AIA News 140 Spring 2007 · 2019-08-28 · and listen to all the 14 entries. The Santorini Tomato Factory won the vote with 51% of the total. It would seem that the local town was

INDUSTRIAL ARCHAEOLOGY

NEWSTHE BULLETIN OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR INDUSTRIAL ARCHAEOLOGY FREE TO MEMBERS OF AIA

Saxony ● Chimneys ● Henry Ford MuseumCaithness ● Waterworks Museum ● Belgium

186AUTUMN

2018

2—INDUSTRIAL ARCHAEOLOGY NEWS—186

INDUSTRIALARCHAEOLOGY

NEWS 186Autumn 2018

Honorary PresidentProf Marilyn Palmer63 Sycamore Drive, Groby, Leicester LE6 0EW

ChairmanDr Michael NevellCentre for Applied Archaeology, LG19 Peel Building,University of Salford, Salford M5 4NW

SecretaryDavid de HaanAIA Liaison Office, Ironbridge Gorge Museum,Coalbrookdale, Telford TF8 7DX

TreasurerJohn JonesHines Farm, Earl Stonham, Suffolk IP14 5HQ

IA Review EditorsDr Mike Nevell and Dr Ian West

IA News EditorChris BarneyThe Barn, Back Lane, Birdingbury CV23 8EN

Conference SecretaryJohn McGuinness29 Altwood Road, Maidenhead SL6 4PB

Planning Casework OfficerAmber PatrickFlat 2, 14 Lypiatt Terrace, Cheltenham GL50 2SX

Publicity OfficerRoy Murphy3 Wellington Road, Ombersley, Worcestershire WR9 0DZ

Recording Awards OfficerShane Kelleher

Sales OfficerRoger FordBarn Cottage, Bridge Street, Bridgnorth, Shropshire WV15 6AF

Facebook ManagerDr Paul Collins

Council MembersBill Barksfield (Website and Overseas trips)Dr Robert Carr (British Archaeological Awards)Tony Crosby (APPG Secretariat)Kate Dickson (E-FAITH)Bruce Hedge (Membership development)Shane KelleherMichael MessengerStephen Miles (Conference bookings)Ian MillerRoy Murphy (Publicity)Dr Tegwen Roberts (Social media)Mark Watson (TICCIH – GB National Representative)

Honorary Vice-PresidentsProf Angus Buchanan Sir Neil CossonsProf John Hume

Liaison OfficerDavid de Haan, AIA Liaison Office, The Ironbridge Institute,Ironbridge Gorge Museum, Coalbrookdale, Telford TF8 7DX.Tel: 01952 416026.E-mail: [email protected]: www.industrial-archaeology.org

COVER PICTUREKnappenrode, Saxony. The business end of a browncoal bucket wheel excavator. The wheel is 10m indiameter and the adjacent figure gives an idea ofscale. See page 4.

The TICCIH Conference in Barcelona April 2018was held in the Agbar Museu de les Aigües. Thefull title of this event was ‘The internationalheritage of the water industry – historic values ofsupply and treatment networks.

Stephen Sanders

The material remains of industry: industrial sites,buildings, plant, machinery and equipment aswell as housing, industrial settlements, industriallandscapes, products and processes, anddocumentation of the industrial society, all fallwithin its remit. Members of TICCIH come from allover the world and include historians,conservators, museum curators, architects,archaeologists, students, teachers, heritageprofessionals and anyone with an interest in thedevelopment of industry and industrial society.Although TICCIH members are both individualsand institutions, it is organized through nationalassociations, here in the UK, being theAssociation for Industrial Archaeology.

The Barcelona Conference in April 2018concentrated on the water industry and aimed toput the industry’s infrastructure into its historictechnological and social context, to examine theorigins of the technical solutions that have beendeveloped and to compare how they wereapplied in different cities around the world. Theconference room itself had been a large, brick,above ground reservoir and, now redundant,converted into a large meeting room and concerthall. This was the first of several redeployedredundant industrial buildings connected withthe city’s water supply to impress me.

Delegates were welcomed to the conference bythe museum director Sònia Hernández and JamesDouet from TICCIH. He introduced the inauguraladdress, given by Professor Martin Melosi, Directorof the Centre for Public History, University ofHouston, USA. Professor Melosi described the socialpressures that led to the need for better watersupplies, mostly health driven. He cited the findingsof people like Edwin Chadwick and Dr John Snowand explained how the development of a greaterunderstanding of what diseases were – from theidea of miasmic influences, to bacteriologicaltheory, to the ecology considerations of the presentday – have created the mosaic nature of thesystems we depend on. He explained that thewatercarriers and wells had been adequate untilthe rapid growth of population in the nineteenthcentury created an unmanageable need for cleanwater. Private enterprise could not cope with theinvestment required and municipal investment wasoften key to providing fresh water, often fromremote sources. As the appreciation of the issuesinvolved in providing clean water improved, so toodid the handling of ‘hazardous substances’ ofsewage and waste.

James Douet’s own presentation to thedelegates was entitled, What is Significant aboutthe Water Heritage? This was an explanation ofthe TICCIH comparative study of the water

industry which will inform the UNESCO report onwater supply, the universal importance of water,the history of the water industry and identifyingwhat aspects of the industrial processingarchitectural heritage is historically significant. Hewent on to show how the mortality rate fell aswater quality improved, how the introduction ofthe steam engine helped, how water could bebrought from further afield and how the size ofwater processing facilities grew to keep pace withthe increasing demand.

Rolf Höhmann of the Büro für Industrie-archäologie in Germany delivered a paper on Pre-industrial technology for water supply. Using theGerman city of Augsburg to explain both the waywater supply was managed and had evolved, heillustrated the difficulties of working with limitedhistoric material and the absence of industrialarchaeological remains. He explained whyAugsburg had been selected for the study andraised the significance of water used by those inauthority, be they princes or states, to show howpowerful they were – princes building fountainsand states building water towers.

Professor Susan Ross talked about themanagement of the water supply to the city ofMontreal. She told the conference how reservoirshad developed at various places on the adjacentmountain over time and how they had beenmaintained, some as parts of the landscape, someas enclosed treatment plants. There were manycontentious issues surrounding aesthetics,ecology and security of the city’s water supply.Professor Ross implied that commercialconsiderations too often held sway. She finishedby emphasising the importance of ‘water rights’and the importance of public dialogue.

Barcelona developed its industrial revolutionwithout coal, water or minerals. Dr Manel Martintold how the City developed through thenineteenth century with references to many ofthe spectacular buildings that were built toquench the thirst of a rapidly growingconurbation. He explained how not all were assuccessful as the entrepreneurs had hoped. Amagnificent water tower had been built too nearthe coast. It produced water too salty for publicconsumption and so was used to serve nearbyindustry and fire brigades. High in the hills behindBarcelona there is a water tower with anexceptional lift to carry staff and visitors to thetop, from where spectacular views of the city canbe enjoyed. Its elevated position meant that itcould keep even the tallest buildings adequatelysupplied. As Barcelona became a modernEuropean city, it lost its medieval heart and itsancient walls but gained refurbished old andimpressive new fountains.

Dr Jorge Tartarini from the Museo del Agua inBuenos Aires described how a town whoseprincipal industry had been contraband, grewinto today’s Buenos Aires. Founded at the time ofthe conquistadores, as its population increased awater industry had to develop. Outbreaks ofwater borne diseases, particularly cholera, proved

Testing the Waters in Barcelona

INDUSTRIAL ARCHAEOLOGY NEWS—186—3

too much for the water carriers who providedwater for most of the citizens and even for therainwater wells favoured by the better off. Thiswas in spite of the precaution, taken by thewealthy, of keeping a small tortoise in their wellsto purify them! The first clean water was broughtinto the city by the railway company and sharedbetween the engines and the station’sneighbours! The city commissioned the Irish bornengineer John Coghlan to build the first watertreatment works anywhere in the Americas. Thiswas superseded by more efficient plant in anenlarged system by John Bateman, the Britishengineer. The project was so grandiose thatDoulton decorative tiles were imported from theUK to grace the building.

The final presentation was a detailed accountof the spectacular Bubene waste watertreatment works. Dr Sàrka Jirouškova is theadministrator of the Bubene in Prague. It was inuse from 1907 until 1967 and currently itsbuilding serves as a museum of Prague’s sewagesystem.It was designed by William HeerleinLindley to cope with the sewage from Prague.

The following day was devoted to site visits andagain, very rewarding. The city has severalhistorically interesting water pumping stations andstorage and distribution buildings. Delegates weretaken to the Torreoó del Tibidabo water tower, theCasa de les Aigüessteam engine and pumpingstation in Montcada and the Torre de les Aigües delBesòs in Poble Nou. All fine buildings, but for me thelast place we visited was the most spectacularredeployment of a structure. An enormous brick-builtreservoir, originally constructed to supply water tofountains in a nearby park and designed to resemblean impregnable fortress is now converted into thelibrary complex of one of the University Campuses.

The conference was very well organised,interesting and informative, and we would like toacknowledge and thank the Peter NeaversonTravel Bursary and the Council of the AIA for theirsupport in attending this event

Adorning the chimney at Limberg

Casa de les Aigües the pumping station in Montcada, onthe outskirts of the city, has two vertical engines byAlexander Brothers of Barcelona photo Mark Watson

Ode to JoyIA News 185 included a plea to mark the monthof May as Chimney Month by serenading yourlocal industrial chimney with a rendition ofBeethoven’s Ode to Joy. This action was in linewith the call launched by Placido Domingo andEuropa Nostra, the ‘Ode2Joy Challenge’ – toperform the piece in front of or in a historicalmonument or site. EFAITH translated this call intoa campaign to call attention to factory chimneys,and asked everyone to perform this famous pieceof music near a chimney on 9 May.

Unfortunately IA News was distributed toolate to have an effect in Britain but there wereperformances elsewhere in Europe.

To see what did take place – search – EFAITHchimney serenade – and you will be able to watchand listen to all the 14 entries. The SantoriniTomato Factory won the vote with 51% of the

total. It would seem that the local town was fullybehind the performance and was united inplacing their vote.

The United Kingdom had only one entry butin the opinion of the editor and everyone he hasconsulted, their performance was the best,although they only took a measly one per cent ofthe vote (bit too shy we are for this sort of thing– pity). Our entry came from Yorkshire where theLangcliffe Singers had chosen Langcliffe’s ownHoffman Lime Kiln to sing the piece.

Singing in the original German they madetwo recordings inside and one outside, aided by apassing train and some particularly lovelybirdsong! Well worth a moment — search —Langcliffe Singers Hoffman kiln.

The kiln was built in 1873 and ceasedproduction in 1939. The chimney survived until1951 when, the day before the intendeddemolition, it collapsed with nobody to witness it.

