FOCUS on Industrial Archaeology No. 60,
June 2003
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Contents:
Restoring
Road Fingerposts
Gleanings from the Ancient Monuments Society newsletter
The Southampton Floating Dry Dock - a postscript
Meetings and
Activities
December
- Hidden Treasures: Marine Archaeology
January
- New Forest Airfields
February
- Tide Mills around the World
March
- Whale Island Museum
April
- The Bioscope to the Multiplex
Obituary
Philip
Armitage
Reports
Secretary
South West England and South Wales Region 34th Industrial
Archaeology Conference
AIA 2002 Conference, Edinburgh
Rescue
& Restoration Section
Maritime News
Tram Restoration
Twyford Waterworks Trust
Southampton Heritage Federation
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Restoring Road Fingerposts
John Horne spotted in a local
Cumbrian newspaper's motoring supplement of May 17 an item on a project to
restore old fingerpost road signs. Villagers in Lanercost, Cumbria, took it
upon themselves to restore their two cast-iron fingerposts - with official
sanction from the Cumbria County Council which authorised the work. However,
that was the easy part: the CCC originally asked for the work to be done in
situ, but the volunteers decided it would be easier and safer to dismantle the
fingerposts for working on elsewhere - easier said than done as, after 40 years
untouched, they weren't coming apart easily! After de-rusting, priming and
painting, the posts were re-erected. The two men involved with the task, having
learnt a thing or two along the way by trial and error, have now, with other
Lanercost villagers, formed a company 'Signpost Restoration Limited', to
undertake full restorations at £600 - £800 per sign on behalf of other parish
councils and community groups (presumably in their local area). They have also
written a booklet on signpost restoration costing £5. The historic areas
adviser for English Heritage says that EH is hoping to publish a traffic
advisory leaflet on the subject, in conjunction with the DofT, hoping to
encourage local authorities to keep an inventory of all their old signs and
inspect them regularly.
Gleanings from the Ancient Monuments Society
Newsletter
A
Miscellany of Information - instructive and diverting ,compiled by Tony Yoward
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The
Heritage Lottery Fund is to have a new Director from 1 April. This will be
Carole Souter, currently Director of Planning and Development at English
Heritage where she was acting Chief Executive for a brief period in 2001 before
the arrival of Simon Thurley. She succeeds Anthea Case, who is retiring. Life
is never other than interesting when you are in charge of the largest of the
country's Heritage agencies. Even so, there do seem to be unusually challenging
waters ahead. The Government will be publishing in the Summer its own response
to the latest Review of the workings of the National Lottery and all the time
the prospect is of an annual reduction in income, not dramatic but confining in
its cumulative effect; the result of the initial enthusiasm for the Lottery
among ticket purchasers going off the boil. And all the time the needs for
continuing largesse not only grow but are becoming increasingly manifest. The
latest with the - justified - begging bowl is the National Trust which
estimates that it alone needs £190 million to conserve all the works of art in
its care. The painting of Dawn Separating Night from Day by Guido Reni has just
been taken down from the ceiling at Kingston Lacy (Dorset) and needs £30,000 on
emergency conservation alone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
December
saw announcements about the latest batch of major grant offers from the Heritage
Lottery Fund. Beneficiaries included:
Hereford
Waterworks Museum (£345,000 to repair and improve the experience of this museum
housed in a former Victorian pump house.
Three
aqueducts, Warwickshire (£502,500) to repair three spectacular aqueducts of
1812 at Edstone, Yamingdale and Wootton Wawen constructed in the 'cast iron
trough design', an innovative form of British engineering. The lucky beneficiary
is British Waterways.
The
Martello Tower, Seaford, Sussex (£132,500). Already in use as a local museum,
the project will prevent further water damage. (Further information on 01273
484 337).
The
Hampshire Photographic Project (£78,000). A coming-together of 35 local
organisations to select 10,000 good quality historic photographs relating to
the county's history in order to record them digitally. Access will then be
through the internet and CD-Rom. Further information from Caroline Edwards on
01962 846 154.
The
Broadwood Piano Archive (a grant to repair and rebind this remarkable
collection covering the activity of the country's most famous piano
manufacturers from the late 18th to the early 20th centuries). Each piano, each
purchaser, is detailed. The architect, Alfred Waterhouse, was among those who
designed pianos for the firm. Public awareness of the archive will be enhanced
through a major exhibition and an on-line catalogue of the records. Further
information from Mike Page on 01483 594 598.
The
Cholera Monument and Grounds, Sheffield, S.Yorkshire (£262,000). This enlarged
Gothic pinnacle designed by M.E. Hadfield commemorates the 402 people who died
in the city during the cholera epidemic of 1832. The grant allows the structure
to be restored to its full height and for it to be floodlit as a landmark
across the city day and night. The surrounding pleasure gardens will also be
returned to their historic design. Both should prove a major attraction on the
'Norfolk Trail', a 4.5 kilometre walk through modern Sheffield based on the
traces that can still be seen of the estates owned by the Dukes of Norfolk
dating back to medieval times. Further information from Amanda Stokes on 01
14273 6375.
The
Ryedale Folk Museum, Hutton-le-Hole, Yorkshire (£18,500) to create a new
gallery for the exhibition of collections currently in reserve. Further
information on 0175 1417367.
The
Astronomical Clock, Liverpool (£87,500). This exquisitely crafted clock has
been saved from export to America by the HLF grant which will allow it to be
displayed at the National Museums and Galleries of Merseyside. This bravura
piece, with a mahogany case and three faces displaying different aspects of
space and time, was made in the late 18th century and sold by public raffle, a
publicity stunt used quite often by contemporary craftsmen to draw attention to
exceptional pieces.
Batemans
House, Lathkill Dale, Derbyshire (£15,000). A grant to English Nature to allow
the consolidation of, and public access to, the ruins of an early 19th century
pumping engine for lead mining. Further information: Debbie Worland at English
Nature on 01629 815 095.
The
Banbury Museum, Oxfordshire (HLF grant £2.2 million) opened late in 2002 in a
brand new building that spans the Oxford Canal and incorporates the historic
Tooley's Boatyard. This has been in continuous use since 1778 for the refitting
of narrow boats. In the 1940s the narrow boat Cressy was refitted at Tooley's
for L.T.C. Rolt's famous cruise along Britain's inland waterways during which
he wrote the book that had a seminal influence on the establishment of the
Inland Waterways Association.
Oxford
Railway Station opened in May 1851, modest in architectural terms but extremely
important technically as the work of Fox Henderson who simultaneously were
constructing the world's largest iron building, the Crystal Palace. After years
of unhappy use as a tyre depot following the construction of a fairly banal new
station 200 yards away (which in turn may be supplanted), the old building came
under threat of demolition for road widening and for the construction of what
is now the Said Business School. A substantial HLF grant enabled the Quainton
Railway Society to re-erect the building at the Buckinghamshire town of that
name, partly to house the Society's large collection of locomotives and rolling
stock. The long demolished porte cochere was recreated in cast iron. The
building was opened in April 2002.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Buildings
listed Grade II.
The
Control Tower at Alconbury Airfield, near Peterborough, of 1941, the best
preserved example of a standard type built for bomber satellite stations during
the Second World War. The same thematic survey has also picked up further
listings of the Officers' Mess at RAF Duxford in Cambridgeshire and the
Buildings at Dunkeswell Airfield in Devon, the best preserved of all the sites
associated with the vital Battle of the Atlantic fought by the US Navy Fleet
Airwing that was based there.
A
Fire Hydrant in Ethel Street, Wells, Somerset, a short fluted column with
moulded base and capital made by J Stone and Company of Deptford in London.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
These
two structures have been upgraded from Grade II to Grade II*
Charlecote
Mill, Hampton Lucy, Warwickshire, an exceptionally complete lowland mill of the
18th century.
The
Empire Cinema in Blackfriars Road, Wisbech, Cambridgeshire of 1932 with a rich
interior using much opal glass and sunburst wood inlays.
One
of the few notched up from Grade II* to Grade I, making it by definition of
national importance.
