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Features
Meetings and
Activities
December
2004 - The last 30 years of the Ordnance Survey and the industrial revolution
January
2005 - Recording & Broadcasting
February
- Firemarks on Old Buildings
March
- Ships, a neglected aspect of IA
April
- Schneider Air Races
May
- Quiz Time
Reports
Bourley
Waterworks & Pumping Station, Crondall Carol
Burdekin
I received an enquiry
about the Crondall site, via the HIAS website, from Alison Macallan. Although
Alison and her husband, Andrew, live in Fleet, they have an architects practice
in Church Crookham quite close to the site. She is very concerned that the
site, which, although on M.O.D land and out of bounds at present to the public,
may be opened up for public access. It seems that a local developer wants to
build 1,132 homes in Church Crookham and, in order to try and remove some of
the objections expressed by English Nature about the nearby Special Protection
Area, the developer has reached an agreement with the M.O.D to open up part of
this land for recreational access.
The land was used until
quite recently (about 10 years) for supplying drinking water for the Army
stationed at Aldershot. Although no longer in
use by the Army, the site comprises about 10 miles of open lined half round
glazed tiled channels and ditches, a large reservoir, run off area, and
treatment plant, together with a quantity of silt traps to help keep the
intermediate reservoir and pipes under the earth roads clean. It is believed
the system was constructed between 1863 -1866.
An excerpt from www.hants.gov.uk/Hampshire
Treasures says ‘Water from springs is collected
by 10 miles of glazed channels and 7 miles of ditches and conveyed to four
impounding reservoirs formed by building small earth dams across valleys. To
obtain sufficient pressure in Aldershot a circular reservoir was
constructed at a higher level and filled with water by a “Donkey” engine pump
from a well supplied by gravity from the reservoirs’.
John Silman, Mick
Edgeworth and myself visited the site on Tuesday 15th March and met Alison and
Andrew, who guided us around the M.O.D site and pointed out the extent of this
water network. At once, it was quite obvious what their concerns are, as the
channels and ditches are quite accessible and remain in good condition, but
could easily be vandalized if not protected. At the moment the site is only
known and used by locals and fishing is permitted in the reservoir by permit
only. If general access is granted, then pressure on the site would be
magnified quite dramatically. Also it is unknown who would maintain the site in
the future and, without such maintenance, the system would deteriorate quite quickly,
eventually deteriorating into a swampy area with the reservoir gradually
infilling.
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Leaf
trap at Bourley
Photo
by Alison Macallan
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If there are any of you
who may know this site, and could let us have any further information to
strengthen the argument for some sort of preservation, or Listing of the site,
perhaps you could contact John, Mick or Carol as soon as possible.
The ‘Simplex’ loco was widely used by Civil Engineering contractors when
narrow gauge railways, mostly of a temporary nature, were commonly used on
construction sites and in quarries. The original design was produced for the
War Office and an armoured version was widely used in support of 1914-18 trench
warfare. In civilian service it was a small, rugged machine weighing about 2.5
tons, usually of 60cm (‘two foot’) gauge with an open-air driving position. The
builders were the Motor Rail & Tramcar Company, of Bedford.
Almost all the mobile
plant and earth-moving equipment used to build the Western Docks extension at Southampton was rail-mounted or
ship-mounted. The railways were mostly standard gauge and two steam locomotives
from the contract survive. Narrow gauge lines also played an interesting part
but, until recently, it was not thought that anything remained from these
lines. However, the clearance of property near Cobden Bridge in Southampton revealed the presence of
a Simplex loco, purchased for the Western Docks by the Southern Railway in
1935.
Simplex locos were used
on Sir Robert McAlpine’s contract for the quay wall, where they moved
eight-wheeled concrete hoppers from the batching plant to fill the 78 monoliths
on which the wall depends. So far as we know none of these locos passed to the
Southern Railway but the Docks Engineers, who inherited the site, would be well
aware of their usefulness.
The new land north of the
quayside buildings and south of the main line was not ready for development for
some years. 60cm-gauge temporary railways were used when spreading hardcore,
building roads and laying drains. For this work, which appears to have been
done by direct labour, the Southern Railway purchased secondhand a slightly
more modern version of the Simplex locos used by McAlpine. It was a ‘straight
frame’ Simplex, maker’s number 5355, built in January 1932 with a Dorman 4MRX
petrol engine. The loco was bought by a Mirfield contractor who used it on
reservoir construction near Halifax and a sewage works job at
Coventry. T.W. Wards then paid
£500 for four such locos from this contractor in April 1935, including 5355.
