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GREATER LONDON INDUSTRIAL ARCHAEOLOGY SOCIETY

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Notes and news — August 1994

GLIAS visit to Houses of Parliament

On the 16th May, a group of GLIAS members went on a conducted tour of the Houses of Parliament, also known as the Palace of Westminster. The monumental complex of buildings cannot be classified as an industrial monument, and was reviled by the Ploneers of the modern movement who saw the way forward in structures such as the Crystal Palace. However, the Gothic revival has come into fashion again, together with the Albert. Memorial and the St Pancras Hotel, both of which are now being restored at great expense!

The building was designed by Sir Charles Barry, and the crypt chapel restored by E M Barry, his son. The interiors were designed by A W N Pugin and represent the finest example of Gothic Revival. The tour started at the Norman entrance, which leads into the Queen's Robing Rooms, the Royal Gallery and the Chamber of the House of Lords (A W N Pugin). The Speakers and Royal Apartments are at the North and South ends respectively, with the Commons and the Lords between them, divided by the Central Lobby.

The guide described parliamentary procedure, and we saw some activity in the 'lobby', which is where correspondents gather, and constituents can 'lobby' their member of Parliament. The Chamber of the House of Commons was re-constructed after war damage by Giles Gilbert Scott, of Liverpool Cathedral (Anglican), Waterloo Bridge, Battersea Power Station fame. It is pallid in contrast to the work of Pugin, although he had to work within constraints.

The tour finished at the medieval Westminster Hall, which survived the fire of November 5th 1934, in fact its survival made the stipulation of 'Gothic style' a certainty for the architectural competition of 1835. Our thanks go to Mike Gapes MP for obtaining the 'passes' which made the visit possible, and to Charlie Thurston who organised it. John Reeve

SS Jeremiah O'Brien

A total of 2,751 Liberty Ships were built in the United States during the Second World War. Pre-fabricated and mass produced at a time of emergency conditions at sea in order to satisfy an extreme shortage of ships this is the greatest number of identical vessels ever constructed — 'built by the mile and cut off by the yard'. Eighteen shipyards built the Liberty design and about one third of the workforce were women. Now only one Liberty ship survives in original unmodified condition in working order and that is the SS Jeremiah O'Brien which visited London and lay in the Upper Pool alongside HMS Belfast over a long weekend centred on 18/19 June this year.

The ship is the only operational survivor of the more than 4,000 vessels which participated in the 1944 D-Day landings and she had paid a visit to the Normandy beaches for 6 June. For several days this superb time-capsule merchant ship was open to the public and it was possible to explore a good deal of the interior and talk to the crew many of whom were quite elderly Americans. A tremendous amount of Liberty-ship experience was on hand.

Despite being an exceptionally utilitarian ship one was struck by the quality of the woodwork (all original) and the amount and quality of brass fittings (eg on the bridge). The standard of design was very good. Accommodation even for lowly members of the crew was excellent, especialy compared with previous British facilities, and it was possible to look into most cabins and see how the present occupants were coping. The galley was providing food at regular intervals throughout the stay in London and observing the American style of eating was an added interest. There were lots of jars of various relishes and sauces set out on the mess tables. Food was said to be very good. Visitors with their own Liberty ship experiences to recount were constantly dropping by.

For most industrial archaeologists the Mecca would have been the engine room, simply stuffed with reciprocating steam plant of many kinds, all superbly restored and, of course, working. On deck there are numerous steam winches fed by steam lines. Built oil-fired (the US had plenty of oil unlike the UK) the two boilers (one in steam throughout the London visit in case the ship had to be moved) supply steam for propulsion to a classic triple expansion engine by the General Machinery Corporation, Hamilton, Ohio, engine number 7242 dated 5.7.43 (presumably 7 May!). Cylinder dimensions are 24½, 37 and 70 inches diameter by 48 inches stroke and 2,500hp is generated at 76rpm. Speed is about 11 knots.

The Jeremiah O'Brien is 7,176 tons gross and was built in 56 days by the New England Shipbuilding Company at Westyard, South Portland, Maine and launched on 19th June 1943. The keel was laid 5.6.43 (6th May) and the hull is of course welded. Depth markings are in feet and while in London this year being lightly loaded she was drawing about 11½ feet at the bow and about 18 feet at the stern.