The
Windmill at Woolpit Road, Drinkstone, Suffolk with the earliest
dendochronological date of 1541-73 marking it out as the country's oldest
surviving postmill.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'Royal
Mail Letter Boxes' (Product Code 50706) is a joint policy statement by English
Heritage and the Royal Mail. This document is slim but, in its way, radical.
When BT announced it intended to replace the 55,000 telephone kiosks where the
archetype was designed Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, English Heritage consumed weeks
of manpower in inspecting all 55,000 and adding 2,000 to the statutory lists,
mainly on the basis of contextual value. With letter boxes they have chosen the
more consensual route. Working on the premise that "the traditional red
letter box is a national icon" and daunted by the fact that there over
85,000 in England alone to 365 different designs, with only 198 currently
listed, they approached Royal Mail to see if a voluntary framework for action
might work. It did in that both bodies have now come to a firm agreement that
"all operational boxes will be retained at their existing locations unless
exceptional circumstances necessitate their relocation or removal". As
they say - "this should reduce the need to add boxes to the statutory
list". The guidance note also offers detailed advice for Royal Mail
managers, local authorities and others on conserving and repairing the boxes
and maintaining their distinctive livery.
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The
Southampton Floating Dry Dock- a postscript (Jeff Pain)
Further
to my article in the HIAS Journal No. 10, 2002, I have discovered another
reference on the Dry Dock's operation. This was published in the 'Cunard
Magazine' for October 1924 (Vol. 13 No. 4) credited to H.C. Ferraby and titled
'Lifting the Berengaria'.
Although the text is occasionally
somewhat journalistic, I feel the atmosphere of the operation is conveyed very
evocatively and is worth repeating in full. So ......
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"As
night fell, the ship rose
Therein
lay the peculiar drama of the feat.
And
therein lay, for me, the personal interest of the feat. For I had been on her
bridge at midnight at sea, and now I promised myself to walk under her keel at
midnight in dry dock.
But not an ordinary dry dock. This
was no ordinary occasion.The Cunard's largest ship was being lifted in the
world's largest floating dock, lifted right above that element in which she
naturally belongs for the first time since she was born - and water borne.
Docking the Berengaria is no simple
feat at any time, but putting her into the Southampton floating dock, settling
her into the cradle on its floor, and then bringing up dock and ship together
forty feet into the air, was a test of skill without parallel in our sea
history. In the centuries of our sea story we have done queer things with
ships. We have made them dive and come to the surface again. We have made them
into breakwaters and we have made them into incendiary bombs. We have taken
them overland to Central African lakes - and with a perverse humour have called
these adventurers by names more fitted for lap dogs or Parisian pets. Never
before, however, have we sent a 52,000 ton ship skywards, with the hope of
bringing her down again in one piece.
She went into the dock after tea.
Somebody wrote a play a while ago called 'A Roof and Four Walls'. Ours was a
drama of a ship and two walls, the floor intervening subsequently. The two
walls are 130 feet apart and the ship is 100 feet in the beam. There is not a
great margin for error in putting the ship between those two walls, but the
tugmasters and the pilots of Southampton Water are barely acquainted with the
word 'error'. They only meet it in accounts of events occurring in other ports.
So the Berengaria slid, with that bulky urge that is her characteristic when in
motion, into position between the walls. And the great towering mass of the
floating dock, which normally seems to dominate all the western end of
Southampton Water, was eclipsed and dwarfed and generally blotted out. It
became a mere accessory to the ship's framework.
Standing on the top of the dock
walls one was only a little above the water line of the ship. Her decks, tier
upon tier of them, heaped above. The pilot on the bridge was seventy feet
nearer the sky. It seemed impossible that the monstrous structure floating
there could ever be lifted.
The electric motors of the dock
pumps began to purr. Inch by inch the sides of the dock crept up the sides of
the ship. That was comparatively simple, for there were still two or three feet
of water between her keel and the blocks of the cradle in which she was to
rest. It was the last 6 inches that were the test. Then was the time when the
ponderous bulk of the Berengaria had to be persuaded to move by minute
fractions of an inch to port or starboard, so that she should be exactly
mathematically centred on the blocks before the lifting began.
How, exclaims the layman, can
anyone know that the whole nine hundred feet of keel are exactly in the
mathematical centre of the blocks?
It looks very simple when it is
done. Little red and green electric light bulbs in a plain wooden box are the
intelligence department. They flash in response to the depression of six-inch
brass levers fixed between the keel blocks fore and aft. As the ship settles
she touches the upraised levers first. If the light burns red, she is too much
to port. „The lifting stops, the hydraulic rams in the walls of the dock are
run out and they push her gently to starboard. If the light burns green she is
too much to starboard and must be edged to port. When both lights burn at once,
she is touching evenly. The lifting can begin.
It began. And as night fell, the
ship rose. In the windowed valve house on the starboard wall forward two or
three busy men touched buttons or pulled levers now and again, to check or
increase the flow of water out of various sections of the dock to keep her
trimmed.
Clusters of lights hung from the
sides of the ship, and cast a gloomy radiance down into the depths, where the
water lessened as the darkness deepened. The ship climbed slowly to meet the
winking stars. The gas-buoys of this strange channel. But for most of us on the
dock walls the interest was below, down where at last only a few inches of
water swirled, bewildered over the iron plates of the keel block platform.
Swirled - slipped away thoroughly frightened of the monstrous ghost castle. She
was dry.
We stepped on to the platform, and
our footfalls echoed feebly among the groans, the creaks, the cracks of the
oppressed keel blocks, victims in the dungeons of the ghost castle undergoing
the piene forte et dure of the mechanical torturers. Midgets they were, those
men who peered into the dim recesses beneath the keel. Midgets. But the
monster's masters. They could "call spirits from the vasty deep" and
make them mount.
Away, miles away, in some other
universe eight bells struck. The sound of it barely penetrated into the
cavernous depths among the keel blocks. A tired dockmaster pushed a long
extinct pipe into his side pocket, "Tell Harry to bring my supper
along" he said."
Return to Top
Meetings and Activities
Rosie's Notes (Rosie
Voller)
Alan
Aberg, Chairman of the Society for Nautical Research, was our December speaker
talking about Hidden Treasures - Marine Archaeology. The total number of known
documented wrecks within the 12 mile band around the coasts of the British
Isles is 30,000. The records give type of vessel, age, cargo, passengers - if
any - including their private papers and items taken on board. Some wrecks are
exposed for short periods giving a limited amount of time to inspect and
salvage finds. Frequently it is necessary to use a diving bell complete with
remote cameras and the paraphernalia required to examine wrecks while the sea
is calm. During this time a picture can be built up of how the coast developed
right back to the late Neolithic period such as lines of wooden stakes, being a
Neolithic technique of using fishnets close to the coast. Material has been
produced by fishing nets when parts of ships have been brought up giving
evidence of wrecks. Normally some protection will include the use of buoy
markers as well as the issue of a prohibition notice that no anchor should be
allowed anywhere near the buoy markers. The National Monuments Office situated
in Swindon analyses and improves collated information. The earliest records are
1315 and 1324, although there are large gaps until the mid-18th century and the
following years when document information and debris were not always complete.
Our January meeting started the New
Year well, considering we had about 80 members and visitors attending to hear
Alan Brown's talk about the New Forest Airfields. Alan was originally in the
Air Force for about 8 years and for another 4 years was stationed at the Experimental
Airfield, Beaulieu as a parachute jumping instructor, finally teaching History
and Art at Glen Eyre School. He talked about the early 1900s, continuing on
until after the 2nd World War, covering known and unknown roughly made
airfields from Calshot, Hurn, two at Beaulieu, East Boldre, Stoney Cross,
Ibsley, Christchurch, Holmesley South, Lymington, Bisterne and Winkton. Most of
the runways were made up of 10 ft rolls of chicken wire making an 850 yard long
runway by 50 yards wide. All the men lived in tents making them 100% mobile in
preparation for going to France. Several airfields opened up Flying Schools
where the real pioneers attended a number of flying exhibitions. During the
early part of the war, training the young men to fly the various type of
aircraft was very haphazard and many who went to the Western Front lost their
lives after only 2 weeks. Alan talked a little about (the "Madhouse"
as he named Beaulieu) which became a secret airfield in 1944. There were so
many strange experiments such as aircraft towing parachuting gliders, jeeps
dropped from under Halifaxes, guiding parachutes with a panel missing and men
with propellers attached to their bodies and no engines being dropped from
helicopters at a height of around 300 ft. After many problems it was decided
that the 2-bladed propellers would not keep sufficiently stable to ensure the
mens' safety. The majority of airfields later became Transport bases until the
end of the war. As a matter of interest Alan & his wife are holding a 3 day
exhibition this year in Lyndhurst on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday 17th, 18th and
19th August. Don't miss this event -if you wish to know more, his telephone
number is 02380 282841.