Wards spent £6 15s 10d (£6 79p) on the loco during May and, on 21st
August 1935,
they sold it for £180, including delivery, to the “Southern Railway Docks Department,
New Docks, Southampton”.
This particular design
was built from 1930 to 1934. Two other ‘Straight Frame’ Simplexes are thought
to survive but possibly without their original engines. 5355 still has its
Dorman petrol engine, although it was already obsolete by 1932 since diesels
had become reasonably reliable and were cheaper to run.
At some unknown date the
loco was converted from narrow to standard gauge, an unusual change for such a
small machine. Possibly the work was done by the Docks Engineers; no spares
were supplied by Motor Rail for the purpose although perhaps a kit of parts
came from a dealer. A photograph dated February 1938 shows narrow gauge lines
in use to construct a new road near the “site for a new factory for General Motors”,
later known as AC Delco. A Simplex loco is distantly visible, quite likely
5355.
When development was
complete, the need for such railways and locos would have become infrequent. It
is believed, although confirmation would be welcome, that the Docks Engineers
used the converted loco for moving permanent-way materials around the railway
system. No photographs of the converted loco have yet been found. Today,
Network Rail use the modern equivalent for towing light trailers to and from
work sites. The Simplex could have moved a full-sized ballast wagon, if slowly,
but could not have controlled it since it has no standard-gauge buffing gear
and insufficient braking power.
Spares were supplied for
the loco in January 1964 but, by late 1969, it appeared to be disused, though
still within the Engineer’s compound on the Western Docks. In 1977 the disused
loco was acquired by the late Mr T.W. Smith, who moved it (apparently by water)
to his yard behind The Old Bungalow in Whitworth Crescent near Cobden Bridge, where he had a
collection of machinery and boats. It is these premises which are now being
cleared for redevelopment and where the locomotive was for sale.
Angela Smith and I bought
the loco as a Christmas present for ourselves and have since been boasting of
our recently-rescued, genuine ex-Southern Railway loco. It is, of course, a
wreck. Our intentions are to clean it up and perhaps make some cosmetic
repairs. In the longer term it may run again; our main concern is to keep the
loco in Southampton until the
preservation/museums scene clarifies. We realise that it could be a source of
spares for other projects and that by re-conversion to 60cm gauge the loco
would be more ‘useful’. MR 5355 is unlikely to interest standard gauge
preserved lines. Indeed, it is something of a freak, but it is a local freak.
We shall see how things develop.
Eagle-eyed
Ruth Andrews spotted an inconspicuous pair of brick arches whilst walking along
the River Itchen near Winchester. Closer
examination revealed the remains of an 8' 6" diameter metal waterwheel, a
wooden hut with a roof tank and a well - but no signs of any pump. This must
have been removed at some time.
HIAS / HMG
has now contacted the owner and received permission to revisit the site to
photograph and measure it. Jeff Hawksley is currently preparing a measured
drawing, although inevitably he had to visit the site a second time to collect
a vital missing dimension - the width of the water channel.
To whet your
appetite, here is a quick plan of the site:-
It has been suggested
that the water from the well was pumped to a nearby house, but the heights look
rather ambitious. The rivetted iron water tank in the roof of the hut is about
11ft above water level and looks much more feasible.
The wheel itself (see
photos supplied by Andy Fish) had 24 wooden floats bolted onto 12" metal
starts wedged through the wheel rims. The sluice gate guide-channels are
angled, and the concrete bed of the wheelpit closely follows the shape of the
wheel. All that remains of the power take off is an 8" 40-toothed gear
wheel. An unusual feature of the site is that the brick walls lining the
wheelpit support two cast iron bearing beams (48" and 140" long
respectively). The longer one carries fixing points at several places along its
length, but currently only has the sluice lifting-bearing in place. Curiously,
the wheel bearings are not actually attached to these beams, but are resting on
two cast iron brackets bolted to the main beams and protruding into the
wheelpit. It almost looks as if the wheel and beams were purchased from a
“catalogue” and installed in an older wheelpit.
If anyone has met this
arrangement elsewhere, HIAS / HMG would like to hear from them.
The owner has given
permission for this information to be published but is anxious to keep visitor
numbers to a minimum, hence the exact location of the site is not being
revealed.
