Archive Issues 40-49

Copies may be ordered from: www.lightmoor.co.uk

Issue 40 (December 2003)

Stover Canal and locks. inside front cover.
Barges on canal. Heathfield/Moretonhampstead branch line behind. c1925.

The locomotives of Wellman Smith Owen: the history of British electric locomotives of three companies from three countries. Paul Jackson. 3-16.
Predominantly associated with their use in coke ovens and with quenching the hot coke without damaging the silica linings of the ovens. The coke was unloaded into a special car (wagon) and this was hauled by a locomotive from the ovens to a quenching pit. The locomotive was designed to enable the driver/operator to control the operation. The electric supply could be overhead or protected third rail and the machine ran on two axles. The system was devised in the USA and was introduced to the United Kingdom in 1922. About 150 locomotives were supplied in total and were manufactured by: Greenwood & Batley of Leeds (65); Hawthorn Leslie/Robert Stephenson & Hawthorns (28) and their successors GECT (8), and by Wellman Smith Owen (42) who employed sub-contractors for some of the parts and produced two types: the Consett type designed in the USA, probably by the Goodman Equipment Corporation of Chicago and the Nunnery Gas & Coke type where ACEC of Belgium was the major influence. Further information Issue 41 page 35. There are illustrations of locomotives at the Orgreve Coking Plant (awaiting scrapping); the Consett Iron Company's locomotive of 1924 at the Fell Coking Plant pushing its car into the quenching tower at the Fell Coking Plant; John Lysaght's Normanby Park Coke Ovens locomotive of 1932; WSO 1945/1934 at United Steel Co's Orgreve Coking Plant; WSO ?/1928 at Smithywood Coking Plant; Jacob's battery locomotive for Aintree works in Liverpool; WSO ?/1927 for Nunnery Gas & Coke Co.; WSO 1408/1929 of Beckton Gas Works; WSO 1529/1930 at Ford Motor Co., Dagenham; WSO 1300 stated to be at Sheffield Coal & Coke Co's Brookhouse Coking Plant in 1929 (but might be location in USA); WSO 4632/1948 at Appleby Frodingham Coke Ovens, Scunthorpe, and the WSO works in Darlaston in 1928. See further information from same author in Issue 46 page 50.. See also Issue 45: James Buchanan and the combined coke car. and long and informative letter from John Horne in Issue 41. See also Issue 54 page 21 for AC and DC electric locomotives supplied by Ateliers de Constructions Electriques de Charleroi in Belgium..

1903 – a motoring year. Malcolm Bobbitt. 17-27.
Very brief history of early motoring in Britain and the Legislation under which it had to operate, notably the Locomotive Acts of 1861 and 1865. Argues that 1903 was the year in which both passenger and commercial vehicles (including both steam and internal combustion) became a viable form of transport. Illustrated with both vehicles and accessories (including clothing) taken from advertisements.

A Manx interlude. Roger Eckersley. 28-9.
Photographs taken in August 1948: No. 14 Thornhill on mixed train on Glen Wyllin viaduct, south of Kirk Michael, and taking water at Kirk Michael; No. 12 Hutchinson at St John's Station and No. 16 Mannin at Port Erin. Not very relevant letter in Issue 41 page 27 of nail-biting journey from Sulby Bridge to Douglas.

Barry No.1 Dock: the building of a giant. Malcolm Brown. 30-47.
Aerial view from July 1922 (originally publshed Great Western Magazine). On page 42 there is reference to wagon turntables at coal tips to turn end-door wagons: see Letter from Alastair Weir (Issue 42 page 31) for name of such wagons as turners at Irvine Harbour.

Reviews. 48.
Milled from golden fields: a pictorial history of flour millers' transport in Great Britain. Graham Edge. Gingerfold. IP
"Recommended"
The tramways of Western Scotland. J.C. Gillham and R.J.S. Wiseman. LRTA. IP
Great British Transport Networks No. 14: Ian Pope appeared to be disconcerted by layout of this fascicule.
On Admiralty Service: P&A Campbell Steamers in the Second World War. Chris Collard. Tempus. IP.
Includes recollections of those who served during WW2, including at Dunkirk and during the Normandy landings.
Irish Sea shippping publicised. R.N. Forsythe. Tempus. IP.
Mainly post-WW2 material. Criticises the relative lack of colour in illustrations (mainly of poster material).
Orkney & Shetland steamers. Alistair Deayton.
Paddle steamers: a photographic legacy. Tempus. IP.
Second mainly covers pleasure vessels.

Broad Gauge Bonus: replacing Brunel's South Devon viaducts. Neil Parkhouse. 49-52.
Viaducts at Brent Mill, Glazebrook, Bittaford, Ivybridge, Blatchford and Slade showing replacement structures under construction. Further information and photographs in Issue 41 on page 28.

Skimpings. 53
Wilts United Dairy chimney, Bason Bridge, Somerset. 53.
1909: chimney constructed by Messrs J. Dawson
Wickwar Brewer and railway station. 54 upper.
circa 1912 postcard view
Chalk quarry and hutches in North Kent. 54 lower.
See also Issue 7: John Fletcher (Issue 42 page 31) states that view is of the Stone Court Chalk, Land and Pier Company Ltd and of their 4ft gauge railway system at the John Parish quarries in Erith. Letter gives details of their locomotives. Andrew Neale (Issue 41 page 63) gives same info, except that Stonecourt is spelt thus and he argues that lines were standard gauge.
Limestone quarry, Church Hill, Uphill, Somerset. 55 upper.
River Axe with vessel
Glenelg ferry boat Grace. 55 lower.
Kylerhea ferry, Isle of Skye.

Jewellery, bicycles and traps: a Ross-on-Wye business. David Dunstall. 56-63.
G & W Butcher family business.

An Edwardian dispute. Mick Hutson. 64.
LSWR photograph of unclimable fencing installed on former towpath under Chickenhall Briadge on Bishopstoke (Eastleigh) to Gosport line and dispute with South Stoneham Rural District Council concerning right-of-way.

Archive Issue 41 (March 2004)

Cwm Mawr lead mine. inside front cover.
View taken in about 1912: situated at Pontrhydfendigaid, near Strata Florida in north Cardiganshire.

Edward Paget-Tomlinson. Colin Green.
Appreciation of  writer and artist who died in October 2003.

Stamp charging at Coed Ely: the history of a unique South Wales coking plant. Paul Jackson. 3-26.
System exploited small coal which was packed with straw before being placed in coke ovens to produce blocks of coke suitable for the ron forging and blast furnace industries. Locomotives which worked there included Manning Wardle (334/1871) 0-4-0ST Stanley which was sold in 1931; Andrew Barclay (1367/1914) Coedely: illustrated include Hawthorne Leslie (3133/1915) 0-6-0ST Ferndale seen at Deep Navigation Colliery in 1957 (had left Coed Ely in July 1939); Peckett (1679/1929) 0-6-0ST Tynycoed at Llwynypia Workshops in 1962; Bagnall (2747/1944) Austerity 0-6-0ST. Diesel mootive power also illustrated..  

Inbye: Archives Letters. 27/63.
Coke oven locomotives. John Horne.
See feature in Issue 40 page 3. Coke oven plants were constructed by specialist contractors: links betweenn Woodhall-Duckham and the Koppers organizations in Essen, Germany, and in the USA: the latter developed the Beckers oven-system. Cable operation continued to be used, for instance at the Waleswood Coking plant near Sheffield installed in 1927. More firms built coke cars than locomotives. Suggests that locomotives may have used compressed air supply for sanding.
Unidentified colliery. Paul Beaven.
See Issue 39 inside front cover: Lady Victoria Colliery, Newtongrange, Midlothian.
Manx interlude. Alan Copley.
See Issue 40 page 28: not very relevant tale of visit to TT races when the Isle of Man Railway nearly mismanaged for the writer to miss his return sailing from Douglas.
Skimpings Issue 40. Andrew Neale. 63
See page 54 (lower) Stonecourt Pier & Land Co.'s chalk pits and cement works between Dartford and Gravesend

Broad gauge bonus: return to Kingswear. Neil Parkhouse. 28-9.
Two further illustrations and letters: from Robert Sharp, Archivist at the Science Museum who connects illustrations to others in the S. Pearson & Son Ltd, Civil engineers, albums and from Brian Lewis on Brent Mill, Glazebrook and Blatchford or Blachford viaducts. See also letter from Mick Hutson on Longwood Viaduct in Issue 42 page 31.