Our February speaker was Dave
Plunkett who is Clerk of the Works at Windsor Castle and was one of our very
early members of SUIAG, now HIAS. He gave an excellent illustrated talk about
Tide Mills around the World. He explained the workings of the tidal powered
mills, many of which were built of wood and, over time became dilapidated - in
some instances sites had been washed away by the tide and were not obvious,
although various Universities published books containing earlier research about
them. Tide mills go back to Roman times and beyond, as well as numerous sea
ponds, some of which were designed for various types of fish including eels.
During his time in America he met various historical societies who were
interested in all types of mills including lumber mills. The mills provided
power for the log saws cutting timber for Naval repairs and public users. In
Sicily there were many windmills raising water from one salt panning area to
another and firing the sea water in the air for the salt to fall down like
snow. Finally, as Dave is a Trustee of Eling Tide Mill, he gave us an insight
into the building which included many improvements over the years. Thank you
Dave - and for the lovely scenery along the way!
In March retired Lt. Commander
Brian Witte MBE, who had been in the Royal Navy for 42 years, since a young
boy, spoke about the history behind Whale Island Museum, Portsmouth. He told us
how during Drake's and Nelson's days there was no gunnery training. When the
ships were rolling, they would get as close as possible and shoot, with very
poor results. When American President Madison declared war on England in 1812,
the large English Naval ships were at a disadvantage against the American navy
which were mainly privateers. The smaller boats dived in between the larger
vessels wreaking havoc, and the Captains vowed never to get into this trouble
again. It was put to the Government of the day that the men must receive some
form of gunnery training: however, because it seemed too costly nothing was
done until someone suggested using one of the old hulks in Fareham waters. HMS
Excellent was cleaned and fitted with every type of gun available and targets
were lined up along Fareham creek mudflats, where sailors were taught
everything about gunnery. By 1832 the first contract to train seamen began, and
from 1840 there were three ships training 600 men and 1,000 boys. Once steam
came along, it was decided to dig out Steam Basin island, dumping the waste on
Big Whale island where eventually rifle ranges were set up. Back in April 1853
the Navy purchased the small islands around Portsmouth, supposedly from the
Corporation. However, Winchester College really owned them and it took until
1869 before everything was settled out of court in favour of the Navy. In 1864
an expansion plan was funded to build a viaduct to and from Whale island.
Chained groups of 28 convicts carried out the work, using only wheelbarrows and
spades and steam crane watched over by marines, each carrying a musket.
Buildings were eventually constructed in 1887 to house the larger 25 ton muzzle
gun and was the start of a gunnery school, involving hydraulic workshops etc.
The viaduct was eventually demolished and, in 1902, the Navy decided to produce
its own food, and Navy pensioners worked and looked after the allotments and
pig farm from 6.30am to lpm. At the beginning of the lst World War every sailor
on the site had to join warships, and the retired returned to train the new
young sailors. In 1975 the Gunnery - now Missile - training moved to HMS Dryad
and in 1994 HMS Excellent training centre was the HQ of the Commander in Chief
of the Fleet. What a joy to hear this excellent talk. We will have to book
Brian well in advance to give us a tour of Whale island.
David Trevor Jones, Vice Chairman
of the Cinema and Theatre Association, was our April speaker who talked of The
Bioscope to Multiplex. A group of people concerned about the wholesale
demolition of the high street cinemas began the association and, after 35
successful years, there are now over 1500 members, mostly in the UK. They are
interested in archiving and collecting all aspects of cinema, including
building architecture and design details. Edison originally had an idea to
produce single machines similar to "what the Butler saw", thinking
the idea wouldn't catch on and never took out a patent. The Lumière brothers
had more foresight and, on 20th February 1896, brought a show of approximately
one-minute short films to the Polytechnic which continued for a successful 2 or
3 weeks, and then moved to the old Empire Theatre. Town halls, Pubs, etc, were
hired, containing little else except music for these short films which made a
mint of money. In the early 1900s the Bioscope was introduced to the
Fairgrounds, consisting of a tent containing benches and a starched white sheet
on which the film was projected. The Music Hall also began showing various
one-minute films during the usual entertainment. Town halls, village halls and
Pubs were later showing slightly longer films of interest, etc, with background
music being played by a pianist or small orchestras. However, due to the highly
explosive nature of the film causing many fires, an act of Parliament was
passed in 1909 that the projection box had to be entirely separate from the
main building. By 1930 films were much longer and audiences were introduced to
sound films known as the "talkies". With this came the architectural
designed cinemas bathed in light and containing small cafes as well as separate
sweet/chocolate booths. Organs were in some instances part of the scene playing
live between films. From about 1985 not only did TV come into its own, but
whereas public houses were essentially mens' drinking houses, the pubs became
more sociable for men and women, and sadly Friday and Saturday night
cinema-going became a thing of the past. We are now seeing huge warehouse type buildings
known as the Multiplex within which are a number of separate rooms made to look
and work as individual cinemas, showing just one film with a considerable
amount of advertising blaring out at the customers. Drinks, popcorn and sweets
are always available in the foyer. It seems that eventually a Multiplex will
soon be available in or on the outskirts of our towns and cities. What a shame
only a few of those beautiful buildings can be seen, even though some are now
Bingo halls. I believe the word is progress!!
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Dates for your diary , 2003
July 19 & 20 National Archaeology
Days co-ordinated by the Council for British Archaeology and the Young
Archaeologists Club. Last year there were 161 events, attracting 90,000
visitors. For information on those being offered in 2003 log on to
www.britarch.ac.uk/nads. (Although, unsurprisingly, the full list of events
will only be finished nearer to July).
September
5 - 11A.I.A. Conference at Cardiff
September
12 - 15Heritage Open Days, a four-day extravaganza organized by the Civic Trust
when literally hundreds of special buildings, normally shut to the public or
open at a charge, will throw open their doors. It will include a number of
churches owned by the Friends. 2003 promises to be the best yet in view of the
Heritage Lottery Fund's grant to the Civic Trust of £335,000 spread over 3
years to help increase the appeal of the Open Days to families and to children.
September
19 - 21 Annual Conference of the Historic Farm Buildings Group based at Exeter
University. It will look particularly at the eastern fringes of Dartmoor where
stone - mostly granite - buildings predominate and the richer farmlands
immediately to the north of the city where cob replaces stone. Further
information from the Secretary, Jill Betts, The Museum of English Rural Life,
Rural History Centre, University of Reading, Whiteknights, P0 Box 229, Reading,
RG6 2AG (e-mail: jill.betts@btinternet.com).
September
20 - 21Open Days in London. The metropolitan equivalent of Heritage Open Days.
Further information available later in the summer.
November
21 - 28Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings National Maintenance
Week. 2002 saw SPAB's first concentrated effort to persuade people that
clearing out gutters and unblocking drains was essential for the well-being of
their house and historic building. They will be returning to the campaign in
November of this year and would welcome any involvement which kindred societies
might be able to provide. Further information on that from Laura Gibbon at the
SPAB on 0207 456 0915.