Meetings and
Activities
December
2004 - The last 30 years of the Ordnance Survey and the industrial revolution
Our last talk for 2004
was Jon Sims speaking on The Last 30
years of the Ordnance Survey and the Industrial Revolution. Jon, who is
very well known to all of us having been a member for many years as well as our
Chairman for 3 years, began his talk with some background information on his
career. He joined the Ordnance Survey 33 years ago, aged 19, as a trainee
surveyor. He purchased his first suit on advice from his father who said “all
civil servants wear suits”, but soon realised that the civil servants at the
Ordnance Survey were an exception and casual dress was the order of the day.
Jon started his talk by
showing us a 1962 Pathé Newsreel film and, although it seemed quite stilted to
us today in its presentation, it was nonetheless very interesting and
informative, reminding us how far technology has advanced in a relatively short
time. Because of the nature of its work, the Ordnance Survey has always been at
the forefront of technology and, although the early machines looked large and
cumbersome to us, they were quite advanced for their time.
The Ordnance Survey has
been in existence for over 200 years and has been using metric measurements
since 1937. When Jon first joined the organisation, most things were still done
by hand and painstakingly slow, even to the point that the scribers had to make
their own chisel points from old gramophone needles, which took an age in
itself. Map-making is a highly technical process and early map-making was very
intricate and time- consuming. Consequently, scribers were skilful and good
artists.
A short film showing the
early days of aerial photography also illustrated how large and cumbersome the
early equipment was and the lengths to which they had to go in order to achieve
pin point accuracy. The staff involved had to have ‘clearance’ and the film had
to be escorted in case any sensitive sites were shown. A field surveyor was
also involved to check and correct the aerial photography.
Obviously, Jon has
enjoyed and still is enjoying his time at the Ordnance Survey, and this was
borne out by a series of slides depicting the lengths some of the office staff
went to when producing the office Christmas decorations. No mere paper chains
for those with the artistic skills needed for working at the Ordnance Survey.
When Jon joined the
Ordnance Survey they had about 2000 employees, now there are about 1200. At one
time it would have taken 30 years to map the whole of the British Isles, but now with modern
technology there is a full blown database so easily updated. Trig points are
out and satellites in. The Southampton headquarters is now half empty and
it may be sold and relocated. The old records are kept at the Public Records
Office at Kew. Jon’s talk was peppered
with anecdotes and, although it took a while for some at the Ordnance Survey to
accept women, it was heartening to hear that the Ordnance Survey Director
General post is now held by one!
January
2005 - Recording & Broadcasting
Our first talk of the new
year was Paul Goldstone on Recording
& Broadcasting. Paul told us that he started his broadcasting career in
1950 when he joined the BBC’s Broadcasting Department straight from school and
ended up as Chief Engineer for Radio Solent. In between he had enjoyed a most
interesting, varied and obviously very enjoyable career. Paul brought along
various recordings for us to listen to but, before hearing them, he played us a
recording of Julian Clegg from Radio Solent introducing Paul and congratulating
him on his time at the BBC.
Paul first became
interested in broadcasting and recording during the war when he was evacuated,
and introduced to village life. He helped out in the village hall, which only
had very basic sound and lighting equipment together with crude microphones,
and he recalled collecting aluminium saucepans which were then melted down for
valves for use in early radar systems.
The first recording Paul
played us was the Ovaltine advert sung by the Ovaltinees, well remembered by
most of the audience. Next was Florence Nightingale and, although not very
audible, quite impressive to hear the great lady’s actual voice. An old BBC
recording of a lady playing the cello in a wood in Surrey accompanied by a
nightingale; a Flotsam & Jetsam recording on an old 78 disc with an
aluminium centre. Paul remembered the fire which destroyed the Crystal Palace in 1936 when he was
living in East
London
and played us a live BBC recording of the event. A recording of the now famous
Spithead Review broadcast by Lt. Tommy Woodruff who was obviously quite drunk
by the time he came to broadcast the event and a recording by the organist
Sandy McPherson made during the war. There were also early recordings of
commentaries by Raymond Glendenning and John Snagg on the Boat Race.
In between recordings,
Paul explained to us some of the technical side of his work including how
microphones could be turned into loudspeakers and how early microphones compare
with the modern ones of today. Microphones are barely visible now, and
distortion a thing of the past since FM.
