1

No 202 Nov 2014

www.sihg.org.uk

ADLER manufacturers plate

Photo Bob Bryson

Meiningen Steam

Locomotive Works

see page 6.

Please note: The September 2014 SIHG Newsletter was issue 201 (not 121)!

Association for Industrial Archaeology

Chester Conference 2014 - see page 4

Northgate flight of locks, Chester & Ellesmere Canal Photo Glenys Crocker

November 2014 2 Newsletter 202

Surrey Industrial History Group Officers

Chairman & Lectures Organiser: Robert Bryson meetings@sihg.org.uk

Secretary: Hugh Anscombe info@sihg.org.uk

Treasurer & Sales: (vacant) (treasurer@sihg.org.uk)

Vice Chairman & Membership Secretary: Pam Taylor membership@sihg.org.uk

Newsletter Ed: Jan Spencer news@sihg.org.uk

SIHG is a group of the Surrey Archaeological Society, Registered Charity No 272098

Castle Arch Guildford Surrey GU1 3SX, Group President: Prof AG Crocker FSA

Published by Surrey Industrial History Group, printed by YesPrint 3 Leafy Oak Workshops

Cobbetts Lane Yateley GU17 9LW © SIHG 2014 ISSN 1355-8188

Reports & Notices Details of meetings are reported in good faith, but information may become out of date. Please check before attending.

SIHG Visits, Details & Updates at www.sihg.org.uk

Contents 2 Notices and Diary 27 November 2014 - 31 January 2015

3 Leatherhead Lecture Programme, Spring 2015

3 Venues, Times & Contacts

3 Book Launch Rambling Railwayman’s Recollections

4 The AIA 2014 Conference at Chester (Part 1) report by Glenys & Alan Crocker

5 Proposed Working Party at Vale End Pumping Station, Albury by Alan Crocker

5 Traditional Tide Mills by David Plunkett, report by Hugh Anscombe

6 Meiningen Steam Locomotive Works by Bob Bryson

7 Old Pump House on Norbury Park by Bob Bryson

Proposed Working Party at Vale End Pumping Station,

Albury Volunteers wanted,

see page 5.

Diary November 2014

27 Thu SIHG Leatherhead: Future Sources of Energy by ExxonMobil Speaker.

Diary December 2014

2 Tue SIHG Guildford: How Steam Reforming Saved the Gas Industry by Dr Fred Starr, Newcomen Society; + Member’s Talk: Archimedean Screws.

4 Thu SIHG Leatherhead : The History of the Great War by Michael Gilbert, Historian.

11 Thu SIHG Leatherhead: AIA Tour of Sweden 2011 by David Neish + Members’ Talks.

16 Tue SIHG Guildford: Members’ Talks Evening - Short talks by members plus refreshments and a chance to meet other members.

Diary January 2015

8 Thu SIHG Leatherhead: Surrey Roads from Turnpike to Motorway Gordon Knowles, SIHG.

15 Thu SIHG Leatherhead: Death of a Light Bulb by John Otten, Engineer.

20 Tue SIHG Guildford: Railway Electrification by Peter Bosomworth, Locomotive Engineer and Railway Enthusiast.

22 Thu SIHG Leatherhead: Three Victorian Railway Bridges by Douglas Irvine - Structural Engineer.

29 Thu SIHG Leatherhead: Steam Power in Miniature by Frank Paine, Lecturer.

Venues, Times & Contacts are on page 4.

The deadline for submitting copy for the next Newsletter is

10 January 2015 Submissions are accepted in typescript, on a disc,

or by email to news@sihg.org.uk. Anything related to IA will be considered.

Priority will be given to Surrey-based or topical articles.

Contributions will be published as soon as space is available.

Readers are advised that the views of contributors

are not necessarily the views of SIHG. Website: www.sihg.org.uk

SERIAC 2015 The South East Regional Industrial Archaeology

Conference will be on Saturday 25 April 2015

at Ashburton Hall, Queen Elizabeth II Court, Sussex St, Winchester SO23 8UJ.

Programme & application form will be in the January Newsletter.

November 2014 3 Newsletter 202

SIHG Newsletter No 202 November 2014 DIARY

Enquires to Programme Co-ordinator Bob Bryson: meetings@sihg.org.uk.

