Notes and news — April 1997
Douglas DC3
- Douglas DC3
- Not quite what it seems
- Kirkaldy Testing Museum
- Work on the Pavement Vaults
- Titanic-type engine to be museum star
- Three Mills gas
- A history of public transport in the Twickenham area from 1800
- Steam engines and sugar
- New River notes
- 169news.pdf
Judging from the number of enquiries for the proposed Newcomen Society flight in a Douglas DC3 Dakota over London it looks as if it will be fairly easy to fill a whole plane.
The Douglas DC3 was the wide-bodied version of the earlier DC2 airliner which was intended for daytime flights across the USA. In the 1930s people expected bunks at night as in a Pullman car train so for long distance night-time flying the fatter DC3 type was developed with enough room to get the beds in. As passenger numbers continued to increase it was later found possible to fill a DC3 in daytime with just seats and so it came to be used in the form we are now familiar with.
Readers may be interested to know that the 'Good Ship Lollipop' in the popular song was not a ship at all but a Douglas DC2. The song was sung by Shirley Temple in the film Bright Eyes (Fox 1934) using a sliced-open interior mock-up with a painted panorama of clouds being moved slowly past the windows. In the mid 1930s flying was considered hazardous and being a valuable commodity Shirley Temple herself was forbidden from actually flying by her accident insurance policy (see chapter 7, Child Star, an autobiography, Shirley Temple Black, 1988).
According to Nevil Shute there was a serious proposal in the 1930s for Airspeed to manufacture the Douglas DC2 under licence in Britain but nothing came of it. (Before becoming famous as a writer Nevil Shute, full name Nevil Shute Norman, was an engineer. He worked on the R100 airship as a structural engineer under Barnes Wallis and later was a manager at Airspeed. See Nevil Shute, Slide Rule, the autobiography of an engineer, Heinemann 1954). Bob Carr
On sale recently in the Co-Op at Epping was a 'Vale of Mowbray Pork Pie' (GLIAS Newsletter August 1995). On closer examination it appeared clear that this pie had little connection with the town of Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire. It was made by Vale of Mowbray Ltd, 5-6 Mowbray Terrace, Leeming Bar, North Yorkshire, DL7 9BL. Tel: 01677 422661.
At first one wondered if the street had been deliberately named Mowbray Terrace so that the pies could lay claim to the name of Mowbray but on eating one of these pies the effect was quite pleasurable, even if the flavour was somewhat Northern and at the modest cost of 49p there was little to complain of. Vale of Mowbray market other pork products such as bacon and sausages and use a third party for distribution.
On passing through Leeming Bar (in the Vale of York) subsequently it was noted that Dalepak has a substantial works there. Dalepak are well-known for their Lamb Dalesteaks (or 'Lamburgers') so there is quite a meat processing industry in the town. (The all too brief visit to Leeming Bar was passing through on a National Express motor coach non-stop from Milton Keynes to Darlington so it was not possible to do any exploration).
From the 1950s the meat industry in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, diversified into pet foods (eg Kit-e-kat who are still there) so as to make use of parts of the meat unsuitable for human consumption and perhaps a similar trend may take place in Leeming Bar. One of the attractions of Leeming Bar must be its proximity to the A1 trunk road and its convenience for lorry transport. The very reasonable cost of the pork pie at Epping emphasises the cheapness of road distribution (GLIAS Newsletter June 1996; GLIAS Newsletter August 1996). The cheapest products often seem to travel the furthest. Bob Carr
The latest news about our 'Hounsfield' rubber testing machine is that we had an offer to have the machine overhauled and put back into working order. On 14th January, the chairman of the Museum, Dr Denis Smith and I took the R.T.M. to the works of Hounsfield Testing Equipment, Redhill, where the machine, lying on its back on a trolley and looking very like a patient, was wheeled into the workshop. We were given a tour of the works and shown the very latest in tensile testing machines. To call them 'machines' gives a wrong impression, for as Denis remarked, "They are stylish enough to grace one's living room'. In less than a month, we were informed the 'patient' was ready for collection and were very pleased to find it in an upright position and in perfect working order. Hounsfield Testing Equipment had replaced a couple of parts that had been lost or damaged in the fire, and were apologetic for not re-chroming and repainting the machine. As we pointed out, the R.T.M. is an early model and it is better for us to show its age. The R.T.M is now back at '99 Southwark Street' and we hope to demonstrate its operation. The Kirkaldy Testing Museum thanks all at Hounsfield Testing Equipment, Redhill, for their work in restoring an historic machine.