A different way to celebrate chimneys was ina small village in the province of Limburg,Belgium where – thanks to the mayor – a piece ofart symbolising a flame was fitted to the top of achimney of a former brickworks. Almost thewhole village, including the brass band and localpoliticians were present and there was animpressive light and sound show after dark.

Industrial chimneys are the subject of RobertCarr’s piece on page 12.


The 2018 AIA Spring Tour set out to investigatethe very significant industrial area of Saxony andthe Erzegebirge (Ore-mountains) in the formerEast Germany which form the natural border withBohemia to the south and which had importantmining interest from the Bronze Age to theAtomic Age.

John Copping

Professor Helmuth Albrecht of the TechnicalUniversity of Freiberg provided much of theinformation and a provisional itinerary for thetour. On the first evening he talked about theindustrial archaeology of the region andespecially about the efforts to get the area listedas a World Heritage Site – see box.

The first visit was to the SachsichesIndustriemuseum in Chemnitz, the first of severalERIH anchor points. The survival of industrialheritage can be a precarious matter, no betterexemplified than by the numerous holes drilledbelow the dado line of the engine house ready toaccept the dynamite charges which were sonearly used to destroy the site. An eclectic rangeof displays included a range of old cars presentedin a multi-storey bookcase, a Trabant sleeper-car,the tent over the roof apparently erectable withinthree minutes, and a minuscule electric car datingfrom 1921. There was discussion about theartistic form of presses from the 1880s againstthat of the robot endlessly repeating the sameweld on a VW car body. A range of textilemachines was operated with enthusiasm by astaff member, demonstrating how a razor bladecuts the slot between the bindings of a buttonhole. Typewriters and telephones were madelocally until the major de-industrialisation of theearly 1990s.

The Ernemann Tower ‘nearly a sky-scraper’was on the day just a cloud-scraper, but offeredoversight of Coventry’s twin city. Anadvertisement for Zeiss Ikon on the wall explainsits earlier links with cameras and film, but closurecame in 1990. Visitors young and old(ish) aregiven the opportunity ’to experiment with andexplore natural phenomena, scientificfoundations and the most recent achievements’.Apparently a ‘smart’ material has a state that canbe changed repeatedly, requires a triggernecessary for that effect and an application thatcan usefully use these changes. Population and itsgrowth rate is monitored by continent; apparentlythe world had gained 26.003 people betweenopening time and the time of our visit, a soberingthought. We have all blown bubbles, but onemember was bold enough to stand on an islandin a lake of soapy water and have a tubular filmthe shape of a cooling tower drawn up to headheight around him. Another floor offeredreminders of Bletchley Park and Babbage.

In cold climates freezing of water lying in theworking parts of a gasholder can pose problemsso they need enclosing; two of 1878 were inelegant ‘windowed’ buildings reminiscent of the

Albert (of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha) Hall, followed in1907/08 by one within a huge concrete frame,now pending adaptation as an open air theatre.Alongside, the remaining 1878 model offers aningenious heritage adaptation. On entering, onepasses a curved perspective of Dresden inmediaeval times. Further round, well-presentedbays reflect the ruling families, development ofthe Lutheran church and early exclusion of Jewsfrom owning property – until one Jewish familyhelped the ruler out of financial troubles. Afterpassing a C18 bell recovered from theFrauenkirche following an aerial visit in 1945, aright turn enters the huge central spaceencapsulated by the enormous cylindrical muralknown as the Panometer. It depicts life in the cityaround 1750 and offers a fifteen-minute son-et-lumiere from pre-dawn to post-dusk. One noticesthe wood-framed farmhouse burning on a distanthillside, which may suggest why few thatchedhouses were seen on the tour.

The evening was spent pleasurably ploughingsteadily up the Elbe and back on the secondoldest of Dresden’s eight paddle streamers, theDiesbar. One did not have to be a crank to admirethe elegant machinery rotating and reciprocatingin the engine room below its glazed roof.Admiration was expressed for the extremelysmooth turns made by the craft at each end of itsroute: also of the Meccano-set bridge known asthe Blue Wonder.

At Grossroehrsdorf, opportunity had beentaken to present and use for interpretation arange of machinery most of which was inproductive use barely twenty years ago. Theearliest was Mr Hans’ simple loom of 1680.Alongside was a simple multi-loom, the shuttlemechanism operated manually. Capable ofworking only twenty minutes at a stretch, themen of the town must have had broad shoulders.Mechanisation put at threat the home-workerwith his necessarily simpler loom. Attempts weremade to introduce legislation to effectively banthe more productive machines but it was difficultto draft definitions that were not open tochallenge. A particularly interesting loom usedthe Jacquard principle but involving a board withpegs rather than the expected punchedcardboard. Franz Dietzmann, from ProfessorAlbrecht’s department, is to be thanked for hisvery proficient translation.

Brown coal or lignite has been a majorenergy source in Germany up to the present. TheEnergiemuseum at Knappenrode was built duringthe first war to convert raw lignite, with its 60%water content, into dry briquettes. The chancediscovery of a demonstration adit permitted afew of us to handle the raw material, much likeshredded tree trunk, lacking only the hugepressure from above that would have turned itinto black coal. A process built into two passesfrom top to bottom of the factory through sevenstages ended in forming briquettes at the rate ofone a second from mighty reciprocating presses –literally mass production. Conveyors carried the

output direct to road or rail trucks, a proportionno doubt recycling as fuel for powering theprocesses. Despite attempts to continue andexport, the plant closed in 1993, being convertedto an industrial museum and another ERIH anchorpoint.

A visit to Drei Bruder Schacht near Freibergbroke up the return drive and gave us theopportunity to understand how importantunderground water management still is, longafter mining activity has ceased. This, combinedwith the description of the disused undergroundhydro-electric plant based on the water flow ledto the intriguing suggestion that it could bebrought back to life as a source of green energy.

There are limits to where you can safely go ata site involved in mining uranium, first calledpitchblende around 1789, so much of the storywas explained in the WISMUT HQ building.During the period 1946-91 it became the fourthlargest producer in the world. The possibilityemerged that the USSR had identified it as astrategically important target to be consolidatedwithin the division of Germany in 1945. Again itwas becoming unprofitable around 1990. Thecomprehensive plan for remediation apparentlyincorporates a golf course – a site visit thatinvited some thought.

After twisting down wooded valleys thecoach turned a corner and there it was above us,Goltzsch Valley Bridge. Started in 1846 to permitrail access across the valley it was the prototypecurved stone arch bridge and today the largestbrick built bridge in the world, reminiscent of therather earlier Pont du Gard. A rail car blessed uswith a crossing, although a couple conjecturedthat the Red Arrows should have appearedthrough the arches. The civil engineers enjoyed it,some rude mechanicals possibly favouring theoperational Trabant parked nearby – the first seenoutside a museum.

The West Saxon Textile Museum atCrimmitschau, the town of a hundred chimneys, isanother site that stopped production in the early1990s. The problems of the closed economy of theDDR in its later years obliged inclusion of usedfabric in the threads of both natural and syntheticfibres, presumably much as the processing ofused fabric deposited at the local tip today. Theweaving processes were interpreted in physicalterms by a previous employee.

The final historic weaving mill at Braunsdorf,undamaged during the war, reflects the large-scale production for which heavy machinery wasinstalled in 1910. A few machines had alreadybeen removed just after reunification before thescope for presenting the heritage was fullyrecognised, so further examples have beeninstalled to complete a comprehensive collection.The leat serving its original water-wheel nowserves the active mill next door.

The fourth morning presented three differentindustries but each of them ancient. The limeworks at Langefeld offers an imposingarchitectural façade, fronted by four Rumford

AIA Spring Tour 2018 to Saxony


A World Heritage Site?The Erzgebirge possesses an outstanding variety of raw materials in a small geographic area, starting with silver, via lead, tin, copper, iron, cobalt,arsenic and zinc through to uranium as well as other raw materials such as clay, kaolin, lime marble and coal. Mining has been in progress for over800 years and has created not only surface underground mining installations but also development of many towns and settlements. There is acampaign to have the ‘Mining Cultural Landscape of the Ore Mountains’ inscribed by UNESCO as a transboundary cultural heritage landscape ofoutstanding universal value i.e. a World Heritage Site. The original bid comprised 85 component parts, 79 in Saxony and six in the Czech Republic.This has now been reduced to a serial nomination of 22 component parts, 17 in Saxony and five in the Czech Republic. It has been a major exerciseto bring together all the parties from these settlements. The AIA wishes Professor Albrecht and his associates every success with the nomination.

Marilyn Palmer

Knappenrode. Briquette presses, each one turning out onebriquette per second

Kalkwerk Langefeld. Three of the limekilns.

Braunsdorf. Warp threads entering the loom.

Goltzsch Valley Bridge with the assembled party

All photos by Bill Barksfield


kilns erected from 1818 to 1853, backing onto theoriginal open-cast workings, pocked with adits forthe later underground mining. The raw limestone,lifted from below, entered at height in wheeledtubs to be fed to either the kiln for ‘binding’ limefor building, or to the one to be used foragricultural purposes. A companion (un-named)mentioned the load of balls displayed in onechamber, apparently for crushing the ash, whichcould be retained in the mix used on the land, animpressively pragmatic option. A change ofproduction to terrazzo chippings occurred in1975. One kiln was converted to a museum in1986, well before the changes of 1989/90 andsince. The demonstration of the slaking processposed minor issues of H&S but permitted onemember to get ‘hot finger’, a syndrome perhapsmore common among AIA members than others.It was an atmospheric site articulating thelongest-standing industrial process of all.

Mining for silver and other ores started atLauta in 1833. From 1838-77 there was inoperation the original horse gin by which menand materials were moved down or up the shaft.A faithful replica was built in the 1990s,comprising a substantial shed over the head-gearand the elegant roof over the capstan and horse-ring, both beautifully crafted. The option toenclose it totally was apparently rejected. It wasimpressive how immediately the rather eleganthorse, missing its previous companion, respondedto the signals by bell from inside. In a roombeyond a display workshop was a ten-metre longwood, cork and moss model in the local style ofthe numerous characters of the brothers Grimm,Rumpelstiltskin dancing a jig in perpetual circularmotion.

Water is abundant in the Erzgebirge so it wasno surprise to visit water-mills, but the hammer-forge at Frohnauer was special for many. Thecavernous workshop, rebuilt in 1692 is served bytwo water-wheels, one operating the bellows forthe two forges by an interesting overheadmechanism of wooden spars. The three tilt-hammers of increasing weight operated eachmore slowly but the precise rate of striking wascontrolled by an iron stylus falling from abovewhich engaged in a plank perforated like a hugecribbage board. A new oak shaft, twelve metreslong, around a metre in diameter and weighingtwelve tonnes, had recently been fitted.Fortunately, that need is expected only everythirty years.

