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Issue 74 (June 2012)

Gloucester Market Street on 23 June 1909 en fete for visit of King Edward VII to City. inside front cover
Shows (1) premises of J.M. Butt & Co. Ltd, which operated the Kingsholm Foundry and maintained premises im Market Street to display agricultural implements and next to offices of Messrs Jaynes & Scholey (partnership of C.A. Jaynes and Charles O. Scholey who were coal merchants and agents for several shipping companies including the Union Castle and White Star Lines. A viewing box had been erected by this firm to enable guests to see his Majesty visit the Royal Agricultural Show.

Robert Evans. Pentewan Sand & Block Works. 2-11; front cover.
The Pentewan Railway was described in Rly Arch., 2010 (29), 2.

Follow-up: Ackworth Quarries. 12-16.
See also Issue 72 page 9. Photographs supplied by Peter Miles whose father, Harry Miles, had worked as a quarryman at Ackworth from when he left school in August 1945. He started at the Ackworth Stone Company where he shovelled out the slurry from two stone sawmills. The quarry owner was Gilbert Camplin who was very strict. Lorries from Halsteads of Burnley came regularly to collect scouring stones vended as Donkey Brand and Lily Brand. Another job was rubbing window sills: he was not allowed to wear gloves to protect his hands. He moved to Bowman's Quarries which paid better, working under Arthur Jenks and Roland Parker. He made grind stones which were exported to Australia and to Norway where they were used for grinding wood pulp. Following National Service in the Royal Artillery he had to move to Camplin's quarries as Bowman's had closed by 1951. At Camplin's he turned grind stones, many of which were exported. The trade in scythe stones was important: Jonas Johnson of Acworth had been significant in this business in the 1900s. Camplin's made Holy Stones for scrubbing drecks and Hand Stones for sharpening jute knives. Finally Harry Miles moved to Tadcaster quarries in 1954.

The Institute: Archive's Book Reviews. 17

Industrial railways and locomotives of South Western England. Roger Hateley (compiler). Industrial Railway Society. 384pp.
This volume, long awaited by your reviewer, covers the counties of Cornwall, Devon and Somerset and is an updated version of part of Handbook H (first published in 1977). The book has been produced in the 'new' IRS format as used for the County Durham volumes previously reviewed in these pages.
This book must be the most comprehensive produced on the industrial railways in the South West and is the product of years of diligent work by the author. The real plus is the potted history for each of the industrial concerns covered which is supported by a wealth of maps and illustrations, many in colour. As well as the historic industrial sites, current day preservation sites also feature with the industrial locomotives to be found on them, plus narrow gauge tourist lines, war department lines and contractors lines for such as public works contracts and the construction and removal of standard gauge lines. The history of each locomotive is given as to when it arrived at a site and where from and when it departed. Thus by combining a number of these invaluable Handbooks the progress of some locomotives, especially those owned by contractors can be followed around the country. This volume is well worth its shelf space and will certainly be well thumbed as a resource for adding to captions etc. within Archive.

Waterways Journal: Volume 14 Editor Cath Turpin . The Boat Museum Society, National Waterways Museum, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, 72pp,
We seemingly only recently reviewed the 13th Edition of Waterways Journal so the arrival of this one suddenly brought home the fact that another year has gone by! Once again the journal is made up of an interesting collection of articles, especially one on the Wolverhampton Corrugated Iron Co. Ltd which adds considerably to our coverage of that company in Private Owner Wagons: A Fifth Collection. Other articles cover the Chester & Liverpool Lighterage & Warehousing Co. Ltd; Rover Scout's Cruises; and The Draper family of Burscough and Foulridge, a boating family. All of the articles are well illustrated, the only real criticism are that many of the images are reproduced at a size where it is difficult to discern the vast amount of detail contained within them. We look forward to seeing No. 15 in this series which adds much to waterways history, especially the social side.

Merry-go-round on the rails. David Monk-Steel. Historical Model Railway Society, 194pp,
Introduced in 1965 the Merry-go-Round train supplying coal to a number of UK power stations has been a vital element in keeping our house lights burning. The author, himself a professional railwayman, has put together the story of the operation of these trains and how the system actually worked. The story begins with a look at the development of the national electricity grid and at early block train operation before delving into a comprehensive coverage of the MGR operations. The whole is profusely illustrated with both photographs (many in colour) and drawings of wagons, power station layouts and operational equipment.
Your reviewer however notes that the drawings of the various hopper wagons involved have been reproduced at a variety of scales, even where two are on the same page and sometimes in the elevations and plan views of the same wagon. This make comparisons and also scaling up or down for modelling purposes more difficult. The book concludes by looking at other merry-go-round operations carrying limestone, gypsum, china clay etc. The volume certainly brings the story of the movement of coal up to date and is worthy of a read although let down a bit by the variable drawing size and some smallish images in places.

Falmouth Docks & Engineering Co's 0.3 seen in September 1977 when being used as a tug to berth a vessel. 17
The photographer, John Ward,recorded the locomotive as being Hawthorn, Leslie WN 3597/1926. This was originally No. 1 until March 1955. It came new to Falmouth and is now preserved at Shackerstone, Leicestershire.

Skimpings 1 : A visit to Boston. 18-19.
Four views of quays on River Witham

K. Dark. Llewelyn's Miniature Railway. 20
See also feature on Rhyl Miniature Railway in Issue 72 page 2: contemporary with this Griffith Vaughan Llewelyn opened a similar 15 inch gauge railway in Southport alongside the Marine Lake on 25 May 1911. The Marine Lake was much older and work had started on it in 1835 and it was improved in 1887. Amusements known as Pleasureland were developed near the Lake in the early 20th century and the miniature railway may be regarded as an extension of these. The original equipment was supplied by Miniature Railways of Great Britain, with locomotives being designed by Henry Greenly. The carriages were supplied by Bassett-Lowke. In 1945 the system was sold to Harry Barlow who substituted petrol-electric traction for the former stream locomotives. In 2001 it was sold again to Don Clark who still operates it. See also Number 75 pp. 40 et seq and letter from Bill Briggs on p. 39 of same Issue and yet further illustration (including woodgrain finish)  from Bill Briggs in Number 76 page 11.

Skimpings 2: Tyne Bridge and SS Multistone. 26-7.
Main picture (p. 26) shows Tyne Bridge under construction in late 1920s. The steelwork was supplied by Dorman Long and the towers were faced by Cornish granite supplied by steamships Multistone and Coaster owned by Robinson, Brown & Co. Coaster was built in 1903 by Wood, Skinner & Co. Ltd at Bill Quay on the south bank of the Tyne. The Multistone is also shown on page 27 upper when owned by United Stone Firms Ltd, Bristol. It was supplied by Smith's Dock Co. Ltd of Noth Shields to a length dictated by entry to Porthgain harbour. 27 lower shows Porthgain harbour with the Volana (built in 1882) and Clwyd built in 1909 and owned by the Point of Ayr Colliery. See also letter from Roy Fenton in Issue 75 p. 38.

Skimpings: Bell End Colliery, Rowley Regis. 28
Two photographs: the lower is a silhouette of the engine house and tandem headgear; the upper shows the same buildings in the background, with an endless haulage system in the foreground with the tubs being hauled from above to take coal to the Titford Canal: part of the Birmingham Canal Navigation

Skimpings: Siver Birch Colliery: Grendon, near Atherstone. 29.
Two photographs: the upper shows the headframe and windlass; the lower shows a steep entrance into the mine with a hub being raised by cable haulage and a horse being prepared to take over or assist with haulage. In both views female visitors and gentlemen unlikely to venture underground (the owners?) are visible. See letters from Richard Potter and Neil Catlow in Issue 75..

Malcolm Bobbitt. In the showroom: Daimler Fifteen. 30-1.
Registration number EJ 4231 photographed in Cinderford in the Forest of Dean probably in 1935 and the car probably was owned by a local doctor. The car had a six-cylinder 1805cc overhead valve engine, fluid flywheel transmission and a fixed head coupé body supplied by Mulliners Ltd. Cat's eyes, invented by Percy Shaw, are visible in the road.

John E. Harbidge-Rose. Southampton Corporation Tramways: Part Three. The open-top Dobson cars, the standard TCB (top covered Bargate) cars and the depot at Shirley. 32-64.
The text describes how James Dobson became Tramways Manager and Engineer from W. Tuke Robson in 1919. He produced an improved open top tram with garden seats on the upper deck in place of the knifeboard seating and drivers windscreens: see 33 and 34 below. Dobson died suddenly in 1922 and the construction of these cars waas left to the Works Superintendent, Percival J. Baker, who had arrived from Plymouth who conceived how to design a top cover which could pass through Bargate. This required reducing the height of the bottom deck windows, fitting 27 inch, rather than 31 inch wheels, shorter coil springs in the suspension, lowering the roadway and dwarf section rail under the Bargate. The car was demonstrated on 11 September 1923 and Baker became Tramways Manager and more tram cars of the type were consructed. Baker did not retire until 1954. When the trams were withdrawn Leeds City Transport acquired 37 TCBs, that included (the still to be described Pullman variety of 1930/1), but only 11 entered service, but much electrical equipment was salvaged for further use. In 1977 the remains of Tram No. 11 were found near Cheriton and restoration was started, but is still incomplete. Further information on page 54 of Issue 76.