With help from an outside contractor, members of the Kirkaldy Testing Museum cleared the vaults beneath the pavement of Southwark Street and filled three rubbish skips with concrete cubes, rusty iron, rotting wood and other rubbish. I don't think I would be too upset if I never saw another six inch concrete cube, and at 18 lb each my muscles were truly tested. The vaults have been power-washed, pinned and 'stitched' and are now in a much more stable condition, not to mention looking very much cleaner.
Kirkaldy Testing Museum is always happy to welcome anyone wishing to give a little assistance, either manual or as a researcher. Tel: 01322 332195. Peter Skilton
Titanic-type engine to be museum star
A steam museum featuring an engine like that used on the ill-fated Titanic, is in the pipeline for south-west London, courtesy of Thames Water. A three-year project has been launched with English Heritage to restore four pumping engines, two inverted triple expansion engines and two turbines in the 19th century listed pumping house at Kempton Park, WTW. 'It is a very exciting project. It will be great to see more of Thames Water's industrial heritage restored to its former glory,' said Julian Le Patourel, Assistant Company Secretary.
The focal point of the museum will be the huge 1928 engine used to pump water from Kempton Park into the supply network. The two triple expansion engines, used up until 1980, are 22 metres high and, at 6,000 horsepower, are the biggest of their kind in the world. Thames Water is investing £250,000 to set up the Kempton Great Engines Trust and a further £250,000 on refurbishing the pump house.
The Trust currently has 40 volunteers working on the project. Secretary Nick Reynolds said, 'The Trust is delighted to work with Thames Water to preserve this piece of essential water history and make it available to the public.'
The above is an extract from Thames Water News (Staff Journal) Feb. 1997.
I am writing this article in the knowledge that it really ought to be written by Keith Fairclough. All the material and references have been given to me by him and if it were not for him we would not know about the existence of this gasworks - let alone all the wonderful detail that has been found.
As I have tried to stress in previous articles many gas making sites were private ones attached to factories and other large institutions. The one I am about to describe is one of the largest and most important 'heritage' industrial sites in London - the Three Mills Distillery. Anyone with any pretensions at all to a knowledge of industrial archaeology will know this riverside site in East London. You can see it from the District Line, you can see it if you shop at Tesco, you can hire out its (very nice) meeting room - you can even see it on TV because.. it is now the location for a soap opera. Gas lighting was used on site to light the mill - in fact that the mill was gas lit has been noted in insurance assessments.
In 1858 the distillery owners, Messrs Mure and Co. sought an estimate for gas making plant from the Wharf Road based gas engineer, Alfred Penny. This was not an estimate for an entire new gas works but for additional equipment to existing plant. The original date for building the works is not known or exactly where it was on site. Penny's estimate was for a total of £432.10s. For this he could provide a gasholder, 3 condensers, a purifier and some miscellaneous items.
The gasholder was to be 25 ft diameter and 10 feet deep... the 'crown sheets' to be 'No. 15 Birmingham wire gauge.. the sides No. 16 ditto.. of best Staffordshire plates..top and bottom curbs to be of two-and-a-half inch angle iron main bars 12 in number of flat iron...' Four sets of guide wheels, carriages and frames were to be 'properly fitted'. Finally it was to have '2 coats of patent protoride (?) paint before leaving the contractor's works and to be left perfectly gas-tight and free from buckles'. It was to be contained in a brick tank of 26ft diameter and 10 ft deep. This would have 4 piers to support the gasholder columns and 'everything requisite to be done and the tank made perfectly watertight.'
Details of construction are also given for the three condensers and they were to be connected to an existing purifier. An additional 'new cast iron purifier' was to 'contain 4 tiers of sieves made of perforated plate and proper T iron supports'. There was also to be extra connecting mains to the gasholder and 'connections between the hydraulic main thro' condensers and purifiers to new gasholder'. 'The whole of the materials and workmanship to be of the best description to be finished to the entire satisfaction of Messrs. Mure and Co.' and I should think so too.
In 1872 it was included in a survey of the site. It is described as having 'a brick built retort and purifying house - 8 brick and iron retorts in two benches - hydraulic main condenser, scrubber, two purifiers and two circular wrought iron gas holders.' It was run by a man and a boy. The man earned £1.10s. a week and the boy 10s.
