- Crossness
- Industrial Heritage Year 1993 and Canals 200
- Edmonton Power Station
- Burton around London
- Greater London news in brief
- Visit to Bentley Prior
- Letters to the editor
- 142news.pdf
On 11 July 1992. Crossness Engines Trust opened their doors to the public to show the progress made on the restoration of 'Victoria' and other work done on site. C.E.T. are on target with their work schedule but with a huge task ahead of them. Weather-wise the day was a mixture of sun and rain but that did not stop about seven hundred people visiting the engines. Health and safety constraints gave the Trust a bit of a headache, they had to supply a hard hat to every visitor to the engine house. This meant borrowing hard hats from any organisation who could spare them, and at times there was a queue of people waiting for 'returned' hats.
Apart from the beam, cylinder-head and ground floors, visitors could visit the basement and see the main pumps. Once again 'H and S' restrictions meant that only around seventeen people at a time could go below ground level. John Ridley, chairman of Crossness Engines Trust said with a smile: 'I'm happy to report that we didn't lose anyone down there.'
Among those visiting were David Evennett, the local Conservative M.P. and a Thames Water Utilities environmental representative, who said he was very impressed with the good work done by the trust.
There were a number of exhibitors varying from the Kent Model Railway society, local historical societies and of course GLIAS, to TWU. All were impressed with the day, not least C.E.T. themselves, who thought it was well worth all the hard work. Peter Skilton
Industrial Heritage Year 1993 and Canals 200
Next year will be National Heritage Year and the English Tourist Board will be promoting this country's rich history of enterprise and innovation over the last 250 years through museums, events and attractions to visit. Two centuries of British Canals are to be celebrated by British Waterways throughout 1993. Canals 200 will be a major strand of Industrial Heritage Year 1993.
British Waterways will be publishing a Canals 200 calendar with historic photographs from the National Waterways Museum's archive from the 1880s to the 1930s. A hardback book, written by Tony Burton and illustrated with colour photographs by Michael Taylor and illustrations by Peter White will be published in spring 1993.
The Royal Mail will be marking Canals 200 by the issue of a set of four commemorative stamps. More information on Industrial Heritage Year and Canals 200 we will be in the Newsletter when available. Bill Firth
Commissioned in 1970 the power station at Edmonton (GLIAS Newsletter April 1992) in the Lea Valley is unique to the UK in that to produce electricity it makes no use of nuclear power and burns domestic rubbish rather than fossil fuel. As GLIAS members well know this is an old idea but rubbish is not what it used to be and nowadays most dustbins contain plastics which are not as power station friendly as partially burnt coal from domestic grates which was a considerable constituent of dust cart loads before the 1960s.
Following German practice, notably that of a plant at Dusseldorf opened in 1965, rubbish is fed onto the grate of a furnace which slopes downwards and is made up of seven parallel rotating rollers which carry the rubbish onwards and downwards at the same time turning and disturbing it so near complete combustion is achieved. No fuel other than the rubbish is used and air is blown through the rollers to aid combustion. Compared with a conventional power station temperatures are low, around 1,000°C. This is insufficient to destroy tin cans for instance and these are removed afterwards from the resulting clinker by electromagnet. Ferrous scrap is a by-product of the operation at Edmonton which can be sold to steelworks.
PVC in the rubbish produces hydrochloric acid on burning which is a major problem in the boiler and the steel tubes have to be frequently renewed. The boiler itself is not unlike that at a conventional power station though smaller and temperatures and pressures are quite low by present day standards. From the boiler the products of combustion pass through an economiser and then electrostatic precipitators before emission from the main chimney. At Edmonton there are five grates each with an associated boiler.
The turbines, alternators and condensers are much as in a conventional power station though by modern standards again on the small side. Full output is only about 30 MW which is less than a fifth of that of even an old London generating station such as Battersea B. This explains why the economics of operating a plant such as this are so difficult. In 1996 new EC legislation will require the plant at Edmonton to be substantially altered and it remains to be decided whether closure or substantial investment and perhaps enlargement will ensue. Bob Carr
Today you will still find a branch of Burtons the Tailors (GLIAS Newsletter February 1992) in Brixton, the City, Clapham Junction, Ealing, Hendon, Holborn, Holloway, Lambeth, Lewisham, Paddington, Putney, the Strand, Stratford, at Surrey Quays, Tooting, Brent Cross, Victoria, Walthamstow, Wood Green and Woolwich, with three in the West End.
Plenty for the urban industrial archaeologist to investigate apart from the former shops. Look out for terracotta, black and white vitrolite, emerald pearl granite and of course Empire Stone. This is an architectural pre-cast concrete made by Empire Stone Ltd, a firm founded at the beginning of the century. Bob Carr
The Royal Arsenal Woolwich ceased much of its activity in 1967 and is now mostly confined to a small fragment at the extreme west end of its extensive old site. The area has been reduced from about 1,200 to 76 acres. Ministry of Defence use may finish altogether by 1995/6. Manufacturing at the Arsenal was at a peak during the First World War when many women were employed.