Number 75 (September 2012)

Paul Jackson. Newton, Chambers: Thomas Smith and the steam powered coke drawer: the story chronicled. 2-37.
George Newton was born in 1761 in Staindrop, County Durham. By 1790 he had developed a mixed fundry business in the Sheffield area. Thomas Chambers was born in 1745 in Rawmarsh, north of Rotherham, learned the metal working trade from working for Samuel & Joshua Walker of Masborough and then Smith, Stacey & Co. of Sheffield. In 1789 Newton and Chambers formed a partnership to smelt and cast iron, purchasing buildings on Snow Hill and land extending to Furnace Hill in the Thorncliffe valley where they erected the Phoenix Foundry and cast iron from March 1793. The company name was Longden, Newton, Chambers: Henry Longden supplied some of the capital, but was eventually bought out. A lease was obtained from Earl Fitzwilliam to mine coal and ironstone in the Thorncliffe valley near Chapeltown and blast furnaces were constructed in 1796. In 1799 Robert and John Scott joined the company to provide extra capital. In the early phase James Malam, pupil of William Murdock, and Malam's family became involved in the gas engineering at the company.
For a time a light railway linked Thorncliffe with Elsecar, but traffic on this declined when the South Yorkshire Railway reached the area in 1855, This line became part of the Great Central Railway and LNER, but in 1892 the Midland Railway opened a branch from Wincobank and Brightside up to Chapeltown which was extended to Barnsley in 1897. In 1894 a high level railway was constructed around the works to serve the furnaces.
In 1883 employed a Manchester chemical engineer, George Edward Davis to investigate the extraction of benzole from coke oven gas at Thorncliffe. By products included ammonium sulphte, but of poor quality and carbolic acid. In 1885 Jason Hall Worrall, a chemist who was an Assistant to the Sheffield Public Analyst, developed what came to be marketed as Izal disinfectant: the origin of the name is discussed,
Thomas Smith was born in Dawley, Shropshire into a very poor family in 1847. By 1861 he was living with the Bowles family in Oldbury and was working as a miner's boy. By 1871 he was at White Field, Ecclesfield, had become a Methodist, and surface manager at Tankersley Colliery. By 1881 he was in charge of the Thorncliffe and Rockingham collieries. He was the inventor of the patented steam-powered coke-drawer. He was eventually dismissed along with several other managers for financial irregularities; attempted to re-establish himself, but became bankrupt.
Other installations of coke-drawers, mainly in County Durham, at New Brancepeth Colliery owned by Cochrane & Co. and at Browney Colliery owned by the Bell Brothers and under the cotrol of the influential Isaac Lowthian Bell..

Inbye : Archive's letters. 38-9; 64.
Porthgain revisited. Roy Fenton
The coaster to the left is Porthgain probably herself: writer once saw a print of photograph reproduced on which the name was reasonably clear, whilst an identifying feature is the stump mainmast just ahead of her poop, which she shared only with Mountcharles. The tiny vessel to the left of Porthgain is probably the 103grt Hopetoun, originally a trawler built at Greenock in 1886 as Isabella, and transferred to United Stone Firms in 1909. Sold in 1912, Hopetoun went to the Mersey where she worked in the local grain trade until broken up in 1933. If these identifications are correct, the photograph was taken between 1910 and Porthgain's loss in 1913. This would mean that the Clwyd, seen in the background, was owned at the time by R. and D. Jones Ltd. Liverpool. Certainly her funnel colours look like Jones' plain white with black top rather than those of Point of Ayr Collieries Ltd, who bought her only in 1916 when she would probably have been painted grey. Although the financially over-stretched United Stone Firms Ltd went bankrupt in 1913, one of its principals began ship owning in his own right after the First World War, and his ships returned to Porthgain. In 1920 Arthur Page bought the recently-built coaster Stertpoint and appointed as her manager David Macintosh. formerly roadstone controller for United Stone Firms. Page also floated the Porthgain Steamship Co. Ltd and in 1921 used this as a vehicle to buy the Sunderland-owned River Humber, also built in 1920. Both ships were sold in 1926, in which year United Stone was born again as United Stone Firms (1926) Ltd. However, it was no more fortunate than its predecessor, and it was liquidated in 1934, after which the production of granite at Porthgain appears to have ceased. Illustration: United Stone Firm's Porthgain approaching Cumberland Basin in Bristol with Clifton Suspension Bridge behind.

Pentewan Sand & Block Works. Andrew Wilson  
Photographs on pages 9 upper and 10 upper of Issue 74, show an unusual locomotive in use, completely different from the well known Rustons: see 10 lower. It looks like a Jung, model MS 131, 10 hp diesel, of which some were certainly imported into Britain by the Standard Steel Co. (1929) Ltd, of Croyden, who were suppliers of contractors' plant. They held the sole agency for Jung locomotives sold in the British Isles during the early 1930s. The story is somewhat complicated by the fact that some Jung locomotives were imported by another firm, Baxter Fell & Co. of London, during 1928 and 1929 and an identification plate from one of them has survived, bearing Standard Steel Company's name. It may be speculated that Baxter Fell supplied at least one locomotive to Standard Steel Co, for resale to one of Standard Steel's customers, and that subsequently Standard Steel acquired the agency for British Isles sales. Baxter Fell did subsequently handle a few Jung locomotives but most likely for markets outside the British Isles, A further complication is that Standard Steel Co. attempted to break into the contractors' locomotive manufacturing business, offering a 10 hp petrol loco and a 20 hp diesel version, built around Jung mechanical components, and prototypes were built but the project apparently was not taken further. Both types were being advertised in March 1933.
The main source for Standard Steel Co. information is Rick Stewart, in magazine The Narrow Gauge No. 155, a special issue devoted entirely to this subject which refers back to Brian Webb's The British internal combustion locomotive 1894-1940 where Webb discusses locomotive production by Standard Steel Co. and lists the destinations for some of them, including one 'to Cornwall'. Stewart speculates that the alleged delivery to Cornwall is a mistake and that it refers to a Jung 600 mm gauge locomotive for a Devon quarry.
The early machine illustrated at Pentewan must be 2ft 6in. gauge, 762 mm exactly or 760 mm as a manufacturer might have listed it, and appears to be a Jung model. Jens Merte's Jung list (at least partially available on Internet) includes Jung 5260: 760 mm gauge, model MS 131, supplied to Standard Steel Co. in 1931. Practically all the Jung internal combustion powered locomotives were diesels, from the beginning of production in 1927. British manufacturers did not mtroduce their own designs of small diesel engines suitable for small narrow gauge locomotives until 1929.

Pentewan Sand & Block Works. Bill Briggs 
Foden steam wagon registration No. M694 was works number 860: new 18 January 1905 to Jonathan Bowen & Sons Ltd of Birmingham (after exhibition at the Bingley Hall Show), which had been awarded the contract for building a hospital in the south of England and, as part of the contract plant, had purchased a small fleet of Foden wagons. As the need for these wagons on the contract ceased, they were sold off and number 860 was registered by Pentewan Development and Brickworks Co. in 1908. By February 1921 860 was owned by George Dixon & Sons Ltd of Truro and it was scrapped by Mumford of Plymouth in 1926. However, in the Foden Order Books additional owners are recorded, these being, W. Hicks of St. Austell, and J. Donald of Camborne. Information is from records of late Alan Duke held by The Road Locomotive Society. 860 was one of the first batch of Foden wagons built with a channel frame as up to late 1904 the wagons had plate frames (rather like a railway engine) with the rear wheels inside the frame. An interesting feature that can be seen in the photographs is the square boxes with hinged lids on the outer side of the footplate. These were for carrying sand, to be sprinkled on the road under the back wheels when these lost grip on the stone set paved roads then common in industrial areas.

Llewelyn's Miniature Railway, Southport. Bill Briggs,
On page 23 the author asked whether there were there George the Fifths at Southport and suggests that the two photographs on page 23 illustrate different locomotives. The answer to both these points can be found in The Little Giant story by Robin Butterell and John Milner which is a very detailed history of the Bassett-Lowke 15-inch gauge locomotives. On page 56 of this book there is a photograph, taken at Rhyl in 1913 of Prince Edward of Wales (BL works No. 15) double headed by George the Fifth (BL works No. 18). In the photograph the displacement lubricators on the front platform of No. 18 can be clearly seen as in the lower picture on page 23 (Issue 74) and would suggest that photograph is No. 18 and that it was taken in late 1912 just prior to the sale of this engine to Rhyl. As to 1912 on the builder's plate, that was probably altered to assist the sale! Recorded history shows that Llewelyn was a master of the art of changing locomotive identities. No. 18 was replaced at Southport by No. 21 Prince of Wales in 1913. In 1914 this locomotive was renamed G.V Llewelyn see p. 43 upper and again in 1920 when it became Lloyd George reverting to Prince of Wales circa 1930. After the locomotive shed fire on 15 September 1938 (not 1931 as stated by Dark) the locomotive was finally renamed Princess Elizabeth. No. 18 worked at Southport until sold in 1969.
In 1923 Llewelyn was able to purchase from Bassett-Lowke Little Giant No. 22 Prince Edward of Wales which had been in use at Fairbourne. In 1924 the cab was modified and the locomotive was renamed Sir Albert Stephenson. In the 1930s the locomotive was then renamed King George V. In The Little Giant Story there is a photograph of the locomotive carrying this name. Following the 1938 fire it ran as King George until sold in 1969. Finally the 'Royal Saloon' was built by Milnes, Voss & Co. of Birkenhead in 1913. At this time King George V and Queen Mary visited Southport for the opening of the 'King's Gardens' but Butterell and Milner suggest that it is unlikely that royalty ever rode in the coach.