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Obituary: Philip
Armitage: 1914-2003
An
appreciation of a long and interesting life
by
Gerald Davies
Phil Armitage was born in Auckland,
New Zealand, shortly after the outbreak of World War 1, to British parents who
had emigrated thence. Had it not been for the War, it is possible that Phil
would have been born in England, as his mother was not enthused with life
overseas and had wished to return to England for her confinement. Nevertheless,
Phil was a New Zealander by birth and remained proud of his nationality, which
he retained throughout his long life.
His first visit to England was in
the 1920s when he and his sister accompanied their mother on an extended
holiday, staying in the Southbourne district of Bournemouth (then, of course,
part of Hampshire). He vividly remembered the trams which used to run from
Bournemouth out to Tuckton Bridge, which they could not cross, being too heavy
[1]. So began an association with Hampshire which was subsequently to become
his home county for nearly 60 years.
Returning to NZ, Phil was educated
at Kings College in Auckland and then spent a year reading science at Auckland
University. In the depression of the early 1930s it was not easy to find
employment in far away NZ, so Phil opted to leave University and took the offer
of a temporary job with a firm producing cinema sound equipment. Afer this he
joined his father, an electrical engineer, as a trainee site engineer working
with a large constructional company. Later on he branched out on his own,
concentrating on selling and installing electrical central heating systems
which were "state of the art" in the 1930s out there.
Later on Phil got a job supervising
the installation of an echo sounder in a small ship, operated by the NZ Church
Missionary Society, which made regular trips to the Soloman Islands, New
Hebrides and New Guinea (in the South Pacific region) attending to the material
and spiritual needs of the indigenous inhabitants. He talked his way into
becoming a supernumerary, unpaid member of crew on this ship, the Southern
Cross, ostensibly to maintain and operate the echo sounder which was vital in
the poorly charted waters around the Islands. In this capacity he learned a
great deal about the Islands and their people, as well as the problems of
navigating in the South Seas with their cyclonic gales and huge tidal waves. He
was on just such a Mission trip in September 1939 and recalled that it took a
week after World War 2 had been declared for the news to reach those distant
parts.
With the outbreak of war the ship
was recalled to Auckland, pending developments, and Phil went ashore to
volunteer for the NZ Army. With a glowing reference from the Bishop of Melanesia
for his services on the Southern Cross he was immediately made up to sergeant
in the NZ Corps of Signals. In 1940, with other units of the NZ Army, Phil
boarded a troopship en route to England where they reinforced the depleted
British Army following the losses at Dunkirk. His unit was posted to Bentley,
near Alton, where they occupied Pax Hill, the former home of Lord Baden Powell
(it has now become a nursing home). Here he met his future wife and was never
to return to his native New Zealand.
With the war spreading to North
Africa, units of the NZ Signal Corps were attached to the 8th Army and Phil
found himself supporting the "Desert Rats" at El Alamein, continuing
with them across Libya and Tunisia, and subsequently the Italian campaign, as
the Axis forces retreated. During this period he was commissioned and rose to
the rank of captain. Returning to England after the fall of Italy, Phil was
stationed at Woolwich, as a NZ Govt. Liaison Officer, in command of a unit
developing radios for use by the NZ forces in tropical climates during the
Pacific War.
After demoblisation in 1946 Phil,
by now married to a Bentley girl, settled in that Hampshire village and became
a family man, fathering two children. He joined the Shell Film Unit and worked
in turn as a script writer, editor and later director for many of the publicity
and educational films produced during the '50s and '60s. This work took him to
many parts of the world where Shell was operating and several of his films are
now in the National Archive. Of particular IA interest was his series of
educational documentaries on the Cornish Beam Engines, the majority of which no
longer exist. He continued to work in public relations for Shell, developing
new visual aids for promotional media, and became head of the Shell
Photographic Services from which he retired in 1969.
Phil was always a great reader and
writer and became a freelance author for a short time before embarking on
another career as an Information Officer with the Civil Service Commission,
based in Basingstoke, finally retiring in 1980. Always interested in canals,
Phil joined the Basingstoke Canal Society and worked as a volunteer captain on
their trip boat John Pinkerton over a period of several years. From there his
interests broabroadened into many aspects of IA and he joined SUIAG in 1983 to
become a regular attender at meetings and field study trips. He was also a
frequent contributor to the Newsletter and latterly produced articles for the
Society's Journal. He made a significant contribution to the Hampshire Farm
Survey, covering a number of farms in the Alton area. He researched local
history for the Alton History Society and was a Friend of the Curtis Museum.
(Phil and his family moved from Bentley to Alton in 1970 and remained there for
the rest of his life).
Over the years Phil developed many
other interests, including dinghy sailing and gliding. He was a devotee of
science fiction, in particular the works of Arthur C. Clarke, many of whose
views on the future he shared. In his CV of 1969, Phil listed "keeping in
touch with the progress of science" as a major personal activity,
something he pursued to the very end, thanks to his very active mind (IQ rating
of 147).
Phil died in the Alton Community
Hospital on 2 March 2003 from a rare respiritory condition, resulting from an
earlier bout of pleurisy, which caused progressive damage to his lungs over
many years. HIAS was represented at his funeral by old friends Barry Duke and
Gerald Davies. Phil leaves a widow, Margaret, also a son and daughter, as well
as an older sister.
[1] The trolleybuses which later
replaced the Bournemouth trams were able to cross Tuckton Bridge and proceeded
to Christchurch.
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Reports
Secretary's Report (Carol Burdekin)
Just
a short summary to let members know what has been discussed at HIAS Committee
Meetings so far this year.
We have had two meetings (January
and April) with most of the Committee Members present. One of the main topics
for discussion has been the venue for monthly meetings. It has been obvious for
some time that not all members have been happy with the present location. Rosie
and Bill have expended a lot of time and effort in visiting different sites
when we knew that we could no longer afford the University. It was then that we
realised just how difficult it was to come up with something suitable to meet
all the criteria required. If anyone has any suggestions or ideas, please let
the Committee know, and grateful thanks to those members who have taken the
trouble to pass on constructive comments, all of which have been considered.
Another topic on which we would
welcome suggestions is a members' "social evening". Firstly, would
you like one and, secondly, has anyone any suggestions? Again, please let us
know. Also - thirdly - would anyone like to take on the organising!!
John Davies reported that, owing to
good publicity from Radio Solent, we welcomed a number of non-members at
January's meeting on "New Forest Airfields".
HIAS has recently become a member
of the Southampton Heritage Federation. Angela Smith is already on the SHF
Committee with her Tram 57 Project "hat" (as is John Horne) and
offered to represent us, and Jeff Pain has also volunteered. Their main
long-term aim is to have a museum telling the Story of Southampton, preferably
in a waterfront location, but in the meantime they will be running a new
Heritage Information Centre in the Southampton Bargate, hopefully opening later
in the summer.
An important date for your diary is
April next year when HIAS will be hosting SERIAC 2004. This is being held at
Churchers College, Petersfield, and we will let you have further details when
available. Be warned, we will be looking for volunteers to help out in various
guises!
On the subject of volunteers, we
are looking for a programme organiser for 2004. It would be useful if we could
find someone who has access to speakers, i.e. someone who goes to lots of talks
on I.A. or I.A.- related subjects who also possesses a persuasive manner!
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South
West England and South Wales Region 34th Industrial Archaeology Conference Hosted by Wiltshire Archaeology and
Natural History Society (as part of the Society's 150th anniversary programme)
and held at Devizes Town Hall, Wilts on 10 May 2003. About twelve or so HIAS
members attended this event from a total of about 100 persons, who were
welcomed by Vice Chairman, Doug Roseaman, who introduced the four speakers.
Sir Neil Cossons OBE, Chairman of
English Heritage, gave the opening address. He told us that looking ahead is
critical to handle future primary objects and it is necessary to speed things
up from the slow cumbersome way known in the past. The idea is that English
Heritage is trying to simplify processes and ensuring that the historical
landscape is looked after. Of the various illustrations he gave was the
proposal some years ago that Stonehenge should be moved to another area because
it interfered with flying. He agreed that various grand buildings, etc,
throughout the country and designed by well known architects should never have
been destroyed in the 1960s. Sir Neil said with the historic environment being
under review it is essential that volunteers like us should make our views
known and that buildings can have their uses without running riot with
bulldozers.
