ago and literally "shut up" leaving everything inside just as it was - a real time warp. An all-day cleaning session was held in July when mostly vast quantities of nesting material were removed from the several floors.

Beaulieu Tide Mill:- Another clean-up session, in August, only this time it was mostly thick solidified dove and pigeon droppings caked on everything, and festoons of cobwebs. Everyone was in full protective gear. Lord Montagu was applying to the Heritage Lottery Fund and needed a survey done, so asked the group to clean the place up a bit. The lottery application failed but the estate plans to carry out the full restoration using its own resources over a period of time. Hopefully the JWP will be involved, if manpower can be stretched (or new volunteers come forward).

Crux Easton has the wind back in its sails

(condensed from an article in the Newbury Weekly News, Thursday September 26, 2002)

About 150 people were at the opening on Wednesday morning when the sails of the historic wind engine at Crux Easton turned again after months of painstaking restoration work. Sir George Young, MP, who officially opened the wind engine, gave an entertaining speech. "It's a wonderful memorial to our Victorian heritage," he said. The restoration was made possible thanks to lottery funding of £149,500, plus funds from the borough and county councils and Vodafone charitable trust, totalling just over £200,000. The lottery cash was matched in an innovative way, as per lottery funding rules, in the form of many patient hours of voluntary labour by members of the Hampshire Mills Group. Now, the wind engine will open at least three or four times a year, and on National Mills and heritage open days, with private viewings by request.

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Maritime Projects=========================================== Jeff Pain

The "Calshot"

Very little to report. Terry Yarwood had spent 5 months working on a Heritage Lottery Fund application and this has now passed over to the City for completion, but with staff changes there may be some delay in finalising the documents.

S.S. Shieldhall(website: www.ss-shieldhall.co.uk)

She had a fairly successful summer cruising season making 13 trips, 8 of which made a profit. Also, at the end of May, she attended the biennial Dordrecht steam festival in Holland. I went this year and can recommend it: perhaps an overseas trip for HIAS?

As reported in the last Focus, they received a Heritage Lottery grant of £268,500 in March. Approximately £175,000 of this went towards Shieldhall's dry-docking in April, which consisted mainly of works in the ballast tanks.

This year she has become something of a film star!! Apart from the BBC documentary about the Titanic reported last time - including shots on the Shieldhall - which was broadcast in April and repeated in October, in October the BBC was again filming on board. This time she was the Begona, describing the arrival in this country of a young Floella Benjamin which also includes scenes shot on the Watercress Line. I understand that this programme, entitled Coming to England, should be screened on BBC-2 next March/April. Finally she sailed to Tilbury on Saturday 2nd November to provide 'atmosphere' for a film being made by Stephen Fry. This is called Beautiful Young Things and is based on Evelyn Waugh's book Vile Bodies. Shieldhall returned to her berth in Southampton Eastern Docks on the 5th.

After all this excitement, winter maintenance will include repairs to the sanitary treatment/holding equipment and repairing some deck caulking, plus re-tubing both boilers, boiler lagging replacement and associated bilge space.

Next year's programme is being planned and should, amongst the usual attractions, include trips to Weymouth and Newhaven. However, there are no major maritime events to attend in 2003 so ideas are being sought for events which Shieldhall could attend (eg. 'alongside' or 'at sea'; 'in steam' or 'not'). Looking ahead to her 50th birthday in July 2005, it is hoped to return to the Clyde for a number of anniversary cruises, although it will be 'crew only' en route. It is intended for Shieldhall to stay in Glasgow for about a month. An estimated sum of at least £25,000 will be required to cover expenses which will have to be raised outside the ship's normal budget, so there is an appeal for sponsorship. Any offers of financial assistance should be directed through the Shieldhall membership secretary Mrs Jill Tulip, 15 Foxhayes Road, Blackfield, Southampton, SO45 1XX

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Tram 57 Project =========================================Nigel Smith