Reviews. 30-1.
Steamers & ferries of the River Tamar & Three Towns District. Alan Kittridge. Twelveheads. NP.
"This is a superb piece of work": includes excursion boats which operated in the Plymouth, Devonport and Stonehouse, as well as the ferries.
The steam locomotive era of the Skinningrove Iron Company Limited. David W. Husband. Peter Tuffs. NP.
Highly critical of production standards, although actual content is excellent.
The Stroudwater Navigation. Joan Tucker. Tempus. NP.
"This is one of the more important canal histories published in recent years", but reviewer is highly critical of skimping by publisher.
The River Nene. Josephine Jeremiah. Phillimore. DP.
"A thoroughly enjoyable cruise in old pictures."
London's New River. Robert Ward. Phillimore. DP
"Superbly researched and assembled labour of love"
Tackling transport. Helmuth Trishler and Stefan Zeilinger.NMSI Trading. IP.
Approach to transport musuem artefacts: Science Museum in collaboration with Smithsonian Institute and Deutsches Museum.
Fishing from the Humber. Arthur G. Credland. Tempus. IP
Criticises lack of supporting text

Skimpings 32-4.
Dunston, Co. Durham. 32-3.
Dunston Colliery, CWS flour mills and loaded collier: further illus & information in Issue 42 page 31 from David Kitching, also mentions CWS soapworks.
Ruston No. 10 steam dragline on River Nene. 34 upper.
Early 1930s probably following Land Drainage Act: incorrectly states Ruston of "Peterborough": see letter in Issue 44 page 39 from Richard Hillier who states that Ruston's were of Lincoln and gives more precise location and date: Dog-in-a-Doublet in 1924..
Drift mine with evidence of cave in. 34 lower.
with hutch in foreground.

Follow-up: Wellmans Coke Ovens locos: some further information. Paul Jackson. 35-6.
See feature in Issue 40 page 3. Also yet further "Follow-up" in Issue 46 page 50 et seq where some of the statements made herein are corrected. Cites lists prepared by Adrian Booth and published in Ind. Rly Rec. Includes diagrams of single-motor Wellman Standard locomotive and a Goodman-type two-motor locomotive. Also illus. of Sanderson Bibby battery locomotive. Further vague references to Iron and Coal Trades Review.

The road to the top for fishermen. Patricia O'Driscoll. 37-46.
Training and Certification for Skippers and Engineers on trawlers. Illus.: Golden Sceptre built in 1906 with emergency sails, and ashore at Kettleness, Whitby on 15 January 1912.

Coventry Machinists' Company Limited. Jeromy Hassell. 47-63.
Manufacturers of bicycles, tricycles, and such vehicles for multiple human propulsion: see scholarly letter by J.M. Gregory on James Starley's patents in Issue 42 page 31 and in Issue 43 page 55 there is an excellent article by Gregory on this subject. See also much later venture into light motor cars. in Issue 58 page 29..

Emily Barratt. Patricia O'Driscoll. 64
Five photographs of ketch taken in Mistley Shipyard in Essex in April and May 1962: vessel also mentioned in Issue 37 on page 53 et seq

Archive Issue 42 (June 2004)

Narrow gauge tramway on Aberystwyth Promenade. Inside front cover
Horse-drawn train: see also letter from Dilwyn Chambers Issue 43 page 64 which gives more precise date and reason (promenade extension).

Passion for perfection: W.O. Bentley. Malcolm Bobbitt. 3-18.
Bentley trained as a locomotive engineer as a premium apprentice under H.A. Ivatt and then became a significant automobile engineer and manuafacturer of the famous cars. Illus. are mainly of the early period and include onn of W.O. alongside his fiancée, Léonie Gore in a French DFP car at start of the Aston Clinton hill climb on 8 June 1912; W.O in a DFP practicing for Isle of Man Tourist Trophy Race in 1914; rotary aero engines; Freddie Gordon Crosby painting for cover of first Bentley catalogue, Sammy Davis testing Bentley car, aerial view of works at Cricklewood, three Bentleys in 1922 Isle of Man TT, Frank Clement, W.O. and Captain John Duff after winning 1924 Le Mans, the Bentley Boys (Sammy Davis, Frank Clement, Dr Benjafield, Leslie Callingham and George Duller, Woolf Barnato and Tim Birkin.

From the Mersey to the Pennines by tram. Part 1. T.B. Maund. 19-30.
Tramway system of Lancashire: Liverpool Pier Head (with LOR station in foreground and tramway terminus behind taken from Tower Building in 1904; waiting room at Huyton Lane with New St. Helens & District Tramways bogie car; Liverpool tram No. 147 (Priestly Standard car in maroon livery) with St Helens car at King's Arms Prescot in early 1930s; Liverpool car No. 726 on single-track in Prescot High Street in 1949; Wigan single deck tram No. 41 built by Hurst Nelson passing L&YR Wallgate Station; South Lancashire Tramways Co. tram at St John the Baptist Parish Church, Atherton; South Lancashire Transport maximum traction bogie car No. 57 on Bolton Corporation local service to Hulton Lane; open-top SLT tram and top-covered Bolton tram at Moses Gate; Deansage Manchester with Manchester car No. 252 and three Salford cars including Nos.36 and 144?; Mersey Square Stockport with SHMD car No. 64 (84?) and Stockport car behind; Mnachester bogie car No. 215 in open-top condition and No. 643 with top cover at Altringham. Part 2 see Issue 43 page 12.

Inbye [letters]. 31.
Skimpings, Issue 40. John Fletcher.
See Issue 40 page 50 lower: John Parish loam quarries at Erith. In 1952 the locomotives were 0-4-0STs, one a Hawthorn Leslie of 1881, the other "IV" was from 1903 and was painted brown.
Longwood Viaduct. Mick Hutson.
See Issue 41 page 28: sugghests date of 1920 and clearer images in HMRS Journal, 2000, 17 (3)
Barry Docks & coal tips. Alastair Weir.
See Issue 40 page 31: turntables to turn end-door coal wagons: at Irvine Harbour such wagons known as turners. Also coal tips known as hurries?
Coventry Machinists' Co. Ltd. J.M. Gregory
Patents taken by James Starley in association with Silas Covell Salisbury for sewing machines: see feature in Issue 41 page 47 et seq
Flour mills, Dunston. David Kitching.
See Issue 41 page 32: illus & information on CWS Flour Mill and  soap works on Tyne.

Cannop: a colliery amongst the trees. Ian Pope. 33-47.
Forest of Dean colliery, work on which started in 1906.

PLUTO: Pipe Lines Under The Ocean. W. Brian Taylor. 48-64.
WW2 development to convey petroleum to the advancing invading force into Europe, following D-Day. See letters in Issue 43 from E. Best and D.T. Costello (page 45), and from Ian Muir (citing paper in Trans Instn Nav. Architects, 1946, 88, 218-39 by M.K. Purvis) and Mick Hutson (page 64) which notes that the Germans did know about the pipeline. A further letter (Issue 44 page 39) from Tony Cane records a further source of illustrations. Issue 43 (page 46) contains a rview of a book by Adrian Searle..

Archive Issue 43 (September 2004)

Mersey flats on River Weaver at Winsford, Cheshire, c1907. Inside front cover
For caption see Issue 44 (picture repeated)

The memories of Arthur Temple — Part 1. The Hetton Railway. Colin E. Mountford. 2-11.
Part 2 see Issue 44 page 3: Arthur Temple was born in the cottages at the top of the incline at Warden Law in County Durham. This was the highest point on four consecutive self-acting inclines (gravity inclines which took Durham coal to the Wear). At fourteen Temple's father Thomas began work as a waggon rider (waggonrider) who accompanied the trains on the inclines and communicated with the brakesman. Chaldron waggons (wagons) were employed. Illus. some taken in 1946 of Tom Temple (father of Arthur) at work at head of incline, but most taken towards end of incline working. Includes tank wagon used to convey water to the cottages on the line.

From the Mersey to the Pennines by tram; Part 2. T.B. Maund. 12-28.
Part 1 see Issue 42 page 19. The Manchester and Salford networks and the former's progress towards the Pennines at Rochdale, Oldham and via the SHM&D (Stalybridge, Hyde, Mossley & Dukinfield) and Ashton-under-Lyne systems to Waterhead and Haddens. Includes some notes on a proposed system in Saddleworth and on councils which owned tracks but did not operate trams and some company routes notably the Middeleton Electric Traction Co. Illus.: Piccadilly Manchester during Silver Jubilee of Manchester tramway system in June 1926; Manchester illuminated tramcar; Manchester and Stockport tramcars in Mersey Square, Stockport; Pilcher tramcar on working to Castleton (caption does not correspond with illus.);Manchester bogie car No.1040 in Rochdale town centre; Bury car No. 30 fitted with air brakes on Heywood service: SHMD car No. 51 outside Mnchester Cathedral; Ashton-under-Lyne car No. 33 following Manchester Corporation car in Fairfield in 1938; Salford Corporation car onturning loop at Woolpack Hotel, Pendleton; Wilkinson steam tram engine No. 41 belonging.to Manchster, Bury, Rochdale & Oldham Steam Tramway Company on Bury to Whitefield service; Salford car No. 4 in 1903 at Whitefield Station; Salford car No. 10 at Monton; Salford car No. 36 at Rhodes terminus with Middleton company car in distance; Salford Milnes bogie car No. 350, painted grey, c1947; SHMD single-deck car No. 25 at Haddens (see also two pictures with notes by John Howat in Issue 45 page 25 of SHMD car which came down from Pennines rather too quickly on 2 April 1908); Oldham, Ashton & Hyde Tramways Co car No. 15 at Gee Cross; Ashton car No.23 in Old Square Ashton-under-Lyne on Manchester to Stalybridge working and SHMD open-top on Mottram Road service in background; Stockport car No. 62 and Manchester bogie tram at Hyde town hall; two Oldham cars at Mumps; Oldham car No. 48 at Norden on Rochdale joint service; Middleon Electric Traction Co. No. 5 at Middleton/Chadderton boundary and another single deck car in Oldham Corpration ownership at Mills Hill; Rochdale car and Oldham car No. 22 at Summit gap between the systems; Manchester Pilcher car No. 104 and Oldham car No. 122 at Waterhead terminus in August 1935; Bolton Corporation tram heading for Walkden crossing SLT trolleybus wires;