Our first speaker was Mildred
Cookson, who is a committee member of the Society for the Protection of Ancient
Buildings, Mills Section. She told us how her interest in mills began right
back to when she was fourteen years old. Originally she helped with the
restoration of Britain's oldest smock mill, Lacey Green, near High Wycombe.
Whilst working on the windmill Mildred heard about Mapledurham Mill, on the
River Thames, and took over its running and maintenance in 1982. Interestingly
it was recorded in Domesday when the small building valued at 12 shillings. The
mill was part of the estate and the miller's rights of the river included
charging the Bargemen for using the locks. The great plague in 1665 caused the
King to move his court to Abingdon which increased the existing trade, when a
second water wheel was required and later extra barns, etc, increased the size
of the mill when, by 1780, it looked good. When replacing the wheel paddles
with the various strength of woods, Mildred found it packed with diary pages
dated a 100 years old. What an interesting history from its earlier days.
From Monuments to Landscapes was
our next speaker's talk. Keith Falconer is Head of Industrial Archaeology
within the Research and Standards Group of the National Monuments Record. He
talked about Ironbridge which, in 1890, was the first protected site, paving
the way for focusing the history of technology post WW1. WW2 was the time when
we experienced large scale aerial bombing. In late 1959 the CBA convened a
conference calling for the government to identify and protect archaeology
sites, when a list of 125 sites were identified. In 1962 an Industrial Survey
was part funded to include Pottery Kilns, Cranes, Lime Kilns, Water Pumping
Stations, Textile Workshops, Brickworks, Mills, Canals & Canal Cottages and
Toll Houses, etc. Regretfully in 1980 there was a lot of vandalism in advance
of protecting these sites. During this time it was considered that the
government was much too slow and it has been agreed to build a programme in the
next year or two to include concentrating on landscapes. This new initiative
proposed 11 sites to include Arkwright's Mills and Workers' Cottages and
Liverpool focusing on Albert Docks, GWR Swindon including the whole
infra-structure of the Industrial Revolution. Let us hope the government will
get on with the doing and not waffle!
The lunch break gave us a chance to
eat our sandwiches and visit the Society's exhibit at the Museum, while others
either queued for a set lunch or visited a local pub before the next speaker.
Julian Lea Jones is a researcher in
the diverse fields of medieval history and aerospace (avionics). He is actively
involved with The Temple Local History Group and Bristol Historical Research
and he told us about The Alum Works at Temple Back, Bristol. In 1979 Julian was
working for the Aero Space Engineering Works and he happened to wonder about an
old building not too far away, which caused him to investigate its history, and
he found that from 1145 until 1307 the land of Temple Meadows was granted to
the Knights of Jerusalem where producing alum cloth was a working industry as
alum deposits were discovered and sourced up to 1595. By the late 17th century
alum cloth manufacturing was in the decline due to change of ownership.During
the time he found out about the building's history, he discovered that alum
made cloth supple and began to look over the building which was derelict and
found a lead vat in which sulphuric acid was put to steam, drained off and
stored until settled and then tankered to St Ann's Board Mills to produce paper
sacks. This simple process continued up to 1980. After continuing to check on
various relics and finding no waste products which probably oxidised,
everything was destroyed just leaving a flat surface looking like a disused NCP
car park. This story illustrates how history can be lost without trace if no
one takes any notice of what is happening around you!
Mike Stone, Curator and Manager of
Chippenham Museum and Heritage Centre, talked about The Roland Brotherhood
Company - Brunel and railway engineering in Chippenham. He told us that
Chippenham was said to have been the sleepiest town in England prior to the
installation of the GWR from Paddington to Bristol which changed the face and
economy of the town, milk, cheese and cloth being its main industry. Brunel had
very little knowledge about the local area and proposed to go through back
filled quarry land which was cheap to buy, but so many problems and wasted time
was caused, including trying to dig the worst clay land in Wootton Bassett.
Brunel eventually had to employ local cesspit diggers who were more
knowledgeable about the ground. After spending 18 years building the railway
lines and viaduct, and no railway station, the money ran out. In 1858 the
Brotherhood Company got the contract to build a railway station which impressed
the Italian patron Garibaldi. An iron cannon was hand made in the factory which
was to be fired as a salute, but so much explosives were used that, although
the cannon didn't blow up, it broke the glass roof of the station which had to
be rebuilt. It was said that during this time Brunel had gangs of men at
Chippenham to help him make numerous pieces for his ships including the SS
Great Britain. In 1869 he later got involved in a scheme to build railways in
Brazil, and eventually died in 1888 and was buried in Bristol.
After the conference a choice of
two visits was offered, to the Kennet and Avon Canal Museum, or to the
Wiltshire Heritage Museum for a specially arranged exhibition of the County's
industrial heritage. Both at Devizes. A very interesting conference and the
members who made the journey had a thoroughly nice day, and what a lovely
Market Town.
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AIA
Conference 2002at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh
Menai Link to Millennium Link (Pam
and Laurie Draper)
This
year's conference was held in Scotland to the west of Edinburgh. It was started
off by an invitation to attend the unveiling, by Professor John Archer,
Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University, of a portrait of a
much-neglected but eminent Scottish railway engineer John Miller C.E., F.R.S.E.
(1805-83). It was held by invitation of Professor Roland Paxton [author of a
fascinating recent and detailed book Bright Lights, the Stevenson Engineers
1752-1971] at a conversazione at the School of the Built Environment. On view
also was one of the original wrought-iron links, circa 1824, from Telford's
Menai Suspension Bridge.
The first lecture, the Rolt
Memorial, was by Professor John Hume, doyen of Scottish Industrial Archaeology,
entitled Industry as Culture. This was a tantalising homily setting the scene
of Scottish engineering which was just as distinguished as that of England and
Wales. In a small inhabitable area, mainly the Midland Valley, was a highly
industrialised community as smothered in smoke and grime as the Black Country.
The Scottish agriculture was generally poor so that its people swarmed to the Central
Belt to seek work in very poor living conditions as there was very little
opportunity for any elsewhere - hence a good supply of labour receiving very
poor wages. Grain milling machinery figured strongly. In 1664 sugar-boiling
towers were developed, but with the aid of Dutch staff. In the union with
England in 1707 Scottish woollen industry was discriminated against, but by
1727 the linen industry was encouraged. Coal mining developed in the mid l700s,
enabling salt to be produced by boiling sea water (we were later able to see
such a combination of mines and boiling pans on the north shore of the Forth).
Windmills were built as a source of power. The glass industry prospered,
producing beer bottles in vast quantities on a scale similar to that of Burton
on Trent; some were shipped to India, which was the origin of, for example,
India Pale Ale! Not surprisingly, distilling, which was rampant, developed from
the local Highland Glen illicit stills - it failed to eliminate the latter!
From the late l700s, the supply of
cheap labour enabled the rapid development of shipbuilding. Developing from
this, marine engines soon followed, and Clydeside became the premier source of
ships for the entire world - now sadly all but eliminated. In 1799 the chemical
industry started, producing amongst other things bleaching powder. Arkwright's
example was followed in establishing a powered spinning and weaving industry in
an area where the air is as damp as in Derbyshire and Lancashire. Textile
industries developed, hugely by Coates in Paisley, but also in other areas,
including the manufacture of netting for the burgeoning herring industry, and
in the l850s sewing machines were developed strongly. From 1885 to 1963
Singer's produced 19 million sewing machines. By then Glasgow led the world in
the production of cast iron pipes.
The Neilson locomotive works in
Glasgow became the largest locomotive works in the world by about 1900. The
iron casting industry developed near Falkirk, notably the Carron works making
bandstands, fountains and countless other mouldable objects. The oil shale
industry developed south of the Midland Valley by the l850s, yielding - for
then - huge quantities of oil, using the plentiful supply of coal. Table linen
was produced in Dunfermline, and lace curtains using labour cheaper than that
of Nottingham. Carpets were produced in large quantities and were used, for
example, in the Doge's Palace in Venice.