After this year's London visit the ship left for France with the tide around mid-day on Wednesday 22 June and following visits to Cherbourg, Rouen and Le Havre will sail home to San Francisco. She is unlikely to return to Europe again. Based on a British design which was being built in this country towards the end of last century it might be worth going to San Francisco to see her and perhaps even sail on her as one GLIAS member already has. Bob Carr
Website: www.ssjeremiahobrien.org

The Belfast Box

The term Belfast Truss will be well known to most readers (GLIAS Newsletter April 1990). A Belfast Box is a term used by Royal Mail to describe a special street mail collecting box which has only a very narrow slit through which just a letter may be inserted (and not a packet). Sometimes traditional pillar-boxes are modified in this way. At least two examples of Belfast Boxes may be found in the King's Cross area and there are a number of others throughout London. Royal Mail say these boxes are installed in areas with problems. Bob Carr

Richmond ice rink

In West London Mr Richard Meacock has been vigorously campaigning for a new ice rink to replace that at Richmond demolished in May 1992 (GLIAS Newsletter February 1994). The campaign has recently become linked with the fate of Kingston power station with a proposal to adapt this building to accommodate an ice rink. Kingston Power Station Preservation Trust members have reportedly expressed enthusiasm at the idea of 'skating surrounded by turbines'. Former gas works land in Skerne Road may also be involved in the proposed redevelopment schemes. However, Mr Meacock is strongly opposed to a new ice rink in Kingston and insists it must be built in Richmond.

The old Richmond ice rink was on the site of the former Pelabon Works which during the First World War supported an exiled colony of about 6,000 Belgians. Latter-day commentators have asked where all the Belgians slept. One can get some idea of how things were from the book H G Wells wrote at the time; Mr Britling Sees It Through. (Wells started writing this book in the winter of 1915 and it was published in October 1916). See book 2, chapter 2, Taking Part, section 8: -

The answer seems to be that the Belgians simply stayed with English families. In 1915 the average house was large compared with present dwellings. Bob Carr

Obscure early London gas works — No. 1 Wellclose Square

That an early gas works existed in Wellclose Square, El was noted in 1949 by Sterling Everard, in his History of the Gas Light and Coke Company. His researches showed that it had been purchased by the Chartered Gas Co. in 1820 and then closed down. Like many things in the early London gas industry this story turns out to be very much more interesting than all that, and to involve a gas works which was not in Wellclose Square and not closed down in 1820.

Wellclose Square is to the north of The Highway and its original buildings have now been replaced. To the west of it runs Ensign Street, formerly Well Street, where in 1785 the Royalty, or East London, Theatre was built. Today a disused sailors' home stands on the site. It was opened by a John Palmer 'of the most versatile and eminent talents, but destitute of prudence". To cut a long story very short, a disturbance on the first night led to a Mr W Paliner being committed as a 'rogue, agabond and sturdy beggar'. Mr. Palmer went out of business and the Theatre was used by a variety of companies over the next forty years of its existence.

At some point gas making plant works was installed to provide lighting for the theatre. Nothing is known of who built or commissioned it; it does not appear in the list of works built by Boulton and Watt, although a letter was written to them enquiring after gas making equipment by a Mr Van Voorst who lived in Wellclose Square. This is the same Van Voorst who was then a prominent shareholder of the infant Chartered Company.

In 1820 the theatre and its gas works were sold to the Chartered Company. It was then known as the East London Gas Works, and was making and selling gas to 'a prosperous manufacturing district for a profit of £1,000 a year. There was a 'gasometer' as well as 'main and service pipes'; it was to the north of the theatre building and adjacent to the stage. Nothing else is known about it. It may, or may not, have had a connection with a later East London Gas Company about which more in a future episode.

That Chartered Company claimed to have closed the works down might just mean that they took over its public supply functions and handed back the gas making plant to the theatre management. Or it might not - something strange was going on in that a Mr Vickers seems to have owned the theatre both before, and after, it was sold by auction in 1820. Mr Vickers and his family are said, by Everard, to have been involved in the Imperial Gas Co. (the Imperial Gas Co. was particularly noted for its scandals!)

What is known is the final fate of this little gas making plant. One night in April 1836 a Mr Evans was making gas for the use of the house on Tuesday night'. Evans is a name well known in the early history of the Chartered Company and it may be that he was moonlighting from their works at Brick Lane. Evans looked out from his stoking and noticed that some of the scenery above the adjacent stage was on fire. He raised the alarm. So fierce was the fire that the firemen could only stand 'at either end of the theatre and throw the water on the flames as well as they could' and there was much worry that it would spread to two adjacent sugar refineries. They were saved, but the theatre was burnt to the ground with the loss of everything except the grand pianoforte 'snatched from the Green Room' by 'an unknown sailor'. The losses included a costume for Richard III 'worth at least £50'. It appears that the performance that night, of Kenrick the Accursed' had required the eruption of Mount Etna on stage. For this, 'about half a pound of powder was used. It also seemed that the gas lights on the side of the stage had not been properly turned off. There must be a moral to this story somewhere! Mary Mills