Skimpings Issue 74. Richard Potter 
Concerning the Silver Birch Colliery photographs, a tree trunk has been set up on moveable packing so that it can be swung left and right pivoting on the left-hand end, which is out of the photograph, where it would be anchored. The right-hand end has been fitted with a cross-bar which is being held by the two outside men of the group of three. It may be surmised that their job would be to bounce the end up and down as the 'set up' is that of a cantilever spring.
Referring to the two chains fixed towards the centre of the tree trunk, the nearer one is fixed by a hoop to a substantial vertical timber which is being used to fix the shaft timbering. Alternatively it could be a restraint to restrict the movement of the trunk. The second chain may be fixed to what could be an auger or drill having a T handle to rotate it. Looking at the windlass it would appear that the chain is endless with the left fall under tension and the right fall being slack. Finally amongst the items leaning against the tree with the bowler hat on it, there is a tap wrench.

Silver Birch Colliery, Skimpings. Neil Catlow.  64.
The top photograph shows a borehole being drilled, also shown on the bottom photograph in the background. The top photograph shows three men in shirt sleeves who force the springy tree trunk downwards with the handle gripped by the chap on the right. The action drives the drill rods downwards into the rock whilst the older man sitting down rotates the drill rods with the handles. The springy tree trunk lifts the rods upwards again ready for another shove downwards. Rotary percussion drilling at a slow pace. There is a spare rotation handle leaning against the nearest support and drill rods in possibly one-yard lengths leaning against the far support where one of the driller's jackets is hanging. The older man will be the driller. Once a yard or so has been drilled, another length of drill rod will be added. Drilling with this method can extend to 200 yards or more, and was an obvious benefit prior to more laborious shaft sinking.
The chain nearest the camera limits the upward extent of the log: they have used a short length of railway line as a log pivot, but the longest timber looks like the end of a shaft pumping rod.
The bottom photograph clearly shows the height of the derrick – the taller the derrick, the more rods can be pulled out to clear the bit in one pass and return the rods back down the hole to continue drilling. The same principle as modern oil well drilling. Also obvious is how close they are drilling to the newly constructed adit.

Birmingham Bicycles, Archive 60.  Colin Goodwyn. 64
Writer is the archivist of the Velocette Owners Club which is involved in gathering information about the cycle products of Veloce Ltd and their associated firms in Birmingham. Veloce Ltd was formed in mid-1905 to take over the assets of Taylor Gue Ltd (and their predecessors, Taylor, Gue & Co. Ltd) who had a cycle works on Peel Street where they had made the Hampton cycle, and components for the trade, since late 1895. Writer not aware if they had any connections with the Hampton Cycle & Foundry Co. Ltd.; Taylor, Gue also made tradesman's carriers, cycles, motorcycle trailers and fore carriages under the name Veloce besides producing unmarked products for the retailers' own transfers, as was common at the time and, in 1905 when they moved to Canal Side, Spring Hill, they made a brief and unsuccessful attempt to enter the motorcycle market.
From its commencement Veloce Ltd concerned itself with cycle making both at Canal Side and, from 1907, at 39 Fleet Street, and prior to the First World War built machines under the names Veloce, Herald, The Herald and Warrier. A large proportion of their products appears to have gone for export, particularly to India and China. After 1919 when the company's motorcycle business expanded and Veloce Ltd took more premises for their manufacture at Six Ways, Aston, the owners of Veloce appear to have established another company at 37 and 39 Fleet Street named Veeco Cycle Manufacturing Co. Ltd. Henceforth no cycle adverts for other than Veeco's products have been found although the Herald and Warrier trademarks were renewed in 1925 and Warrier as late as 1953.
From at least 1923 John Goodman, the head of the Veloce businesses, owned another in his own name at 194 Berners Street, registered as a limited company in 1925, to manufacture motor and cycle fittings but, after John's death in 1929, the family appear to have given up their cycle interests, J. Goodman Ltd being taken over by The Standard Cycle Co. Ltd at 40 Barn Street.
The Veloce patent velocipede of 1869 which Shill mentions is unfortunately nothing to do with Veloce Ltd and indeed predates the arrival from Germany of its founder John Taylor, formerly Gutgemann.

Follow-up 1: Southport revisited [Llewelyn's Miniature Railway]. 40-4.
Further images provided by John Horne and Graham Ellis. Images have clearly been product of Kremlin photographic studio. See also Issue 80 p. 36

Skimpings: Lincolnshire roadworks. 45
Two photographs of somewhere in Lincolnshire with sign to Gainsborough and work in progress on a new? road. Steam roller in background with work van and cement mixer slightly nearer. "Stop & Shop" sign beneath Gainsborough on sign. See further information (I80 p. 17) provided by Doug Hewson which fixes location as Scotter, date as 1935, road as A159 and carrot washery using water from the tautological River Eau

Follow-up 2: The Padarn Railway. 46-7.
See also Issue Numbers 62 page 54 and 64 page 15: photographs via Phil Coutanche

Malcolm Bobbitt. In the Showroom... The Marauder. 48-9.
Two illustrations: photograph of George Mackie and Peter Wilks with first Marauder registration number KAC 313 in 1950 and front cover of Marauder sales catalogue. The sports car was based on the Rover 75: both Mackie and Wilks were initially employed by Rover, but formed Wilks, Mackie & Co. to develop the car: only fifteen Marauders were built.

Ian Rae. Smith's Dock Co. Ltd. 50-63.
Begins with a general historical description of the River Tyne and the shipment of coal from Northumberland to London from as early as 1239 when King Henry III granted a charter to dig coals near Newcastle which grew rapidly due to this trade. Coal was taken along wooden wagonways to be loaded into keels on the Tyne. In 1846 over 3m tons of coal were being shipped and in 1850 the Tyne Improvement Act was approved by Parliament which led to the Tyne Commissioners and the appointment of J.F. Ure as engineer. Dredging greatly improved the channel and the construction of piers at Tynemouth assisted navigation. Smith's Dock Co. grew from the family businesses of Edwards and Smith. Thomas Smith was born in November 1783 and his brother William in July 1787. William was apprenticed to William Rowe who had a shipyard at St. Peter's with a large graving dock. Thomas Smith, with his father and brother, acquired an interest in a shipyard and formed William Smith & Co. in 1810. Thomas Smith followed his father into a successful rope making business.
In 1812 George Straker bought the High Docks Shipbuilding & Ship Repairing Company of South Shields. On his death in 1830 the yard passed to his son-in-law James Edwards, but when the business started to fail his brother Harry S. Edwards took control. In 1869 he lengthened and deepened the dock. In 1875 he was joined by his two eldest sons and the business became H.S. Edwards & Sons. In 1885 they acquired the Bull Ring Dock at North Shields and in 1893 James and George Edwards bought the Hepples shipyard which lay between the Smith's Docks and Edwards Bull Ring business. When the two firms amalgamated in 1899 it became the world's largest ship repair business.
In 1905 shortage of land on the Tyne and an expanding business prompted the company to buy land at South Bank near to the mouth of the Tees with the first dry dock being opened in February 1909..

Number 76 (December 2012)

Foden S80 rigid four axle truck loading packs of bricks with hydraulic arm (colour). front cover

Pat O'Driscoll. Seamen's food.  2-10.
The reluctance of the Marine Department Board of Trade to improve conditions for seafarers (a state which still persists in spite of trade union involement). In 1906 a Compulsory Food Scale was introduced partlty as a consequence of a 1904 Report by the Medical Office of Port of London who criticised the lack of ventilation and lighting for seamen: the foc,sle was off-limits to tthe officers who enjoyed far better conditions. During the 1930s several ships were lost as they were overloaded and under-manned. These included the Millpool, Blairgowrie and Unsworth in the Atlantic and La Crescenta, a tanker, lost in the Pacific. Captain Edward Tupper in his autobiography Seamen's Torch mentions the inquiries which followed. The Seamen by Arthur Marsh and Victoria Ryan, a history of the Ntional Union of Seamen, refers to perfunctory surveys. Seamen involved in shipwrecks used to be entitled to nothing, but from 1943 provision was made for restitution

Inbye: Archive's Letters Page. 11

Southport Miniature Railway. Bill Briggs.
Photographs of Princess Elizabeth with woodgrain livery on cab side and splasher and King George in later livery.