The list is everlasting; mechanical
whisky bottling plant, winding engines for all sorts of mines including for
diamonds in South Africa, and in 1906 Arrol-Johnson had the largest car factory
in Europe! The largest paper factory in Europe was in Scotland in about 1900,
and then with the First World War all went berserk.
John had quietly presented the case
for virulent inventive minds in operation in Scotland for nearly two centuries,
equal in quality with the rest of the world and in many cases superior. He held
up his end very well indeed; and all that by as modest a man as one can
imagine! One of the most fascinating lectures for a long time.
Another notable lecture was by
Michael Moss, former Archivist of the University of Glasgow, on the history of
shipbuilding on the Clyde, the largest such industry in the world for many
years. The very early industry is largely undescribed and undocumented, but
Michael's quite encyclopaedic knowledge quoted a mine of remarkable documents
acquired by devious means from the most secretive of companies. A significant
source are photographs taken to demonstrate that work had been done and was
then eligible for stage payments. Marine engines were perhaps the largest
success of Clyde builders. After WW1 there was a major recession, so after WW2
companies were reluctant to invest, in sharp contrast to many Far Eastern companies
which exploited their very cheap labour, and the Clyde rapidly declined. End of
British supremacy.
Members' contributions were as
diverse and interesting as ever; it is impossible to give summaries of them
all, but here are a few of some of the main items:
Roger N Holden gave a talk about
James Smith of Deanston and the self acting Spinning Mule. Roberts of
Manchester is acknowledged as its designer in 1830, but it was developed in
1834 by James Smith with an alternative system which was being built in the
l870s and still advertised a decade later. A model still survives, and Roger
showed photographs of the machines.
David Roemmele talked about the
Textile Factories in Hawick, a town which had only one dominant industry, and
is now in serious decline. David gave the first complete record of the town's
remaining rich textile industry, and discussed the potential for raising
Hawick's profile in the world of industrial tourism.
John Watts made a passionate plea
entitled Record it before it's gone, showing before and after slides of local
industrial activities in the Salisbury area. Once industry has ceased it is
demolished swiftly; he pointed out that it is rare that records can be made
before closure, and if no effort has been made to preserve it will be gone in
barely a twink with no record for posterity. His message is that we must all be
alert on such matters.
Paul Sowan talked on - guess what -
! - underground space of course! This time it was on some examples of the
re-use of mines, quarries, tunnels, shelters and other such works from railway
tunnels as mushroom farms to goodness knows what. Professor Alan Crocker
described the activities of William McMurray, Wireworker of Scotland and
Papermaker of Surrey - an interesting range of activities from grass-growing in
Spain to newspaper proprietor! The wireworks moved to Granton in 1925 and still
exist.Professor David Perrett, I.A. in the land of the Bagpipes, talked on the
diverse industrial past of Scotland which covered a surprising range of activities.
David George's topic was the
evidence for the early engineering industry in Carlisle, mentioning such as
Cowans Sheldon (railway and other cranes which are still in existence around
the world). Dr Brenda J Buchanan talked on John Loudon McAdam (1756-1836) the
"Lanark Reformer of the road ruts". She described how the name of
this minor Scottish laird became known world wide, being the first systematic
builder of British roads since Roman times - some achievement!
Visits
There
was a range of 13 possible tours of which it was possible to go on only 5, so
this report is not comprehensive.
The Forth and Clyde Canal starts
from the River Carron on the Forth near Grangemouth, travels westwards through
Falkirk and exits at Bowling, well down the north side of the Clyde. The Union
Canal starts in Edinburgh, with no access to the sea; it goes westwards to
Falkirk, where 11 locks gave it access to the Forth and Clyde Canal and
therefore to both the Forth and Clyde estuaries. Possibly the most memorable
visit [matter of opinion] was to the spanking new 2002 Falkirk (Millennium
Link) Wheel, said to be the world's first and only rotating boat lift, which
replaces the locks. The boats are conveyed in a rotating Gondola; it is ll5ft
(35m) high and it lifts 600 tonnes. Boats entering from the Forth first join
the Carron, but they have to wait until high tide to get into it and then wait
for low tide to pass [just] under motorway and road bridges! Presumably we took
our lives in our own [or somebody else's] hands and did what was deemed far too
risky for HM the Queen to do when she formally opened it recently - we went on
a narrowboat and took a ride from bottom to top, through a tunnel and back again.
We nearly didn't - just before the formal opening there was a major mishap when
water flooded out from the top end into the buildings below and destroyed all
the control and other equipment to the extent of half a million pounds! It was
an insider job; the prime suspect is said to be a disgruntled employee who was
sacked two weeks previously, the necessary safety mechanisms not then having
been installed so he could creep in under cover of darkness and remove a
crucial bit. Such a catastrophe is said to be impossible again.
The 68 mile Millennium Link project
was to fully restore the canal between Glasgow and Edinburgh. It cost £84.5m of
lottery cash [exclusive of the Wheel], a bargain compared to the Dome! Thebig
'horns' on it are purely ornamental even though they were initially there to
make some form of counterbalance, which was later found unnecessary, but it
does give it an identity of its own.
Tour of Forbo-Nairn Linoleum Works,
Kirkcaldy: This is a modern factory still in production, but it continues to be
carried on largely as it was a century ago. The main reason is that linoleum is
effectively a solidified linseed oil filled with stone, and as linseed is
natural material it has wide variations in constituents and consistency. The
processes are therefore governed by the rules passed from father to son over
the years. The overall scrap rate is of the order of 50%, but they are proud of
the fact that nothing is totally lost, just recycled. Although the Brits have
largely abandoned it as a floor covering it surprisingly still sells well in
wealthy countries such as USA, Sweden and Switzerland - are we behind the times
or in the vanguard? It has a linen base, so is subject to dimensional
variations over time, so the square tiles are backed by a modern plastic woven
material to enable them to maintain dimensions to very small tolerances.
The
next of our visits was to the huge Longannet Power Station on the north bank of
the Forth, but your reporters and several others chose to do some real IA instead
and visit Preston Island offshore from the site, and got somewhat sun-tanned
for their trouble. Actually it is not now an island, the half-mile channel
having been joined to the mainland by the tipping of the power station fly ash
over the (recent) years. It was developed in 1590 by Sir George Bruce who
established the Moat Pit, to provide fuel for the salt pans which he built
there, but it was swamped in 1625; however, the ruins of two beautifully-built
engine houses and saltpans still remain, and it is these that we went to
inspect. Longannet lost its coal supply earlier this year when the huge
Longannet mine was flooded and consequently abandoned. Coal is now imported and
brought in by rail - a bonus for the EWS railway.
Other visits in which we participated
included the Forth-Clyde valley to see a brewery [of course], Devon Colliery,
textile mills, harbours and the remains of an l8th century waggonway; Glasgow
including canals, carpet factories and Heritage Engineering, a Scottish company
which restores early machines and artefacts, the Scottish equivalent of
Dorothea; there was a tour of the huge BP Grangemouth refinery, not quite IA
(yet!); the Carron Ironworks of 1759 was, and still is, world renowned but now
making steel and plastic kitchen equipment. We'd have loved to have gone on
every visit, so choosing which ones was an agonising task!
One of the best conferences ever.
Postscript : When Pam and Laurie
were working on their Raasay Iron Mine book, John Hume was a quite wonderful
source of information and encouragement, as was Michael Moss who ferreted out
all manner of relevant documents, and he knew from his instant-recall memory
precisely which box on which row of which shelf in which room any particular
document could be found!
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HIAS Rescue & Restoration
Section / Hampshire Mills Group
During
the past six months the only work work carried out, apart from on mills, has
been on the waterwheel and pump atMayfly Cottage, Timsbury. Able-bodied and
pen-pushing volunteers still required for other tasks!
S.S. Shieldhall(website:
www.ss-shieldhall.co.uk)
During
the winter several important jobs have been dealt with, including removal of
old boiler insulation and replacement with new non-hazardous materials,
cleansing of the engine-room bilges and an urgently needed overhaul of the
sanitation system (an idle thought, this is one thing they should get right).