Going back to Paul’s
archive collection, we listened to Tommy Handley and Dorothy Squires in
ITMA. Worker’s Playtime from the Batchelors factory in Kent with Elsie & Doris
Waters, Pearl Carr & Teddy Johnson, Cardew Robinson and Bert Weedon playing
his guitar. Early Royal recordings included Princess Elizabeth in 1940 before
she became Queen, and then again during her coronation in 1953 taking the oath
of allegiance. The Queen was also heard broadcasting from Windsor Castle in the 1960s thanking
the Italian Prime Minister for his visit. Also heard was the broadcaster,
Audrey Russell, commentating from Westminster Abbey on Princess Alexandra’s
wedding to Angus Oglivy.
Paul explained the
difficulties in broadcasting royal events and illustrated this with a model of
the Coronation Throne where he had to run wires, which were not allowed to
show, and had to resort to using gold paint for camouflage purposes. The next
day Paul bought the newspapers and was very relieved to see that no wires were
to be seen in the official photographs.
Another royal occasion
Paul covered was the funeral of Lord Mountbatten which took place in Romsey
Abbey. Because broadcasting was not allowed in the Abbey itself, Paul set up a
studio in the house opposite belonging to the vicar, David Shergold, using the
bathroom which overlooked the Abbey. The following week, a commemoration
service for Lord Mountbatten was held in the Portsmouth Guildhall but, when
Paul arrived, he discovered that the sound system used the night before for a
pop concert had been burnt out. Frantic phone calls to the BBC resulted in a
new set of equipment being put on a train from London for Paul to collect and
install. Paul then played us a radio recording of an interview with Lord
Mountbatten.
Paul’s political moments
included President Nixon’s visit to the UK in 1969, where he was
met by Harold Wilson at Heathrow, and you could hear Wilson’s voice trying to make
himself heard over the military band in his welcome speech. Nixon was preceded
by about 350 secret service and reporters from the U.S. and Paul said they even
checked his microphones for bombs.
Paul was also involved in
the broadcast of Winston Churchill’s funeral and he played us the very familiar
voice of Richard Dimbleby’s commentary. One of Paul’s jobs was to go to
Chequers once a month to check the microphones, just in case the Prime Minister
of the day had to broadcast from there. He would phone in advance and, if the
housekeeper was not going to be in, she used to leave the key out for him!
When the Falklands War
started, Paul went to Southampton to record the QE2 sailing off with
the troops on board and we could hear the crowds in the background singing Auld
Lang Syne. Also on the Falklands theme, we heard Brian Hanrahan’s
now famous broadcast where, because of military reporting restrictions, instead
of using numbers, he had to say “I counted them all out, and I counted them all
back”. Because Paul knew the QE2’s Captain Jackson, he was allowed to join the
ship on its way back for a live broadcast, but Paul said it was a frightening
experience being lowered along with his equipment from a helicopter onto the
deck of the QE2 and found sailing up Southampton Water with the band playing
Abide with Me a very moving experience.
Paul ended his talk with
another anecdote. This time is was during the sighting of Halley’s Comet when
he built a studio in Patrick Moore’s house for a live broadcast, but they had
to wait for a clear night before they could do the broadcast. The time was
passed by Patrick Moore entertaining Paul on his xylophone with his own
compositions!
February
- Firemarks on Old Buildings
Unfortunately our speaker
for February, Ron Hancock, was unable to attend, but we managed to get our
October speaker, David Hutchinson, to swap dates at short notice. David’s
subject was Firemarks on Old Buildings and,
although now retired, his interest in collecting firemarks stems from when he
first started work as an insurance agent for the Commercial Union and came
across his first firemark in Hursley [near Winchester]. After a few years with
them, he started up his own insurance business in Winchester where he stayed until
selling his business to another firm of insurers and working for them part-time
until he eventually retired.
Fire insurance started
after the Great Fire of London. In 1680 an Act of Parliament established a Fire
Office with two companies, one operating for six months, and the other, the
remaining six months. When a property was insured, a firemark with a number was
visibly placed on the outside of a property to prove to the fire brigade that
it was eligible for assistance. David said that it was not true that a fire at
premises without a firemark would not be dealt with, but that the insurers
would hope that, afterwards, the owners would agree to take out insurance cover
with them. The earliest insurance companies were based in London, then Bristol and then Edinburgh. A 1720 Act of
Parliament established the first marine insurance. An account from 1791 showed
an annual insurance premium would have cost in the region of 18s. 8d. (about
93p).
The first firemarks were
made of lead and all were numbered, although the numbers did wear off in time.