Smith's Dock. Roger Keeble
See Number 75 page 58: South Bank premises: not trawlers, but whale catchers: part of Southern Whaling Fleet. Flower Class corvettes were based on whale catcher design and used in Battle of the Atlantic where very uncomfortable for crews.

Smith's Dock. Roy Fenton
See Number 75 page 50: photograph taken on 6 August 1930. Dock No. 4 contained tanker British Sovereign built Armstrong Whitworth in 1917, owned by British Tanker Co. Ltd. It survived WW2, but was scrapped at Blyth in 1951. No. 5 Dock held tanker Dosina owned by Dutch subsidiary of Shell. Built Caledon Shipbuilding & Engineering of Dundee in 1922. No. 6 Dock held tanker San Fernando buikt by Armstrong Whitworth in 1919. No. 7 held Belgian-owned Raymond.  Page 58 of South Bank Yard whale factory ships: Sourabaya (from cargo-liner Carmarthenshire of 1915; Salvestria from Cardiganshire of 1913. Also probable presence of Persian Prince (Prince Line).

More Smith's Dock. Dennis Maccoy.
See Number 75 page 58: whale catchers; also notes that yards shown on page 56 had vanished by time writer as an apprentice at Readhead's in 1964, and location of hospital ship (caption to 61).

Mark Chalmers. Centurion Works and Scottish Brick Corporation. 13
The Scottish Brick Corporation developed a new highly mechanised brick making plant on the Antonine Wall near Balmuidy Fort and was initially known as the Balmuidy Brick Factory, but later changed its name to the Centurion Brickworks. Construction started in 1973 and the kilns were fired in 1975. The plant closed in 1994.

John E. Harbidge-Rose. Southampton Corporation Tramways: Part Four. The Pullman cars, the depot at Portswood, and the Corporation's other transport activities. 27-55.
Constructed in 1930/1 the Pullman cars had upholstered seating on both decks and flush side panels and looked "modern". Dismisses reports that they were non-standard width. Returns on page 54 with extra/corrected information contained in Parts 1 (Issue 71); Part 2 (Issue 73) page 2 et seq and Part 3 (Issue 74) page 32 et seq mainly on preservation of Southampton trams.

Malcolm Bobbitt. In the showroom: Vauxhall Cresta. 56-7.
Showroom scene showing launch of Cresta probably in a London during 1954.  Featured two-tone paintwork, American styling, bench front seat, column gear shift. Audience in picture probably from dealerships. 

Mechanical Handling. 58-64.
Crone & Taylor (Engineering) Ltd of St. Helens was formed in 1886 and was acquired by Wikkian Brandt & Sons in 1971 who closed the plant in 1983.

Number 77 (March 2013)

Mark Chalmers. The Goodyear Tyre & Rubber Co. of Great Britain: Wolverhampton. 2-12.
Broad general history of tyre manufacture, but several British manufacturers and many British plants not included: rather spartan description of development of rubber technology and no mention of sources, neither natural nor synthetic, nor such delights as bare back bales or octabins full of carbon black.

Malcolm Bobbitt. In the showroom: minimal motoring with the Gordon. 13-15.
Three-wheel car (tricycle) with motor-cycle engine capable of seating two plus two children in hammock-type seats. Designed by Erling Poppe and constructed by Vernon Industries of Liverpool who also built invalid carriages. Two illustrations: publicity photograph with lady in summer dress, wildly unsafe footwear, and two small children; other in used condition with London registration number.

Steve Grudgings. The NCB's last steam locomotive overhauls. 16-31; front cover (fc)
The "livery" at this time was yellow cabs/bunkers with blue saddle tanks if fitted

footnote 1: Charles, No. 2, Warrior, Revenge, King George VI, Westwood, Kenneth and Jessie (John Ward)

Skimpings 1: Southampton from the air. 32-3
Two aerial photogarphs taken on 26 July1933 show new King George V graving dock prepared for arrival of Royal Yacht Victoria and Albert with tugs at entrance dressed overall and marquees erected. Images from Seve Grudgings collection. The graving dock was illustrated and described in Issue 12.

Skimpings 2 : Folkestone's Leas Cliff Lifts. 34-5
Three views: one includes Victoria Pier, built by Heenan & Froude and demolished in 1954. Original lift built by Waygood-Otis.

Ian Pope and Rosemary Warner. Witney Aerodrome between the Wars. 36-55
See also Issue 39 page 49 et seq. Airfield was instigated by Royal Flying Corps, but was opened by Royal Air Force in March 1918, but closed in 1919. Joseph Bartlett, a Witney builder acquired some of the surplus material: this was the beginning of an association of the Bartlett Brothers with the site. In the early 1930s Berkshire Aviation commenced flying from the aerodrome and this was taken over by Universal Aircraft Services in 1932/3. Cars and early motoring by Bartlett family see Archive 82 page 26.

Mechanical handling. 2: Sands & Gravels 57-63.

Aire & Calder Canal & lock, Knottingley: notes by Euan Corrie. 64
West Country keels (barges capable of working through 57ft locks of Upper Calder): John and John Tom (both of Knottingley); Yorkshire Tar Distillers and John Harker's Knottingley Shipyard visible (fortunately without smell)

Issue Number 78 (June 2013)

Shilbottle Colliery branch line. John Atkinson. inside front cover
Photograph of Robert Strephenson & Hawthorn 0-6-0ST WN 7113/1945, RN 45; originally built for PLA, but acquired by NCB in 1960 and worked at Shilbottle from 1963 to 1968. Colliery on 2 mile branch line from East Coast main line, near Alnmouth.

Ian Pope  Lydney Power Station: the history of a generating station built in six months. 2-28.
Opened by the West Gloucestershire Power Company on 18 June 1923. Opening section describes the various electricity supply Acts of Parliament which controlled the generation and supply of electricity and how collieries turned to electricity as a source of power. Notable in this respect was the Trafalgar Colliery owned by thee Brain family: Francis Brain (1855-1921) was especially innovative.

*in ancient times utilities, notably gas, electricity and telephone, used to present a human face to their "customers", before such moved to call centres on another continent

Inbye: Archive's letters page. 29

The Institute: Archive's book reviews. 29
Rope & chain haulage: the forgotten element in railway history. Colin E. Mountford. Industrial Railway Society. 384pp.
Very well received
Waterways Journal. Volume 15. Editor Cath Turpin. Boat Museum Society.

Andrew Neale. Cheaper than a horse — the standard gauge Simplex petrol shunter. 30-9.
Firm founded by John Dixon Abbott who had been impressed by German efforts to stockpile 600mm light railway equipment in preparation for WW1 when he visited Germany in 1914. On return, following rebuttal from British generals who favoured horses the concept won favour for supplying munitions to the front. 849 20 horsepower and 407 40 hp were supplied initially from a works in Lewes, but mainly from a works in Bedford. Following WW1 the firm developed a standard gauge version. The prototype was demonstrated on the track of Britannia Ironworks owned by J. & T. Howard who built a similar machine between 1927 and 1932 when the firm failed. Works numbers 1921 to 1931 were sold between July and Christmas 1919. The first was acquired by the Forth Paper Mills owned by J.A. Wier Ltd at Kilbagie near Kincardine.

Mark Chalmers. The Malleable: the story of Lincoln Castings. 40-51.
Harrison, Teague & Birch opened a foundry near Holmes Bridge in St. Marks Lane. Frederick Harrison was the most able of the business partners and the firm produced whiteheart malleable casings. The foundary was situated near a location of suitable casting sand and on the Midland Railway's route into Lincoln from thr Midalnds. Bob Read's Black Heart:: a history of Ley's Malleable Castings (2005) describes that part of the works history when owned by Leys of Derby. the name became The Hykeham Foundry Company, but waa known as The Malleable producing whiteheart and blackheart castings. Rearmament for WW2  increased demand and hostel blocks were constructed for migrant workers. Ley's Malleable Casting took over in 1938. Customers included William Foster & Co. of Lincoln, David Brown & Co. of Huddersfield, Barford Agricultural Ltd of Grantham, Blackstone & Co. of Stamford and International Combustion Ltd. of Derby. A Lee Wilson annealing plant and automatic moulding machine was installed in the 1950s together with a Duplex Hot Blast melting plant. The foundary adapted to suit changing customer needs. It supplied pearlitic malleable iron axleboxes for Massey Ferguson tractors in the 1960s. High Temperature Pandrol Furnace clips were supplied for holding flat bottom rail through a baseplate to railway concrete sleepers. Lepaz and Lemax were trade names associated with the Ley period of ownership. Williams Holdings took over the Derby part of the Ley organization and closed it down. In 1979 George Fischer, a Swiss industrialist took over and reorganized the Lincoln foundry. Küttner of Essen designed the cotrol suite which monitored the plant via CCTV: it was known as the Spaceship. Customers included the automotive industry and included General Electric, Ford, DAF, the SNFC and the Volvo plant at Irvine. Scrap rubber tyres formed 25% of the fuel consumed in the furnaces (the remainder was coke). Moves to close the plant began in 2003: it was acquired by the Meade Corporation in 2004 and closed in 2006.