In 1812-16 a canal to the designs of Lt Col Pilkington was built to carry materials into the Arsenal, the southern end being filled before the Second World War. This canal is now part of Thamesmead West and what remains is known as Broadwater. The entrance lock survives in fairly good order and the swing bridge which carried a line of the Arsenal light railway across the entrance is also extant.
Thamesmead extends eastwards to Thames Water's Crossness site but not all this large area is yet redeveloped for housing. Much land is still fenced off with the public excluded and patrols by guards with dogs. The Thamesmead Town signs mean what they say! It is intended to open a public walk along the whole riverbank.
Woolwich Arsenal railway station building of 1905 has been demolished and judging from the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition its replacement is likely to be a high-tech affair. In architecture it seems high-tech rules OK at present and much by the Richard Rogers Partnership is to the fore. Just to the North West of Marylebone railway station a large new development called Marylebone Gate, between the railway tracks and Harewood Avenue, is likely to drastically alter the view northwards from the West end of the station concourse.
The northbound bore of the Blackwall Tunnel, opened in 1897, was lined with glazed tiles giving a splendid period atmosphere in recent years. Following refurbishment work the tunnel is now reminiscent of nursery interiors. Tiling may still be seen in the Rotherhithe Tunnel.
In Croydon the large red brick Victorian town hall in Katharine Street, built 1892-6, replaced the Croydon Central railway station, the railway approach to which can still be made out in the gardens to the east. Opened in January 1868 the Central Croydon railway branch never seemed exactly worthwhile, it was closed in December 1871, reopened in June 1886 and finally closed in September 1890. Rebuilding on the site still continues — a new library complex is being built at the back (south) and on top of the Town Hall, the new extension being designed by the Tibbalds/Colbourne partnership. Bob Carr
Bentley Priory was a stately home and the RAF Officers' Mess can be said to continue that tradition. It is also an art gallery of tributes to RAF Fighter Command and contains a museum devoted in part to the stately home and in part to Fighter Command with particular reference to Lord Dowding who, as Sir Hugh, set up the Headquarters of Fighter Command at the Priory in 1936 and remained in command there until he was retired in 1940.
The house is mainly attributable to Sir John Soane, who was commissioned by the 9th Earl of Abercorn to enlarge an existing house in 1788. It remained in the hands of the Abercorn (Hamilton) family until 1863. It then passed to Sir John Kelk, engineer and contractor for the Albert Memorial who improved it; in particular he built the grand staircase. In 1882 Frederick Gordon of Gordon Hotels converted the buildings into an unsuccessful hotel. Early this century it was a girls' school until the Air Ministry bought it in 1926.
Such a brief history does no justice to Soane's house in which the entrance hall, rotunda and the Adelaide Room stand out. The other rooms are plainer but none the less fine. There is also Kelk's staircase and various small Soane touches in the form of niches, small domes, etc. All the rooms are in use by the RAF and the walls are hung with a fine collection of paintings of fighter aircraft and fighter aces. In the entrance hall are two stained glass windows commemorating the Battle of Britain.
There is also the Commemorative Lace Panel, 15 feet long by 65 inches wide, which was produced by the Nottingham Lace makers, Dobson & Browne Ltd between 1942 and 1946 'To perpetuate this glorious epic in our history and as a tribute to those who gallantly saved this island.'
The panel depicts various scenes witnessed during the bombing of London, the main aircraft used by both sides in the battle, the badges of the Allied Air Forces involved and the names of the craftsmen who created such a masterpiece. Sir Winston Churchill's memorable words 'Never was so much owed by so many to so few' are also woven into the panel. Some 30 panels were made, after which the Jacquard was destroyed, but only a few of them have been traced to date.
There may not much IA at Bentley Priory but this was a splendid visit. We are most grateful to Flight Lieutenant David Hebbes, who is obviously an enthusiast for the Priory and who guided us excellently, pointing out many details as we went along. Our thanks must also go to the President of the Mess Committee, Wing Commander G.S.F. Booker, who gave permission for the visit. Bill Firth
Readers of the GLIAS Newsletter might like to know about a recent book 'William Morris: Design and Enterprise in Victorian Britain' by Charles Harvey and Jon Press, published by Manchester University Press in 1991 at £12.95 (paperback).
It is mainly about Morris's business and design activities, rather than his politics, writing or private life, and includes a lot of interesting information about production at his works at Merton Abbey, including a plan of the works. Sadly the works has long since gone, though the watermill just upstream that was used by Liberty's is still there.