Each company had a different logo, and were represented to some degree by the
area they came from. So, for example, a Norwich Company would be symbolized by Norwich Castle, Worcestershire a castle
turret and Newcastle a castle with three
turrets. As lead became more expensive, firemarks became smaller and numbers
were dispensed with. Copper began to be used more, but this deteriorated
quickly so today copper ones are quite rare. As Scotland had its own lead mines,
companies in Scotland were able to use lead
firemarks longer.
As well as showing
slides, David brought along a selection of firemarks from his collection, which
number about 250, together with some arm badges and fire buckets which he has
acquired over the years. The majority of David’s collection have been given to
him, or have been bought at auctions or through antique dealers. Firemarks have
become collectors’ items with huge prices being paid for early ones. David has
been a member of the Firemark Circle for 33 years, as well as
serving on the committee and auctioneering for them. He has seen the interest
in firemarks escalate to such a stage that a rare one can now fetch as much as
£10,000 at auction. Although David’s collection is extensive, his preference is
for firemarks with local connections. A 1720 Royal Exchange Firemark is one of
David’s largest in his collection. Winchester Museum has a few including one
with Winchester & Hampshire
inscribed on it, and there is also a Royal Exchange copper firemark on a
building in Hambledon and an Essex one on a house in
Warnford. Different occupations, such as farmers, would have had their own
insurance companies and, as late as 1964, firemarks were still being used in Ireland.
Included amongst the many
slides we were shown was one of the largest firemarks still in existence
situated on a commercial property in Ross-on-Wye, which still has its number
intact. To differentiate between a private dwelling and a commercial one on a
Firemark, the letter ‘H’ was used for house and for commercial properties, the
letter ‘G’ for goods was used. David also showed us slides of firemarks from other
countries, mainly copied from the British ones including some from America where there are some
keen collectors. Because of the world wide interest in Firemarks, The Firemark
Circle keeps a register of Firemarks and is very useful, particularly if any are
reported stolen. Apparently, there are some quite good fakes about, but David
said that checking the backs of Firemarks can usually establish if they are
genuine or not.
David ended the evening
by relating some anecdotes from his time as an insurance agent, and some
examples of the sort of explanations people give when filling in insurance
claims. Needless to say, the audience had a few chuckles over these.
March
- Ships, a neglected aspect of IA
Unfortunately, I was
unable to attend March’s meeting, but was not surprised to be told that Ray
Riley, as usual, did not disappoint his audience!
April
- Schneider Air Races
Our April speaker was
Colin Van Geffen and, although now a self-employed artist and illustrator,
worked in industry for over 30 years. For his talk on the Schneider Air Races 1913-1931, Colin brought along lots of
interesting slides and a collection of publications on the subject for us to
look at during the break, including an authentic reproduction brochure of the
last Schneider Trophy Race held in 1931. Colin was keen to point out that the
Trophy should not be called a cup!
Started by a Frenchman,
Jacques Schneider, whose father owned an armaments factory in Paris, the first race was held
in Monaco in 1913 and seemed to be
a low-key event with only four competitors – three French and one
American. The Frenchman, Roland Garros, won with an average speed of 45.75 mph.
The victors hosted the 1914 race which was also held in Monaco, but this time with five
countries taking part – France, Great Britain, Germany, Switzerland and the USA. This race was won by an
Australian, Howard Pixton, flying a Sopwith Tabloid and set a new world record
of 86.6mph. WW1 then intervened, and the
next race was not held until September 1919 in Bournemouth. Great Britain, France and Italy competed, but one
noticeable difference was that all the planes were now bi-planes whereas in
1914 they were mono-planes. The three British entries were a Sopwith Schneider,
Supermarine Sea Lion and a Fairey III. The Italian, Janello, won after some
controversy, but was stripped of the title some two weeks later, but Italy was allowed to host the
1920 race in Venice. However, economic difficulties in
other countries left the Italians to fight it out amongst themselves. The 1921
race was not much better and only the French and Italians took part. The French
plane had trouble with its floats, leaving the Italians to claim the title
unopposed. This meant that if the Italians won the next race, they could claim
the Trophy outright.
The 1922 race was held in
Naples. Great Britain, France and Italy took part. The French
was funded by their Government and the British by Hubert Scott-Paine. Britain won in a Sea Lion II
piloted by Henri Biard. Cowes was the venue for the
1923 race and the British, French and Italians were joined by the Americans.