Mechanical Handling 3: coke & coal. 52-64 + front cover.

Issue Number 79 (September 2013)

Mike Christensen. The Westminster Munitions Unit. 2-25.
During WW2 the staff at the Palace of Westminster considered that they should contribute to the War Effort by manufacturing munitions. The promoters of this activity were two Senior Clerks: Strathearn Gordon and Thomas George Barnett Cocks, who both worked in the House of Commons. They contacted J.W. Crowson, Assistant Director at the Directorate of Instrument Production at the Ministry of Supply and it was decided to manufacture Fire Control Instruments, or a component thereof, namely a Torque Amplifier. This would require the installation of some machinery, a source of three-phase electricity, and volunteer staff which included Members of Parliament, secretaries, police, telephonists and porters. With great difficulty the services of Colin Donaldson were obtained: he taught at Battersea Grammar School.

The Institute [book reviews]. 64.

Inshore craft: traditional working vessels of the British Isles; edited Basil Greenhill and Julian Mannering. Seaforth Publishing, Pen & Sword Ltd, 240 pp.
This is a reprint of a volume first published in 1997 as The Chatham Directory of Inshore Craft. It travels around the coast of the United Kingdom and Ireland looking at the smaller working craft, mainly involved in the fishing industry. Of use throughout are the hull plans, some with complete sail set-ups as well. A use here would be for railway modellers with a dock or quayside - no excuse for not having the correct local vessel modelled! As well as an informative text the book is well illustrated with some quite evocative images.

Brunel's atmospheric railway; edited Paul Garnsworthy. Broad Gauge Society in association with The Friends of Devon's Archives. 96pp.
First published as a booklet in 1998 to mark the centenary of Brunel's Atmospheric Railway the work has now been reprinted in a much enlarged version and bound in a landscape format opening to the top. The reason for the volume's size is that the opportunity has been taken to include in full colour the complete set of watercolour illustrations of the line by William Dawson which are stunning.  The volume includes a full history of the atmospheric system on the South Devon Railway and accounts of the second phase 'horizontal' engine houses beyond Newton Abbot; details of the piston carriages; and brief information on the other three atmospheric railways which were built. Despite concerns over the size of the work - which makes it a little unwieldy and difficult to find a home for on the bookcase – this is a delightful volume, especially for the Dawson paintings, and is recommended.

Industrial railway locomotive sheds: a pictorial selection. Adrian Booth. Industrial Railway Society, 80pp.
Taken between 1968 and the mid-1990s this selection of images look at the engine sheds at a range of industrial sites around the country. Locations range from collieries and steel works to sewage works and gypsum mines with both standard and narrow gauge systems covered. The period covered was at the time when either industrial systems were closing down or going over to diesel traction and thus many of the sheds seen were soon to be demolished or converted to other uses. The variety of structures are interesting and are arranged alphabetically by location which leads to the contrast on page 61 of the stone-built narrow gauge shed at Port Pemhyn (albeit disused when photographed) and the brick and modern corrugated panels of the shed at Preston Docks. This is an evocative selection of images, well reproduced, and again will be useful research material for railway modellers and the devotees of industrial steam and diesel.

Issue Number 80 (December 2013)

Andrew Neale The last years of industrial steam locomotive building. 2-14.

RSH=Robert Stephenson & Hawthorn

Malcolm Bobbitt. In the showroom... Gibbons Cycle car. 15-16
Two illustrations: a photograph (probably taken in 1950s) shows a Gibbons cyclecar of 1922 outsided Aldwick Post Office in Sussex and advertisement for Mark II self-build Gibbons Cyclecar. In Motor Sport in 1958 R. Hopwood described a journey made by him from London to Bognor in a Gibbons in 1923 which included pushing the vehicle up Bury Hill on the South Downs due to belt slippage. Production ceased in 1929.

Follow-up: Lincolnshire road works. Doug Hewson. 17-18.
Fixes location as Scotter, date as 1935, road as A159 and carrot washery using water from River Eau in background; further photographs show current road from same alignment, the bridge dating from 1935 (looking very ancient, like KPJ). See also letter from C. John White in Issue 82 p. 35 who suggests "LCC" stands for Lindsay County Council

Inbye: Archive's letters. 19

Paper making. Clifford Martin
Inventor of the paper machine was Nicholas Louis Robert of Essonnes in France who patented his invention in 1799 who sold his Patent to Leger Didot, owner of the mill who protected the invention in London via John Gamble, his brother-in-law: Woodcroft lists 2487/1801 and 2709/1803. Didot enetered into partnership with Henry and Sealy Foudrinier aand this led to the Frogmore Mill at Apsley in 1803 and Bryan Donkin's involvement. Further mills followed in this area and the first machine in Scotland was installed at Peterculter in 1807.

A mis-placed lorry. Graham E. Ellis.

Steve Grudgings. Air Pictures – discovering and cataloguing a unique archive. 20-35
Probably originated as Air Pictures of Porthleven, near Helston in Cornwall, but appear to be part of a larger collection which extended from Newquay (Cornwall) to the Firth of Forth. There were clusters of photographs in the Stoke-on-Trent and Barrow-in-Furness areas and the assistance of Allen Baker and Peter Holmes was received to assist in identifying locations. Continued in Issue 81 page 18 et seq

Hodbarrow Mine 1855-1968 22

Roanhead Mines 33

Follow-up: Southport Miniature Railway. 36
Postcards of outline 4-4-2 King George identical? with King George V (Issue 75 p. 44) and Princess Elizabeth (Issue 74 p. 25 upper) and outline 4-6-2 streamlined Duke of Edinburgh petrol electric locomotive designed by Harry Barlow. Postcards supplied by Tony Crosby of Bishops's Stortford

The Institute: Archive's book reviews. 37.

The Crofton Story Ian. Broom. Wiltshire Archaeological & Natural History Society, 147 pp.
The pumping engines on the Kennet & Avon Canal at Crofton near Marlborough, Wiltshire, are well known to many, the building housing fue oldest working steam engine still in its original location. This well produced volume is split mto three main sections. Part I deals with the history of the site giving a background history of the Kennet & Avon Canal and the reasons as to why rumping plant was needed at this location. Part II looks at the technical background of the engines, pumps and boilers. Part III covers the restoration rrocess. Throughout the book is well illustrated with some good drawings, from original sources and specially drawn to explain certain details. The author, who has been active at Crafton since restoration started, has put together a fine volume recording the full history of this important site.

Birmingham City Transport. David Harvey. Amberley Publishing. 96 pp.
Sub-titled From Trams to Buses in the Coronation Year. 1953 was something of a watershed year br Birmingham as it was to be the final year of tram operation. Given the post-war austerity and rationing that was still in operation it is remarkable how many photographs were taken d the city's transport system. More remarkable is that David Harvey has managed to pull them all together over a considerable period and now publish them in one volume. Unlike many 'bus books' that we have reviewed over the years this one stands out with extensive captions that also give an insight to the city of the period. This background material, and greater detail of the routes themselves makes this an enjoyable and informative read. Many of the images also show in the background a Birmingham that has long since disappeared, much of it to the town planners of the 1960s.

The Bristol-Radstock-Frome Line. Colin G. Maggs. Oakwood Press. 240 pp.
The line covered in this volume with its roots in coal has an interesting history. The collieries in the Radstock area had their main markets in Bristol & Bath but could only supply them via a roundabout route over the Somerset Coal Canal opened in 1801. The Wilts, Somerset & Weymouth Railway's branch from Frome to Radstock did little to ease the situation. Then along came the Bristol & North Somerset Railway which was to effectively open up the Radstock area collieries to the Bristol market. This volume is up to the usual high standards set by Oakwood. A very readable and understandable text together with extensive photographic coverage plus maps and plans. The author will be well known from his long publications list, many books being published by Oakwood.

The Kendal & Windermere Railway. Robert Western. Oakwood Press, 240 pp.
The building of a line into the Lake District was a somewhat contentious matter. Yes, goods and commodities could be moved more conveniently but would the ease by which the masses would be able to arrive be detrimental to Windermere? Also, how many railways would have a poem written against its construction by the great William Wordsworth? Such was the lot of the Kendal & Windermere Railway but such objections were overcome and the line was built. Whilst the station at Windermere was a terminus, although there were proposals for a line onwards to Ambleside, the line was not an average branch line as it handled a considerable amount of excursion traffic plus through trains to and from Euston. In later years traffic included haulage by such as 'Britannia' Pacifies and Class 40 diesels. The majority of this volume is narrative with the history of construction etc. and the operation of the line up to grouping in 1923. It is a shame that more could not have been devoted to a trip along the line although all stations are illustrated together with OS map extracts.