Broad Gauge Bonus. 29.
Jay: an 0-4-0ST built by Avonside in 1874-5 for the South Devon Railway. Had outside cylinders and is illustrated in original condition with sandbox on saddle tank. Worked at Plymouth Docks. Converted to standard gauge in 1892 when number changed from 2179 to 1333. Sold by GWR to Powesland & Mason and used by Ministry of Munitions during WW1.

Skimpings. 30-4.
Outside steam sawmill operations of W.E. Beint of Studley near Calne in Wiltshire. 30 upper.
Wigan Pier on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal c1950. 30 lower.
Warehouses still extant, also fate of broad barges in use at time.
The Green at Quainton in Buckinghamshire. 31 upper. .
c1906: windmill in background..
Gwyddelwern station, post 1933. 31 lower.
Between Corwen & Ruthin: shows private owner wagons owned by R.J. Wright's Dee Clwydd Granite Quarries..
Guernsey Tramway Co. electric tramway system, c1905-1910. 32-3..
Three views: Tramcar No. 1 passing along South Quay; No. 3 passing the coal quay and No. 7 with toast-rack trailer also on South Quay..
Charcoal burner's hut in the New Forest. 34 upper..
Drawbridge on the Listowel & Ballybunion Railway. 34 lower..
'Flying gate' to cross Lartigue monorail in Ireland.

Butchers and the internal combustion engine. David M. Dunstall. 35-44.
G & W Butcher of Ross-on-Wye and their sale and maintenance of motorcycles, cars and commercial vehicles.Illus: page 38: Ford Model T van belonging to Presteign Laundry Co. registration FO.TN.4 (a GIM); on same page lower another Model T belonging to the District Machine Carpet Beating Co. (which should be directed towards the Editors): see letter by John Harrison in Issue 44 page 39. and another letter in Issue 47 page 36  from John Lusted of differences between Isis and Oxford Six (caption p. 44 top) and fond memories of motoring in the 1950s with a 1932 Oxford Six hauling a caravan on long journeys from Wakefield to Wye involving the Alpine climb out of Grantham and boarding the Woolwich Free Ferry.

Inbye: Archive's Letters. 45/64.
PLUTO. E. Best.
Response to feature in Issue 42 page 48 et seq. With illus.: a Fowler ploughing engine of class BB1 (WN 15220) was sent to France to haul the pipes ashore and up the beach: five further ploughing engines went to several locations in England.
PLUTO. D.T. Costello..
Response to feature in Issue 42 page 48 et seq. Two illus.: Conundrum under construction at Tilbury Dock and HMS Persephone.
PLUTO. Ian Muir. 64.>
Response to feature in Issue 42 page 48 et seq: cites paper in Trans Instn Nav. Architects, 1946, 88, 218-39 by M.K. Purvis.
PLUTO. Mick Hutson..
Response to feature in Issue 42 page 48 et seq. The Germans were aware of the pipelines and planned to use Bibers (midget submarines) to sabotage the pipelines..
Aberystwyth Sea Front. Dilwyn Chambers..
See Issue 42 inside front cover for view of horse-drawn contractors' tramway

Reading Room: Archive Reviews. 46+
PLUTO: Pipe-Line Under the Ocean. Adrian Searle. Shanklin Chine. IP.
Second edition of book first published in 1995. It gives the overall picture of the PLUTO project and makes an excellent companion to the article published in the last Issue of Archive. See also feature in Issue 42 page 48.
Merthyr Tydfil tramroads and their locomotives. Gordon Rattenbury and M.J.T. Lewis. Railway & Canal Historical Society,  IP
Presents in one place two pieces of research, that on the tramroads around Merthyr by the late Gordon Rattenbury (a previously unpublished manuscript) whilst the section on locomotives is an updated version of a piece first written in 1975. The section on the locomotives used on the tramroads is a painstaking piece of research which pieces together the often fragmentary history of these machines. It is well-illustrated with drawings and some contemporary images. Research performed since the 1970s and 80s has been incorporated without disturbing the original text by means of notes on each page. This book is a must for those interested in early rail history.
Canal boatmen's missions. Wendy Freer and Gill Foster. Railway & Canal Historical Society, IP.
Well-researched volume traces the origins, developments and effects of the chapels and missions connected with the canal network from the 1820s onwards.
Early railways 2. ed. M.J.T. Lewis. Newcomen Society. IP
Based on papers given at the Second International Early Railways Conference in Manchester in September 2003. Topics covered include early Shropshire railways; Robert Stephenson; the development of steam traction; artists, Chartists, railways and riots; Liverpool & Manchester and Cromford & High Peak railways; The Clarence; All-iron edge rails; rope haulage - the Lambton railway; John Blenkinsop and the patent steam carriages; The Hedley mysteries; The Patent Office Museum and railway locomotive preservation; Richard Roberts' experiments on friction; The coupling rod; Follonica to Montebamboli railway in Tuscany; and The Champlain & St Lawrence railway.
Trent 1. John Banks, photography by G. H. F. Atkins. Prestige Series No. 25.
Samuel Ledgard. Mike Lockyer and John Banks. Prestige Series No. 26.
Venture Publications, IP.
Picture books: bus operators.
The railways of Upper Strathearn. Bernard Byrom. Oakwood, IP
Account of the financially unsuccessful railway between Crief and Balquhidder
Ron Jarvis. J.E. Chacksfield. Oakwood. IP
Rightly recommended

Maritime dredging. Malcolm Brown. 47-54.
Brief history of dredgers and dredging with short bibliography: includes both bucket and suction dredgers. The Sandmoor based at Bute East Dock, Cardiff is illustrated. The Bowline is also illustrated. KPJ living near the Norfolk Coast must stress that the abstraction of this item does not imply that he approves of such wicked vessels.

James Starley and his Sewing Machines. Martin Gregory. 55-63..
See also article in Issue 41 page 47 on Coventry Machinists Company: this excellent article cites the patents (numbers and dates) for Starley's European sewing machines. Also includes short biography. See also much later venture into light motor cars. in Issue 58 page 29...

Fairground switchback and showman's traction engine. 64.
See Issue 44 page 39 for letters by P.F. Cory and Les Burberry which note that the switchback ride was acquired from Savage's of King's Lynn in 1896 and the vaguely visible showman's engine was a Burrell No. 2222 Queen of the South.

Archive Issue 44 (December 2004)

Mersey flats on River Weaver at Winsford, Cheshire, c1907. Inside front cover.
Repeat of inside front cover illustration of previous Issue, but with complete caption.

The memories of Arthur Temple — Part 2. The Lambton & Hetton Staiths, Sunderland. Colin E. Mountford. 3-18.
Part 2 Issue 43 page 2: the work of the teemers who opened the waggon (wagon) doors and the trimmers who trimmed the coal in the ship's holds. Extensive description of the staiths which were needed because of the steep banks of the Wear and the Tyne. The staiths at Sunderland were approached by Farringdon Row tunnel on a gradient of 1 in 36. In 1911 Lord Lacey acquiredthe Hetton Coal Co. from the Earl of Durham. Household coal for East Angla, especially Norfolk, was supplied from No. 2 Staith (the shallowest) as such vessels were used to sitting on the mud; coal supplied to Portsmouth demanded high productivity as the collier on this run did three round trips per week. Gas coal was supplied by specific pits: customers included the South Eastern Gas Board. Lambton, Hetton & Joicey Collieries Ltd owned the Lambtonia, Southwick and Ryhope colliers and coal exports reached the Mediterranean. The locomotives included three ex-TVR 0-6-2Ts and two ex Cardiff Railway. Arthur Temple had been a traffic foreman at the staiths. Illus.: Lambton Staiths in July 1966; engine shed at Lambton Staiths in August 1964; 0-4-0ST No. 44 Lambton & Hetton Collieries Ltd (Manning Wardle 1934/1917 ex-War Department Inland Waterways & Docks Dept.); 0-6-0T No. 44 rebuilt from previous in 1951 with false tapered and Belpaire boiler and welded side tanks and considered to be very powerful; 0-6-2T No. 53 (ex TVR No. 26 constructed in 1897) in LHJC livery c1938; 0-6-2T No. 55 (Kitson 3069/1887 ex Cardiff Railway No. 28 GWR 159) in mid-1950s; 0-4-0ST No. 33 (Hawthorn Leslie 2827/1910) in early 1950s; 0-4-0ST No. 35 (Hawthorn Leslie 3024/1913); Austerity 0-6-0ST No. 58 (Vulcan Foundry 5299/1945), also No. 47 (Hawthorn Leslie 3543/1923)

William Arthur Weaver and the Coventry Victor Company Limited. Jeromy Hassell. 19-38.
Brief biography of Weaver (born Peterborough in 1885 died 25 August 1968) and the output of aircraft (ornithoplanes), motorcycles, light motor cars (cyclecars), light engines and their application to light river craft, barges, etc. 