Again, Henri Biard flew the Sea Lion for the host nation, but the race was
comfortably won by Lt. David Rittenhouse in a Curtis CR3 at 177.37mph for the
Americans. Great Britain, France and Italy had to withdraw from the
1924 race owing to lack of suitable planes but, in an act of sportsmanship, the
Americans postponed the event until the following year when it was held at Chesapeake Bay, Baltimore. Owing to various
mishaps, the Americans won again with a little known test pilot called James
Doolittle who flew perfectly to beat the British and Italians. The British, who
were developing more advanced racers, asked if the 1925 race could be
postponed: this was declined. In Italy, Mussolini promised the
Italian team full financial and material assistance to produce a plane capable
of beating the Americans. Consequently the Italians won, bringing the Trophy
back across the Atlantic. 1927 saw the race held
in Venice which was won by Great Britain and ensured that the
1929 race was held at Cowes. By this time
Rolls-Royce realised the potential and were getting involved with supplying and
financing engines with racing capabilities. The designer, R J Mitchell, was
beginning work on the S.6 which would be used by the British team. France, who
had not competed for some time, withdrew and so did the Americans. The Germans,
who hoped to race with their Dornier project, never quite got off the drawing
board. Fl. Lt. Waghorn, who was flying the S.6, completed an extra lap by
mistake, and D’Arcy Greig flying the S5 was in direct competition with the
Italian Dal Molin in an M52R. At the end, Waghorn’s speed was 328.63mph, about
44mph faster than Dal Molin who just beat D’Arcy Greig by about 2mph. A third
win for Great Britain. By this time, even the
Prime Minister, Ramsay MacDonald, commented that “we are going to do our level
best to win again”.
By 1930, the cost of the
race was getting so prohibitive that it was not until 1931 with the generous
financial help from the wealthy Lady Lucy Houston – who had inherited her
shipping magnate‘s husband‘s fortune of approximately £6 million –
who offered to pay £100,000 towards the cost of ensuring British participation.
Regardless of Ramsay MacDonald’s sentiments, some in the Government were not
happy for RAF involvement but, because of public opinion and Lady Houston’s
financial backing, relented, and allowed the RAF to defend the Trophy. The race
was again held at Cowes and an estimated 250,000
people gathered to watch the event which, by this time, had captured the
imagination of the whole country. Because of the long delay in obtaining
financial backing, there was much left to do in a short time to modify the
planes. Italy and France were forced to withdraw
and Germany's planned design failed
to materialise, so it was left to Great Britain to defend her Trophy
with no opposition. The aim was to improve on the 1929 time set by Fl. Lt.
Waghorn, plus an attempt on the overall world speed record. Eventually, a speed
of 407.5mph was achieved by Fl. Lt. George Stainforth in an S.6B ensuring that Great Britain retained the Schneider
Trophy for all time.
Today the Schneider
Trophy is kept at the Science Museum and, in 1981, a 50 year
commemoration ceremony took place at Calshot with a replica S.5 flying over the
Solent. No lives were lost
during the competition, although there were some fatalities during practice.
Some pilots went on to become quite well known, and Jacques Schneider, after
whom the Trophy was named, died in 1928.
May
- Quiz Time
The May meeting was Quiz Night with John Silman and Tony
Yoward doing a double act and setting us over 70, mostly very difficult,
questions, including some objects to identify – one of which John
admitted even he hadn't discovered the purpose of, although various suggestions
were offered. Bob Smith was the winner with 53 and Bill White was a close
second. Many thanks to Tony and John for putting together such an entertaining
evening. Members who didn’t attend will never know what they missed!
Reports
Approximately 230 people
attended SERIAC 2005 – including about 20 from HIAS –
on Saturday 23rd April at Chertsey Hall, Chertsey, Surrey hosted this year by SIHG
[Surrey Industrial History Group] with “Transport” as the theme. After
registration and coffee, Gerry Moss, SIHG Chairman, welcomed us all to Chertsey
and, without further ado as there was a lot to get through, introduced the
first speaker:-
“The
Croydon, Merstham & Godstone Iron Railway: a new solution [in 1805] to an
old Problem”
Paul
Sowan (Subterranea Britannica)
Paul’s talk was
accompanied by overhead projector slides, mainly of pastoral scenes. He
explained the problems which had always existed of taking supplies from the
Weald to London, from the Romans onwards,
because of the presence of the North Downs. This was partly solved
in 1805 by the construction of the above mentioned Iron Railway which, because
of the advancement of engineering, ran through the Merstham Gap and Smitham
Bottom. Although the Iron Railway was revolutionary in 1805, it was to be
overtaken within 40 years by the far more advanced London & Brighton
Railway taking a similar route. Paul, a retired chemistry teacher, has lived
and worked around Croydon all his life and his interest in I.A stems from his
university training in geology and chemistry. What came through quite clearly
in Paul’s talk was his intense dislike of roads and road transport!