The Aldeburgh Branch. Peter Paye. Oakwood Press, 320 pp.
Here we have another volume from a well-known author, especially on East Anglian lines. The Aldeburgh Branch has its origins in the East Suffolk Railway which included a line to Leiston in its 1854 Act. Here was the engineering works of Richard Garrett which was to supply a fair amount of traffic to the line. An extension to Aldeburgh was sanction five years later just prior to the branch to Leiston opening. The extension opened in April 1860. This is a comprehensive history of the line through to its current use for nuclear waste traffic from Sizewell. Well illustrated, especially in the , Along the Line' section the reader gets a good impression of the line. There is also good coverage of the railway system in Garrett's works at Leiston. The contrast also at Sizewell Siding between its use for coal and nuclear waste is also notable. A section also covers the locomotives and rolling stock used on the line throughout its life. All in all it seems a thorough piece of research which is well presented.

Leigh Jones. The North Barrule at Connah's Quay from 1925. 38-41.
The North Barrule, a schooner weighing 69 tons, was built at Ramsey on the Isle of Man in 1880. From 1909 to 1924 it was owned by J. Casswell & Sons of Dalbeattie and in 1925 it was purchased by Captain William Bennett and sailed ftrom Connah's Quay until broken up in 1937. The Wrexham Mold & Connah's Quay Railway was difficult to work as it had a ruling gradient of 1 in 28. The General Manager, John Broughton, considered the line as difficult to work as the Ghats inclines on the GIPR. See also Follow up on page 32 of Issue 81.

Andrew Neale Purbeck narrow gauge. 42-5.
There were several early tramways built in the Isle of Purbeck associated with mining ball clay and conveying to wharves on Poole Harbour. The Goathorn line originated as a 3ft 9in gauge tramway with a locomotive supplied by Stephen Lewin, later supplemented by a secondhand Manning Wardle 0-4-0ST. Following WW2 the line was rebuilt as 2ft gauge and motive power was provided by former Welsh Highland Railway 2-6-2T Russell. The side tipping wagons were supplied by Robert Hudson Ltd. The Orenstein & Koppel diesel locomotives wer built in 1938 and used on V2 rocket launch sites. The line closed in 1970.

Ian Pope. Plenmeller Colliery notes. 46-9.
Plenmeller Collieries Ltd was founded in 1909 to sink a mine alongside the Alston branch near Haltwhistle on the Unthank Estate, owned by Ernest A. Webster. J. Johnson & Sons of East Boldon was contracted to sink two shafts and coal was reached in December 1912. Managers were: Thomas Blandford until 1914 when he was replaced by George Raw until 1918 when Thomas William Robson took over until 1926, who in turn was replaced by William Henry Stothard. The pit closed in 1932: a serious loss to employment in Haltwhistle.

Euan Corrie. Bude Canal revisited. 50-8.
See also earlier article in Issue 34 page 17 et seq See also Follow-up photograph of Falcon Swing Bridge in Issue 81 p. 32 and long list of addenda from Chris Jewell, a Trustee of the Bude Canal & Harbour Society in Issue 81 p. 33

K. Dark. 'Super' Sentinel. 59-64.
The firm was originally located in Glasgow, but moved to Shrewesbury in 1915. The Super Sentinel steam lorry wasv introduced in 1923.

Issue Number 81 (March 2014)

Andrew Neale. The last years of industrial steam locomotive building: Part 2. 2-13
Diesel locomotives became available from Ruston & Hornsby in Lincoln from 1931 with a 10hp unit for 2ft gauge and this was developed into a 48hp locomotive and formed the basis for a 88hp standard gauge design in 1938. John Fowler of Leeds produiced a standard gauge 150hp diesel shunter in April 1930. Hunslet manufactured a standard gauge diesel shunter by 1931 and this was followed by Andrew Barclay in 1936. In 1946 Margam Steelworks bought 165DS Ruston & Hornsby diesel shunters and this was followed by the British Sugar Corporation in 1947 with a trial at the Ely factory, followed in 1949 by purchases for Brigg and Felstead, The nature of sugar beet cultivation with an intense period of activity in late autumn and winter during the "campaign" and the processing plant lying idle for the remainder of the year gave diesel traction the edge over steam.

Malcolm Bobbitt. In the showroom: Austin Sheerline & Princess. 14-17.

Steve Grudgings. Air pictures: more views around Barrow. 18-31.
Plumpton Quarries near Ulverston: aerial photograph and map pp.18-19: Includes Plumpton Hall, River Leven and junctions onto Windermere Lake Side branch off Carnforth to Barrow railway
North Londsdale Iron Works, Ulverston: aerial photographs and maps pp. 20-1/22-3: page 20 ground level view with coke wagons which arrived (from County Durham) over Bardsea branch
Barrow-in-Furness: aerial photographs and maps pp.24-5 showing Lower Ormsgill Reservoir, Barrow AFC ground, part of the Hindpool Brick & Tile Works, a steel hoop and wire works built alongside Walney Road (started in 1871 by Messrs. Cook & Swinnerton to produce steel wire and taken over by Barrow Haematite Steel Co in 1891); ex-Fumess Railway's carriage sheds and stored carriages; British Griffin Chilled Iron Works (established in 1899 and producing wheels for many of the country's tramways)
Ramsden Dock station: aerial photograph and map pp. 26-7 with cargo ship at quay in Walney Channel
Barrow town centre: aerial photograph and map pp. 28-9 with tram car near top of page 29 (most of Barrow photographs show tramlines, but only tram car found so far), Town Hall, covered market, railway sidings and Furness Foundry & Engineering Works (specialised in high quality castings specially ingot moulds)
Cavendish Street Power Station: aerial photograph and map pp. 30-1: also abattoir and R.F. Case brewery: note timber cooling towers and local shops

Follow-up: Bude Canal and North Barrule at Bridgwater. 32
Bude Canal Falcon Swing Bridge: see Issue 80 page 50 especially 55 and 56. For North Barrule see Issue 80 p. 38 photograph of vessel whilst registered at Chester in Bridgwater Docks.

The Institute: Archive's book reviews. 33
England's motoring history from the air. John Minnis. English Heritage. 306 pp. more than 150 b&w illustrations. Reviewerd by Malcolm Bobbitt
Minnis, as well as being a member of the Society of Automotive Historians in Britain, is a senior investigator wIth English Heritage. His previous book Carscapes, was reviewed in Issue 79. This latest work is an investigation as to how automotive transport has shaped England's landscape as seen through the Aerofilm collection which English Heritage acquired in 2007.
This book addresses the motor vehicle's influence on the landscape, culture and population, all within the relatively narrow timescale of a little over half a century. Contrastingly it also serves as a reminder as how England's population expansion and the country's changing prosperity mfluenced both private and public transport. The author's narrative on each image, means that England's. developing industrial and transport scene is discussed. We have, therefore, dialogue on trams and buses and their related depots, motor factories and garages in addition to road construction, new towns, housing estates and retail parks. The periphery subjects of docks, rivers, canals and railways are also included. With greater use of motor transport, particularly the motorcar but also the carriage of freight, there emerged the establishment of arterial routes, and with them ribbon development, all of which helped give rise to by-passes and eventually the motorway and its ever-expanding network.
The quality of the photographs  is nothing Iess than perfection, and is enhanced by the volume's generous landscape format and thoughtful layout. Each topic is afforded a double-page spread, on the left is the image occupying the whole-page while opposite is the text. In some instances a detail from the photograph is included where specific explanation is appropriate.
Examining the photographs gIves nse to something of a culture shock as to how England's towns and cities burgeoned over the period covered in this book, and how to date open countryside has been senously eroded in favour of concrete and tarmac. The illustrations also serve as a reminder as to how relatively traffic-free our towns and conurbations were, even in the 1970s, compared to today, and how, in the inter-war years and early post-war, the motorcar remained very much a luxury.
For motor historians, the chapter on motor vehicle factories, which includes coachbuilders, will be of huge interest. The earliest photograph in this series is dated 1920 and shows Daimler's Coventry Motor Mills which, in 1896, was the first factory to construct motor vehicles on a commercial basis. Other early scenes are of Tilling- Stevens at Maidstone as photographed in March 1921, with the Napier works at Acton in West London pictured a month later. There is an evocative image of Birmingham's Fort Dunlop surrounded by fields and hedgerows in 1929, which is in stark contrast to the 1934 photograph of Singer's premises at the same city's Small Heath locality which is bounded by high density housing in a grid-type layout. Since Coventry is the birthplace of the automotive industry, the city, quite naturally, has been given liberal coverage. More obscure subjects are those depicting Martin Waiter of Folkestone, producer of Utilecon utility bodies and Dormobile motor caravans, Trojan of Kingston upon Thames, and the Aster factory and Fiat works at Wembley.
Each photograph is a delight, whether it is of a motor works, filling station or public transport depot. The growth of motorised suburbia occupies a chapter in which locations such as Manchester's Kingsway and London's Morden, East Acton, Harrow, Feltham, Brentford, Lea Valley and Silvertown are seen mostly in the 1920s and '30s. Throughout, the message is similar with scenes. showing roads having only light traffic, which contrasts dramatically with today's congested routes.
Each aerial photograph has its particular importance with a story to tell, and not one has any lesser significance to another. That said, there are some photographs that stand out if only because of the photographer's artistry and location. Of these, the Images of Fairfield Road Tram Depot at Bow, seen in January 1921, Appleyard's filling station in Leeds, viewed in 1948, the Silvertown Flyover pictured in 1935, and the 1974 scene looking down on the Gravelly HIll Interchange, are epic.
John Minnis's text accompanymg each photograph is succinct and varies in length and detail from photograph to photograph. It is informative, and whilst to the point in relation to the image depicted, one feels that some of the white space on the right- hand side of the double page spread could have been filled with additional material appertaining to the subject in general. For example, the photograph showing  Fort Dunlop is accompanied by a caption of fewer than 90 words, and one wonders whether more could have been said about Dunlop history or the tyre industry itself. This is but a very minor deliberation on a book that, as well as being thoughtfully and sensitively compiled is beautifully written and produced. It is also historically important as it serves as a serious study of England's rapidly evolving industrial and social scenes. Highly recommended and excellent value for such a thorough work.