When did this works cease operations? Electric lighting seems to have been introduced into the mill around 1911, and by inference, the gas works must have gone before that. In E M Gardner's book on Three Mills ATIT (Tide Mills Part 3), it is said that the gas works went 'the gas company was formed'. This statement makes little sense unless E M Gardner had more information which s/he did not divulge. There are a number of gas works close to Three Mills Distillery which could have supplied them with gas. Even in the 1830s it was well within supply distance of the old Bow Oil Gas Works which was about a mile away at Bow Bridge. Even closer was the West Ham Gas Works (a holder can still be seen on site from Abbey Lane). This works dated from the early 1840s and so was in operation for many years at the same time as the private works at Three Mills. It has been suggested that both of these commercial gas works would have wanted the distillery to pay for a main to their works and that they probably thought it was cheaper to continue with their own supply. Closer still to Three Mills is the giant Bromley by Bow Gas Works where a dramatic cluster of holders, and a probablygm defunct, gas museum remain on site. This was opened in 1870 and I suspect that it is the works which E.M.Gardner was referring to. An assiduous search through the Imperial Gas Company minute books might reveal a gas supply connected to the distillery at Three Mills sometime after 1872.
The Three Mills distillery is in many ways just the sort of industrial site where you would expect to find an in- house gas works. It's an exciting discovery because of the high profile which the distillery remains now enjoy. For gas industry historians the discovery of Mr. Penny's estimate is also quite something - ring me for a photocopy and more details!
I have, of course, to again thank Keith Fairclough. Mr Penny's estimate is in the London Borough of Hackney archive, Nicholson collection. Other material is from the Greater London Record Office. E.M. Gardner's book has been reprinted by the River Lea Tidal Mill Trust and is on sale at the mill on Open Days.
Last month I wrote about the difficulties of tracking down the Whitechapel Gas Works. I mentioned that the works was designed by someone with, to my mind at any rate, the unlikely name of Mr. Gronous. I have to thank our member, Richard Graham, who has looked Mr Gronous up in the Navy Lists. He has discovered that John Gronous was a purser appointed to HMS Mercurious on 25th April 1812 and his first warrant was '27 later amended to 30 December 1813'. He does not appear in a list after July 1815. Richard Graham suggests he may have fallen victim to 'defence cuts' following the defeat of Napoleon. He continues to appear, without a ship, until June 1837.
I must say that I am not entirely sure how a training as a naval purser would have fitted Mr Gronous for life as a gas works superintendent - perhaps that is why the Whitechapel works failed! MARY MILLS
A history of public transport in the Twickenham area from 1800
Horse Transport
The start of the 19th century was the age of the stagecoach as a means of public transport, for those that could afford it. To the north, stagecoaches and mail coaches travelled from London to Bath and Bristol through. Hounslow and, to the south, coaches called at Kingston on their way to Portsmouth. What is not generally realised is that there was an infrastructure of more local coaches travelling from the then country around London to the centre and back. By 1811, 7 coaches a day called at Twickenham and by 1837 this had risen to 26. The 'George' and the 'King's Head' were regular stopping points in Twickenham where the horses were changed. The year 1837 was probably the peak year for stagecoaches in the area for, from about this time, the services were greatly augmented by the horse omnibuses of the Richmond Conveyance Company, just across the river, which was formed in 1844 and by 1860 had a 20-minute interval service from 9 am to 9 pm to and from central London and Twickenham. In 1865 the business was acquired by the London General Omnibus Company. The London General Omnibus Company was really a French concern, formed in 1856, which, by amalgamation, take-overs or buy-outs, took over 600 of the 800 or so horse omnibuses operating in London and its suburbs. In 1859 it became an English company but the annual report continued to be published in French as well as English until 1911. The number of horse buses and horse trams reached its peak in about 1905 but they had all departed by 1916.
Mechanised Road Transport
After some routes had been opened in London, after trials, the London United Tramway Company brought electric trams to Twickenham in 1903 at a cost of about £16,000 a mile. The system used metal tracks, flush with the road surface, and an overhead wire for electrical power supply. The power station was just north of the Chiswick High Road and had 1 MW capacity. The tram cars were double-deck bogie cars with seats for 69. The general manager of the company, Sir Clifton Robinson, lived locally and he had his own private track into his garden from the main track. He had his own single-deck tramcar, No. 175. Officially this tramcar was for him to inspect the tramway system; unofficially it was used to take him and his house guests to London theatres and restaurants. Later, the tramcar was hired out to private parties. The current bus depot at Fulwell still has some track in the cobbled roadway just inside what is now the rear entrance. Petrol driven motor omnibuses reached this area, slightly later than the trams, in 1910, although there had been trials with a steam driven bus, constructed by Gillett of Hounslow, in 1899. Whist there had been motor transport using wagonettes from 1901, 1904 saw the manufacture of the first really practicable, petrol-engined bus the Milnes-Daimler double decker. This had a 34-seater body with 16 in the lower saloon and 18 on the upper deck.