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'Signing day' at Crossness

28th June 1994 saw the signing of the long-awaited Lease by Thames Water Utilities and the Crossness Engines Trust. The informal ceremony was performed on a table placed before the fully restored North West screen in the beam engine house. Signing on behalf of Thames Water Utilities was Bill Alexander, Managing Director, and for Crossness Engines Trust, John Ridley, Chairman. The Lease is for sixty years and allows T.W.U. access for certain operational purposes. Thames Water Utilities was also represented by Robin Ashford, Ken Heal and Ian MacGregor, while other guests included Peter Bazalgette, Great-great Grandson of Sir Joseph Bazalgette, and Dr Denis Smith, Chairman of GLIAS. After the ceremony, Bill Alexander wished the Trust continuing success and looked forward to 'steaming day' when 'Prince Consort' would again move under power. In reply, John Ridley thanked Bill for the assistance given by Thames Water Utilities and assured him that members of the Trust would forge ahead with the project with even greater vigour. Peter Skilton

'The Magic Roundabout'

That's the nickname given locally to the roundabout at the bottom of St Albans Road, Hemel Hempstead. In the centre is a large conventional roundabout. But at each of the five intersecting roads (there were originally six roads but the one to the Marlowes shopping centre has been blocked off) is a small mini-roundabout.

Traffic can pass round the large roundabout in either direction. This confuses the visitor but locals are used to it and use it to best advantage. It was built in the early 1970s as an experiment and has been in use ever since. But now it is under threat as the local council consider alternatives. There was another, earlier example in Swindon but that has now gone. Tim Smith

Soot

Before the widespread use of central heating, many of London's offices were heated by coal fires in domestic-style fireplaces. From time to time their chimneys needed cleaning, a job done by sweeps such as William Hayhoe, who operated in the Minories area around the turn-of-the-century. He was succeeded in 1912 by James Hayhoe, perhaps his son, who in 1915 moved the business from Church Street, Minories, to Swan Street, Minories. Mr Hayhoe stored his soot in sacks and, when he had enough to fill a railway truck, he took it round to the Hayden Square Goods Depot of the London & North Western Railway and despatched it to the village of Gamlingay, Cambs. At the same time he sent a letter to Mr Cross, a market gardener of Gamlingay, advising him that a truck load of soot was on its way and please could Mr Cross pay him for it. The amount of soot sent in each truckload varied 3 tons in March 1905, 4 tons 5 cwt in November 1902, 5 tons 2 cwt in 1906, the cost of transport being, respectively, 17s. 2d, £1. 5s. 11d, and £1. 11s. On arrival at the Cross's, the soot was kept stacked, in its sacks, to mature. The sacks were bundled and sent back to London, perhaps lasting for three trips before the soot rotted them.

When the soot was thought to be 'ready', it was put in a galvanised tub which had a string attached to it so that it could be hung around the neck. The soot was then 'sown' on the land, just as seeds would be sown. This could be done after ploughing as it was not necessary to plough it in. It was an unpleasant job, done at four in the morning, before the wind got up. Sometimes the Cross's sowed their own soot. At other times they employed specialist soot sowers who were paid a higher rate for the job than other workers.

Soot was also used as a top dressing. Experts from Cambridge, who gave talks to growers in the village hall, said that there were cheaper ways of adding nitrogen to the soil. But the growers knew it gave good results with Brussels sprouts and other greens. For one thing it made the soil darker and better at retaining heat, which was good for early crops. James Hayhoe moved again in about 1936, to Alie Street, where he remained until 1939. After that the use of scot by market gardeners declined, the Clean Air Act putting an end to it. Thanks to Mr S B Cross for supplying most of this information. Tim Smith

City of London Cemetery

Recently I went on a guided tour, arranged by the Friends of Kensal Green, of the City of London Cemetery in Manor Park. The largest civilian cemetery in the country, this is beautifully maintained by City cash. It dates from the 1850s, with most buildings being the work of William Hayward, including gates, lodge, Anglican and non-Conformist chapels. An official badged City of London bicycle (of slightly later date) was noted in use by one of the attendants.