“London
Docks 1800-1939”
Chris
Ellmers (Docklands
Museum)
The second speaker, Chris
Ellmers, changed the title of his talk to “The
Port
of London
1700-1939”.
Unfortunately, the projector hired with the hall broke down early in Chris’s
talk and he had to complete his presentation without slides, which was a shame
as the ones we did see were excellent. Nonetheless, his talk was extremely
interesting and we learned how the Port was radically transformed from
overcrowded 18th Century river wharves and warehouses, to one of the greatest
purpose-built Georgian and Victorian enclosed docks in the World. Chris was
responsible for the creation of the Museum at Docklands which opened in 2003 at
the West India Docks. Apparently the museum took about 20 years to come into
being. Chris was its first Director and is now employed as Consultant
Historian. Because of Chris’s talk and enthusiasm, I expect a lot of people in
the hall will want to put a trip to the Museum at the top of their list of
places of interest to visit this coming summer.
“Trams
in Southampton
and their Preservation” Nigel
Smith (Hampshire I.A. Society)
The third and last talk
before lunch came from our own Nigel Smith. Fortunately for Nigel, someone in
the audience had a projector in the boot of his car so, after a short recess
for this to be installed, Nigel was able to continue accompanied by his slides
without the problems the previous speaker had to endure. During the wait, we
had an opportunity to ask the two previous speakers some questions. As you
would expect, Nigel’s talk was excellent and, accompanied by his slides,
produced a very concise and illuminating talk on the history of the tramway
system in Southampton from 1879 to its closure
at the end of 1949. The first part of Nigel’s talk covered four main topics –
the rapid expansion prior to WW1, the rolling stock used in Southampton during this period, the
consolidation in the 1920s and 1930s and the decline and closure. The second
part was concerned with the preservation work which is currently being carried
out. As you know, Nigel is heavily involved in the Tram 57 Project and we heard
all about how that came into being, together with details of other preservation
projects carried out in the past, along with ones that are still ongoing.
Through Nigel’s excellent
slides we were able to see the extent of the preservation work, together with the
craftsmanship involved, that volunteers have carried out to date. Nigel ended
his talk on a sad note, though, because in 2003 they lost their workshop
facilities due to asbestos on the premises and, as yet, have been unable to
find an alternative building. Although the trams have been relocated to
temporary storage sites, access for working parties is not possible, but they
are hoping that somewhere in Southampton or nearby will become
available in the not too distant future. Apart from Tram 57 and HIAS, Nigel
still has plenty to occupy his time now he is retired, as he is involved in the
Hampshire Mills Group and the Tramway Museum Society.
“Colonel
Stephens –
The Man and his Railways”
John
Blackwell (Sussex
Industrial Archaeology Society)
The afternoon session
started at 2pm with John Blackwell. As
a young engineer, H F Stephens became associated with the construction and
management of light railways and remained committed to them until he died. From
a small office in Tonbridge, Stephens presided over railway systems that
stretched over the southern half of England. The competition of road
transport prompted the early use of railcars to cut costs but, unfortunately,
towards the end passengers deserted and the lines went into bankruptcy and
receivership. John’s talk concentrated on the Sussex and Kent Railways and,
together with his slides, illustrated just how many light railways there were
at the time, and just how much is still visible today, if one knows where to
look. Today, the Kent and East Sussex line has been
resurrected as a tourist attraction. Because of John’s enthusiasm for his
subject, it came as no surprise that he had spent his working life with London
Transport, ending up as Commercial Manager for the construction of the Jubilee
Line extension to Docklands and Stratford.
“Croydon
Airport”
Frank
Anderson (Croydon
Airport
Society)
Frank told us that, as a
young boy living in Northern
England
during WW2, he became fascinated by aviation and, in particular, its history.