Carl Thorsager, on an AIA trip for the first timebut established authority within Norway, kindlyoffered to pitch the journey on theFichtelbergbahn from Cranzahl toOberwiesenthal in the strategic context ofcontinental narrow gauge steam railways. Heregards the track and infrastructure as good withnothing particularly exceptional. The gauge of750mm is pretty standard across Europe, exceptin Austria where 760mm is the norm. He suggestswe should be relieved that so many railwayssurvived in the old DDR, as many in the BRD havebeen closing down. The maintenance of enginesis key and Germany, respecting soundworkmanship, has at Meiningen the most

esteemed workshop on the continent. There aresome of equivalent quality in the UK, so someengines are brought across the Channel foroverhaul. Meiningen services all the engines ofthe DDR and some 30% of those of the formerWest Germany. The two engines seen on the daywere judged in excellent condition. However, withthe recent closure of the depot at Gera, thecontinuing success and sustainability ofMeiningen is increasingly critical. The narrowgauge railways in Saxony now form threeprivately–owned companies.

It is hard to envisage the scale of open-castmining in Braunkohl. The historical map shows afan of successive excavations configured rather inthe style of the local slated roof, but each ‘cut’maybe a hundred meters wide and a fewkilometres long. The bucket wheel excavator of1968, 62 meters long and weighing 1342 tons isdwarfed by the later overburden spreader,interestingly as late as 1985, which stretches to202 meters and weighs in at 2424 tons. Each canmove at 5-6 metres per minute, needing theirexceptionally large tracks to progress over softground. These monsters were operated by justtwo men, or maybe women, with a third on theground as an independent pair of eyes. Ourvoluble guide knew his subject, havingresearched the manning, management andconditions of the workforce through the years ofthe Third Reich and the Communist era. He drewattention to the landscape stretching almost tothe horizon in each direction to indicate thestandards to which the original topography couldnow be reinstated.

The short visit to Leipzig will be rememberedmore for the numerous darkly clad peoplesupporting Faust – the Rock Opera than for thecity’s railway station. As the coach drew slowly

away, a score of old hearses, including a Wartburgor two as well as a few Trabbis, passed in theother direction occupied by Faustian characters.One industrial archaeologist at least found itdifficult to identify Mephistopheles.

The final visit was to the site of a coal mine,this time for black coal, but closed as early as1971 when it became substantially mined out. Asaccess underground is not feasible, it presentswell the rail-system, trucks and cages for movingmen and materials both up and down the shaftand around the over-ground facilities. The minemock-up at lower ground floor level wasregarded as less successful by some, but offeredan impression of most phases of an extensivesystem in a small area, although one wasconscious that passage heights had been adaptedfor visitors. Even then, several appreciated theprovision of hard hats. But the magnificent steamwinding engine, now turned electrically, whichwas in use from the 1920s to the closure of thepit, put a smile back on some people’s faces. Alsoseveral will have been attracted by the mightyrailway engine parked outside. That was the endof the shift.

It was sad to learn that so much of thereputable traditional industry of Saxony that hadsurvived through the post-war period to thechanges of 1989/90 had found need to close bythe mid-1990s. The passive effects of a closedeconomy becoming open to external pressuresare recognisable. It remained unclear whetherthat situation was exacerbated by activeinfluences emanating from outside the old DDR.

Thanks are once again due to Bill Barksfieldfor his overall organisation; also to ProfessorAlbrecht and Franz Dietzmann for helping toilluminate several of the site visits. The hotel andgradually the weather served us well too.

Hammer Mill at Frohnauer


In 1928, on a visit to England, Henry Ford metHenry Frederick Morton, an engineer at Ford’splant in Trafford Park, Manchester. Morton hadknowledge of early engines and was a member ofthe recently formed Newcomen Society. Hisinterests were known to his managers, who hadhim sent to look at old engines at the request ofthe ‘Chief Engineer’ in Dearborn. Ford outlined toMorton his plans for his Institute to celebrate thegenius of Edison, and said that it was to includea representative sample of early steam engines.Morton told Ford ‘that just enough specimens arestill in existence to enable the project to becarried out but the cost of obtaining them, andtheir dismantling, shipping and re-erection mightbe enormous’. Ford considered this for a fewseconds and then said “Well I’ll tell you – I’llspend Ten Million Dollars”.

Prof David Perrett

Originally published in the TICCIH Bulletin Nos 78and 79 and reproduced here with kind permission.

In the 1920s, Henry Ford was the third richestAmerican with a personal wealth of $200 billion intoday’s terms. While reducing his role in thecompany, he was extending his diverse historicalinterests. Ford’s early life was on the family farm inDearborn, a small community west of Detroit. 1879saw him apprenticed to a ship-builder in Detroitand on returning home he helped maintain somesteam powered farming machinery, so starting hislifelong fascination with steam. In 1891 he joinedthe Edison Illuminating Co. in Detroit as anengineer working on steam-driven generators,rapidly becoming Chief Engineer. He met ThomasEdison in 1896 with hopes that Edison wouldencourage him to develop a ‘horseless carriage’,but that was not the case, so he left and in 1899started his automobile company.

Nevertheless, the pair later became greatfriends. In the mid-1920s Ford developed plans tobuild a museum like London’s Science Museum.The Edison Institute along with Greenfield Villagewas to be built in Dearborn alongside a newmotor factory. A major gallery was to show a fullycomprehensive history of both stationary steampower and steam locomotion.

On 31 March 1928, Ford and his wife Clara,travelling incognito as Mr & Mrs Robinson, alongwith his private secretary Frank Campsall, sailedfrom New York for England. They soon blew theircover, so by their arrival in Southampton on 6 Aprilthe press and politicians were aware of their visit.Speculation centred on Ford seeking site(s) formajor new car plants. With the exception of a visitthe day after arriving in London to land purchasedat Dagenham, Essex, site of a future Ford factory,business was not the prime aim of the visit. It wasmuch more about filling his new Institute.

Neither Henry nor Clara kept records of thismeeting or of their travels with Morton aroundBritain looking for suitable engines to buy.

However, Morton wrote a memoir titled StrangeCommissions for Henry Ford. When privatelypublished in 1946 the printer advised that he onlyprint 100 copies, given the specialist subject, so itis very rare. On retiring in the 1960s Mortonwrote a fuller account called Spend me TenMillion which was never published. Some ofMorton’s records are in Chetham’s Library inManchester U.K. and the Benson Ford ResearchCenter at The Henry Ford in Dearborn, USA.

The following morning Ford insisted that theyvisit the Science Museum even though Mortonsaid it did not open until 10 am. A surpriseddoorman was persuaded to tell the Director thata Mr Ford had come to visit. They were shownround with Ford offering to buy Stephenson’sRocket and the 1788 Boulton & Watt Lap engine.His offer was rejected; they were nationaltreasures but Morton would be allowed to makemeasured drawings. Robert Stephenson & Co of

The Henry Ford Museum at Dearborn, Michiganand a shopping expedition to dream of

Fairbottom Bobs in the 1880s. This 22 x 16in sepia photo donated by Roger Francis to the Ironbridge archives shows theengine 40 years before Henry Ford saw it.

Fairbottom Bobs under reconstruction at Dearborn with five fewer courses of masonry to allow it to fit in the building

Darlington searched their archives for drawingsbut with little success. At the end of April Mortonvisited Stephenson, who agreed to build an‘exact’ working replica using Morton’s drawingsand in July, £2451.7s.2d was sent for the work. Alltransactions for Ford by Morton were informaland the cashiers were told not to question any ofthe money requested. The replica was completedin May 1929 and after a short U.K. tour wasshipped to Dearborn. Morton approached HickHargreaves & Co of Bolton to build the replicaSun and Planet engine. Amusingly, they told himthat it was a very old design and they could buildhim a much more modern one! The replica,completed by 1930, is still in the Henry FordMuseum.

Leaving London, they went to Warwick whereits horse-hauled steam fire-pump attracted Ford.The Birmingham Navigation Co. showed them the1777 Watt engine that worked until 1898 atOcker Hill Pumping Station. Ford was astonishedto see something so large and so old. They thenwent to Lawley St. Pumping Station where the1812 Watt engine was still working. Ford’s partynow met the Warwick & Birmingham NavigationCo’s manager, who took them to Bowyer St.Pumping Station with its giant 1796 B&W enginewhich, having stopped in 1854, was in a sorrystate. Ford instructed Morton to try and obtain allthree engines and their engine houses. EventuallyMorton secured the Lawley St and Bowyerengines. The Smethwick (Ocker Hill) enginesurvives in Birmingham’s Think Tank Museum.

Their next task was to find and secure aNewcomen Engine. Morton was able to showFord the 1795 Newcomen Engine at Elsecar inSouth Yorkshire, which because of a failure in thecolliery’s electric pumps, was back in steam. EarlFitzwilliam stated categorically that it was not forsale. Morton knew of a Newcomen Engine on aformer colliery east of Manchester. This engine,

popularly known as Fairbottom Bobs, dated fromc1760 but, having stood in the open sincestopping in 1827, was totally derelict. Ford was soimpressed that he jumped on Morton’s shouldersto see into the cylinder but they collapsed to theground laughing. Even in its dire state Fordinstructed Morton to acquire it. Henry and Clarareturned to London where, seeing Bennett’sclockworks in the City being demolished, he toldMorton to buy it, too. Passing a steam wagon inthe street he wanted one also.

After their month’s stay in Britain, on 2 MayHenry and Clara Ford sailed back to New York.Herbert Morton was left with the task ofacquiring the engines and buildings Ford hadvisited, dismantling them and shipping them toDearborn for re-assembly there. This in itself wasa major task but Ford’s wish list for his museumextended to many more engine types than he hadseen on his UK holiday and Morton was chargedwith finding and obtain the desired examples.

So he started working full time on the directinstructions of Henry communicated via Campsallfrom Dearborn. Telegrams with short messagessuch as ‘buy Warwick Fire Engine’ survive inChetham’s Library, Manchester. It was not onlysteam engines that Ford wanted. He was alsoafter a Welsh woollen mill, a Cotswold cottageand a village smithy. Morton had to arrange for,not just the construction of a replica Stephenson’sRocket, but also for the Boulton & Watt Lapengine, which the Science Museum had told Fordhe could not buy. A request to buy Cugnot’sSteam carriage exhibited at the Musée des Arts etMétiers in Paris was also rapidly turned down.There were trips to Germany in search of earlydiesel engines. The Fords also wanted largenumbers of other antiques to be sourced, bought,carefully packed and shipped to the USA.

The task of identifying the true owners ofengines such as Fairbottom Bobs was a challenge

in itself. Eventually it was gifted by the Earl ofStamford’s Trustees in return for re-building abridge over the nearby river that had beenwashed away. For others, the cost was thepurchase of new electric motors to replace thesteam engines, as in the case of a beam engineacquired from Coalbrookdale.