After spending a good many working sessions in the early part of the year giving most of the exterior of Lisbon 715 a repaint into its original yellow and white livery, the focus of attention was once more turned to Car 11 to prepare it for the annual Open Day in August when preserved buses operate a service from downtown Southampton to the tramshed. The tram received a thorough cleaning and the workshop itself was given a major tidy-up, with all the workbenches being completely cleared after many years and long-lost items coming to light, including some wooden trim from 11's lower saloon which was treated with oxalic acid, to remove the stains, and varnished. The four quarter-round corner pillars of the lower saloon exterior were painted navy blue and the platform pillar of 'B' end (nearest the front of the shed) was given its gold lining. Everything possible was installed, screwed on, polished, etc in the month leading up to the Open Day on August 25th. In addition, Lisbon 715 was re-wired internally so that the lights can work off a 240v AC supply.

Shortly after the Open Day, two filming events took place featuring Car 11. Key members of the group were interviewed and filmed working for a BBC South Today item that was broadcast in their 3½ minute Southern Ways feature on September 10th which was widely seen by many people. A new company called Southampton Television did an interview at the end of August for Genevieve Bailey's series on old Southampton which was broadcast three times during the week of November 11th to 17th and has subsequently been repeated.

In line with looking to open doors to more funding to complete Car 11 in a reasonable timescale we have appointed consultants to report on the work needed to complete restoration with options to secure matched funding, with the co-operation and support of Southampton City Council's Heritage Services.

Tram 57 Project officers have contributed to the Heritage Task Group set up by Southampton City Council's Cultural Consortium and has two committee members on the newly formed Southampton Heritage Federation which has the aim of driving forward plans for a comprehensive arena to tell the history of Southampton.

Finally, two anniversaries occur during 2003. Car 11 was originally built as an open top tram in 1923, before being 'top-covered' in 1925, and went into service on April 13th 1923, so will be 80 years old (well, some parts of it will be!). However, more importantly, Hurst Nelson car 38 will be celebrating its Centenary, having gone into service in Southampton in May 1903. We don't have an actual date into service but we know it was delivered from its builder in Motherwell on April 17th, along with car 39 (they were the first two in a batch of 12). Unlike 11, almost all of the body which can be seen at our Millbrook workshop is original: the only alteration was to re-post the original three windows to four windows. 38's sister car No. 45, which is at Crich, will naturally also be celebrating its centenary, and they are kicking around ideas on how to commemorate it.

Southampton and District Transport Heritage Trust

Advance information for 2003, the Southampton Transport Heritage Day will be on Sunday 24 August, held at Mayflower Park. Although plans are at an early stage, it is hoped that next year's event will be much grander, encompassing all sorts of transport on display - cars, fire engines, motorbikes, model traction engines - in fact, anything mobile! So if you have a heritage vehicle of some description, or are a member of a club or know someone who might be interested in bringing along their pride and joy, please get in touch with Brian Guilmant on (023) 8090 4430.

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Twyford Waterworks Trust=====================================Ian Harden

The established pattern of main Open Days in the spring and autumn and other steaming days on the first Sunday of the intervening months has continued since the last report. Fred Dibnah made his third guest appearance at the May event, attracting another good attendance. Additional events this year have been a mini open day in August and a steaming day in September as part of a social event for the benefit of potential volunteers and sponsors.

All plant and machinery has continued to perform reliably and, therefore, day to day work not directly geared towards steaming day operation has been focused on preparation for insurance inspections and so forth. With premiums rising at a rate well in excess of inflation the Trust is finding, like many other bodies, that an increasing amount of effort on fund-raising is being required just to meet these increases. Fortunately, income from most of the events has been sufficient to meet such overheads and provide an important boost to funds.

Several new volunteers with steam and engineering experience have recently joined the Trust and their collective knowledge will go some way towards filling the gap left by Bill Stone who is relinquishing his post of principle steam engineer at the end of the year. Bill was instrumental in realising the dream of raising steam at Twyford and a great debt is owed to him.