His interest continued as a member of the Air Training Corps, the Royal
Auxiliary Air Force, the Royal Air Force [National Service] and the Royal Air
Force Volunteer Reserve, a total of 28 years. When he retired, he was living
only four miles from the former Croydon Airport and became a member of
the Croydon Airport Society. His particular interest is British governmental
attitudes to U.K. Civil Aviation during the period from 1910-1940. Croydon Airport came into being in 1920
by the amalgamation of two existing airfields. These were Beddington Aerodrome,
set up in 1916 as a base for the Royal Flying Corps, and Waddon Aerodrome set
up in 1918 as a test flying ground. Croydon Airport thus became London’s major civil airport
with four small independent British airlines operating from the site. These
were later amalgamated into Imperial Airways, the pre-war British national
airline. During WW2, the airfield was taken over by the RAF. After the war, the
larger London Heathrow and Gatwick Airports were established and
operations were transferred, leaving Croydon as a small regional airport for
flights to the Channel
Islands,
near continental destinations, and flying clubs. The airport finally closed in
1959 mainly because of Government concerns over safety.
“Surrey
and the Motor” Gordon
Knowles (Surrey Industrial History Group)
Gordon is a former
chairman of SIHG and currently a committee member, a former council member and
affiliated AIA officer and is at present secretary of the Roads & Road
Transport History Association. As he also writes on IA and transport themes, it
was not a surprise that his talk on Surrey
and the Motor was interesting and informative. Gordon told us that Surrey has been involved with
the motor car for over 100 years and the development of its road systems has been
in response to this. John Henry Knight of Farnham, a pioneering motor inventor,
was at one time thought to have been the first person to have put the first
British motor car on the road. He was also responsible for the repeal of the
notorious Red Flag legislation. The AA and the RAC both had their origins in Surrey, and the famous pre-war
Brooklands race track, also in Surrey, forms part of the
history of Surrey and the Motor.
Brooklands was responsible for a number of significant designers, builders and
drivers of record breaking cars. Surrey has also produced over
100 manufacturers of cars and commercial vehicles, albeit in small numbers, but
with two significant ones – Dennis and AC –
both still in business today. SIHG has recently published Gordon Knowles’ book
on Surrey and the Motor, and we
were able to buy copies on the SIHG stand.
The Conference finished
about 4.40 pm, later than anticipated owing to
the problems with the slide projector.
SIHG had arranged an after-conference visit to Kempton Park Pumping
Station, about ten miles’ drive from Chertsey, which was attended by
about two thirds of the Conference delegates.
KPPS has an interesting
history from its beginning in 1928 when two great triple-expansion engines were
installed in a new building at the Kempton Waterworks to meet the increasing
demand of London for water. For the next
52 years it pumped up to 32 million gallons of water per day to the northern
and western districts of London until they were taken
out of service in 1980. It was not until 1995 that the Kempton Great Engines
Trust was formed to restore the engines. The Trust has restored one of the
Worthington Simpson triple expansion engines although, during our visit, it was
out of action owing to a “hot” joint. Each of the 1008 hp engines is 62 ft high
and weighs over 800 tons. The flywheels alone weigh 32 tons and, I must say,
very impressive. It must have been even more impressive when, in 2002 for the
first time, the public saw the newly refurbished engines running briefly when the
Prince of Wales inaugurated the Museum.
The Kempton visit was the
end of a very enjoyable day and thanks to the Staff for showing us around and
answering our questions. Also thanks to Eleanor for her work on the HIAS stand
and subsequent sales of books and publications, and many thanks to SIHG for all
their efforts in making SERIAC 2005 a success.
Footnote
to the SERIAC visit to Kempton Park engines Nigel
Smith
I’m sure John Porter will not mind
me using elements from his recent letter published in the AIA’s bulletin
Industrial Archaeology News, No.133 (Summer 2005), explaining the problems with
running the engines at Kempton Park. Without going into too much technical
detail, it is not a simple matter to run pumping machinery off load –
the huge triple expansion engines at Kempton were designed around the total
pump supply cycle and each part of the process has to integrate each of the
stages to achieve the maximum efficiency and economy of operation. The valve
timings, main bearings and cooling functions are designed for operation at or
near the rated 1000hp output of each machine. Running at greatly reduced load
has caused a main bearing to fail; in addition the valve events do not operate
properly and there are difficulties in the supply and disposal of the cooling
water. Clearly there are no easy answers to these problems which are
exacerbated by an ageing volunteer workforce and difficulties in training new
recruits to operate the engines under tricky conditions. This undoubtedly
raises questions relevant to many other large preserved stationary engines
which could affect their long term operation.
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