At Fairbottom, Morton and a small team ofworkers crudely excavated around the remains ofthe engine and other surviving structures. Some 25years earlier the rotten beam had finally snappedwith part falling down the mine shaft. Grapplingtools failed to recover much, so Morton had himselflowered down the mine shaft to seek any missingparts. All the components of the engine includingthe masonry beam support were carefullynumbered, crated up and shipped to Dearborn.

Removing the B&W beam engines fromBirmingham did not require excavations, but thecareful removal of the entire pumping stationswithout the citizens knowing their heritage wason the move was the essential. A localengineering contractor did the work, not knowingwhere the engines were going or who hadacquired them. The challenge with the 1811engine at Lawley St was the sheer weight of thecomponents including the cast iron beam.

By late 1929, Morton had collected a total ofthree Newcomen engines, 19 stationary enginesincluding two enormous Boulton and Wattpumping engines from canal pumping stations inBirmingham plus the replica lap engine, twosteam generator sets, four marine engines, fourearly boilers, seven mobile engines and tractionengines, two steam fire engines, three steamturbines, four hot air engines, eight oil enginesand the Rocket replica, as well as a great numberof minor artefacts.

At Christmas, Percival Perry, Head of Ford UK,informed Morton that he was to go to Dearborn toreconstruct the engines in the Edison Institutewhich was next to Ford’s newly completed RiverRouge complex. Parts of the plant had beendesigned in an innovative style by the foremostindustrial architect of the day, Albert Kahn. It wasthe world’s largest integrated factory covering 16million ft2 (1.5 km²) on a 1,212-acre (490 ha) site.Ford commissioned local architect Robert Derrickto design his museum but the main exhibition hallextending 400 ft. (120 m) is essentially Kahn’sstructure as is the factory. The facade is a replicaof Independence Hall, Philadelphia. Edison himselfhad partially opened the Institute in October 1929just three days before Wall St crashed. Next to themain museum and extending to 240 acres(970,000 m²) is the outdoor museum, GreenfieldVillage, where Ford re-assembled many historicbuildings including much of Thomas Edison’sMenlo Park research complex, the Wright Brothersworkshops, Bennett’s watch shop from London,etc. In addition, he built his personal railroad anda lake on which a rebuild of Edison’s paddlesteamer sailed. Initially a private museum, itopened to the public in 1933.

Morton, working with a team of localengineers and builders, started to re-assemble theengines, making any missing parts. Kahn wasannoyed that Morton required major changes to


Henry Ford’s museum under construction


the foundations of his exhibition hall toaccommodate some of the engines, whilstMorton was annoyed that the ceiling of thefinished hall was too low for some of the engines.The support pillar for Fairbottom Bobs’ beam hadto be reduced in height by five masonry coursesand the local team had to make a new beam ofAmerican oak. In one of their few disagreements,Morton had the beam adzed to look moreauthentic but Ford insisted it be planed ‘fine andstraight’. While Ford was away Morton had itcovered with a crude coat of coal tar, giving anappearance that Ford said looked fine. Thewaggon boiler taken from Ashton Vale does notappear to have survived the journey so thehaystack boiler sourced from J & J Charlesworth’sRothwell Haigh Colliery south of Leeds wasinstalled. This boiler may have been used with OldSarah, a Newcomen engine that worked at thesame colliery until 1917 and was dismantled thefollowing year.

The other Newcomen engines, one fromMoira in Leicestershire and the other fromWindmill End, Netherton in the Black Country,were rotative engines and required theexcavation of the museum’s floor toaccommodate them. In the case of the olderengines shipped to Dearborn, Ford required thatthe engine houses were also re-constructed asnear as possible, but it is impossible to say howwell this was done since only photographicrecords survive plus a few crude drawings byMorton himself. The dozen other engines acquiredfrom all over England are generally smaller andwould have been somewhat easier to removefrom their engine houses and ship to America.However, fitting them all into the space availablein the exhibition hall must have presented achallenge.

Following the first prolonged trip toDearborn, Morton had further working stays in1931 and 1932. By early 1933 he was under

pressure from his bosses in England demandingto know what he was up to. On 1 April, Campsallwrote to him saying that he was to cease all‘research’, to which Morton replied that he haddevoted too much of his life to the task and sincehis job at Trafford no longer existed he regrettedthe situation. On 9 May he resigned from Fords,becoming Bandmaster to a local Regiment. Healways regretted that Ford had not personallysupported him. In 1937 he joined the DeHavilland Aircraft company and was appointedChief Engineer, retiring in 1952. He died in 1966.

Although some items Morton had gatheredand shipped were sold off by the Museum in the1980s, most are still in the exhibition hall whereMorton placed them. Without Morton’sknowledge and Ford’s enthusiasm, ourknowledge of the Industrial Revolution in Britainwould be significantly less.

Painting the bridgeThe Iron Bridge in Shropshire will be returned toits original colour, English Heritage announced inMay. This follows the discovery of samples of thebridge’s earliest paintwork during the charity’s£3.6m conservation .

The charity took advantage of the enormousscaffolding currently covering the bridge toundertake detailed research, looking for samplesof the earliest historic paintwork. Detailedanalysis of those samples revealed that theworld’s first iron bridge was originally painted ina very dark red-brown lead-based oil paint – thesame colour as depicted in William Williams’1780 painting, Cast Iron Bridge nearCoalbrookdale, one of the earliest depictions ofAbraham Darby III’s pioneering structure. EnglishHeritage’s Senior Property Curator, Dr Heather

Sebire, said, “Uncovering the original colour ofthe Iron Bridge has been a fascinating mix of botharchive research work and detailed forensicinvestigation. We had already found some cluesin the archives but the decider was the results ofour analysis of the historic paint

In recent years, extensive surveys andinvestigations by English Heritage revealed that

the historic structure was under threat fromcracking due to stresses in the ironwork datingfrom the original construction, ground movementover the centuries, and an earthquake in thenineteenth century.

Following cleaning, the historic ironwork hasalready been protected with a layer of primer toprevent further corrosion.

Six painters will have used 2,400 litres ofpaint, to protect the historic ironwork in a similarway to the paint system used on the Forth Bridge.

At £3.6m, Project Iron Bridge is EnglishHeritage’s single largest conservation projectsince it became a charity in 2015. Last year, thecharity announced a €1m donation from Germanfunder the Hermann Reemtsma Foundation andlaunched its first ever crowd funding campaign tocoincide with the start of works, with members ofthe public giving £47,545 to support the project.

The Ford Museum today

Caithnessimpressions

On 22 June a group of regular AIA conferencegoers and others set off by coach from Invernessto travel north to Wick for a conference under thebanner of the Scottish Vernacular BuildingsWorking Group and the Scottish IndustrialHeritage Society after the AIA had withdrawn infavour of its own conference taking place inNottingham from 31 August. The Wick week wasto prove a great success with support fromnumerous local sponsors.

Chris Barney

Three principal eras of industry characteriseCaithness. First came the herrings which began tobe exploited after 1803 when the British FisheriesSociety, which had been founded in 1786,adopted Telford’s plan to improve the harbour.This was extremely successful and by the 1860sWick could be described as the ‘Herring Capital ofEurope’ with over a thousand boats workingthere in the season and ten thousand workersemployed afloat and ashore. The greatest catchwas said to be 25 million herrings in a single day.The society also built houses for the workers andfor the shareholders, creating Pulteneytown tothe south of the harbour, named after Sir WilliamPulteney, Thomas Telford’s patron, and to Telford’splan. Most of this survives and we had aconducted tour led by Jenny Bruce. She is aleading light of the Wick Society, which has donea huge amount for the history of Wick and itssurroundings, and had helped to develop much ofthe programme for the conference. Later in theweek we visited the Wick Heritage Museumwhich has an amazing collection depicting the lifeand industry of the area and has been created inthree of the original fisherman’s cottages. The oneremaining traditional herring drifter, the 44 footIsabella Fortuna was in harbour about to sail toPortsoy Boat Festival. Built in 1888 with anauxiliary Kelvin engine fitted in 1919, replaced in1929 with a 66hp K3, she has been superblyrestored by the Wick Society and we were able togo aboard and examine every detail.

Herrings were followed (or overlapped) byflagstones. Most of Caithness is made of aDevonian sandstone and in many places this canbe quarried and split into large thin slabs like slate.It is very hard, strong and impermeable whichmakes it ideal for paving, while the thinner sheets

can be used for roofing. At one time it was beingexported all around the world for street pavingincluding Australia (Sydney and Melbourne) andNew Zealand (Christchurch). All the Caithnesstowns have used it and many of the buildings, evenoutbuildings, have flagstone floors. Compared toprecast concrete the stone is obviously expensivebut it is having a moderate resurgence forconservation work; when first exposed it is blackbut weathers to a golden colour from the ironwhich it contains. We were able to visitCastletown, east of Thurso, where there had beenquarries and from whose harbour much of it wasexported. There was a small but interestingmuseum there showing the work. We also visitedto a quarry and works, Caithness Stone IndustriesLtd, where they are working it, not only for pavingbut also for tombstones, worktops and for smallitems such as clocks and coasters.

The third significant industry was and isenergy. Dounreay, a few miles west of Thurso, waschosen, partly for it remoteness, as the site for aseries of experimental atomic reactors. The first,commissioned in 1958, known as the DMTR, wasfor testing the effect of radiation on variousmaterials; it shut down in 1969. Meanwhile theiconic Dounreay dome (which is really a sphere)41.5m in diameter, had been constructed andthis, the Fast Reactor (DFR), operated from 1959.The object was to determine the feasibility of the‘fast breeder’ process. It ran, producing about14MW of power until 1977. The process wasconsidered a success and the third reactor, knownas the Prototype Fast Reactor (PFR) was built andran from 1974 producing 250 MW. A politicaldecision was made in 1988 that this was not theroad to pursue, partly as the world’s stock ofuranium was then realised to be much larger thanoriginally thought. Now the extensive site isbeing dismantled, an expensive process that willtake many years. The site security is very tight soit took a long time to gain access, following all

the procedures. Once inside the group was drivenaround and, although not able to see much, weobtained a very good impression of the scale andcomplexity of the whole site. The dome itself wasnot accessible but we had lunch and discussion inthe original DFR control room, now stripped of itsequipment; this is now in the Science Museumstore awaiting re-erection. Although we did notsee much detail, it was a privilege granted to veryfew to get as close as we did.