Future planning is looking at ways of complementing the existing programme of events with a themed approach to the summer steaming days being considered for 2003. Rearrangement of equipment in the Filter House is also being assessed on the strength of renewed hopes of a set of Haines patent water filters coming to Twyford from the Bournemouth & West Hants Water Company's Wimborne pumping station following a delay of several years now, caused by structural problems there. Also, a Ruston diesel engine and Lee & Howl pump has been offered to the Trust from the redundant Knowle Hospital, subject to the usual formalities. This would be a welcome addition to the collection of water-related equipment on display.

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A Cultural Strategy for Southampton===================================== Angela Smith

The two Task Groups in which HIAS/Tram 57 Project members were involved - Built Heritage and Heritage - completed their reports which were forwarded to the main Consortium in June, and we await the publication of the full report in the spring. Meanwhile the City Council has issued a small booklet, Southampton's Cultural Strategy, which contains the bare bones of its vision for the future of the city's 'culture'. Following the completion of the Task Group work, the members of the Heritage Task Group decided to stay together to push forward the idea of a major heritage attraction so that all the various "objects" with which we are involved can be put in one place and combined with other aspects of the city's heritage. The complete Story of Southamptonunder one roof - and a very large roof at that if we've got anything to do with it! In fact, some of the larger items wouldn't even go under the roof. The Story of Southampton as envisaged by the council at present would be housed in a building over the top of the archaeology revealed in the Lower High Street (where the scaffolding has been for many years). You can't put big things there! So the group re-formed as Southampton Heritage Federation and had its inaugural meeting under this new title in October. Tram 57 Project has two committee members and HIAS has also become a member which I am representing as well.

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Miscellanea

Symbol of City to reopen

Southampton's Bargate is due to be reopened as a Heritage Centre in 2003. It was closed in the 1980s because of safety fears of the steep steps but this problem should be overcome by warning notices. It will be leased to the Hall of Aviation and various renovations will be needed as well as new displays, etc, to be installed. These include on the first floor an introductory display on the Bargate itself and temporary exhibitions of topical interest, with heritage group displays on the raised area (former Guildhall) and perhaps a small audio/visual theatre running a continuous video of the Story of Southampton. Alan Jones, director of the Hall of Aviation, who has masterminded this initiative, also has ideas of themed events outside the Bargate to draw people inside. Ideas and offers will be greatly appreciated.

The Hall of Aviation will operate the Bargate as an outstation of the aircraft museum with a shop which it will run, plus a heritage information centre promoting the work of heritage bodies in and around the city. Hopefully the Bargate will be open to the public by the summer and it is planned for it to be open 7 days a week all year, with a full time manager plus volunteers. It is the last point where local HIAS members can assist ™ VOLUNTEERS to man (or 'person'!) the information centre. The Hall of Aviation is already overstretched with just the museum to cope with, so there is a desperate need not only for volunteers from the heritage groups which will benefit from the new facility but also anyone interested in getting involved. Even a few days a year would help. Initially, until the operation is sorted out, any offers of help can go through me and I will pass them on to the manager to deal with.(Angela Smith)

Vulcan bomber campaign cash problems (Ceefax news, 21 November 2002)

Campaigners trying to save the last airworthy Vulcan bomber have been refused money for its restoration by the lottery. The campaigners have managed to raise £1.5m, but another £2.5m is needed to ensure its future. The bomber will not be receiving any funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund which said the project was "too expensive" to fund. Campaigners are now appealing against the decision.

'Beachcomber' reaches 60

As you will have read in the Tram 57 Project report, two of its trams will be celebrating significant birthdays in the spring of 2003.

Another form of transport with which some members of the IA group were involved is the Sandringham flying boat Beachcomber at the Southampton Hall of Aviation, which was built as a Sunderland MkIII at Rochester in 1943 and arrived at RAF Wig Bay, Stranraer, in July of that year. After conversion to a passenger-carrying Sandringham in 1947 and flying to Australia, in 1953 it was bought by Ansett Flying Boat Services in whose livery Beachcomber can now be seen at the museum. It was 20 years ago - March 1st 1983 - when the flying boat was last transported over water, on a barge from Lee-on-Solent to Southampton Docks where it was partially dismantled for restoration and moved to the museum site in Albert Road South. Worth a visit!