Inbye [Archive's letters page]. 39.
More PLUTO. Tony Cane.
Response to feature in Issue 42 page 48 et seq. Quotes source for further pictorial information: Carpenter, Edward: Romney Marsh at War (Sutton, ISBN 0750922354) an anecdote, and notes the relatively small part that the pipeline served in the transport of military fuel.
Fairground ride. P.F. Cory.
See Issue 43 page 64: the road locomotive was Burrell No. 2222 Queen of the South. Both this and the next letter give details of the mechanical organs associated with fairground ride, its arc lighting system, and the fate of this machine and the replacement for it acquired from Savage's.
Fairground ride. Les Burberry.
See Issue 43 page 64: built by Frederick Savage & Co. of King's Lynn and delivered in November 1896. The motor cars seen were to Savage's drawing No. 309. The machine was owned by Marshall Hill of Coaley & Dursley
Presteign Laundry Model T. John Harrison.
Completely incorrect cross (very cross?) reference to Issue 43 page 38 whereon there is an illustration of a Presteign Laundry Co's van carrying a General Identification Mark (GIM) FO.TN.4 (a form of trade plate) which the writer notes was linked to Tommy Norton of the Auotmobile Palace, Llandrindod Wells - the building is extant and now houses the National Cycle Collection. Also includes information about vehicle registrations in Radnorshire.
Not Peterborough should be Lincoln. Richard Hillier.
See Issue 41 page 34 upper which incorrectly located Ruston's to be in Peterborough rather than in Lincoln.

Reading Room [Archive Reviews]. 40-1
The Great Laxey Mine. Andrew Scarffe. Manx Heritage Foundation. NP
"This is a magnificent volume, in style, presentation and content." Order online at www.lexiconbookshop.co.im
The colours of the cut. Edward Paget-Tomlinson. Landmark Publishing. NP
"EPT was probably one of the most generous of gentlemen it was ever our privilege to meet; generous with his knowledge, generous with his time and generous with his art. He was a great friend and contributor to Archive and to Colin Green's 1999 book on the trows, Severn Traders, for which he drew numerous illustrations and maps..." Landmark have done a competent job with what has proved to be Edward's final book, completed after his death by his widow Pam in conjunction with Tony Lewery, but we somehow cannot help feeling that it is not the tribute to the man, his art and his love of the waterways that it could have been.
Pembrokeshire: the forgotten coalfield. M.R. Connop Price. Landmark Publishing, IP
"This is undoubtedly the finest of the Coalfield series from Landmark that your reviewer has read so far. It is obvious from the text that a great deal of research, time and effort has gone into gathering together the strands to make this as complete a story as possible - this is reinforced by the number of endnotes to each chapter and a comprehensive bibliography.... The book would have benefited from a more comprehensive overall map of the coalfield. There are plenty of detailed location maps but it is difficult in some cases to locate these into their correct geographical position.
Balmaidens. Lynne Mayers. Hypatia Trust, NP
"Another important, detailed and interesting piece of work again rather let down by its production, which could best be described as basic. The subject matter is the female workforce of the Devon and Cornwall mining industry, the 'Balmaidens' as they were called. These were the women and girls (as young as 10 years of age) employed on the dressing floors of the mines but Lynne has extended her remit to cover all females working in the South West extractive industries - metalliferous, clay, stone and slate - in whatever capacity."
Cwm Gwyrfai (The quarries of the North Wales Narrow Gauge and the Welsh Highland Railways). Gwynfor Pierce Jones and Alun John Richards. Gwasg Carreg Gwalch, NP
Reviewer emphasises that book is mainly about the quarries rather than about the railways. He is critical of the maps and of the general level of presentation. Presumably the book is not written in Welsh.
The Wirksworth Branch. Howard Sprenger.
The Wrexham & Ellesmere Railway. Stanley C. Jenkins and John M. Strange.
The Wrington Vale Light Railway. Colin G. Maggs.
Oakwood Press, NP
"Three impressive titles": most of the slight niggles are restricted to the work on the Wrington Vale LR.
Hebble . Keith Healey and Nicholas Harris.
West Riding 1: West Riding Automobile Co. Ltd. David W. Allen.
Barton 2. John Banks.
Venture Publications. NP.
Three distinctive bus companies: Hebble got as far as Rochdale from Halifax; the West Riding operated services in two different liveries (red for the old tram routes and green for the rest) and used Guy Wulfrunians, and Barton operated highly distinctive double deckers, upon which the item-reviewed concentrates.
The Leyland Octopus. Graham Edge.
W. Clifford Watts. Gary K. Russell.
Gingerfold Publications. IP
The first is in the 'Commercial Vehicle Archive Series' and covers the history of a well-known lorry mades in Britain, built between 1935 and 1981 and produced in several formats, with many different body styles. The evocative photographs are accompanied by informative, and readable, text. The second is part of the 'Transport Archive Series' and is an illustrated history of one operator. W. Clifford Watts of Bridlington, established in 1937, and a leading supplier of sand, gravel and aggregate in the region.
The private railways of County Durham. Colin E. Mountford. Industrial Railway Society,  IP
Highly recommended .
Bulleid and the Turf Burner. Ernie Shepherd. KRB Publications. IP.
A study of O. V. Bulleid's experiments with steam traction in Ireland after 1949 and in particular with his turf burning locomotive CCl.: "a fascinating read."

Locomotives of the Manchester Ship Canal Contract: 1887-1894. Ted Grey. 43-56
Thomas Andrew Walker was the original contractor for the massive project of building the Manchester Ship Canal, but following Walker's death in November 1889 the canal took over construction and acquired Walker's equipment, including his locomotives which had been supplied by seven suppliers of industrial locomotives, three of which (Kitson, Peckett and Black Hawthorn) are nor represented amongst the illustrations. Part 2 Issue 47 page 2 et seq

1804: the year of Trevithick's Dragon. Stephen K. Jones. 57-64.
A brief account of Richard Trevithick's innovation of the high pressure engine, its application to a road locomotive, and to a tramway locomotive for use on the Merthyr Tramroad at Penydarren. The road locomotive was built at Hayle Foundry and was built with the intellectual assitance of Davies Giddy (subsequently Gilbert): it was tested near Camborne in late 1801. The author considers the unsatisfactory evidence concerning the wager between Samuel Homfray and Richard Crawshay that the locomotive could traverse the tramroad; the obvious failure of the tramroad plates to withstand the weight of the locomotive (which led to the journeys being single ones) and the opposition of Bolton & Watt. The order for a further locomotive from Christopher Blackett of Whinfield Colliery is also recorded, but this was used as a static engine. Trevithick's final innovation was a steam jet engine for use on ships developed at Hall's of Dartford and patented (patent not cited). Incomplete citations. Illus. mainly of remains of tramroad.. Letters from Anthony Burton, C.E. Mountford and Jones's response to them. in Issue 45.

Archive Issue 45 (March 2005)

James Buchanan and the combined coke car. Paul Jackson. 3-22.
Used between the early 1930s and 1983: electrically powered and supplied by James Buchanan of Liverpool as part of the supply of industrial machinery for a variety of industries. See also Issue 40 page 3: The locomotives of Wellman Smith Owen.