Chief IA interest was in the crematorium, a modern (ca 1970) building with chapels, office, parking space etc. on the ground floor. The catafalque in the chapel has an electrically powered 'scissors lift' to lower the coffin to the basement (for safety reasons it was not possible to examine the mechanism). The coffin emerges from the lift and is now referred to as the 'charge'. Roller-top trolleys convey it to one of the gas-fired furnaces by Tabo of Stockholm. These are roughly 3.7m long and 2.4m wide externally. Internally they are lined with firebrick, the side walls being ten bricks high; the floor is of large sheets to allow the ashes to be efficiently raked out after each use. The walls need replacement after around 1,000 cremations, the floor every 600. The gas and air jet is at the top rear of the furnace, below it is an inspection window and a small door for the raking out of ashes. There are flue oles at intervals about two thirds of the way up each side wall and a pyrometer in the roof of the furnace.

Careful control of air and fuel is needed to avoid smoke and Incomplete combustion (and for economy); there are smoke density monitors in the stack. The charge is slid into the preheated furnace (about 700° Centigrade) head first (this being the end which needs the most heat); care must be taken as the varnish on the charge can give a 'flash-back'. MDF coffins ignite rapidly giving a rapid rise in temperature; generally the gas supply is needed for up to 19 minutes, although at the end of a working week the furnaces may be hot enough to work without added fuel.

At this time the body fats are burning fully, producing temperatures in the range 975-1,100° Centigrade. The air supply is needed for a further 30 mins - 1 hour, larger amounts of body fat apparently speeding the process. The observation window gives an extremely clear view.

When cremation is complete, the furnace is allowed to cool slightly before removing ash through the rear door into a metal bin, using a long-handled rake rectangular aluminium plate fixed perpendicularly at its centre to the handle. At this stage it contains recognisable calcined bone fragments. Unless relatives request otherwise, it is ground in a cremulator containing 3 fist-sized metal balls for around 30 minutes, giving a coarse powder. It is then bagged in polythene and labelled. Normally the weight of ash is 4-8 lb. It varies in colour from a light to a dark fawn (possibly because of differences in firing temperature or amount of fuel used.)

The work is carried out in a suitable reverent manner; strict rules of conduct are posted in the furnace room. Great care is taken to ensure that the name label from the coffin ends up on the appropriate ashes. Durrently using seven furnaces, the crematorium can cope with up to 46 cremations daily; the total last year was around 4800. There are plans to refurbish the former crematorium in the cemetery and bring this back into use to meet demand; unfortunately for safety reasons we were only able to visit the chapel of this.

The catacombs contain vaults each containing 4 rows of 4 coffin-sized loculae, with three smaller cells in the arch at the cop. Unlike Kensal Green, the regulations insist that all loculae are sealed. Plenty of empty spaces remain, at around £1,000. The adjoining columbarium is visually more interesting, with coloured glass roof lights; the varied urns and other artefacts in the niches make an interesting study. Time prevented me from more than a cursory glance at the monuments, although a few massive and interesting Victorian vaults were noted. A particularly striking large animated crucifixion with nine figures adorns the grave of David John Vigiland RN, who was interred here in 1952. Peter Marshall

IA online

Few of the thousands of conferences on CIX (Compulink Information Exchange) and Usenet seem to offer much in the way of IA interest (except possibly on the histo of computing). An exception is CIX's Tube conference. Last November there was an authoritative comment on traction control which is used to ensure that trains stop in terminals with short overruns - for example Edgware and High Barnet on the Northern line.

Several site visits have also been arranged on-line (!), although unfortunately none on days when I have been free. Two recent threads have concerned the new stock on the Central Line, including comments about the different sound it makes - the explanation received was: 'the motors now have thyristic control (non-moving electronic control) as opposed to the mechanical RPA that the other stocks use,' and the proposal to fit screens with sliding doors to the platform edge to preveni people throwing themselves in front of trains. There would be problems with this c. the tube where different types of stock run on some lines. A text file (written by someone with personal experience as a driver) gives a breakdown of the 2,602 incidents from 1950-89. The Northern Line accounted for over 80 per cent of these (largely due to the two mental homes near Tooting Bec). Roughly twice as many involve men as women; most take place between 9am and 4pm with Monday and Friday being the peak days and March and May the peak months. Roughly half of recent incidents were fatal.