Finally the rubbing strake needed replacing, requiring some 250 yards of high
quality timber. To assist with this cost they have opened an appeal to buy a
yard for £25 with the sponsor's name displayed on a diagram in the main saloon
as, unlike Hythe Pier, it would be difficult to see any dedication on the
strake itself. In this respect you will be pleased to hear that the committee
has agreed on your behalf that HIAS will donate £50 to purchase two yards.
The excursion programme has been
published for 2003, generally including the "usual suspects", though
the visit to Newhaven across 23-26th May was new: there was also an additional
evening trip to see the fireworks on 21st May in association with the naming
ceremonies of the ADONIA AND OCEANA by Princess Anne and her daughter Zara.
Once again they are doing Santa /
Christmas trips even though two had to be cancelled last year owing to poor
bookings but this year, with better publicity, they are hoping for improved
results, However two dates of great interest (provisional at this stage) are
the arrival of the QUEEN MARY 2 on Friday 12th December and a month later, on
Monday 12th January 2004, her Maiden Voyage.
Lastly, on the 8th May she was at
sea for more film work on the Stephen Fry production Bright Young Things.
The "Calshot"
Along
with other preservation projects, her future now lies with the Southampton
Heritage Federation which will be hopefully progressing the lottery
application. There is also good news on the work front. In the engine room
asbestos has been removed and, with assistance from local teaching
establishments, the ship's telegraph is now working. Also it is possible some
work can be completed on the engines: another project could see progress
towards her original appearance with replacement of the two masts and full
height funnel. If this comes to fruition, the target is to join the welcoming
flotilla for the QUEEN MARY 2in December, so coming close to re-enacting her
work as a tug assisting the first QUEEN MARY on her first arrival at
Southampton in 1936. Now that I would like to see!!! Perhaps I should book a
place on the Shieldhall now.
Other local maritime news
tsmv
Southsea: The former British Rail Portsmouth-Ryde ferry, built in 1948 and
retired by Sealink in 1988, which has been the subject of several restoration
attempts in the south, was towed from Portsmouth into a dry berth facility at
Drivers Wharf, Southampton, in April. There have been rumours that the Trust
which owns the vessel plans to restore it as a floating restaurant - possibly
for Ocean Village. We can only wait and see!
Steam
Launch Kariat: (from Isle of Wight County Press, April 4 2003) - The
beautifully restored 35ft launch, built in 1897 at East Cowes, was shipped back
to Cowes from N. Ireland by new owner, the former Cowes Yachting chairman John
Power. The launch was discovered ten years ago rotting away in N. Ireland.
E-boat
to be restored at Marchwood: German WW2 torpedo boat (Schnellboote) S-130 -
known as an E-boat (Enemy War Motorboat) - has been towed from Germany and is
now at the British Military Powerboat Trust's base at the former Husband's
Shipyard, Cracknore Hard, Marchwood for refurbishment. About 100 of the 115ft
craft were built 60 years ago but S-130 is thought to be the only survivor in
almost original condition of these fast and heavily armed vessels which
threatened Allied shipping in the English Channel and North Sea. The BMPT will
be holding Open Days on August 2nd and 3rd - hoping for better weather than
last year's washout, no doubt!
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Tram 57
Project (Angela Smith)
We welcomed about 30 HIAS members
to the Millbrook "tramshed" on the evening of May 12th, which was
like a social evening and very enjoyable, if a little hectic as only Nigel and
I, plus new volunteer Bill Geddes, were able to attend so we were a bit
overstretched. It was a pleasant evening after a day with some very heavy
showers (we'd been there working since 10.30). Bill is a skilled joiner who
recently became a 'regular' and is tackling some complicated woodwork on Car
11, starting with the window frames on the upper deck ends.
Recently we had been advised to
glue hessian to the inside of the lower deck rocker and waist panels although,
as we had used marine grade plywood and not "real" timber sheets,
this was not strictly necessary. It helps prevent the wood splitting and also
aids sound absorption. Extra shear blocks were also fixed to hold the panels to
the side frames and pillars. This meant removing the seats and seat backs. One
side has been finished and the seat was replaced about an hour before HIAS
members arrived! We also took the opportunity to paint the panels, hessian,
pillars and frames with gloss grey paint and repaint the rather tatty-looking
metal components in black gloss. Next job is to tackle the other side.
We had sad news recently when one
of our local stalwart supporters passed away on May 4th aged only 72 - Fred
Bignell who, with his elder brother Tom (who died a few years ago), had driven
Southampton trams post-war. Both had been a great help solving many of our
queries about the tram construction and operation. Fred was a good friend,
always passing round a bag of humbugs when he came to the workshop and telling
stories of his days on the trams. We shall miss his cheery visits. Our
condolences to his wife, Mill, and family.
Finally, don't forget the
Southampton Transport Heritage Day on Sunday August 24th at Mayflower Park.
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Twyford
Waterworks Trust (Ian Harden)
Over the preceding winter and
spring period, the main progress has been with the 1895 Crossley gas engine.
Thanks to a new recruit, Jack Knight, this now runs infinitely more smoothly
than before and drew much favourable comment at the open day when powering the
well pump recovered some years ago now, by the then SUIAG "heavy
gang", from Laundry Cottage at Broughton.
The monthly summer steaming
programme has got off to a promising start with the May open day realising
almost £1 500 after expenses, providing the Trust with a very welcome financial
boost. In addition to the customary stationary engines and visiting classic
cars, including on this occasion a group of Sunbeam owners, the Eastleigh &
District Model Boat Club produced a highly entertaining display for the visitors.
Several prospective volunteers made themselves known on the day and one
complete family even came to work in the Diesel House the following weekend.
Just prior to the publication of
these notes, Twyford will have hosted a visit on Bank Holiday Monday by between
fifty and one hundred veteran and vintage cars. The club members offered a
generous donation in return for the Hathorn Davey engine to be steamed. The
following weekend, at the June steaming day, Keith Hawkins officially took over
the mantle of engineer steam from Bill Stone as mentioned in the last edition
of Focus. With due ceremony, Keith took custody of the engine driver's bowler
hat to mark a new era for all concerned. Bill's infectious sense of humour
(worthy of any isolation ward) and dedication will certainly be difficult to
match.
Later in the summer, the Trust will
participate in a Southern Water event aimed at raising the profile of water
supply in the area, conservation of resources etc. This is scheduled for the
weekend of 16th and 17th of August. Twyford Waterworks will be in steam on the
Sunday with admission sponsored by Southern Water. Details are available online
at www.hampshirewater.org.uk or from Andrew Pitt / Mike Bridgeman on 01962
845832.
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Southampton Heritage Federation (Angela Smith)
HIAS joined the SHF in February
with John Horne and I, already members for Tram 57 Project, becoming the
representatives for HIAS along with Jeff Pain. There was a delay in acquiring
the lease on the Bargate but the Hall of Aviation, as lessee, should be taking
possession during June and the building will have to be thoroughly cleaned
before the first floor can be fitted out as a Heritage Information Centre.
Hopefully it will open to the public later in the summer. Following my appeal
in the last Focus for volunteers to 'person' the information desk, I had the
grand total of one lady member offering assistance. As HIAS will be able to
sell its wares as well as promote the society, surely there must be more of you
who could find the odd day now and again to help out. There is a Hall of
Aviation manager to co-ordinate the volunteers and run the Information Centre.
Website
requestsRodney HallWe get occasional requests for information from our web
sites and the following have been received recently. If anyone can give further
information could they see myself or Mateen.
1) A
building in Millbrook Road West (SU 388 127), on the service road abutting the
north edge of the Recreation Ground, has become visible by removal of
hoardings. "The building looks to be of railway design", with
awnings, "clock face" and round windows.
2)
"An iron lattice girder railway bridge made by the firm of Fleet and Newey
at Itchen, Southampton" and/or information about Joseph Newey.