The original decision to develop Dounreay wasalso mindful of the need to develop employment inthe area which it has done but, in addition, a greatmany workers, particularly specialists, moved tothe area and the town of Thurso expandedthreefold. The newcomers were known as the

‘atomics’ but integration was a success and thetown continues to thrive at least for the present.The 1960s housing areas provide an interestingcontrast to the planned town developed by SirJohn Sinclair, the agricultural reformer, from 1812.In Thurso there is another excellent museum,Caithness Horizons, which covers the history of thearea back to the Picts but is primarily aboutDounreay and has on display the control room ofthe second, 1972 DMFR reactor. A temporaryexhibition on industrial heritage curated by JennyBruce coincided with the conference and ensured


Breakwater at Castleton harbour built of Caithness flags.Placing them vertically was shown to make them lessvulnerable to wave action

Control room from the 1972 DMFR at Dounreay nowreconstructed at ‘Caithness Horizons’ in Thurso

Thomas Telford bridge on the Wick to Thurso road – now bypassed All photos: Chris Barney

local engagement, via schools’ responses toheritage packs supported by several businesssponsors of the conference. Others of her panels,packed with information, also turned up inBerriedale Church and our lecture venue in Wick.As everywhere, we were made very welcome.

The archives of the whole UK nuclear industryare being transferred to a new and very impressivebuilding at Wick which we were able to visit andsee some very interesting documents which hadbeen put out especially for us. When it is allassembled we were told that it will be second onlyto the National Archive at Kew and as some of thematerial relating to waste storage may need to beavailable in thousands of years there is asuggestion it should be transferred to parchment!

Traditional energy was evident in the greatnumber of water mills which still survive – in allconditions from dire to well restored andproducing flour. Two aspects were new to manyof us; the climate conditions mean that the corncannot be dried in the field so that the farms have‘kiln barns’ attached to them – small, often roundkilns at one end of their barns and unique toCaithness, Moray, Orkney and Shetland. Afterthreshing the grain still needs further dryingbefore milling so that most of the mills inScotland are equipped with furnaces to do this,their upper floors perforated in the same way asa malt kiln. Husks from the first stage of millingare used for fuel. Caithness is too far north togrow wheat and the other novelty was the use ofa primitive form of barley known as bere whichcan be milled to flour and will make anacceptable bread. We had an excellent tour ofBarony Mill, where they carry out this process. Itis owned and interpreted by Birsay Heritage Trust

While on Orkney we called in at the Kirkwallpower station which is equipped with a row ofmassive V12 Mirrlees Blackstone diesels each withan output of 4500 kW, by courtesy of SSE. Theseare now only needed at peak times and when thewind does not blow, which in Orkney is not often.

Nowadays the energy industry continues as‘hi-tech’ focussing on wind, both on-shore andoff-shore, but also tidal. It is hoped that this willprovide skilled employment in the future.

While on Orkney we had a good look at the‘Churchill Barriers’ which had been the subject ofan interesting talk at the conference. These wereconstructed to close off the eastern openings tothe fleet anchorage in Scapa Flow after a U-boatpenetrated the defences in 1939 and sank theRoyal Oak with the loss of 834 lives. The four

sections of the barrier total about one and a halfmiles and were a major engineering feat, as thewater is up to 60 feet deep, but most of allbecause the tidal currents can exceed ten knotsand are capable of shifting a five ton block. Overa thousand Italian prisoners worked on the projectand were allowed to build their own chapel usingtwo Nissan huts. This is the famous Italian Chapelwhich is beautifully decorated inside with trompel’oeil tiles and religious paintings besides lampswonderfully constructed from empty cans andrailings reforged from scrap. It fully deserves themany thousand visitors it gets each year.

The ‘flow country’ which comprises much ofinland Caithness is peat bog, 1500 square milesof it, the largest area in the UK and possibly acandidate for world heritage listing. Where theland is higher or has been drained it appearsfertile and there are numerous remains of smallfarms and crofts. Many of these are roofless andabandoned but some survive and near Lybsterone of the ‘long houses’ with its traditional thatch

is open as Laidhay museum. The enormousquantity of artifacts collected was interesting butsomewhat detracted from the impression of thebuilding. Nevertheless, with the cow byre at oneend opening off the kitchen and the stable at theother, we could imagine the confined way ofliving. However, on a bright sunny summer daywe could hardly envisage what it would havebeen like in the long dark northern winters.

The traditional life of Wick and Caithness hasbeen recorded in the extraordinary work of theJohnston family who were photographers from1863 until 1975. Their collection of over 40,000pictures now belongs to the Wick Society and isavailable on-line. Many examples were on showat several of the sites we visited; it is particularlystrong on the fishing industry but covers allaspects of the work and lives of the people.

The most consistent historic presence fromthe time the coach left Inverness was that ofThomas Telford. The Commissioners for BuildingHighland Roads and Bridges appointed him tosurvey the roads in 1803 and his routes stilldominate the modern map. He designed over athousand bridges many of which survive, even ifthey have been bypassed. Many are small butthey all have a consistent dignity and simplicitywith handsome arches and neat battered wingwalls. Most are a single arch although some havethree and a few five; Telford had a strong dislikeof ‘unresolved duality’, an aphorism that survived

in advice from the Institution of Civil Engineersuntil recently and maybe still does.

Between Wick and Thurso we stopped toexamine one simple bridge and a piece ofroadway, bypassed since 1931, and inspected theoriginal road surface, by kind permission of thecurrent owners, who even more kindly invited usto tea and cakes – delicious.

Telford’s work was not limited to roads andbridges as besides these he also planned WickHarbour and Pulteneytown, as mentioned, and wasresponsible for the series of 32 highland churchesbuilt for the Church of Scotland with a governmentgrant. This was one of Telford’s very last works andwe visited an example at Berriedale. A simple, teeshaped plan in a lovely site now closed as a churchbut well maintained as a local amenity.

This report has hardly touched on theinteresting talks we had at the conference and canonly give a flavour of some of the sites we visitedbut space must be found to report the welcome(often with cakes) we experienced everywhereand the enthusiasm to impart local knowledgeparticularly by our drivers, George Dunnett fatherand son, (also George), who appeared to knoweverybody and everything wherever we went.Besides the Dunnett’s it is fitting to mentionothers: James Gunn who conducted us aroundDounreay, having spoken at the conference;Kathrin Haltiner, a Swiss architect who has takenon Dale House, a mill and particularly a doocot(dovecote) which she is restoring; Jamie Stone, MPfor Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross whojoined the coach for part of its journey fromInverness; Geoffrey Stell who spoke aboutCaithness in World War II and will be giving theRolt Lecture in Nottingham. At the conferencedinner Lord Thurso, Chair of VisitScotland and LordLieutenant of Caithness spoke eloquently aboutthe prospects for the area, the need to developtourism and the part that industrial heritage couldplay in that. Particularly thanks also go to JennyBruce, mentioned above, who was constantlyavailable with her local knowledge and led someof the groups and with Mark Watson devised andorganised the conference.

Inverurie wins awardThe 2018 Creative Reuse Award will be going tothe Inverurie Carriage Works and Loco Buildings,near Aberdeen, developed by Malcolm AllanHousebuilders, as a result of the entry submittedby the Garioch Heritage Centre. More informationwill appear in IA News 187.


4500kW Mirlees Blackstone engine at Kirkwall PowerStation

Statue of St George by Domenico Chiocchetti made ofconcrete on a barbed wire armature outside the ItalianChapel on Orkney

Inside the ‘doocot’ at Dale House, Westerdale near Halkirk


Industrial ChimneysThis discursive essay examines the subject ofbrick chimneys built for industrial use from thelater eighteenth century up to the early twentiethcentury. It is hoped to get some response fromthe readership.

Robert Carr

The recent EYCH2018 (European Year of CulturalHeritage 2018) industrial heritage initiative forthe month of May focussed on the subject ofchimneys. In preparing material for publication inIndustrial Archaeology News I have realised thatthe subject of British chimneys has been ratherneglected. Britain, quite early in the nineteenthcentury, had very tall chimneys – for that agesurprisingly tall. This is before the reign of QueenVictoria, essentially before the railway age, whenpeople still travelled by stage coach. At first itseemed incongruous that at this early period wehad huge cotton mills with slender chimneys upto 300 feet high.

The Great Western Cotton factory, a largespinning and weaving mill, opened in Bristol inApril 1838. The first section of the Great WesternRailway from Paddington to Maidenhead wascompleted in May 1838. If you wanted to go toBristol to see the new Cotton Factory, you wentby stage coach.

Take the example of the massively builtchimney at Woolwich Dockyard which is said tobe based on previous industrial chimneys in otherparts of Britain; this was not built in the lastquarter of the nineteenth century as you might atfirst suppose but in the early 1840s! Originally208 feet high, this chimney is now reduced to 180feet, but is still rather impressive. A specialistchimney designer and a builder have beenmentioned but information as to who thesepeople were has become lost.

The skill and expertise required to constructsuch towering chimneys must have beenprodigious and one asks where the knowledge andskills came from, and who it was that carried outtheir design and construction. A popular answer isthat they were ‘steeple jacks’ – but in present-dayexperience a steeplejack is essentially an artisan,generally engaged in repair, maintenance andsmall-scale alterations. It does not seem likely thatpeople of this kind designed and constructeddaring engineering structures which considerablysurpassed anything built previously.

At an earlier period things might conceivablyhave been different. After all, if ‘steeple jacks’ (orwere they some kind of master builders) built thespires of Salisbury and Strasbourg Cathedralswith a height of 404 feet and 466 feetrespectively, this might possibly have been so. Butwouldn’t the engineers responsible for thesegreat works have been known as Master Buildersor Architects at that time? Such people wereprobably within the body of the church with theirengineering activities partly obscured by anecclesiastical status.

The construction of a tall brick chimney isprobably rather more difficult than building a

church spire. A spire tapers and can have aninternal framework for support – it does not haveto contend with thermal stresses in the way thata chimney exhausting furnace gases has to.

Now there may possibly be a parallel activityin the construction of mills for grinding corn andother purposes. As Professor Alec Skemptonpointed out, millwrights who built water millshad a very considerable knowledge of hydraulicsand yet we know nothing of this. There is nosurviving written evidence – expertise waspassed down from master to apprentice, and thatwas that. One could suppose that steeple jackswere rather similar, immensely competent andknowledgeable and yet all their expertise hasnow totally evaporated, or so it seems. Even theamazing work that they created is now becomingrather scarce.

The situation is similar to the sinking of wellsand the construction of adits. An enormousamount of work of this kind took place to supplytowns and cities with water. And then there areall the mining works with lengthy drainage adits,often built at quite an early date. Was this kind of

work carried out by people who were essentiallycraftsmen or were the people involved reallyengineers in the modern sense? There is clearlymuch we do not know.

There is a similar situation regardingmediaeval carpentry. Cecil Hewett, an unsunghero of architectural research, was not believed;many people considered his books unworthy,many academics dismissed his opinions as thoseof a crank. The official position was that fortimber structures nothing survived that was mucholder than the sixteenth century.

