ARCHIVE ISSUE 112 December 2021
Allan C. Baker and Mike G. Fell. Meaford A & B Power Stations and their locomotives. Part one: Electricity supply in North Staffordshire. 2-19.
The first electricity generating station was located in Hanley alongside the Caldron Canal. It opened on 26 July 1894 and produced single phase alternating
current at 2000 Volts. The cables were laid in cast iron pipes and were surrounded by vulcanised bitumen and were known as VB cables. The electricity was used solely for
lighting, The plant was built underr the supervision of the Borough Surveyor and Engineer Joseph Lobley. The equipment was supplied by the Brush Electrical
Engineering Company. Similar plants were started in Longtown (1901), Stoke in 1904 and Burslem in 1905. When the Potteries were federated in 1910 Charles
Henry Yeaman was appointed Electrical Engineer.
Hanley was the first of the Stoke boroughs to generate electricity. In 1894 it built a generator producing alternating current at 2000 volts. It was adjacent to the Caldron Canal.
It was used solely to provide lighting.
Illustrations:
Aerial view of Stoke-on-Trent electricity power station with wooden cooling towers taken in 1933
Charles Henry Yeaman (1869-1940) City Electrical Engineer
Hanley Generating Station viewed from Caldron Canal
North Staffordshire Railway battery electric locomotive
Stafford Corporation Electricity Generating Station with John Somerville Highfield (1871-1045) Resident Engineer
Stoking Lancashire boilers by hand at Stafford Corporation Electricity Generating Station
Potteries Electric Traction trams at top of Ironmarket Newcastle-under-Lyme on 17 March 1900
Bellis & Morcom six-cylinder four-stroke diesel engine installed in Newcastle-under-Lyme Generating Station in November 1928
Alfred John Castriot De Renzi, Borough Electrical Engineer, Newcastle-under-Lyme
Last annual staff outing in 1947 of Newcastle-under-Lyme Electricity Department
Frederick Favell (1894-1978) Engineer and Manager of the North West Midlands Joint Electricity Authority
Art Deco logo on gates to sub-station at Victoria Road, Fenton installed 1837
ailway sidings at north end of Meaford A Power Station on 24 September 1945
Work on south chimney and precipitator columns at Meaford A Power Station on 19 December 1945
Construction site looking north west on 29 January 1946
Tippler gear and coal conveyor under construction on 21 June 1947
No. 1 Tippler conveyors and junction tower under construction on 6 February 1948
No. 2 Tippler on 9 April 1948 (one of Bagnall locomotives just visible on left
Meaford A operational with two cooling towers & two chimneys & two Bagnall locomotives
Taylor Tunicliff & Co. Ltd. of Stone advertisement showing heavy duty post insulators
Meaford A turbine engine house on 18 May 1976
Central Electricity Authority 20 ton wagon on Meaford A tippler
Barlaston Power Sidings signal box and Meaford A Power Station
Euan Corrie. Scottish bypasses: 2. The Caledonian Canal. 20-33.