3) The
Environment Agency is promoting a project to preserve and stabilise the
freshwater reaches of the Itchen Navigation and would like to know of anyone
with interest or detailed knowledge (legal aspects of ownership and rights of
access) of the Navigation.
From DCMC press releases
Members
may have seen that the Post Office Tower in London has been listed Grade II.
However, in addition, 6 other communications structures of the 1950s and '60s
also received listing status at the same time. These were a) the Equatorial
Telescopes at Herstmonceux, Grade II*; b) the 1959-60 lighthouse at Dungeness,
Grade II*; c) the Earth/Satellite Antenna No 1 at Goonhilly Downs in Cornwall,
Grade II; d) The Broadcasting Tower at Emley Moor, Yorkshire, Grade II; e)
Radar Training Station at Fleetwood, Lancs, Grade II and f) County Police
Communication Tower at Aykley Heads, Durham, Grade II.
A wide-ranging review is taking
place of all means by which England's historic environment receives protection,
i.e. Listing and Scheduling with the addition of historic park, gardens and
battlefields. The present system has basically been in position for over 50
years and now it is considered time for a review, especially in the light of
concern changing from individual buildings and monuments to landscape as a
whole and more recent past. English Heritage will be the major organisation
involved (apart from 'Whitehall') and a Consultation Paper is expected to be
launched in July. The stated goal "is a legislative framework that remains
robust in the protection it affords but at the same time provides for the
management and enabling of change, rather than its prevention" [Fine! As
long as the "enabling of change" does not get 'hijacked' by
interested parties thereby rendering "robust in protection"
ineffective.] The review has been welcomed by the Chairman of English Heritage
(Sir Neil Cossons), the Chairman of Commission for Architecture and the Built
Environment, and the Ancient Monuments Society. It is hoped to actively engage
the "historic environment, planning and development sectors as well as
amenity societies, community groups and the public.
"The review will examine the
management of the whole historic environment including ...... Conservation
Areas; Listed Buildings; The Register of Historic Battlefields; The Register of
Parks and Gardens; Scheduled Ancient Monuments; World Heritage Sites and the
regulatory regimes that flow from them."
Some facts and figures. There are
currently some 376,000 listed buildings; 19,000 scheduled monuments; 9,000
Conservation Areas; 1,500 Historic Parks and Gardens; 14 World Heritage Sites
and 43 sites on the Battlefield Register. Of Listed Buildings; 2.5% are Grade I;
5.7% are Grade II* and 91.8% are Grade II. In 1995 300,000 recorded monuments
were found to be at risk; of these 6% were scheduled and 12% listed. MORI polls
in 2000 found that 77% of the public disagreed that we preserve too much; 75%
think the best of our post-war building should be preserved and when surveyed
59% of owners of listed buildings were pleased that their building was listed
while 16% thought it a bad thing.
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Miscellanea
New
exhibit for Southampton Hall of Aviation
On
4 February DH Sea Vixen FAW.2 XJ571 was moved from Brooklands Museum, Surrey,
to the Hall of Aviation. Brooklands had decided that it did not match its
change of collecting policy. The aircraft was built at Christchurch in 1959 and
fits in well with the Southampton museum's "wider Solent area"
policy. The complex overnight operation went like clockwork, much to the relief
of director Alan Jones, and the museum opened on time the following day. A
carrier deck was then laid and the aircraft's wings folded for display.
Reprieve for Winter Gardens
Last
June's Focus reported that the Bournemouth Winter Gardens was to be sold to a
developer and demolished after the Conservative-led Council agreed (by one
vote) to sell it. The recent council elections have now put the Lib-Dems in
power and the Winter Gardens has gained a reprieve. The former council wanted
to focus resources on running the Pavilion Theatre, but the new plan is to let
the private sector manage the Pavilion Theatre so that the Winter Gardens can
be refurbished. A bitter blow to the developers who had their eyes on this
prime city centre location. Let's hope that the Winter Gardens will once again
prosper.
But not for floating bridge?
Time
is running out for the old Southampton floating bridge moored at Bitterne (can
be seen from Northam Bridge) - see Focus 59. The site's owner has decreed that
if it is not moved by July 17th, then it will be cut up. Southampton Heritage
Federation members are still hoping to rescue it and are searching for a
suitable location.
Local History website extended
An
Internet website that has been helping people in Southampton peek into the past
of their local area has been such a hit that the project, originally due to end
on April 25, has been extended to coincide with Local History Month in May.
Government-funded National Grid for Learning's local history trail, launched in
February, has been giving hints and tips on how to use the Internet to research
old buildings, monuments, history of towns & villages. People in
Southampton have been encouraged to come forward and put memories and pictures
of their town on the website www.ngfl.gov.uk/localhistory. (Southampton
Advertiser, 8/5/03)
Brighton's West Pier
No
doubt you have all been following the fate of Brighton's 1866 Grade 1 listed
West Pier - which closed in 1975 - in the past few months, from the storm
damage in December and January to the devastating fire on March 28th. The
Preservation Society must be congratulated on keeping such a positive outlook
that they will indeed fully restore (or will it be 'rebuild' now?) this
historic pier, in spite of the opposition from the owners of the nearby Palace
Pier. A recent TV newsclip showed a warehouse full of original fittings, so at
least they have something to 'restore' with. The plan to build modern shops and
suchlike along the sea frontage haven't gone down so well in some quarters
("it will spoil my view"), but if it helps to finance the restoration
and running of the West Pier, then one shouldn't look a gift horse in the
mouth.
What
a pity that Southampton's Royal Pier was allowed to decay to its current
pitiable state, just the flat decking (what's left of it) with no
superstructure. If only we'd had a group of people years ago as dedicated as
those in Brighton, could we not have rescued what was undoubtedly a great
attraction to citizens and visitors alike, when you could take a walk "out
to sea"ŒŒ and the memories of the ballroom! Can anyone remember the
Supermarine S6A (now in the Hall of Aviation) and an Eddystone light displayed
under the canopy at the rear of the entrance building, which I'm sure my
childhood recollections haven't invented.
(Angela
Smith)
Return to Top
Tail-enders . . . .
. . .
Southampton's
Museum and Archaeology Society has launched an initiative to photograph old
buildings in outer Southampton which were shown on the large scale Ordnance
Survey maps of 1868 or 1870 and remain standing today.
Fareham Council has included 3 1906
buildings on its own list of buildings of historical interest after the Dept
for Culture, Media & Sport declined to list them nationally. They are the
clock tower (originally a water tower), garage and petrol house of the former
Warsash Estate in Warsash Road.
The first new British Canal to be
built for a century will be a 20-mile link to connect the River Great Ouse at
Bedford with the Grand Union Canal at Milton Keynes, costing £150m. One unique
feature that is planned could be a huge transparent aqueduct straddling the M1
north of junction 13.
Meanwhile, in Hampshire, in spite
of occasional emergency repair work by the Environment Agency, the Itchen
Navigation is threatened by neglect and needs a 7-figure sum. The agency is to
apply for funding from the HLF after a bid to get money from the Aggregates
Levy Environmental Fund failed. A major problem has been the unchecked growth
of thousands of trees which are damaging banks. (Job for the Heavy Gang??).
Editor's Tailpiece:
My
thanks to the following contributors for articles, items and newspaper cuttings
used in this issue -
Carol Burdekin, Gerald Davies, Pam
& Laurie Draper, Rodney Hall, Roger Hedge, Jeff Pain, Rosie Voller, Tony
Yoward, Weald & Downland Open Air Museum, and with special thanks to Ian
Harden and John Silman.
Apologies to Ray Riley who sent an
account of the April AIA Ironbridge Weekend Conference just too late (mid May)
for inclusion this issue, but will appear in December's. Laurie and Pam's
article would have been in No 59 had they not e-mailed it to Mary Yoward at a
time when her computer was 'down', so it wasn't until they read their copy of
Focus that they asked me if it had been received.
The next issue of Focus is due in December 2003 so contributions should be handed to me BY the November meeting or mailed. Enjoy your summer holidays, and don't forget to TAKE THOSE PRIZE-WINNING PHOTOS AND SLIDES FOR THE COMPET