39th series of SIHG Industrial Archaeology Lectures

alternate Tuesdays, 19:30-21:30, Education Centre, The Cathedral, Guildford

(map: www.sihg.org.uk). Single lectures at £5, payable on the night,

are open to all.

Spring 2015 Thursday Mornings Lectures at Leatherhead,

10:00-12:00, Room G6 The Institute,

67 High Street Leatherhead KT22 8AH Non-member full fee £50 SIHG member £45

8 Jan 2015

Surrey Roads from Turnpike to Motorway – Gordon Knowles, SIHG

15 Jan Death of a Light Bulb – John Otten, Engineer

22 Jan Three Victorian Railway Bridges – Douglas Irvine, Structural Engineer

29 Jan Steam Power in Miniature – Frank Paine, Lecturer

5 Feb Papermaking in Hertfordshire – Michael Stanyon, Archivist

12 Feb Half Term Visit (Details to be announced)

19 Feb Nineteenth Century Monorails – Adrian Garner, Lecturer

26 Feb Mille Miglia 2014– Angela Hume, Brooklands Trust

5 Mar Preserved Railways in the USA – Alan Thomas, SIHG

12 Mar The Lighter Side of the V Force – Bill Turnill, ex Vulcan Pilot

19 Mar History of Lubrication – Rupert Bravery, ExxonMobile

Venues, Times & Contacts Most venues open 30 minutes

before the start of presentations. Some organizations may not yet have announced

changes for the new year, so please check venues and costs carefully.

Brooklands: open Summer 10:00-17:00, Winter 10:00-16:00;

£11/£9.90; Brooklands Rd, Weybridge, Surrey KT13 0QN; www.brooklandsmuseum.com; 01932 857381.

Brunel Museum: Walks from Bermondsey Tube; just turn up Sun 10:45, Tue 18:15; £9/£7. Boat & train from Embankment tube station (not pier) for Brunel sites along the Thames; just turn up Sats & Thurs 10:45; £9/£7 (+ transport costs). Museum: Railway Avenue, Rotherhithe, London SE16 4LF; www.brunel-museum.org.uk; 020 7231 3840.

Croydon Airport Visitor Centre: open some Sun, 11:00-

16:00, free; Airport House, Purley Way, Croydon CR0 0XZ. DBRG, Domestic Buildings Research Group (Surrey):

East Horsley Village Hall, Kingston Avenue, East Horsley, Surrey KT24 6QT (O.S. ref TQ091542): Kingston Avenue is at the end of a parade of shops (Budgen supermarket on the corner). There is no need to book and non-members are welcome.

Docklands History Group: 18:00, £2; Museum of London Docklands, No 1 Warehouse, West India Quay, Hertsmere Rd, Canary Wharf, London E14 4AL; www.docklandshistorygroup.org.uk; 01689 851982.

Guildford Museum: Castle Arch, Guildford, Surrey GU1 3SX; Mons to Sats, 11:00-17:00 + Bank Holiday Mondays; www.guildford.gov.uk/museum, 01483 444751.

HIAS, Hampshire Industrial Archaeology Society: Underhill Centre, St. John's Rd, Hedge End, Hants SO30 4AF; 19:45, free; www.hias.org.uk; 01962 855200.

National Trust: www.nationaltrust.org.uk, 01483 561389. Newcomen Society London: 17:45, free; Fellows’ Room,

Science Museum, Exhibition Road, London SW7 2DD; http://newcomen.com.

Newcomen Society Portsmouth: 18:30; free; Burnaby Building, University of Portsmouth, Portland St, Portsmouth PO1 3QL; http://newcomen.com.

Portsmouth Historic Dockyard : 10:00-17:30, site ticket, annual £26/£24.25; HM Naval Base, Portsmouth PO1 3LJ; www.historicdockyard.co.uk; 02392 728060.

Railway and Canal Historical Society :18:30, free? The Rugby Tavern, Rugby Street, London WC1N 3ES; www.rchs.org.uk.

STEAM - Museum of the Great Western Railway: 10:00-16:00, £8/£6.50; Kemble Drive, Swindon SN2 2TA; www.steam-museum.org.uk; 01793 466 646.