Inbye: Archive's Letters Page.  23-4.
Trevithick's Dragon. Anthony Burton.
Critical of several aspects of this feature (Issue 44 page 57), notably that the locomotive constructed for use on the Merthyr Tramroad was conceived as a multi-purpose machine which could be used to drive machinery. Burton accuses Stephen Jones of emphasising the failure rather than the success of Trevithick's early ventures.
Trevithick's Dragon. C.E. Mountford
Critical of error in feature (Issue 44 page 57): Whinfield Colliery should have been Wylam Colliery.
Trevithick's Dragon. Stephen K. Jones.
Response to letters by Burton and Mountford (above): Jones does not concede that the primary function of the Penydarren machine was locomotion and that the initial successful demonstration did not lead to continuing use in that capacity thereafter.
Manchester Ship Canal locomotives. Fred Emery. 24.
Laudatory.
Manchester Ship Canal saloon? Cliff Shepherd. 62.
See illustration Issue 44 page 52 upper: saloon illustrated probably Director's saloon bought by Bass, Ratcliff & Gretton and still extant in brewery museum in Burton

Reading Room: Archive Reviews. 24
The Odin Project: design and construction of Denmark's first locomotive. Michael R. Bailey and John P. Glithero. Danish Railway Musuem. IP.
Supplied by Sharp Brothers in 1846: highly detailed account which shares the virtues of similar studies by these researchers.
Orient Line: a Fleet history. Peter Newall. Ships in Focus. IP.
"quality is excellent throughout"
Lincolnshire's industrial heritage — a guide. Neil Wright. Society for Lincolnshire History and Archaeology. IP.
invaluable gazetteer of existing industrial remains throughout the County.
Historic town plans of Lincoln 1610-1920. D.R. Mills and R.C. Wheeler. Lincoln Record Society. IP.
"maps are superbly reproduced"

Follow-up: Haddons car, Stalybridge, Hyde, Mossley & Dukinfield Tramways & Electricity Board. John M.T. Howat. 25.
See feature in Issue 43 beginning page 12 From the Mersey to the Pennines by tram: two illus show tramcar involved in an accident at Millbrook on 2 April 1906: car had left the rails and fallen into a stream.

Swansea - Seatown. Colin Green. 27-43.
History of maritime activity, including the docks, at Swansea, and the development of copper smelting. Pilotage service was probably earliest on South Wales coast. The second illustration (a sketch) is by the most famous contributor to Archive so far: J.M.W. Turner and shows Liangyfelach (Landore according to Allan Williams 46-39) copper works in 1750.  See letter in Issue 46 (page 39) from Alan Williams which corrects caption to illus on (corrected hereat) Page 32 South Dock with broad gauge Vale of Neath Railway 0-6-0ST hauling train with containers of coal from mines in Neath Valley. Standard gauge wagons visible in foreground and coal tips in background: date 1865; (Alan Williams argues that is not South Dock) page 33 upper: South Dock with two ketches and Midland Railway wagons visible, c1900; page 35 upper:coasting ketch being loaded with coal; lowe drawbridge carrying Quay Street over the lower entrance to North Dock, c1900, also bridge carrying Vale of Neath Railway; 37 upper Kings Dock; opened 1909; 37 lower coal tips at Prince of Wales Dock, c1907; pp. 38-9 plane of docks published 1925 by GWR in South Wales Ports; Allan Williams states not Danygraig but East Dock inset: Danygraig sidings; 40 upper loading patent fuel at Kings Dock; 40 lower "Rose" Patent Fuel Works; 41 Oystermouth; 42 cockle gatherers at Pembrey, c1900; Elders & Ffyffes cargo liners probably sused for banana trade at Kings Dock..

Tackler's tales. John Horne. 44-7.
Postcards designed to be sent from cotton weaving towns, like Burnley, to people on holiday during wakes week. Cards show tacklers or overlookers: the men who maintained the looms and other mill machinery (and who stayed behind to perform major maintenance work during mill shutdown). See also letter from Roger N. Holden in Issue 47 page 36.

Skimpings. 48
Hirwaun Ironworks, probably in 1907. 48.
Postcard is entitled Hirwain and shows ruins of the ironworks and the causeway carrying the Hirwaun to Penderyn tramroad in background.
Paddle-steamer probably during WW1 in unidentified harbour. 49 upper
Soldier sitting on bollard.
Piles Shipyard at Middleton, Near Hartlepool. 49 lower
Probably about 1880: replacement of timbers in a coasting ketch.
Private barge outing on Coventry & Ashby Canals on 9 July, 1910. 50-1.
Fraternal middle-class gathering on horse-drawn barge near Bedworth. Barge owned by John Griffiths (Boat No. 193). One view shows some of the party swimming in the canal. Midland Railway canal notice. There is a gramophone on board and the boat carries flags. One picture shows John Pugh's motorbike being loaded onboard: this last led to two letters in No. 46 p. 39: from Mark Flett on Triumph 3.5 HP (with details of its engine, and from Roger Kimbell which confirms model and states that drive was via Fenner belt and Sturmey Archer gearbox. registration may have been Warwickshire. See also Issue 48 page 51 for letter from Mike Kinder on  Bedworth Hill location, the Griffiths family boatyard and in case of Ashby Canal was probably Market Bosworth area.:.

Slimbridge Magazine. Brian Edwards. 53-63.
Explosive propellant handling plant for filling shells for the Department of Explopsives Supply established in Sliumbridge, Gloucestershire in 1915 with accesss to the Midland Railway at Gossington and to the Gloucester & Berkeley Canal

Help! 64.
Three unidentified colliery shots.

Archive Issue 46 (June 2005)

Cantley Sugar Refinery. Inside front cover.
Wherry unloading sugar beet at sugar refinery on River Yare (between Norwich and Yarmouth: see letters: see letters Issue 47 page 36 from Kevin P. Jones and from Matthew Searle on history of the original British sugar beet factory.

The Yorkshire Dry Dock Company: Part One; 1917-1973. Mike Taylor. 2-18.
Steam tug Wilberforce in dry dock in 1956 following a capsize; sketch map of River Hull as at 1990 showing YDDC Headquarters in Lime Street and dry docks in High Street; Cawood steam tug (in original coal-fired state) in 1910; diesel tug Cawood in 1979; T.P. Bullard steel tank lighter in 1955; and being towed by Cawood in 1979; lauch of G.H. Staniland at Thorne in October 1926; coal-fired Admiralty tug Gordon renamed Ackworth in entrance to King George Dock with lighter Yorkist No. 3 alongside in 1951; steam towing barge Gainsborough in Crown Dry Dock; Jondor approaching Naburn lock with fuel for York glassworks in October 1978; launch of Sirwin at Lime Street in December 1954; lengthening of Sirwin in dry dock in 1963; Keewhit aground near Gainsborough in February 1966, and as a tanker entering Broad Reach flood lock near Wakefield in 1980; Wheatcroft at Weston Marsh lock with load of methylene chloride in December 1983; Humber Trader loading salt for Liverpool at Anderton depot near Northwich on Weaver Navigation in July 1987; diesel tug Elsa Margareta towing coal barges at Wakefield in 1950s; Severn Princess (vehicle ferry) at Beachley jetty in early 1960s; Clyde Enterprise leaving Crown Street dry dock in 1963; Ulster Industry loading gas oil from road tanker at Penryn in August 1986; Inland Navigator being helped through Newark bridge by Mason's tug Mickey in January 2004; Humber Renown and Humber Enterprise at Leeds in June 1968 delivering Esso fuel; dry cargo barge Babak being loaded onto MV Wassenfels in July 1969 for export to Iran; British Waterways push tugs Freight Pioneer and Freight Trader with Humber barges at Aldwarke lock near Rotherham in April 1978; and passage of brages through lock at Sprotbrough; George Odey on Humber trials in 1971 and loading aggregate at Besthorpe in 1995; BACAT1 being loaded with BACAT barges at Riverside Quay in Hull in 1974; Collingham and Joyce Hawksley at Girton gravel pit in 1978.

The Aberthaw pebble limekilns. Malcolm Brown. 19-24.
The pebbles from the foreshore formed one of the raw materials, the other was anthracite culm shipped in to the port of Aberthaw from West Wales. The port has now ceased to exist as the River Thaw was rerouted to assist with the disposal of fly ash from Aberthaw Power Station. The limekilns were formally opened on 22 December 1888 and were conceived by Stephen Collier, with the assistance of Daniel Owen (joint proprietor of the Western Mail newspaper), and his business associate Lascelles-Carr, and Hurman, Traffic Manager of the Taff Vale Railway. O.H. Jones, of Fonmon Castle, the landowner, was also involved. Uniquely for a limekiln the trams conveying the pebbles and the fuel were hoisted to the top of the kiln in a colliery type of cage. The works closed in 1926. Illus. include both "recent" photographs of the remains and contemporary (c1912 and from Western Mail of 17 December 1888). Workers shown in 1907 (those with swollen hands handled the hot limestone).

Cinderford Gas Works. Ian Pope. 25-38.
Bilson Gaslight & Coke Co. incorporated 23 July 1859 and works commenced production on 29 September 1860. During the 1880s there were several complaints about bad gas, but these were eliminated by the appointment of Mr James Robb, formerly of Limavady Gas Works who was appointed from April 1890.