Opened in 1822. It was engineered by Thomas Telford. It has subsequently been deepened and the locks and most of the bridges have been mechanised,
the latter mainly to reduce delays to road traffic. A mahjor section of the canal is formed by the deep and sometimes stormy Loch Ness. In general the canal
follows the Great Glen, a major rift valley. It begins with a major staircase loch at the Fort William end known as Neptune's Staircase. Illusstrations:
Map: Caledonian Railway intended for tourists
Entrance to Caledonian Canal from Loch Linnhe:at Corpach Ordnance Survey 1873
Corpach basin
SS Gondolier at Banavie Pier with Holmes 4-4-0 No. 344 with van conveying luggage
Banavie Pier Station: 1900 Ordnance Survey map
SS Gondolier leaving Banavie Pier
SS Gondolier leaving Gairlochy Top Lock
Entrance to Loch Lochy at Gairlochy Ordnance Surrvey 6-inch map 1903
View from tower of St. Benedict's Abbey with SS Gondolier approaching top of staircase at Fort Augustus
Ordnance Survey map 1900 map of above
View from tower of St. Benedict's Abbey showing Fort Augustus staircase
Railway viaduct at Fort Augustus
SS Gondolier descending Fort Augustus staircase with St. Benedict's Abbey in background
Fishing boat descending Fort Augustus staircase between secFond and third chambers
Four sailing fishing boats passing Tomnahurich swing bridge when manually operated
Ordnance Survey map 1904 map of above
Muirtown Top Lock with schooner Margaret Reid about to pass into third lock
Ordnance Survey map 1904 map of above
Tony Neuls.Cheltenham Coach Station — 1975. 34-47
National Travel (North East) had hired Leyland Leopard with Plaxton Panorama Elite body to East Yorkshire for 216 service from Hull (full page) 34
Yorkshire Traction Leyland Leopard with Plaxton Panorama Elite body on South West Clipper service to Bradford 35
Daimler Roadliner with Perkins engine and Plaxton Panorama Elite body on service from Paignton or nearer 35
East Yorkshire DP in white livery with Leyland Leopard chassis and Willowbrook body on 216 service to Hull 36
Leyland Leopard chassis with Panorama body on 610 service from London 37
Bedford YRQ chassis with Plaxton Panorama Elite body on Grey-Green Eastlander service in St. Margaret's Road 37
National (South West) WESSEX No. 450 twin-speed axle Leyland Leopard with Duple Continental C49F body probably from Bristol 37
Bristol Omnibus 2165 Leopard PSU5B/4R with Plaxton Panorama Elite III C43F body ready to leave for Bristol non-stop. 37.
Black & White 221 Leopard PSU3B/4R with Plaxton Panorama Elite II C47F body duping from somewhere nearer than Hull on service 216. 37
Former Black & White L237 with Plaxton Panorama C47F body and a replacement Panorama I lower-front on service 760 from Bournmouth via Marlborough. 37
National Travel (North East) had hired Leyland Leopard with Plaxton Panorama Elite body to East Yorkshire for 216 service from Hull (full page) 34
Malcolm Bobbitt. In the showroom... Austin's 3 litre white elephant. 48-57
Illustrations:
NOB 567F publicity photograph ADO61 with Hydrolastic suspension snd self-levelling at rear
A125 Sheerline of 1947
Austin A135 Princess IV with Vanden Plas body
Sergio Pininfarina styled A99 Westminster with two femsle models, one in parschute style dress
Sergio Pininfarina styled A110 Westminster photographed in 2018
Vanden Plas 4 litre Princess R with Rolls Royce engine criticised for poor handling and performance
Alec Issigonis XC 9000 of 1956
Alec Issigonis XC 9005 of 1961
Austin 1800 on MIRA test track
JOK 620F being tested in France
ADO61 prototype with very poor trim and ugly headlights
OOH559G lauched at 1967 London Motor Show: now sought as a classic car rarity and has excellent ride.
Mike G. Fell. Hull's King George Dock. Skimpings. 58-9
Aerial photograph looking east in 1926
The Tekoa built by Earle's Shipbuilding of Hull for New Zealand Shipping Co.
View towards grain silo but much busier
The Institute. 60
British buses & coaches in the 1960s - a panoramic view. Jim Blake. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Transport, 2021. 190pp. Reviewed by Malcolm Bobbitt
London buses were covered in an earlier volume. The photographs of provincial vehicles were all taken by the author and include eleven full-page illustrations of what he
regards as significannt designs.
Brickmaking — history and heritage. David Johnson. Stroud: Amberley, 2021. 96pp. Reviewed by Ian Pope.
Recommended
Dorset's black gold — a history of Dorset's oil industry. Alan Taylor. Stroud: Amberley, 2021. 96pp. Reviewed by Ian Pope.
Wytch Farm was/is the largest on-shore oil field in Western Europe and is associated with the Kimmeridge shales.
Chris Sambrook.. Ludovic Berry — 'He hath done all things well'. 61-4
Ludovic Berry was an engine driver at Brookside Colliery, Wigan who died when his locomotive fell into a disused shaft.
Illustrations: Compliment slip Wigan Coal & Iron Co.; Ludovic Berry on footplate of Peckett X2 class 0-6-0ST Dorothy; Collapsed No.7 shaft at Brookside
Colliery, Wigan