Hewett had not bothered with historicalresearch. He just studied the woodwork andnoted the changing fashions in carpentry. It wasonly when carbon 14 dating became availablethat people began to appreciate just how earlymany timber-framed buildings actually were. Theclassic examples that Hewett worked on, and thatfinally began to convince people in general thathe was right, were the two Great Barns atCressing in Essex – built in the thirteenth century.Hewett was using pure archaeology, with nopreconceptions acquired through reading.

The Great Western cotton mill in Bristol, 1838

Longroyd Bridge, Huddersfield


However, no more of this; the termsteeplejack is self-explanatory. Jack is a workmanand certainly not an architect, engineer or masterbuilder. This is made clear by the popular figure ofspeech ‘Jack of all trades, master of none’. Acorresponding expression was in use inElizabethan times, so even at quite an early datesteeplejacks would not have been undertakingthe design of prestigious steeples. A steeplejackwas simply a skilled workman who was preparedto work at great heights.

This article essentially concentrates on textilemills; chemical works are a special case wherechimneys must be especially high to distributenoxious fumes. The example of Tennant’schemical works in Glasgow was amazing but thiswas a very special case rather than the norm. Thehuge chimney there known as the St Rollox Stalkor Tennant’s Stalk towered over everything. It wasa well-known landmark around Glasgow. Built in1842, it rose to a majestic 435.5 feet (132.7 m)and it was 40 feet (12.2 m) in diameter at groundlevel. In 1922 it was struck by lightning and hadto be dynamited down, but until that time it wasin daily use. A remarkable achievement.

Another notable example was the 312 ftchimney at Adams soap works in Smethwick,built in 1836, later reduced in height to 250 feetand now demolished. It is believed that thereduced height chimney survived quite well intothe twentieth century. Does anyone have furtherinformation? Examples that survive include thechimney of India Mills in Darwen, 1867, originally303 feet high. Now reduced to 289 feet, it is listedgrade II*. The architecturally elaborate Cox’sstack at the Camperdown works in Dundee, 1865,

survives just as it was built and is 282 feet high.It is listed grade A.

Office blocks are uneconomic over a certainheight. Those that are of great height are built forreasons of aggrandisement, essentially toadvertise the corporation that built them. Itseems that with some chimneys built beforeabout 1845 the situation was rather similar – itwas a case of ‘my chimney is taller than yours’.

There is a second and more practical reasonfor making a chimney tall, which is the moreimportant, will depend on the context. Making achimney taller increases the flow through it owingto the ‘stack effect’. This may be useful if you wantto get rid of exhaust gases rapidly and it avoids thecost of having to pump such gases. With respect totextile mills, Roger Holden points out that theoptimum height for a spinning mill chimney is 200-220 feet. However; it is also possible that at thisearlier time the optimum height for a chimney wasto some extent unknown – this may have been aperiod of trial and error.

The stack effect or chimney effect is themovement of air in or out of buildings, chimneys,flues and so on. It is caused by the differentbuoyancy of the air inside compared with outside,owing to a difference in temperature andmoisture. The result can be either positive ornegative; the greater the thermal difference andthe height of the structure, the greater thebuoyancy – and thus the stack effect. The stackeffect helps drive natural ventilation, airinfiltration, and fires such as the King’s Crossunderground station fire of November 1987,responsible for 31 deaths – and without doubtthe Great Fire of London of 1666.

To appreciate why the tall timber buildings ofthe 1660s burnt so rapidly it is instructive to visitBessie Surtees House on Sandhill, Newcastle. Fivestories high, it has a central stairwell from theground floor to the top of the building. This shaftis in effect a chimney, and if the building were tocatch fire it would rapidly begin to function as afurnace.

This is interesting, but we are digressing –and now return to the subject of industrialchimneys.

Actually the term ‘industrial chimney’ isoutmoded; they are now commonly referred to as‘flue gas stacks’ – three syllables instead of two –see I A News 179 page 21. However, most readersof IA News will be more familiar with ‘chimney’,one word instead of three, so for this articlechimney will continue to be used. Alsodimensions are generally being given in feetrather than metres because the chimneysdescribed here were built in feet.

If the exhaust from an industrial chimney isenvironmentally unpleasant, say from a chemicalworks, then injecting noxious gases into theatmosphere as high as possible will reduce thechance of turbulence carrying them back toground level. It will probably also increase thedispersal rate as the wind speed is greater athigher altitudes.

Regarding steeplejacks, the notions proposedearlier that they performed tasks of planning andconstruction that we would now consider to be

civil engineering are almost certainly incorrect. Bythe later nineteenth century the building of largechimneys was not in the hands of steeple jacks,who at least by then were essentially artisancraftsmen. Then the work had become much morelike civil engineering. For instance, the St. RolloxStalk or Tennant’s Stalk just outside Glasgow,mentioned above, involved no less a figure thanProfessor W J M Rankine. An excellent book Tallchimney construction. A practical treatise on theconstruction of tall chimney shafts ... constructedin brick, stone, iron and concrete by Robert MBancroft and J Francis, published in 1885, gives avery full and satisfying account of the building oflarge chimneys over the previous fifty years. Aswell as covering Great Britain it includesexamples from the USA and other foreign parts. Itis available online.

There appears to be no correspondingpublication dealing with the slender elegantchimneys of the latter part of the eighteenthcentury and the early nineteenth. Commendably,Bancroft and Francis describe chimneys back tothe 1830s, although not before. For the earlierchimneys the information they provide is rathersketchy but there are examples where they quotethe name of both an architect and a builder whichimplies that even before the 1830s such peoplewere involved. The only place to look forcorresponding information before 1830 wouldprobably be encyclopaedias of the period andperiodicals such as Mechanics Magazine,Nicholson’s magazine – possibly the Gentleman’sMagazine.

What of the more serious publications,papers prepared for learned periodicals such asIndustrial Archaeology Review and the Journal ofthe Construction History Society? Three papershave appeared, one dealing with industrial

Continued on page 14Cox’s stack, Camperdown, Dundee

Historic Environment Scotland

Woolwich Dockyard chimney built c.1843, looking NorthEast, May 2018 photo R Carr


Industrial chimneys continued

chimneys in Italy and another concerningchimneys in Spain and surprisingly there appearsto be only one publication which deals withchimneys in Britain. This is the concise article byRay Warburton that was published in IndustrialArchaeology Review in November 2013. Mightwe have expected rather more British examples?

For an industrial brick chimney, say about 200feet high, the top 20 feet or so was often only onebrick thick. Then, proceeding downwards, therewould be an increase in thickness of half a brickand so on, increasing as you descend. For a 200 ftchimney the brickwork would be about 4 feetthick at the base. It has been recent practice toremove precarious brickwork at the top of achimney to reduce maintenance costs. Themagnificent example of Dixon’s chimney atShaddon Mill, Carlisle, 305 feet high, had thistreatment in 1950 reducing its height to 270 feet.In its day Shaddon Mill was the largest cotton millin England and had the eighth tallest chimney inthe world. Built in 1836, this chimney was firstlisted in November 1972 and it has been grade II*since April 1994 (see the photograph on page 24of IA News 185).

To sum up, we have two types of chimney. Inthe earlier period, up to about 1850, chimneystended to be generally plain and functional andof circular or octagonal cross-section. At the top,these chimneys were often only one brick thick.Chimneys of the later period could be moreelaborate, say of square cross-section and oftenhad architectural embellishment. Brickwork atthe top of these chimneys was generally moresubstantial.

In the later 1850s there were great stormsand a number of chimneys were blown down.Regulations for the construction of chimneyswere then introduced. The regulations came intoforce at roughly the same time that chimneys ofthe second kind began to be built but this couldbe coincidental. Professor Rankine was widelyregarded as the leading authority on chimneystability.

In the later period an architect and a civilengineer were definitely involved in theconstruction of taller chimneys. For chimneys ofmore modest height, sufficient guidelines hadbeen laid down for an ordinary jobbing builderwith experience beyond that of small-scale workto be able to do this. The problem of whodesigned and built tall chimneys of the earlierperiod remains slightly less certain. The change ofstyle coincides with the change of architecturaltaste from Georgian or early Victorian to highVictorian. Victorians criticised their predecessorsfor their flimsy construction, even describing it as‘jerry-built’. Victorians tended to build rathermassively with elaborate decoration. On theEuropean Continent surviving factory chimneysare predominantly of the first type.

In the last issue of IA News I reported on theCarriage and Wagon Shop, rear of Ford Close,Newton Abbot, Devon and the application todemolish the remaining red brick goods/engineshed buildings of the locomotive works. Somefeatures were to be retained including theboundary wall (reduced in height), the facade ofthe limestone goods shed and the signal gantry.None of these were listed. The application wasallowed.

However, another piece of Newton Abbot’sindustrial heritage will die this year with theclosure of Tucker’s Maltings on Teign Road. It isone of only four traditional floor maltings still inoperation. With its closure there will be just three.

Tuckers was founded by Edwin Tucker in 1831as a seed merchants and maltsters in Ashburton.According to trade directories, Tuckers had apresence in Newton Abbot by the 1880s with anaddress in Market Street. In 1899 Tuckers became aregistered company, Edwin Tucker and Sons Limited.The previous year, 1898, John Parnell Tucker hadacquired a stretch of land in Teign Road, NewtonAbbot next to the main Great Western Railway line,for the construction of a new malthouse. The finaldecision for the malthouse was not taken untilMarch 1899 when a building agreement was made.The maltings was designed by William Bradford thewell-known maltings architect/engineer. WilliamBradford had his practice in London by the end ofthe nineteenth century but he had been born inDevon (in 1845). Although now apparently onebuilding, the maltings was built in two phases. Thefirst section, a 60 quarter malthouse was opened on5 November 1901. Almost immediately the decisionwas taken to construct a further slightly smallermalthouse of 50 quarters and it was begun inDecember 1901 and opened in 1903. Buildingdetails show that Nalder & Nalder of Wantageprovided the screens and barrows. There was also aCrossly gas engine to provide the power for thehoists etc. A barley drying drum by Robert Boby ofBury St Edmunds, Suffolk was installed in 1952. Thesteeps in the 1901 maltings were supplied by RRamsden & Son Brewers Engineers, 177 KingslandRoad, London and those in the 1903 building wereby Buxton and Thornley of Burton on Trent. Thegermination floors are of concrete screed. The kilnfurnaces are now only operated in the 1901 buildingand are modern gas fired ones which means thatthe original coke/anthracite fired furnaces are nolonger in use. (Anthracite arrived by rail from SouthWales.) However, the doors do survive in the furnace

room and were manufactured by Buxton andThornley of Burton on Trent.