Weald & Downland Open Air Museum, 10:30-18:00, £11.50/£10.50; Singleton, Chichester, West Sussex PO18 0EU; www.wealddown.co.uk; 01243 811348.

Geoff Burch signed copies of his new book at Guildford Museum, Castle Street, Guildford on Saturday 22nd November 2014.

There will be further signings at Guildford Station on Saturday 13 & Saturday 20 December.

The Chapters range from the Author’s Secondman days at Woking to Driving Days at Effingham Junction and Woking Mixed Traction Depots - Instructing days at South Side Training School Waterloo and the Operations & Safety Training Centre for South West Trains from 1967 to 2009.

Web: www.ramblingrailwayman.co.uk/ www.davidheyscollection.com/page32.htm

Book Launch

Rambling Railwayman’s Recollections

November 2014 4 Newsletter 202

(Alan) started with a cruise along the northern end of the Chester & Ellesmere Canal (see photo on page 16). The port opened in 1796 but most of the buildings were erected between 1830 and 1843, some being designed by Thomas Telford. Work to create the museum was started in 1974 by volunteers, who were particularly interested in the old Shropshire Union Canal. We saw a large number of boats, many of which had been re-stored, an extensive waterways display, and a Manches-ter Ship Canal exhibition.

The AIA 2014 Conference at Chester (Part 1)

The site became the National Waterways Museum in 2012 following the merger of the Waterways Trust into

(Continued on page 5)

This year the annual conference of the Association for Industrial Archaeology was held at Chester University from Friday 5th to Wednesday 10th September. We first went to one of these meetings in 1978 and have attended many since. We have often written reports for SIHG Newsletter but unfortunately have missed the last two, which were held in Essex and on Tayside. However this year we went and it was an excellent gathering, attended by 104 delegates. However Paul Sowan was the only other SIHG member present.

We arrived at Chester on the Friday afternoon so did not attend the Pre-Conference Symposium on The Archaeol-ogy of Chemicals and Textile Finishing, which was held on that day. We were however able to go to the launch of the booklet being published for the Conference enti-tled A Guide to the Industrial Archaeology of Cheshire by Michael Nevell and David George. It is A5, has 76 pages and 135 illustrations, most of which are in colour. It is very impressive. After dinner Mike Nevill gave a helpful introductory talk on The IA of Cheshire.

On Saturday we had another interesting introductory talk on the way in which the local authorities safeguard Cheshire’s archaeology through the planning process. Then we had a walk along the Chester & Ellesmere Ca-nal, starting at Chester General railway station (1848 Venetian style), saw the sites of the Chester Lead Works and the steam mill, followed the towpath with a detour along a stretch of the Roman walls which looks down on the canal in a deep sandstone cutting, to the Northgate flight of locks, on to the wharf, a dry dock and boat re-pair yard. Here there is a plaque to the late L.T.C. Rolt, who was born in Chester. The canal continues towards Ellesmere Port skirting the university campus, where we returned for lunch. This was followed by talks on The Salt Town of Nantwich and The Archaeology of the Cheshire Textile Industry and by announcements of the AIA awards: Restoration Grants, the Book and Archaeo-logical Report Awards and the Award for Digital Initia-tive and Innovation. The formal presentations were made after the conference dinner in the evening.

The AGM was held on Sunday morning, followed by the Rolt Memorial Lecture given this year by Dr Richard Newman on Harbour development as a precursor for industrialisation: the ports of Lancaster and Whitehaven. There was a choice of three visits in the afternoon and we chose different options. The visit to the National Waterways Museum at Ellesmere Port

The Middlewich Pump

The AIA 2014 Conference at Chester (Part 1) report by Glenys and Alan Crocker

Alan Crocker visiting the Middlewich pump

Photos Glenys Crocker

November 2014 5 Newsletter 202

Occasionally SIHG holds a working part to clear vegetation from the dere-lict pumping station at Vale End Albu-ry (NGR 044 477). This was installed in 1895 and is powered by a very rare Poncelet waterwheel. It pumped drink-ing water to a reservoir on the hill to the south of Albury village (NGR 055473). As indicated on the accom-panying photograph, taken in Novem-ber 2014, another working party is needed. The site is managed by the Albury Estate Office of the Duchy of Northumberland and the mill pond is used as a fishery. Permission has been granted for SIHG to carry out the work. Only a few volunteers, perhaps four, are needed for up to 3 hours. A time that is convenient for members of the working party will be arranged; in the past starting at 10:00 on a Sunday morning has been adopted. Members interested should contact me:

Alan Crocker, alanglen@glfd.freeserve.co.uk.