End of the line for "old floatie"?

One of last two remaining Southampton floating bridges could be on its way to the scrapyard very soon if a temporary berth can not be found. The last diesel bridge is no longer wanted at its Bitterne boatyard mooring and the newly formed Southampton Heritage Federation, with a keen eye on a possible Heritage Experience museum in the city, would like to have it set aside for preservation, at least for the short term until plans are more firmed up. Ideally the old steam floating bridge which is in use as a workshop in Bursledon would be the real prize as its engine is in the Southampton City museum store, but in the meantime this example of the city's former Itchen crossing could provide an interesting and useful addition to the maritime collection. Any genuine offers for mooring the vessel should be directed to Alan Jones at the Hall of Aviation (Tel: 023 8063 5830; e-mail: aviation@spitfireclub.com)

One Hundred and Twenty Five Years Ago - from the Andover Advertiser, 27 September 2002

Friday, 28 September, 1877 - Accident at Waterloo Foundry: On Wednesday morning last a very serious accident occurred at the Waterloo Iron Works to a young man named Joseph Rowe, a turner, who was engaged at a lathe driven by steam power, and by some means, whilst attending to the machinery, became entangled therewith, and frightfully injured, the hand and arm being entirely crushed, one finger was nearly torn off, and the arm fractured in three places - just above the wrist, at the elbow, and near the shoulder.

The machinery was stopped as quickly as possible, and the poor fellow extricated, the summons for surgical aid being promptly responded to by Dr F H Elliott, who, after attending to the immediate urgencies of the case, sent his patient in a fly to the Andover Cottage Hospital, where he has since been carefully attended to. Although the injuries are of course very serious, we hear this morning that he is doing as well as could be expected. This is the first patient that the Cottage Hospital has received.

Tail-enders . . . . . . .

The developers of Southampton‘s former Royal Albert Hotel in Albert Road South, a Grade Two listed building, have received planning permission to convert the former 19th century public house into 12 self-contained flats after a previous application was turned down by the council in February. It has been derelict since the mid-1980s. Another city centre building, the former National Provincial (later NatWest) bank at 291 High Street, also a 19th century Grade Two listed building, may be turned into a hotel and restaurant.

A project to restore the Royal Navy‘s first submarine Holland 1, has won the UK‘s premier conservation prize. The Royal Navy Submarine Museum in Gosport has been awarded the Pilgrim Trust Award for Conservation 2002. Conservator Ian Clark used a special technique which soaked the submarine in sodium carbonate to prevent corrosion. The public can now view the vessel in its environmentally controlled building.

Gosport‘s Explosion! museum has received good and bad news. The latter is that the loss-making museum has announced staff cutbacks, and will only be open 3 days a week during autumn and winter, due to the council cutting its funding. The good news is that it has scooped a top award from the Southern Tourist Board. As a regional winner it goes forward to the national Excellence Awards for Tourism in the spring.

Priddy‘s Hard, Gosport: Property consultants have been appointed by Gosport Borough Council to market remaining areas of the Priddy‘s Hard heritage area. The proposed second phase development of the heritage area totals 25 acres and the local authority wants to see the historic site brought back into full use. The heritage area is of exceptional historic importance and this is reflected in the number of buildings on the site already listed or scheduled.

A project to restore a historic well house at Broughton, near Stockbridge, has been given £7,500 by the Heritage Lottery Fund towards the £19,000 scheme. It was built in 1926 after Broughton suffered badly in the Great Drought in 1921 when the Wallop Brook dried up completely. Restoration work will involve replacing rusty grilles, putting in new oak timbers, rebuilding brickwork and putting in a new bucket.

The future of the Fox Mill Waterwheel has been thrown into jeopardy as the Hampshire Buildings Preservation Trust has blocked the scheme to site the wheel on a roundabout in Romsey. The trust claims it owns the wheel and should therefore decide where it goes rather than the Romsey council. They say the roundabout is not an appropriate place and would like it to be incorporated in a mill building.

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