The Association visited the maltings as partof the 1998 annual conference and it received thePresident’s Award for that year.

Not only will it be a sad day for industrialarchaeology when the maltings closes in theautumn but it will be the loss of jobs for themaltsters and the end of a family malting.

Amber Patrick

World Heritage UKstarts first everreview of all UK

sites World Heritage UK, the body which represents allBritain’s World Heritage Sites, has started a majorreview of all 31 of our World Heritage Sites. Thisis the first time that a comprehensive picture ofhow they are protected and managed has everbeen undertaken.

The review is being led by Chris Blandford,WHUK’s President and a leading internationalheritage expert. The review will focus on keymanagement problems and issues at the sites,which range from Stonehenge and the Giant’sCauseway, to Edinburgh New Town andLiverpool’s city centre. It will investigate newoptions for sustainable management of sites, forpublic and private sector partnerships, and forimproving benefits for local economies,stakeholders and investors.

It is anticipated that the final report will becompleted in late autumn 2018, for sharing withthe sites, government and other partners.

Heritage update 371

Tuckers Maltings, Newton Abbot

VISIT THE AIAWEBSITE

www.industrial-archaeology.org

Industrial Archaeology and Newton Abbot

Malting floor at Tuckers Maltings


The line drive forms the major power source toUnderfall Workshop. This is in a Grade II* listedbuilding built to service Bristol Harbour and theoriginal machines from the 1880s are scheduledancient monuments. The line drive has beenmodified over time, but still provides the samefunction of driving four machines: a Whitworthplaner, a Whitworth slotter, a long bed lathe anda small shaping machine. The Tangye engine is theoriginal machine, installed in 1885; a twincylinder E-type model, which won a gold medal atthe 1878 Paris exhibition.

Within this project, partially funded by theAIA, the line drive has been serviced to workingcondition, fitted with a hydraulic motor, and theengine has been serviced to a moving conditionin order to provide a test load for the system.Work has been started to clean the Whitworthplaner and service moving parts to workingcondition. Successful test runs of the planer havebeen achieved.

The north wall line drive is located about 4mfrom the ground, with a large amount of fixedequipment installed close to the wall beneath.Accessing the bearings by ladder or cherry pickeris impossible. A platform was designed, installedand commissioned. By hanging from the I-beamsthat form the gantry crane, the platform can bepositioned anywhere along the line, and accessedby ladder away from the wall.

Bearings were cleaned on the outside and theoil-catchers cleared of loose debris. Grease potswere removed, cleared of old grease, deliveryholes cleaned out and thin oil run through toflush the bearing. While old, the grease was notdried and it was felt that this was enough toallow new grease into the system. Of the eightbearings, three were missing grease pots. Thegrease in these empty delivery holes was solid, sothese bearings were dismantled and the top halfthoroughly cleaned on the inside surfaces. Threegrease pots were removed from the south wallline drive, and adaptors made for the BSP threadto fit the Whitworth delivery hole. The rest of theshaft is now being cleaned.

The three bearings on the line shaft in theengine room are more severely worn than theones in the main workshop. The end bearing hasan insert, but the other two run directly on thehousings. The end bearing insert was turned over,making the top half the new bottom section andvice versa. The ‘new’ top section had a greasehole and dispersal tracks machined in. The othertwo bearings were dismantled and cleaned. Thesewere raised to the level of the end bearing byadjusting the wedge-fixings on the housing stem.

Four quotations were received from threecompanies for powering the line shaft drive. Theproposed solutions were evaluated against a setof weighted scoring criteria including overall cost,safety and robustness of operation; risks to fabricof buildings and existing scheduled machineryand, finally, an assessment of the level of‘through-life’ support likely to be available

(including the supplier’s previous experienceworking with industrial heritage organisations).

The proposed technical solutions included:• Drive via the steam engine

driveshaft/belt with motor on framebehind engine with a sprocket fitted toengine driveshaft and a split chain asdrive-connector. The control box wouldbe in the engine room.

• Direct drive to line-shaft with electricmotor & gearbox mounted to the wallabove the boiler and a vee-belt asconnector.

• Direct drive to the line-shaft with ahydraulic motor, gearing and couplingmounted to the wall above the boiler. Ahydraulic pressure pack would beinstalled at floor level, behind the steamengine. Control box also in the engineroom.

The chosen solution utilises a hydraulic motor.The motor is somewhat dwarfed by the rest of theline shaft drives; it is mounted on an adjustableback-plate and platform which permitted precise

alignment in three dimensions. The supplierinformed us that this motor is 25% of the weightof the equivalent electric motor thus significantlyreducing any loading on the wall of theworkshops. The hydraulic motor solution alsoprovides torsional drive only to the line shaft thusremoving any side loading and wear on thebearings.

Mark Williams

Working from the new platform

Underfall Yard Trust – Conservation of Line Drive and TangyeSteam Engine Project

Line drive now powered by hydraulic motor


Shortly after Stephen Southall had beenappointed Chairman of the newly-formedHerefordshire Water Board in 1960 he visited thelower pumping station below Broomy Hill inHereford with its triple expansion engine. It hadbeen gathering dust since last used in 1953 andhe is recorded as saying, “The first sight of theengine took my breath away.”

Richard Curtis, Museum Chairman

Southall resolved there and then that Broomy Hillpumping station should become a museum, butthis was not an immediate priority because atthat time 78,000 people in Herefordshire werewithout piped water, and, whilst Hereford had apiped supply, it was unreliable in quality andquantity. His ambition was eventually realised in1974, when he established, and becameChairman of, the Herefordshire WaterworksMuseum Charitable Trust. This had only beenpossible through his action over the precedingten years ensuring the pumping station and itsmagnificent steam engines were suitablypreserved.

Today, the Waterworks Museum – Herefordhas one of the UK’s widest collection of workingengines and pumps associated with public watersupply and is a leading visitor attraction. Whenopen in-steam, visitors can see over thirty enginesand pumps in operation at the Museum. But ithas not always been plain sailing for thisindependent museum that is managed and runwholly by volunteers.

The first working party took place at BroomyHill in December 1974, its first opening to thepublic in April 1975, and it opened for the firsttime with an engine powered under steam inSeptember of that year. In 2005, John Townsend,the first curator, wrote, “In retrospect, what nowseems quite remarkable was how much wasachieved in such a short period to get the

museum open. The records show that whatmemory says was accomplished over a number ofyears was in fact carried out over just a fewmonths”. This is even more remarkable because,as John went on to recall, “For each of thevolunteers the nature of the work they carried outhad generally been for the first time” –something that is still true for most newvolunteers today.

The early focus of the Museum was restoringto full working order the engines and pumps atBroomy Hill and, through a limited programme ofopen-days, attracting sufficient paying visitors tofinance this undertaking. This was especiallysuccessful after volunteers acquired a Lister diesellocomotive and installed a two-foot gauge trackdown to the River Wye. Train rides were asignificant attraction.

The late 1980s saw the Museum at a very lowebb with just three volunteers desperatelymaintaining the pumping engines and openingthe site a few days each year, and it was onlyafter a senior British Rail engineer retired toHereford and became a volunteer that thingslooked up. He perceived the difficulties veryquickly and immediately instituted a regular workday and, through his contacts, recruited morevolunteer engineers. The Museum had turned thecorner and quite quickly new water-pumpingengines were installed from other locations inHerefordshire and across the region served by D rCymru Welsh Water. A regular pattern of open-days evolved, which led eventually in 1999 to theMuseum opening its doors every Tuesday, andover the next decade the Museum flourished.

In 2000, however, the Trustees receivedunexpected and, at the time, unwelcome news,when English Heritage placed the main building(then a Scheduled Ancient Monument and GradeII Listed Building) on the Register of Buildings atRisk. This was a daunting responsibility forvolunteer trustees but, with the support of the

Heritage Lottery Fund, English Heritage and theMuseum’s benefactors – the Southall Trust andD r Cymru Welsh Water, this was the spur to doingall the things that hitherto had been aspirationsand to create the Waterworks Museum as it canbe seen today.

The Museum was a construction site andclosed to the public for almost two years between2003 and 2005, during which time a new buildingemerged providing a Visitor Centre (whichincluded a flexible education area), a new displaygallery and an engineers’ workshop, at a cost ofsome £850k. It is quite hard to realise now but,with the professional support that an exercise ofthis scale and complexity demanded, theMuseum’s volunteers project-managed andundertook all the building infrastructure. It was avery proud day when the new facilities wereopened in 2006.

Over the past twelve years, the WaterworksMuseum has improved its visitor offering andengagement and has lived up to a policyaspiration, which becomes more challenging overtime, that annually-returning visitors shouldalways be able to see something different: a newdisplay, temporary exhibition, or a recently-restored engine or pump. In 2007, only a yearafter the new visitor centre opened, the Museumtook its first step towards broadening its visitorappeal. The Trustees were offered the chance tosave a fine Blackstone EPV5 5-cylinder dieselengine and other artefacts that had been used forfirefighting purposes during WW2 at the RoyalOrdnance Factory in Hereford. These were movedto the Museum and, with the support of theHeritage Lottery Fund and the Southall Trust,restored to working order and housed in a newbuilding in the style of a WW2 bunker. It alsohouses the only permanent exhibition ofHereford’s role in World War Two.

In 2015, the opening of the Heritage Water

A (very) Brief History of the Waterworks Museum – Hereford

Waterways Museum from the north east

The water wheel amid forsythia


Park took a huge step forward in addressing aninherent challenge for all industrial heritagemuseums: attracting families with youngchildren. It took a team of twenty volunteers fiveyears to convert a leased area of overgrownscrubland into an outdoor learning space wherechildren can interact with life-size artefacts thattheir ancestors would have used to pump, lift andcarry water. Volunteer engineers used aroundthirty skill sets to design and build the park andto create artefacts by re-purposing original itemsin back store. The number of children visiting theMuseum has increased markedly and the Trusteeswere delighted when this huge effort wasrecognised with the team winning the inauguralWest Midlands Museums Development ProjectAward in 2016.

Trustees were also again delighted when,earlier in 2018, the Worth Mackenzie tripleexpansion steam engine (the reason for theMuseum being created in 1974) was the recipientof an Engineering Heritage Award from theInstitution of Mechanical Engineers, which weconsider the ‘gold standard’ award for anindustrial heritage museum.

Today, the Waterworks Museum enjoys itsstatus as one of Herefordshire’s leading visitorattractions, being the only working museum inthe county. Open to the public every Tuesday andon some twenty in-steam days between Easterand October, last year the Museum attractednearly 5,000 visitors.

The Museum has a thriving community ofvolunteers, including engineers and others whosupport all aspects of the operation of theMuseum. However, like all small museums,succession is a challenge. To learn more about theWaterworks Museum and the facilities andservices it can offer, search — waterworksmuseum Hereford.