David Plunkett managed to astonish many of us with the sheer number of (now disappeared) tide mills which seem to have been particularly concentrated around the Thames Estuary and the Solent. He introduced us to a Professor Walter Minchinton who had counted 169 Tide Mills: it came as no surprise however that this number was disputed. Only four tidal mills are currently operational as mills, and one of these is at Eling, on

Photograph of the Vale End Poncelet waterwheel, taken in November 2014

Proposed Working Party at Vale End Pumping Station, Albury

Traditional Tide Mills by David Plunkett, report by Hugh Anscombe

Southampton Water, on the same side as Fawley but near the head of water. Eling had a medieval tidal mill and the current building dates from the 1770s although the machin-ery is newer, dating from 1892. With favourable tides, it can produce 1.3 tons of flour in a single day. ¤

Web: www.elingexperience.co.uk/

the new Canal and River Trust. The tour on the Chemical Industry at Widnes (Glenys) visited Catalyst, a science centre and major museum of the chemical industries. Developed on its present site since 1987 it has expanded to provide an education centre which is regarded as having a vital role in the economic develop-ment of the region. There was an introductory talk and a showing of an old film of the Magadi soda works in Kenya, a tour of the educational facilities and the display galleries and a trip up the high glass tower to the observation deck, which gives a panoramic view of the whole area. The Centre currently has over 30,000 visitors a year, about half of whom are children. The third Sunday afternoon tour (that we did not attend) was to Birkenhead Docks and Tramway. It involved a ride on a vintage Wirral tram through part of the docks and a tour of the tram museum.

(Continued from page 4) On Sunday evening there was a lecture on Fiddler’s Ferry Power Station in preparation for one of the Monday tours, which also went to the Anderton Boat Lift. The other tour went to the Merseyside Maritime Museum in Liverpool and included a descent into the Queensway Mersey Tunnel. We had not booked trips on the Monday, intending to conserve our energy for the rest of the programme. However, just before we left home we had heard that a friend from the Gunpowder Mills Study Group had died and her funeral was to be on that day, at Appleby-in-Westmorland. Alice Palmer had written a thesis in the 1970s on the early history of the Lowwood gunpowder works in Cumbria. We had met up with her in the Lake District many times and the GMSG had published her thesis. So we drove up the M6 and over the fells on a beautiful day to attend the service and meet her large circle of friends. ¤

(to be concluded)

November 2014 6 Newsletter 202

Wheels & Axles, press in background All photos Bob Bryson

While on a recent holiday, my German brother in law arranged for us to visit an old locomotive factory in the former East Germany. While I was not able to take in all of what was said on the tour, as the guide naturally spoke German, I was able to fill in most of the gaps by my own observation. I was interested to note at least two very English connections. The workshops origins go back to 1863 and in 1902 the site was expanded to be-come the main workshop for the Prussian state railway. During the 1960s under the East Germans the factory employed about 2,000 people making, amongst other things, snow ploughs and converting steam locomotives from coal burning to oil firing. In 1994 the company was merged with Deutsche Bahn AG. Since then the site has concentrated on the repair and maintenance of steam locomotives with a workforce of about 120 persons.

Around the walls of the factory were historical photo-

graphs of the factory and its many products. One set of pictures related to an incident on 4 May 1951 which demonstrated the tremendous power of steam. At 3pm that day the boiler of a locomotive exploded tearing it from the frame of the locomotive, lifting the roof of the roundhouse and throwing it into the road outside the factory. The boiler eventually came to rest in the back-yard of the nearby hospital. The accident severely injured 30 people, eleven of whom died.

During the tour the first locomotive we were shown was a replica of ADLER built by George and Robert Steven-son at their Newcastle works in 1835. ADLER is said to be the first locomotive to be used for the commercial transport of both goods and passengers in Germany. The replica was built one hundred years later in 1935 but was badly damaged in a fire at the Nuremberg Transport Museum in 2005. A decision to rebuild the locomotive was made and the replica was expensively renovated at Meiningen between April and October 2007 at a cost of some one million euros (£800K).