Inbye: Archive's letters. 33

Bude Canal. Chris Jewell
Mainly how the canal has been regerated as a tourist attraction; also observations on some of the images, but letter writer gives impression that tub boats may be visible which they are not therein

Pat O'Driscoll. Thirty-two points. 34-

Mark Chalmers. Westbury cement works. 45-64+front cover & inside back cover
The Blue Circle works opened in Westbury in 1962. Vickers-Armstrong supplied the machinery, although the firm ceased manufacture in 1970 and the European machinery market is now led by F.L. Smidth of Denmark and Polysius, part of the German Thyssen-Krupp group. Britain was slow to adopt alternative fuels (general domestic rubbish, used tyres, etc), but the Westbury plant did use scrap tyres. It is now mothballed. The photographs taken during construction are courtesy Lafarge Tarmac Ltd and the post-closure ones, including the colour cover and inside the back cover were taken by the author.

Issue Number 82 (June 2014)

Neil Hawke. The steam coaster Florence Cooke. 2-8.
Known as Florrie and was constructed by Hepples (1919) Ltd at South Shields in 1923. It had a compound engine supplied by the Shields Engineering & Dry Dock Co. of North Shields. Its initial owner was Cooke's Explosives Ltd. Management of the ship was by the Sunderland partnership of William Quenet and Frederick Graham. The maiden voyage was from South Shields to Porthmadog and commenced on 11 August 1923. With a load of bagged cement from Hull it set off via Duncansby Head through the Pentland Firth and Cape Wrath to Ayr and Irvine where the cement was unloaded and coal loaded for the small port of Letterfrack in County Galway. Thence the ship sailed via the Fastnet Rock for Porthmadog. One early voyage included entry into the Caledonian Canal at Inverness to collect cargo of logs from Invermoriston. During WW2 served as an ammunition ship conveying munitions from Inverness to Scapa Flow. Later she was at Portsmouth as part of D Day preparations. Illustrations

The Institute: Archive's book reviews. 9

Glasgow Underground. Keith Anderson. Amberley Publishing. 96pp.
Text informative and well structured; some criticism of picture reproduction. Recommended

Electrifying the Underground. Graeme Gleaves. Amberley Publishing. 128pp.
"For those already interested in the Underground then the book probably adds little to previously published works."

London Underground at war. Nick Cooper. Amberley Publishing. 160pp.
Covers both WW1 and WW2; also notes the effect of WW2 on 1030s New Works Programme. Recommended.

A guide to the industrial archaeology of Tayside: Dundee, Angus, the Mearns and North Fife. Association for Industrial Archaeology. 80pp.
Recommended [but seems to be better than that]

John Hancox's map of the Birmingham Canal Navigations 1864. Mapseeker Archive Publishing.

Caersws: the Cambrian Railway village. Brian Poole. Oakwood Press. 224pp.
Bridge Department established there in 1895. Recommended.

The Hayling Railway. Peter Paye. Oakwood Press. 160pp.
First published 1979: "an excellent volume on this delightful line"

Steve Grudgings. Haile Moor and Beckermet Iron Mines. 10-19
Mines were near Egremont in Cumberland: Beckermet had two shafts sunk from 1906 and 1916, and at Haile sunk from 1939. The Beckermet No. 1 shaft experienced a major accident in 1945 when the pump rods on the Cornish pumping engine broke and the shaft had to be rebuilt. Most of the photographs show work on the restoration of the shaft at Beckermet, but the initial photographs are of Haile Moor where improvemeents seem to have been made at the same time.

Steve Grudgings. Air pictures: around Mow Cop. 20-5.
Mow Cop is an outlier of the Pennines in North Staffordshire/South Cheshire formed of millstone grit which has been quarried. Allan Baker considers that the aerial photographs were taken prior to 1930. Some have very extensive captions. The canals visible are the Trent & Mersey (T&M) and Macclesfield. The railway was the former North Staffordshire Railway or LMS.

Malcolm Bobbitt. A family motoring history: 1; images courtesy Rosemary Warner. 26-30.
Wolseley cars owned by the Bartlett family of Witney. Further information about Bartlett family in Archive 77 page 36. Includes brief notes on Frederick York Wolseley: an Irishman who made his capital by sheep shearing in Australia and then invested in manufacturing equipment in Birmingham which in turn led to car manufacture and associations with Herbert Austin, John Siddeley and Arthur Remington.

Dave Costello. The decline of UK steam cultivation 1920-1960. 31-4.
Steam cultivation enjoyed a brief boost during WW1 when Government intervention led to increased cultivation, but the economic slump which followed led almost to its demise, although a limited revival took place during WW2

Inbye: Archive's letters page. 35

Lincolnshire road works. C. John White
"LCC" probably stands for Lindsay County Council

Skimpings 1 [heading Skimpings 2!]. 35
Bogie Siemens electric locomotive on 2ft 2in gauge Whittonstall to Chopwell Colliery railway in County Durham, probably pre-1914

John Atkinson. The Shilbottle Colliery Branch. 37-49.
Near Alnmouth in Nortumberland. Colliery owned by Co-operative Wholesale Society between 1917 and Nationalization.

Footnote 1: Supplied to Port of Lomdon Authority as No. 87; acquired NCB in 1960 and worked at Walbottle and Ashington prior to Shilbottle

Pat O'Driscoll. An accident waiting to happen... 50-5.
The Barking explosion of 5 January 1899 at the engineering works of Hewett & Co. which operated steam driven fishing vessels from Barking and 147 sailing smacks from Gorleston-on-Sea and the catch was taken to Barking by steamer. The boiler which exploded had been removed from the steam trawler Precursor which had been built in 1878. The boiler was being reinstated whilst the main boiler was being serviced and it was found that steam was "leaking through the safety valves". The foreman fitter, Archibald Burness and the fitter Frank Farrier were under the control of Works Manager Donald Gordon. Burness died in the accident which led to a death toll of ten and Farrier was amongst eleven injured.

Skimpings 2: a miscellany. 55-60

Malcolm Bobbitt. In the Showroom: Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud. 61-4.
Introduced in 1955; designed by John Blatchley (brief working biography). Includes developments in egines and suspensions used.

Issue Number 83 (June 2014)