Very quickly motor buses were in all areas of London and the suburbs, giving competition to the trams. With increasing road traffic in the next twenty years, the tramcar, which by virtue of its tracks, could not pull into the side of the road, caused much congestion. Experiments had been going on since 1909 with trackless electric vehicles with overhead power pick-up. The advantage of these vehicles was that, without being tracked, they could pull in to the side of the road and other traffic could continue moving. After some years of problems with Twickenham Urban District Council, the first trolleybuses in the London area ran from May 1931, operating from Fulwell Garage to Twickenham Junction and from there to Teddington. These were double decker trolleybuses with pneumatic tyres and seating 56 passengers. Pickup of power was from twin overhead wires.
The Company operating the trolleys was still the London United Tramway Company. During the war, ob improved, lighter diesel engines had been developed and the decision was made, postwar, to slowly replacem trolleys, as they wore out, with diesel buses. In May 1962, the last trolley ran. It was from Fulwell Garage and Trolleybus No. 1 was brought out of retirement to make the journey. Diesel engined buses continue to provide the local bus services to this day.
Railways
With help from a Richmond Company, the London and South Western Railway came to Richmond on Monday, the 27th July, 1846, from the then London terminus at Nine Elms. The line was extended through Twickenham to Staines and Windsor and opened in 1848. The same year the line was extended the other end to a new station, Waterloo. The Hounslow loop was added in 1853. The line from Twickenham to Kingston was completed after the building of Kingston railway bridge and opened to the public in 1863.
Services were operated by steam locomotives until 1916 when the Waterloo, Twickenham, Kingston line was electrified. The method adopted was the third-rail system using direct current with a 600 volt supply. Multiple unit trains were operated. In 1923, with the amalgamation of the railways, the line became part of the Southern Railway. In 1930 Whitton station was opened and, in 1954, a rebuilt Twickenham station opened about 300 yards to the east of its old location. Recent developments have seen the track maintenance taken over by 'Railtrack' and the train operation carried out by 'Stagecoach' and so we turn full circle. John E Daborn
There was a very full house for the January lecture, 'How the Steam Locomotive Works' by David Goodall. Mr Goodall drew on his practical experience on the footplate and some excellent slides to reveal the workings of a steam locomotive. Described as 'all you ever wanted to know but never dared ask', the lecture lived up to this billing as we were taken step by step through the various working parts and how they interact together. Everyone present must have come away with a much better appreciation of the complications of the workings of a steam locomotive. We are indebted to David Goodall for a fascinating lecture.
There was another good turnout for the February lecture by David Leaback on London's sugar industry. Dr Leaback gave us a personalised account of his connections with the sugar and closely linked chemicals industry in London. There were some interesting archive slides to illustrate the talk, as the connections between Dr Leaback, sugar and chemicals were described. Bill Firth
NEW RIVER WALK
The campaign for the restoration of the New River Walk in Canonbury has reached its target of £40,000 solar that, with the £60,000 pledged by Islington Council, the £100,000 to match the National Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £175,000 has been reached. The rotten timber edging has been replaced and the gardens reopened. In October work will begin on dredging out the accumulated silt and installing a pumped circulation engine system, so that the fully restored gardens can be opened in Spring 1998.
NEW RIVER HEAD
Conversion of the main building at New River Head to apartments is going ahead rapidly. The New River Action Group has submitted suggestions for descriptive plaques to be placed outside the entrance - plaques since the essentials cannot be condensed on to one plaque.
EDMUND COLTHURST
Edmund Colthurst was the original proposer of the New River in about 1600 but he lacked the finance. The Corporation of London entrusted the scheme to Hugh Myddleton but Colthurst worked with Myddleton W-40 throughout the project. As seems to happen with pioneers, Edmund Colthurst is the forgotten man of the New River. The name of Myddleton, in various spellings, is seen everywhere, as is Mylne, commemorating the engineers of the 18th and 19th centuries, but where is Colthurst?It has been suggested that in one of the new developments in the vicinity of the New River a street should be named after Colthurst. The New River Action Group invites suggestions. The secretary is Dorothy Ravenswood, 29 Hogarth Hill, London NW11 6AY. Bill Firth
© GLIAS, 1997