Visiting the machine shop I was particularly impressed with the lathes and heavy machinery used to manufac-ture axles and turn wheels. I knew that steel tyres were heated so that they could be shrunk onto the wheels. What I did not know was that the wheels themselves are cold pressed onto the axle. Sometimes a key is fitted to prevent the wheel turning on the axles, but sometimes not.

TORNADO type boiler

ADLER

Meiningen Steam Locomotive Works by Bob Bryson

Towards the end of our tour, in the boiler shop, the guide turned to me in front of a large new boiler and said ‘TORNADO’ with a smile. This had me guessing, because while I was aware of the all-new LNER class A1 locomotive number 60163 TORNADO. Having seen it in built in Darlington and ridden behind on a steam special out of Waterloo, I could not see what the boiler was doing in Germany in September 2014! Subsequent research has confirmed that the boiler for TORNADO was indeed manufactured in June 2006 at Meiningen. Since then it was returned to the works for repair in 2011; however at the time of my visit to Germany TORNADO was in service in the North of England. I can only speculate that the boiler I saw was destined for the new LNER class P2 locomotive number 2007 PRINCE OF WALES. This Sir Nigel Gresley designed 2-8-2 locomotive currently under construction in Darlington is being built by the same group that built the TORNADO and will have an identical boiler to TORNADO.

Web: www.dampflokwerk.de/en/ ¤

November 2014 7 Newsletter 202

Top: Alan Oakley’s photo. Centre: the bottom end of the chain

Bottom: A similar engine, seen at the Great Dorset Steam Fair; Centre & bottom photos Bob Bryson

Since writing in the last Newsletter about the old pump house things have moved on such that I thought I would provide an up date. Firstly, my article was read by Alan Oakley who was very familiar with the site and was able to provide a photograph of the pump taken in 1959 when the engine that powered the pump was still extant. (see picture, right, centre) Secondly, John Caton expressed an interest in attending the dig but unfortu-nately he was not available on the day, so as before there was just three of us able to turn out; Pam Taylor, Jan Spencer and myself. Armed with the old photo and permission from Surrey Wildlife Trust who manage the site we set about to establish what the large chain drove and also, having seen the photograph, establish some more about the engine installation.

Digging down we found that unfortunately a large block of wall had fall onto the lower end of the chain that was too large to be removed. We were thus not able to estab-lish what the chain drove other than a small sprocket which we were able to locate. The bearing and any equipment driven by the chain/sprocket remained out of sight under the substantial piece of masonry.

We were however more successful with the engine installation. Comparison with similar engines reveals that the engine was a Hornsby type 1905 of that vintage or a very similar engine. It was most likely an oil engine of about 4 to 6 horse power. (An interesting feature of such ‘hot bulb’ heavy oil engines is that the fuel has to be vaporised and ignites in a separate hot bulb connect-ed to the cylinder. A blowlamp is used to get the bulb up to temperature before the engine can be started.) Such stationary engines were normally water cooled by pipe work connecting the engine to a large water tank. While no evidence of the tank was found a flanged pipe of the correct size was found in the right location alongside the engine base.

In the photograph the engine is shown with a plain (flat belt) pulley. While on site all that remains of the drive train is a pair of bearing support brackets and a large gear wheel which is connected via a long shaft to the pump mechanism. Because of the need to disengage the engine to start it, the belt drive on the engine most likely drove a pulley on an intermediate shaft supported in bear-ings on the brackets we had previously observed. This intermediate shaft (not found) would have had a gear wheel on the other end that could be engaged with the top of the large gear wheel still on site. Our shallow excavations of the engine bed supported this theory as we were able to locate the engine holding down bolts as well as indications of the belt run.

A search of various maps held at the Surry History Centre has not revealed any additional information. Neither the 1:2,500 nor the tithe maps show evidence of the riverside pump house. The managers of Norbury Park House have however confirmed that the old pump-ing station is actually ‘owned with the title of Norbury Park House’ and that there is what they call a well house with a later borehole inside an octagonal building near the house. ¤

Old Pump House on Norbury Park by Bob Bryson