Inbye: Archive's Letters Page. 39.
Swansea. Alan Williams
Corrects many items in feature beginning page 27 in Issue 45, notably location of Dr Lane's copperworks near Landore rather than Llangyfelach. , and notably the picture on page 32 of Vale of Neath broad gauge locomotive (0-6-0ST) hauling wagons loaded with containers of coal and cites Welsh Railway Archive, 2001, 3, Numbers 3 and 4 for extensive critique of this "marvellous photograph". Page 33 upper states not South Dock & gives a more precise location; page 39 inset: not Danygraig as such, but view taken from East Dock Station.
The Skimpings motorbike. Mark Flett.
See Issue 45 page 51: Triumph 3.5 horsepower of 1906/8
The Skimpings motorbike. Roger Kimbell.
See Issue 45 page 51: Registration possibly Warwickshire: confirms that was Triumph with Sturmey Archer gear

Reading Room: Archive Reviews. 40-2.
AEC Vehicles – origins to 1929. Brian Thackray. Venture. NP
Very well received: relatively technical
Hebble. Keith Healey and Nicholas Harris
West Riding 1. David W. Allen
Cambridge 1. Paul Carter
Sentinel. John Howie and |Neville Mercer.
Venture Publications. NP.
In the case of the volume on Sentinel it only covers buses and the period 1948 to 1956. In the case of the other volumes the whole history of Hebble Motor Services (based on Halifax) and the West Riding Automobile Co. (based on Wakefield) bus fleets are covered. In the case of the volume on Cambridge the many operators and their activities are described (but only up to 1950): the curious will have to wait as one has to for the "frequent" service to the railway station which never seems to arrive.
Horse trams of the British Isles. R.W. Rush.
Testing times at Derby. Alan Rimmer.
Oakwood. NP.
Former is a "lovely little book" and covers both urban lines (does it cover Gorleston?) and rural routes, such as Inchture and Fintona as well as extant syetm in Douglas. Latter is a "good read"
The Drummond Brothers – a Scottish duo. J.E. Chacksfield.
Douglas Earle Marsh – his life and times. Klaus Marx.
Both published Oakwood Press.  NP.
These books are "thoroughly recommended". Reviewer notes that in the case of the Drummonds Peter is given somewhat greater attention than usuaul in such pairings, and that in the study of Marsh no attempt is made to cover his many failings, although this does not extend to "character assassination."
Southern USA Tanks. H. Sprenger, K. Robertson and C. Sprenger KRB Publications. IP.
"A comprehensive study of the American-built 0-6-0 tanks which arrived in this country from the middle of 1942 onwards and [some of] which ended up on the Southern Railway. They are probably best remembered for their service until the end of steam in Southampton Docks...A well put together history although the text in some places suffers an overly large amount of hypenation, which makes reading some of it difficult in places."
Mills and Milling in Gloucestershire. M.J.A. Beacham. Tempus. IP.
"When this volume arrived your reviewer could not resist delving into it straight away having a particular interest in the industries of Gloucestershire. Sadly disappointment followed as expectations from the title of finding details of all of the mills, their uses and owners, was not to be, apart from in one chapter on the mills along the River Chelt. The general overviews of the various mill types - wind and water - are interesting as are the descriptions of the different uses of the mills, from corn to 'shoddy' and snuff to paper. Unfortunately a lot of the illustrations for this are from 'out of county'."
Brunel in South Wales. Stephen K. Jones. Tempus. IP.
"This volume provides the introduction to Brunel and South Wales, looking at the area pre-BruneI. The growth of Merthyr as an iron capital and the need to get its products down to the sea at Cardiff is considered. First the Glamorganshire Canal was constructed and then tramroads were built to bring goods to it. However, it was to be a bottleneck on the canal which led to a great step forward with the construction of the Merthyr Tramroad between Merthyr and Abercynon on which, in 1804, Trevithick was to prove the use of steam as a motive power. It was then to be 30 years before Brunel was invited to survey a railway route between Merthyr and Cardiff and build the Taff Vale Railway. It is with these works that the majority of this volume is concerned and it makes extremely interesting reading. Stephen Jones' research is first class and his writing style is very readable. The illustrations are carefully chosen, possibly some of the engineering drawings would have benefited from being reproduced as a full page so that Brunel's design flair could be fully appreciated. The volume is completed with a comprehensive index. If Volume One is anything to go by then the future volumes are eagerly awaited."
Exploring Gloucestershire's Industrial Heritage. Gloucestershire Society for Industrial Archaeology. IP.
"This is another of those exceedingly useful guides to the industrial remains of a county. Divided into geographical areas each entry has an Ordnance grid reference and a brief description. Illustrations, many in colour, are a mix of old and new and give an excellent flavour of the county's industrial heritage."

Skimpings. 43-7.
De Dion Bouton 12-seater bus in Letchworth possibly in 1910. 43 upper.
LC 4195 owned by Road Motors Ltd (Mr and Mrs Attree) of Luton to which the bus was probably departing.
Middle Incline on the Leckhampton Quarry Tramroads. 43 lower.
View dates from 1900: incline from about 1810
Melin y Bont, Island of Anglesey. 44 upper
Combined watermill and windmill c1902.
Haleswoth station, Southwold Railway. 44 lower
with Sharp Stuart 2-4-0T. possibly No. 3 Blyth, c1910
St Austell Railway Station with GWR buses. 45
Includes Milnes-Daimler LC6701
Mistley Quay. 46.
With maltings behind, three-masted schooner in centre and a boomy or spritsail barge alongside quay.
Kingswear Harbour. 47
Aerial view with collier alongside and coal train departing. It seems that the coal train was hauled by a locomotive with a lion and wheel emblem on its tender, but all the coaches appear to be GWR and pre-BR Mark I: thus it would seem to be about 1950, See letters in Issue 48 from Graham Thorne concerning the ferries, and the collier and its cargo. The collier was an Everard vessel which ran weekly from Goole to Kingswear for Torquay gas works, hence the 4-6-0 hauled coal train and for Dartmouth gas works, hence the barge alongside. Suggests passenger rollingg stock was that for Torbay Express.Another letter from R. Shopland considers that the collier was an F.T. Everard vessel and that its yellow-coloured hull reflected its presenc e in the Coronation Review of the fleet in 1953.. See also letter from John Horne in Issue 49 page 64.Torquay (Hollacoombe) gas works received its coal by rail during WW2 and did not revert to shipping until 1951: The Dartmouth works closed in 1954.

Broad Gauge Bonus: St. Ives. 48-9.
Railway station within broad panorama of harbour, pier and cottages: several wagons in station and one horse-drawn vehicle being unloaded for transfer to adjacent railway wagon: c 1889

Follow-up: Wellman, more pictures & another location. Paul Jackson. 50-3.
Original feature in Issue 40 page 3 et seq and corrections to earlier Follow up in Issue 41 page 35: locomotive 2601 was not used at Pinxton (as always rope-worked), but was used at the Fitzwilliam Coking Plant near Leeds which used Lococq Regenerative Ovens. Illus: British Benzole Coking Plant at Bedwas in South Wales in 1928; Lancashire Steel Corporation's Irlam Coking Plant in 1931; Billingham Synthetic Ammonia & Nitrates Ltd (ICI) with Simon Carves ovens and "night" picture of Ford Dagenham Coking Plant. See also Issue 54 page 21 for AC and DC electric locomotives supplied by Ateliers de Constructions Electriques de Charleroi in Belgium...

Eastham Ferry. T.B. Maund. 54-64.
Eastham was the most southerly point in the Wirral reached by ferries from Liverpool. This includes both a description of the ferry services and the connecting horse-drawn coach services to Chester. There had been a passage since 1509 and it was known as Job's Ferry under the monks of St Werburgh Abbey in Chester. It was sometimes known as Carlett Ferry. Nicholas Blundell's Diary refers to an Eastom Fery in 1707. Prior to the New Chester Road being constructed across Tranmere Pool in the 1850s a ferry was needed as the road was indirect and from the 1780s there was a regular ferry service with onward connections to Chester by stagecoach. In the early nineteenth century Samuel Smith owned the ferry and the adjacent hotel. A steam boat, Princess Charlotte was launched complete from Motterhead's yard on 25 July 1816. It was joined by the Lady Stanley from Motterhead & Hayes in 1821 and by the Maria in 1824. Sir Thomas Stanley came from Thomas Wilson of Birkenhead in 1834 and the William Stanley in 1837. The Stanleys were squires at Hooton Hall. The opening of the Chester & Birkenhead Railway on 23 September 1840 led to loss of traffic, but Richard Smith attempted to meet the competition..

Archive Issue 47 (September 2005)

Connel Ferry Bridge. Inside front cover.
Locomotive and coaches in CR livery.

Locomotives of the Manchester Ship Canal: Part Two. Ted Gray. 2-19.
Part 1 Issue 44 page 43 et seq

(1) had worked on Jersey Tramways & Barry Docks projects
(2) with load of willow branches for fascine work

See letter of appreciation from B.R. (Fred) Emery in 48 page 51.