Ted Grey. Trafford Park: Britain's first industrial estate and its road & rail transport. 2-42.
The Manchester Ship Canal aimed to bring ocean-going ships to Manchester and create an inland port. Trafford Hall and its parkland were too close to the huge development and the de Trafford family sought to see the estate. Sir Humphrey Francis de Trafford (1862-1929) sold the estate to Ernest Terah Hooley (1859-1947) of Risley Hall in Derbyshire. The lfe of Hooley, a colourful fraud, is briefly outlined: he envisaged a pleasure ground with golf course, racecourse and high class residential property. Marshall Stevens (1852-1936), manager of the Manchester Ship Canal considered other uses and became the first General Manager of the Trafford Park Estate. In part the recreational uses were retained, but industrial customers wer sought. W.T. Glover, manufacturer of electric cable was one of the first. Interest was greatly increase by British Westinghouse Electrical & Manufacturing Co. agreeing to take 130 acres on which a works were built with its main administrative bulding replicating its Headquarters in Pittsburgh. Other firms followed and encouragement was given to new small businesses by leasing industrial units originally known as hives. The Trafford Park Dwellings Company built worker housing in a "village" laid out on a grid iron pattern. Public transport to, and within, the estate remained a problem and after inspecting the Blackpool, Lytham & St. Annes tramway Stevens invited the British Gas Traction Company to employ town gas powered tramcars on a tramway which the estate would construct. J. Nuttall built the track and the Lancaster Railway Carriage & Wagon Works built the cars. William Henry Gaunt became manager of the system. Barnum & Bailey's Circus visited the showground site and created problems for the railway by its long vehicles and American couplings. It also created a market for the gas-powered trams.   
The gas-powered trams were only partially successful and experiments were made with steam tramcars including one with a French Serpollet tram. Enquiries were also made to the London & South Western Railway about its steam railcar used on the Fratton and Southsea route.
Manchester and Salford Corporations brought their electric tramway services to the edge of the Estate, but would not consider running within it and the Estate Company decided to construct a Westinghouse Loop and acquire electric tramcars. The gas-powered trams continued to provide services over the country end of the Estate. The livery of the electric trams was blue which contrasted with the dirty green of the gas trams. For a time a strange double deck trailer was used, but no photograph appears to have survived of this vehicle.
In 1904 Salford Corporation began to run its trams into the Estate and these were followed by Manchester Corporation trams in 1905.
In 1907 the gas-trams were replaced by a service provided by a steam locomotive and ex-CLC coaches. In 1921 the train was replaced by motor buses which lasted until 1925 when Lanacashire United took over both the buses and the service.
There is a section on the locomotives owned by the Trafford Park Estates Company. Two Manning Wardle products were acquired second-hand during the early period: 0-6-0ST (819/1882) Sir Walter Royce and 0-4-0ST WN 618/1876.  Hudswell Clarke not Hunslet (as per caption) 0-4-0ST (WN 841/1908) Sir William Bailey acquired to work passenger trains. In 1916 Andrew Barclay WN 903/1901 0-6-0ST Sheriff was acquired from a colliery. In about 1921 it was renamed Colonel Mosley and was sold to Corn Products in 1926. Two Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0Ts, similar to those operated by the Manchester Ship Canal were acquuired in 1916: WN 1249 Sir Joseph Lyons and WN 1250 Lord Ashburton. Both were sold back to Hudswell Clarke in 1935: WN 12149 was renamed Trafford and worked for Sir Robert McAlpine until moving to Lea Green Colliery until scrapped in 1960. WN 1250 also joined Sir Robert McAlpine but moved on to Frodingham One Mines where it lasted until 1961.
During WW2 disaruption was caused by bombing, but many firms were engaged in producing war-related items. Post-war recovery was slow and the Canal declined with Manchester ceasing to be a port, with the docks being turned into commercial, recreational and domestic buildings.

*Triumphal arch (Wake up England) with tramway, tramcar No. 7 with top cover being used as grandstand for visit by King and Queen on 13 July 1905
† Cars built by American Car & Foundry Co.: hauled by two Manchester Ship Canal Co. locomotives: Savannah leading (Hunslet WN 712/1899)

The Institute: Archive's book reviews. 43.

Waterways Journal: Volume 16. edited Kath Turpin. Boat Museum Society.
Includes articles on Robert Aickman, concrete boats and barges, Box Boat No. 337, and Richard Abel & Sons and their fleet.

The Newton Abbot to Kingswear Railway. C.R. Potts. Oakwood Press. 352pp
Recommended

The Ely and St. Ives Railway. Peter Page. Oakwood Press. 176pp.
First publlished inb 1982.

The Birmingham to Gloucester Line. Colin Maggs. Amberley Publishing. 176pp.

Malcolm Bobbitt. In the showroom... Riley RM. 44-7.
Pre-War styling influences were the firm's Kestrel and the Citroen Traction Avant. Victor Riley enthused abut the BMW 320. Riley's Chief Engineer was Harry Rush. The Riley family were Coventry weavers, but in in 1890 William Riley acquired the Bonnick bicycle business with its St. Nicholas Works and it was here that light car manufacture was developed. In 1899 the business moved to Aldbourne Road. Hand-built construction even when steel bodies were introduced. In 1937 the firm ran into financial difficulties and in 1938 was absorbed by the Nuffeld Group. The RM was the post-war model and was shown at the 1948 Motor Show at Earl's Court. Manaufacture was shifted to Abingdon to share the MG plant. The Rm featured torsion bar suspension developed by Bob Aves and rack and pinion steering 

Clive Thomas. All change for Plymouth: a year in the life of a mining engineer. 48-61.
The Hill family obtained a lease from the Earl of Plymouth and mined iron ore and coal to service the Plymouth Ironworks (near Merthyr Tydfil), the Pentrebach Forges and the Duffryn Ironworks. These works closed when the iron ore was worked out and coal mining became the key activity and Thomas Henry Bailey was employed to manage this. Bailey was a fifth generation mining engineer. His great great granfather had been engaged at Earl Fitzwilliam's Elsecar Collieries in Yorkshire and a practice of mining engineers and surveyors was established by his grandfather and father at Wilenhall and Walsall in 1858; ten years later the firm was known as S. & J. Bailey with an office in Corporation Street, Birmingham. Thomas Henry was educated at Clifton College, Bristol and King's College, London. He was apprenticed to Thomas McGhie, managing director, of the West Cannock Colliery. During 1883 he maintained a detailed journal which was typed and is reproduced on pages 56-61. Railway historians will be interested in Bailey's notes on wagon repairs and on his many journeys by train, both locally and to places as far away as Wokingham.

Inbye: Archive's letters page. 62

[Essex: Harwich train ferry terminal and Battlebridge mills]. Tony Crosby
Recent pictures [2012] of the Grade II Listed train ferry terminal which is now within the Trinity House Depot: the link span was constructed at Southampton in 1917 and came to Harwich from there, whilst the gantry came from Richborough. The Battlesbridge Mills is a more complex story and reference is made to several online sources of further information. Once again there is a contemporary photograph

Malcolm Bobbitt. A family motoring history: 2. 63-4
Photographs supplied by Rosemary Warner of further cars owned by the Bartlett family of Witney covering the post-WW1 period. The HE was manufactured by Herbert Engineering of Caversham near Reading. 

The Standard Motor Co. was established in Coventry by Reginald William Maudslay who had been apprenticed to Sir John Wolfe Barry who provided considerable financial backing for the car manufacturing firm.

Issue Number 84 (December 2014)

Ian Pope. Mr. Brain's Tramway. 2-31
Cornelius Brain of Mitcheldean owned the Trafalgar Colliery and the associated tramroad. The Trafalgar gale (right to mine) was acquired in August 1842, but coal was not won until 1860. The Bishop's Tramroad had been authorised on 12 July 1834. Brain's Tramway was authorised in May 1862 and was constructed to a gauge of 2ft 7½in. It was unusual in that steam locomotives were used, probably in addition to horses. The Strip-and-at-it Colliery was also operated by the Brain family. Includes details of Coroner's report on death of Frederick White who had been riding on the buffer plank of a locomotive to apply sand to improve adhesion and who had been thrown under it. The Trafalgar Colliery closed in 1925 and Brain's Tramway ceased to be used. Many of the illustrations depict scenes near the Tramway, but this may be invisible or barely discernible. There are many maps and plans, but an overall map would have been useful.

Neil Parkhouse. Cam Mills. 32-8.
In part a history of the mills in the Cotswold valley and in part the specific Cam Mills which are still in existence manufacturing special cloth for covering tennis balls and billiard tables, and the former branch railway line to Dursley. Cloth production developed in the Cam valley due to the local sheep farming and the water power. The same power was used to drive flour mills. At the specfic mill flour was being millled by Thomas and William Greening up nuntil 1818. Around then the mill was rebuilt by Thomas Williams and by 1830 cloth was being manufactured there by Joseph Tippetts. The mills were purchased by the Hunt family in 1851 and A.B. Winterbotham joined in 1859. The Dursley & Midland Junction Railway received its Act on 25 May 1855, opened for passenger traffic in September 1856 and was taken over by the Midland Railway from 1 January 1861. See also Issue 92 pp. 28-9 for further notes, photographs and Ordnance Survey plan 

The coal wagons were supplied by Gloucester Railway Carriage & Wagon Co. Ltd. in October 1897 and November 1904 and are shown in the works official photographs.

Where are we? [mystery photograph]. 39
Bow hauling heavy barge on waterway

Malcolm Bobbitt. In the showroom...  Alvis. 40-3
Thomas George John was born on 18 November 1880 at Pembroke Dock and entered the Naval Dockyard and following his apprenticeship won a scholarship to the Royal College of Science and qualified as a naval architect. Following work at Vickers in Barrow he became Works Manager at Siddeley-Deasy in Coventry in 1915 and in 1917 formed T.G. John Ltd. In association with Geoffrey de Freville they developed the Alvis name for a motor car using aluminium pistons.

Mark Chalmers. William Cook & Sons, Glasgow Saw & File Works. 44-60.
William Cook set off from Harworth in Nottinghamshire in 1840 and walked to Scotland, funding himself by working at his trade en route and set up his home in Calton, later Gorbals, in Glasgow. By 1857 he was employing several people. He established a works Howard Street and eventually built the Glasgow Saw & File Works at 24 Elliot Street in Cranstonhill which at that time was the centre for several forges, foundries and tool-making works. The Eliott Street works, featured in the illustrations, were based on those based in the Kelham Island area of Sheffield and included a courtyard and the maximum use of natural light  

Footnote: GB 24779/1905 Improvements in and connected with Saw Sharpening Machines granted to Andrew Cook and James Harvery published 30 June 1906

Follow-up: Trafford Park from Euan Corrie. 61-4.