Other discussions have covered the penalty fares systems (and its effects on revente at various stations), and why the emergency handles no longer stop the trains. Thre are also comments on the running problems of the DLR, etc. It is probably a good place to get answers if you have any questions about the Tube.
(GLIAS/Newcomen Society can be contacted on Internet: Daniel@newcomen.demon.co.uk)

More pub signs

GN 152;. Another pub sign of interest is in Fortis Green Road, Muswell Hill, which boasts a pub dedicated to John Logie Baird. Not far, of course, from Alexandra Palace. Peter Marshall

CD-Rom

Some people may by now be rather bored with my mentioning CD-ROM as an ideal archival and publication medium for IA. However, they can store large quantitie text as well as drawings, maps, photographs, sounds, video, and the drives for reading them are rapidly becoming a standard part of any PC or network. One normal-sized CD can hold as much as a shelf of books (for example the whole Oxford English Dictionary), and not only hold it, but make it accessible to rapid searches and cross references. Think how much more useful it would be to have all the GLLIAS journals, newsletters, and other publications in this form - at the click of a mr se we could find out in seconds whether, for example, anyone had ever mentioned the John Baird pub, or all the articles about leather, or anything about Bazalgette, or all the references to Cricklewood.....

Once the material is in electronic form (and increasingly all publications start in electronic form), making the CD is relatively cheap and painless. You can be in business cutting your own with a couple of thousand pounds of gear for a few pour... each, while in quantity CD's are cheap enough for companies to give away as promotional material. (The CED costs around £500 though!) Making a CD is a lot cheaper than producing a single book but it could hold a hundred books. So far though I am not aware of any significant IA material on CD-ROM.

Predicting the future of technology is always doubtful; but it seems clear that electronic publishing - either on CD or through the on-line 'super highway' (watch out for the super-highway men!) or on some other medium represents the same kind of leap in the availability and accessibility of information as the invention of movable type. Peter Marshall

GLIAS coach trip to the West Midlands

Sunday 10th July saw 47 members set off under sunny skies for the West Midlands. Martin Green of the Warwickshire Industrial Archaeology Society had arranged a series of visits in the area south of Birmingham. The usual pick-ups at New Cross, Waterloo and Euston led us off to the M40 and to the needle forge at Redditch. As the sole survivor of a once thriving industry the needle forge has been restored and houses original equipment and exhibits on the history and wide range of pointed products made in and around Redditch. Redditch and its industries can trace their origins to the Cistercian Abbey which occupied the valley until the dissolution. From industries with Mediaeval roots we then went to Warwick and, starting at the brick gasholder buildings by Sainsbury's, walked through the town to the water mill beneath the castle walls. The walk also gave an opportunity for lunch at one of the local pubs. The 19th century Castle water mill provided water and electricity for the castle and included an eel trap next to the undershot wheel pit as well as the later installation of a Gilkes Turbine.

With the sun still shining brightly some members found an ice-cream van on the way back to the bus before we left for Chesterton Windmill. The mill was built in the 17th century and is said to have been designed by Inigo Jones. It stands, this year, in the middle of a field of rape with a wide path left from the gate. Constructed in stone on an open arched base, access is by a nearly vertical ladder which many of the party, young and not so young, climbed to inspect the machinery.

The trip home was delayed by traffic on the M40, including delays for an accident and kooping cool was a problem even by 7.00pm. Thanks to Martin Green and his fellow members, Dave Perrett, Danny Hayton and T&J Coaches of Orpington for getting us there and back!

GLIAS walks

Three of this summer's GLIAS walks have now taken place with increased success both in attendance and the weather. As last year Bill Firth started off in May on a very wet afternoon with 15 members to explore the Embankment from Blackfriars to Westminster. The weather took its toll as people took to the Underground at the stations we passed and only a handful of walkers braved the downpour to the end. June provided better weather and, linked with an AIA field visit and Kathleen Gribble's publicity onslaught, 38 walkers, members and 'real' people (including a journalist from the Southwark News), turned up at the 'Founder's Arms' to be led by Dave Perrett along the riverside to Rotherhithe. As well as the River Dave showed the party something of the leather trade in Bermondsey and Sarson's Vinegar Works. We were invited in to the Norwegian Church at the south entrance to Rotherhithe Tunnel. The walk finished at the Brunel Exhibition for coffee, a video and a chance to rest our feet. The Mayflower pub provided a venue for reviewing the day. Sue Hayton led July's walk (45 people, 3 bicycles and a dog!) from Liverpool Street. Station through to Brick Lane, Fournier Street and up to the Boundary Estate. Housing and the Soup Kitchen for the Jewish Poor illustrated the varied history of the area while the Black Eagle Brewery and the 24hour beigel shop represented the food industry on this part of the walk. Returning under the Bishopsgate Good Station to Spitalfields Market itself the walk ended at. Hamilton Hall, the pub in Liverpool Street Station.

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© GLIAS, 1994