Idyllic industry. 20-1.
Greasbrough Colliery near Rotherham in 1913.

Minster Lovell Mill. Stanley C. Jenkins. 22-35.
Mill was situated upstream from Witney (see feature on blanket industry in) on River Windrush. Mill was originally associated with fulling and raising for the blanket industry, but was latterly a corn mill. Jenkings suggests reasons for this change: the blanket industry was in the hands of Noncomformists, mainly Methodists, but the farming industry was Anglican (as was the village). Furthermore, the arrival of coal by railway at Witney enabled the blanket industry to concentrate. Thomas William Coke, of Holkham in Norfolk sold the mill to William Hudson in 1812. In 1847 Feargus O'Conner purchased 3000 acres of upland pasture to eastablish his utopian Charterville (not illustrated, but further sources cited). Later millers inncluderd the Coopers (Thomas and John Cooper), Thomas Jeffreys and Edgar Hamlyn. In the 1960s (the bulk of the mill having been demolished) some of the buildings were used by Dr Anthony Ambrose as a research centre for studies of human behaviour and personailty.

Inbye: Archive's Letters Page. 36-7.
Sugar beet factory at Cantley. Kevin P. Jones
See photograph in Issue 46 (inside front cover): letter cites Yarmouth Archaeology, 2000, 1-4 for article by Diana Hanson which notes development of experimental sugar beet cultivation in several areas, a near commercial development at Sleaford in Lincolnshire, and the eventual establishment of an industry in Norfolk based on initial processing in Holland and then at Cantley from 1912. Hanson states that processing at Canley ceased between 1916 and 1920. The plant was operating during the 2004/5 Campaign.
Sugar beet factory at Cantley. Matthew Searle.
See photograph in Issue 46 (inside front cover): letter also cites Yarmouth Archaeology, 2000, 1-4 for article by Diana Hanson
Lancashire cotton. Roger N. Holden.
See feature in Issue 45 page 44 et seq:  picture on page 47 not a weaving mill.
Butchers & the internal combustion engine. John Lusted.
See feature in Issue 43 page 35: Comment on the difference between Isis and Oxford Six and fond memories of motoring in the 1950s with a 1932 Oxford Six hauling a caravan on long journeys from Wakefield to Wye involving the Alpine climb out of Grantham and boarding the Woolwich Free Ferry

Reading Room: Archive Reviews. 37
Thunder underground – Northumberland mining duisasters, 1815-1865. Roy Thompson. Landmark. NP.
Very well recieved: the common thread is that the twelve disasters described involved Stephen Reed, the South Northumberland coroner whom the miners considered to be biased towards the interests of the colliery owners.
Oxford to Princes Risborough — a GWR secondary route. C.R. Potts. Oakwood. NP.
Well received.
"Charltonian": a family bus business in the Cleveland Ironstone District of Yorkshire. John Dobson and Philip Battersby. Venture.
Growing up with buses. Barry Turner. Venture. IP.
Both of these brief booklets are well received: the first covers a family business; the second is an enthusiast's account of buses, trams and trolleybuses in London & South East England in the 1950s

Skimpings. 38
Soudley Valley Bus Services semi-luxury motor coach. 38.
Leyland Cub chassis with Gloucester Railway Carriage & Wagon bodywork manufactured in April 1935 (two photographs from bodywork manufacturer's official photographs held in Gloucestershire Records Office).
Walter Moore's coal merchants yard. 39.
Probably at Uxbridge, GWR: coal delivery cart with horse and two railway wagons (one painted 2 April 1911) and assorted staff in lead-soldier poses. See letters in Archive 48 page 64 from John McGuinness and from Malcolm Bobbitt confirming Uxbridge location and with the help of an Ordnance Survey 25-inch confirm the orientation. Bobbitt cites Great Western Railway Journal, 1995, 2 (13) page 530. See also Issue 48 page 64 for letters from John McGuiness and Malcolm Bobbitt on Walter Moore's coal merchants and other aspects of GWR Uxbridge Vine Street branch.
Municipal waste disposal? 40-1.
Three rather disgusting photographs showing waste disposal involving transit by canal barge and lorry (probably Grand Union Canal) or by railway wagon (and dumping at end of embankment: Croxley Green is suggested). Photographs from Woodhall-Duckham Co who were designing and building municipal incinerators in the late 1920s.
West Yorkshire Road Car buses battling with floods. 41 (lower)
Floods near Guisley in early 1930s. Buses all single-deck: at least some (five partly visible) on Otley to Ilkley service.

The Yorkshire Dry Dock Company: Part Two; 1974-1997. Mike Taylor. 42-61.
Seaborne Trader under construction under construction at Hull; three High Street dry docks at Hull; Irwell Trader approaching Latchford Locks on Manchester Ship Canal in August 1982; Seaborne Trader, Seacombe Trader, Humber Jubilee and Panary (non-YDDC) at Eastham Docks in April 1983; Teesdale H on Tees in 1987; Marchdale H at York glassworks in July 1980; Blackbird on Ouse at Selby in 1980s; Humber Jubilee entering Birkenhead Docks in 1982 with load of caustic soda; Humber Dawn passing under Gainsborough Town Bridge; Alice P.G. on Trent at Morton Corner in October 1983; Rix Harrier on Humber in late 1990s; data sheet for Wilks Shipping showing Wis; Grovedale H on Tyne; Silverdale H carrying graphite to Newburn on the Tyne; launch of Humber Progress in June 1980; Humber Progress passing under old Great North Road bridge at Ferrybridge; Rosewood (Thames passenger launch completed YDDC, begun at Bideford Shipyard); Bartholemew (crane barge built for British Waterways) near Woodlesford in April 1995; Wharfedale H (refurbished Dutch barge) bunkering in Liverpool Docks in 1982; Fleet Enterprise using bow thruster to enter Castleford Flood Lock in 1988; Humber Transporter on Manchester Ship Canal in September 1987; Battle Stone at opening of improved Eastwood Lock in June 1983; Cory tug Mersina hauling two container barges conveying waste passing Westminster in February 1988; Seagull for conveying oil to Colwick, Nottingham, on return passing Gunthorpe Bridge in 1991; Hoo Beach passing Hook swing bridge near Goole in 2001; Bude entering Sharpness from River Severn in December 1978; lengthening Victor Waddington Resilience in 1994; Jaynee W bunkering tanker entering King George Dock, Hull in 1996.

Coke making at Cargo Fleet in 1904. Paul Jackson. 62-3
Koppers by-product ovens and early combined coke car.

Reading Room extra: gas supply and hot water. 64.
The history of the Gas Light & Coke Company, 1812-1949, Stirling Everard.
Always under pressure: a history of North Thames Gas since 1949. Malcolm Falcus.
The magic of hot water. [Ascot Water Heaters].
See also letter from Ron Smith in Issue 49 page 25

Archive Issue 48 (December 2005)

Shill, Ray. Cadbury's Canal Stores at Stirchley. 2-7.
In association with the development of Dairy Milk Chocolate the Cadbury Company developed canal traffic to convey its partially processed milk from its dairies.

A Cromford interlude. Roger Eckersley 8-17.
A collection of photographs taken by author in 1953? which show the Cromford & High Peak Railway and its wharf on the Cromford Canal (it should be noted that the Canal at the time of the photographs was so full of weed and/or algae that it looks like a road). Specific illus: ex-NLR 0-6-0T 58850 near Hopton in July 1953 (pp. 8-9); Middleton Top with wagons descending incline (pp. 10-12); 0-4-0ST No. 47000 at Sheep Pasture Top (pp. 13-15: view of last shows Cromford far below); foot of Sheep Pasture Incline at Cromford page 16 (caption states that locomotives may have been assembled at Cromford Wharf); Cromford Wharf  (upper) with 58860 shunting (lower) p. 17

Skimpings
Cromford Canal near Cromford Wharf [panorama and map]. 18-19.
Vista (postcard view) of canal with its pumping engine and aqueduct with Ordnance Survey 25 inch map to assist in on page 19
Manchester Ship Canal Company 0-6-0T No. 79 (Hudswell Clarke 1590/1927). 20 upper
With inspection saloon used by Resident Engineer, George Leader Williams
Midland Red single deck bus in Halesowen probably in 1913. 20 lower
Tilling-Stevens-type TTA2 opposite Ye Bull's Head
Bristol Airport at Whitchurch. 21.
Probably shortly after opening in 1929: caption gives info about official opening and WW2 flights to Portugal and on to the Azores for the USA and the reason why the Germans tolerated this activity, and the subsequent replacement of this airport by one at Lulsgate in 1957. Letters from Roger Kimbell and from Tony Wardle identify Desoutter and De Havilland DH60s in photograph. (Issue 49 p.25).
Ilfracombe Inner Harbour. 22.
In 1890s with several pilot cutters.

Broad gauge bonus. 23
Very fine photograph of Torbay & Brixham Railway 0-4-0T Queen with E.B. Wilson works plate (No. 329 of 1852) clearly readable, probably as being used on the Portland Breakwater before transfer further west.

Sabrina's disappearing art? Exploring craft fishing on the Severn and Bristol Channel. Colin Green. 24-50.
Fishing with the aid of weirs, putts, putchers (both of which were made as a form of basket) with wire baskets and with inshore nets mainly to catch salmon and eels.

Inbye: Archive' s Letters Page. 51
Coventry & Ashby Canal. Mike Kinder.
See Issue 45 page 50: Bedworth Hill location, the Griffiths family boatyard and in case of Ashby Canal was probably Market Bosworth area.:.
Kingswear in the 1950s. Graham Thorne.
See aerial view in Issue 46 page 47: mainly concerns the ferries, and the collier and its cargo. The collier was an Everard vessel which ran weekly from Goole to Kingswear for Torquay gas works, hence the 4-6-0 hauled coal train and for Dartmouth gas works, hence the barge alongside. Suggests passenger rolling stock was that for Torbay Express.
Kingswear. R. Shopland.
See aerial view in Issue 46 page 47: considers that the collier was an F.T. Everard vessel and that its yellow-coloured hull reflected its presence in the Coronation Review of the fleet in 1953..
Manchester Ship Canal locos. B.R. 'Fred' Emery.
See Issue 47 page 2 et seq gloria
Walter Moore...John McGuinness. 64.
See Issue 47 page 39: date of photograph of Uxbridge Vine Street
...and more. Malcolm Bobbitt.
See Issue 47 page 39: Uxbridge Vine Street: orientation of photograph, also Walter Moore's coal and coke business.
Enginemen's dress. Andrew Wilson.
See Archive 47 page 7: enginemen's clothing looked light coloured due the lack of sensitivity of photographic emulsions at time when photographs taken.

Reading Room: Archive Reviews. 52-3.
Tears of the tree: the story of rubber — a modern marvel. OUP. Kevin P. Jones
Reviewer concentrates on the contribution made by Thomas Hancock to the mastication of rubber.
Thomas Brassey. Tom Stacey. Stacey International. NP
"an interesting aside for most historians [but] Charles Walker's book Thomas Brassey, railway builder remains the standard reference".
The Barry Railway steamers. Oakwood. NP
For a short period (1905-1909) the Barry Railway operated paddle steamers in competition with P. & A. Campbell on the Bristol Channel. The ships were the Devonia, Barry and Westonia. Well received
The Great Western to Crewe. Bob Yate. Oakwood. NP.
Route from Wellington (Salop) via Market Drayton and Nantwich Hopkinstown 1911. David J. Carpenter. Tempus. NP.
Railway accident on Taff Vale Railway on 23 January 1911 with tewlve deaths, but reviewer considers that book is padded.
Nevill's Dock & Railway Company. Michael Denman. Wider View. NP.
Llanelly: well researched and well written

Idyllic Industry: Futake Works, Duddon Valley. 54-5.
Appear to be exploiting alluvial deposits: see letter from Bill Slatcher (49 page 25): waterworks for Barrow-in-Furness. Definitive explanation provided by Guy Wilson in Issue 50 pp. 49-50

MV Salcombe/Friars Craig Marcus Dupenois. 56-63.
Writer's father, George Dupenois, purchased former Osborn & Wallis coaster Salcombe in 1969. It was renamed Friars Craig and was chartered to A.H. Watts & Co. of Teignmouth.

Issue No. 49 (March 2006)

Donaghadee and the coal ships. David Capper. 2-13.
Small port on North Channel with harbour completed in 1834 for packet trade with Portpatrick, but this was usurped by the Stranraer to Larne route and Donaghadee was left with the coal trade from Cumberland and Ayrshire handled in small boats and off-loaded by manual labour in Ireland. Most of the coal was used locally, including in the gas works, but coal was loaded into BCDR wagons and taken to inland destinations including to the Lord Londonderry's estate at Mountstewart. Illustrations of qquay with railway wagons, the delightfully names SS Mango entering the harbour, the River Humber (sorry for anyone expecting that and ending up in Ulster) on 8 September 1937, the Loch Etive owned by Rainey's of Larne alongide the quay; SS Second alongside quay, and the crane with kibbles or buckets and the shore gang one with large heart-shaped shovel and with lorry labelled Tenzeheat Coal in December 1946 (note Army greatcoat worn man on truck and blackout precautions on vehicle). Other trade passing through included ammunition, bricks from Irvine, slates and strike breaking cargo.

Joseph White, Watchmaker to the Admiralty. Jeromy Hassell. 14-25.
Joseph White, 1835-1906 (includes portrait) made high class watches in Coventry

Inbye: Archive's Letters Page. 25
Bristol Airport 1. Roger Kimbell.
See Issue 48 p. 21: identifies de Havilland aircraft
Bristol Airport 2. Tony Wardle
See Issue 48 p. 21: identifies DH60
Futake Works.! Bill Slatcher
See Issue 48 page page 54: waterworks on River Duddon.
Gas Light & Coke Company. Ron Smith.
See Issue 47 page 64

Sabrina's disappearing art: Part Two: Severn & Bristol Channel fishing boats.  Colin Green. 26-45.
Boats beginning with coracles (shown racing on Teifi); the long net punt (Severn punt illustrated at Bolow, and another British Waterways maintenance depot); stopping boats at Gatcombe, Beachley and on River Wye;; Framilode boats; Cobles, Woolastone boats; Chepstow boats; tuck net boats on River Wye; salmon boats for River Uak and at Cardiff; Flatners at Bridgwater, Weston, Clevedon and Watchet; Porlock and Swansea oyster boats; (Laureate shown at Porlock Weir in 1907, and Mumbles oyster skiffs, c1800); Tenby oyster luggers (illus. of huge number of fishing boats in Tenby harbour in late nineteenth century); Cleddau stopping boats (illus. of village of Llangym on Daugleddau with compass net boats); Torridge salmon boats; Clovelly Picarooner and herring boats and Bucks Mills Ledger boats.

Reading Room: Archive Reviews. 46
A postcard history of the passenger liner. Chrisopher Deakes. Chatham Publishing. IP
Full colour reproduction: over 500 illustrations.
Figureheads & ship carving. Michael Stammers. Chatham Publishing. IP
Written by former Keeper of Merseyside Maritime Museum.
World railways of the nineteenth century. Jim Harter. John Hopkins University Press. IP
Includes reproductions of three of the engravings contained therein.
A guide to the industrial archaeology of Derbyshire; edited Dudley Fowkes, Mark Sissons and Ian Mitchell.
A guide to the industrial archaeology of Central Scotland: Forth and Clyde; edited John Crompton.
Association for Industrial Archaeology. IP.
"invaluable" used more than once
The Cannock Chase Coalfield. Cannock Chase Mining Historical Society. 47
The Brereton Collieries, 1791-1960. Ken Edwards. IP.
As well as recommending books also notes excellent website: www.ccmhs..co.uk: further publications reviewed Issue 51 page 64.
Ports of Scotland, 2006. Maritime Publications. IP. 48
Aerial photographs and plans: see www.portsofscotland.co.uk
West Riding 2: South Yorkshire and Bullocks. David W. Allen. Venture. IP
South Yorkshire ran initial Leeds to London bus service.

Coke quenching machines: a dead end in British coke oven technology. Paul Jackson. 49-59.
The Greensmith Quencher designed in 1920 by Thomas Greensmith and Robert William Cuthbertson and built by Horace Greaves of Derby and installed at Holbrook Coking Plant in Derbyshire, the Wharnecliffe Silkstone Coking Plant and at the Altham Coking Plant in Accrington. The Flood Car designed by Messrs Flood, Cropper & King and G.A. Flood and manufactured by Dewhurst Engineering and used at Dinnington Main Coal Co and the Goodall Coke-Quenching and Loading Machine installed at the Tudhoe Ironworks Coking Plant, Grassmoor Colliery, Birchenwood Colliery at Kidsgrove visited by King George V and Queen Mary, Malty Main Colliery and at Saltley Gas Works owned by Birmingham Corporation.

Idyllic Industry. 60-1.
Forest of Dean: Speech House with Wood Distillation plant: see next

Skimpings. 62-3.
Wood Distillation works at Cannop
using machinery designed by F.H. Meyer of Hanover-Hainbolz

Inbye: continuation of Archive's Letters Page. 64
Kingswear in the 1950s. John Horne.
See Skimpings in Issue 46 page 47. of aerial photograph of Kingswear stated to be in "1950s". Torquay (Hollacoombe) gas works received its coal by rail during WW2 and did not revert to shipping until 1951: The Dartmouth works closed in 1954. illus. of this Torquay attraction with two GWR bogie wagons; also illus of Dartmouth coal carrying telpher.

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Updated: 2008-04-20