The Epping toOngar Railway

The Epping to Ongar branch line has had achequered history since London Undergroundceased passenger services in 1994. But once thecurrent owners, Epping-Ongar Railway HoldingsLimited, took over in 2007 the 6½-mile heritageline has undergone a real transformation,reopening in 2012. It is well worth a visit.

The original signal box at Ongar wasdemolished in the early 1980s after beingredundant since 1969. However, a replacementGER signal box, originally the top half ofSpellbrook (Hertfordshire), was found in storageat Mangapps Railway Museum and moved to therailway in 2010. The original lever frame from1888 came to light and was installed in thereplacement box.

There have been reports in GLIAS newslettersof 5ft gauge Finnish steam locomotives appearingat various sites in London – for example, Ongar,Creekmouth and Southbury. It seems theselocomotives were part of Finland’s Cold Warstrategic reserve. When deemed surplus torequirement 12 locomotives were bought for use

at the ‘Spirit of the West’ American theme park inCornwall and were shipped to Felixstowe just asthe park ran into financial difficulties. Four ofthese locos found a home at Ongar under theownership of Pilot Developments, who won theoriginal bid for the branch in 1998. PilotDevelopments planned to convert the line to 5ftgauge but this never happened and they sold the

line to the present owners.One loco still remains on the Epping Ongar

Railway just outside Ongar station in very poorcondition. There are plans to give it a cosmeticrestoration as a static display in a proposed picnicarea.

Robert Mason

The 5ft gauge locomotive from Finland

Tangye diesel

In 2017, CMI (Cockerill Maintenance &Ingénierie) celebrated its 200th anniversary inSeraing, near Liège. Today Belgium is seen as asmall country renowned for its linguistic battlesso it is hard to imagine that only 150 years ago,it was the first industrial nation on the Continentand second in the world. The country started byindustrialising the textile industry in Ghent(cotton) and in Verviers (wool). Under the Frenchadministration from 1795-1814, coal was minedin the Borinage (southwest of Mons, in theprovince of Hainaut) to feed Paris via the rivernetwork.

Robert Carr, with material from Hughes Belin, TheBrussels Times

Belgian heavy industry developed dramaticallyduring the Dutch rule of the country from 1815-1830. William I, King of the Netherlands, wantedthe south of his realm to feed the north withindustrial products. He supported industrytycoons such as John Cockerill, an Englishmanwho had come to Verviers with his father to buildtextile machinery. In 1817, the Dutch king soldhim the former castle of the Prince-Bishops ofLiège at Seraing with the task of developing steelmanufacturing in the region. As recognition forhis services to the country, a statue of JohnCockerill can be found right in the middle of PlaceLuxembourg in Brussels’ European quarter.

The first industrial revolution saw clusters ofindustrial activities located near the neededenergy and raw materials. Liège already hadsome proto-industry with forges and gunmanufacturing, while Charleroi had its nailfactories, so they were ready to embrace coalmining, steel and other metal constructionindustries. People came from the countryside towork in the industrial areas. There was no socialsecurity at the time and workers organised

themselves. They created the mutualités (socialsecurity organisations), which were eventuallyincorporated by the state, and still exist today.

Factories were built next to transportationlines, be it rail or rivers. The Brussels-Charleroicanal was inaugurated in 1832: it linked themines in the south of the country to the NorthSea, via Brussels. The industrialisation of Brusselsstarted when the canal opened.

The continent’s first coke furnaces were putinto service in Wallonia in 1827. After a bit ofpost-independence turmoil in 1830, due to theloss of the Dutch market, Belgium outperformedall its neighbouring countries with a massivegrowth spurt from 1840-1872. It grew almost asfast as the US. The average productivity perfurnace was the highest in the world. Charleroiled global glass production. And in 1850, Belgiumhad the highest density of railways per squarekilometre.

English competition proved too strong for theBelgian textile business, which collapsed in 1840and made way for heavy industry. Flanders washit hard and abandoned by the liberalFrancophone elite, which ran the country and itsnational banks. The influence of the boerenbond(farmers’ trade union) grew in rural Flanders,which was mostly Catholic. A fundamentaldivision in Belgian society emerged: on the onehand, the French-speaking liberal bourgeoisie inthe south supported by the high clergy andfocused on the industrial bonanza in Wallonia,and on the other, the dense, rural, Catholicpopulation of Flanders, supported by the lowclergy and local banks – the perfect foundationfor the future Christian Democrats of the Flemishsocio-Christian party.

In 1892, 44 of the 50 biggest companies inBelgium (excluding banks) were heavy industriesand mainly based in Wallonia. But a generaleconomic decline had already started and wouldlast until 1896. It was time to look abroad andlots of industrial groups reliant on the SociétéGénérale de Belgique went to build railwaysoverseas, including in Congo. Belgium alsobecame the first foreign investor in the coal basinof Donbass (now eastern Ukraine), ahead ofFrance. The nationalisation of industry by the

Bolsheviks in 1917 however, caused huge losses.Meanwhile, the centre of Belgium (the

Brussels-Antwerp axis) was gaining momentumwith new industries. Gevaerts (photography) wasfounded in Antwerp in 1894. After the First WorldWar, Ford and General Motors came to Antwerp,and Renault to Brussels (Vilvoorde). The year1917 also brought change; coal was found inLimburg (eastern Belgium). Electricity generation,glass, petrochemicals, non-ferrous metals andartificial fibres followed in Flanders. But the crisisof the 1930s hit Wallonia hard and the Flemishmovement, linked to Flemish employers, had itsrevenge: it demanded a Flemishinstitutionalisation of the northern part of thecountry and a linguistic re-balancing in stateentities, which until then had been heavilydominated by French speakers.

After the Second World War, Wallonia’s heavyindustry moguls gave the illusion that theirproduction assets were competitive. But thiswould only last until other European countrieshad rebuilt – and hence modernised – their ownindustrial base. The weaknesses of Wallonia’sindustry became more and more apparent.

At the end of the 1950s, politics changed, thegovernment pumped up salaries to boost privateconsumption and launched huge infrastructureprogrammes (motorways, railways), it openedindustrial zones and welcomed foreign capital.The latter went to Flanders, which had becomethe gateway to the German motorways andbooming Ruhr area thanks to the King Baudouinmotorway. Refineries developed in the northeastof Flanders. Small industries flourished in thewest, precisely where the textile crisis had hit thehardest in the nineteenth century. Local banksand the powerful boerenbond helped intensiveagriculture to thrive.

In Wallonia, the coal crisis of 1955-58destroyed the last illusions. It was not only anindustrial but also a social crisis. Wallonia was notdiversified enough. Socialism, anti-capitalism andstrong workers’ movements were strongly rootedand did not help attract foreign investors.Moreover, local politicians were risk-averse andturned to past industries and business modelsrather than boosting entrepreneurship. The


Belgium and a bicentenary that slipped by

Brussels Charleroi canal 1966

John Cockerill, Place Luxembourg, Brussels

consequences were clear: modernisation stayedaway along with foreign investors, who wouldonly come if large amounts of public money wasoffered to them, making the region even morevulnerable to decisions taken elsewhere.

The situation did not change until the oilshock of 1974 because there was economicgrowth in Europe. Hence reforms werepostponed. Investments were defensive, aimed atmaintaining the workforce in the traditionalsectors (steel, glass and cement). The state playeda complicit role by generously financingunemployment and early retirement.

Meanwhile, stimulated by hosting EuropeanCommunities institutions, the tertiary sector grewsignificantly in Brussels, as did the public sector,which boosted the non-merchant part of theeconomy. In 1960, Flanders’ industry had caughtup to Wallonia’s in terms of contribution to GDP.And this trend intensified with, in the north,Flanders attracting the companies of tomorrow inthe Golden Sixties while in the south, Walloniafell back on itself, taking advantage of the state’sbudget to pay its social bill and, in the process,reducing its industrial base.

The 1974 crisis emphasised the new serviceorientation of the Belgian economy, withinternational holdings pulling out of industry andinvesting in finance. The steel crisis hit Belgiumand unemployment exploded, in Wallonia morethan anywhere else. Flanders, with more up-to-date means of production, resisted better.Wallonia’s decline (and to a lesser extentFlanders’) would continue with globalisation andthe delocalisation of production facilities tocountries with cheaper labour and fewer socialand environmental constraints.

Nevertheless, two events have deeplycontributed to the division of the country as weknow it today. One was the Question Royale in1950-51, when the citizens of Belgium voted in areferendum on whether King Leopold III shouldreturn to Belgium, given his acquiescencetowards Germany during the Second World War.Flanders voted for his return, whereas Walloniavoted against. In the end, the king abdicated in

favour of his son, Baudouin. The second eventhowever, was directly linked to Belgium’sindustrial history: the general strike of December1960 to January 1961.

The strike was triggered by a proposedausterity plan from the government, which led toa quasi-insurrection in the country. Three-quartersof the strikers were from Wallonia. Today, somesee it as an upswell of Walloon identity. Thestrike’s leader, André Renard, was an ex-Cockerillworker turned trade unionist. The strikers wantedmore economic autonomy and freedom forWallonia, something that would finally becomereality in 1993 with the creation of the threeregions within a federal state.

Today, Flanders is still a strong economicplayer with its competitive industries andWallonia is trying to rid itself of a mindset turnedtowards the past. From industrial giant to thesometimes absurd little country we know today,Belgium is still looking for an identity. If it is stillwhat Karl Marx called, “the snug, well-hedged,little paradise of the landlord, the capitalist andthe priest”, it is now also a small paradise for civilservants, be they from one of its seveninstitutional entities, its communes or theEuropean institutions. Belgium’s industrial historyhas shaped its institutional organisation. Thatprocess is not yet over.

In 1843 the first train to cross a nationalborder, steamed from Lille (France) to Kortrijk(Belgium). This was the first border-crossingrailway line in the world. When Lille wasconnected to Paris, in 1846, for the first time inthe world two capitals were connected by train.

As part of the European Year of CulturalHeritage 2018, on 5 May 2018, culturalassociations from Kortrijk celebrated the 175thanniversary of the line – taking a train and abrass band to Lille.

Alan CrockerWith regret that we must record that Alan Crockerdied on June 22 after a long illness.

An obituary will follow in the next edition.

A Note onGasholders

Various groups have been campaigning topreserve their local gasholders and this has ofteninvolved organising a petition to be signed bylocal residents. For the Kennington gasholders bythe Oval cricket ground, a petition may havehelped to get one of them listed – see IndustrialArchaeology News 182 page 23. For thegasholders in Tower Hamlets, petitions have notbeen as successful. In December 2016 it wasreported that a petition to save holders at theBethnal Green holder station received 1494signatures while for the Poplar holder stationthere were 400 signatures. Unfortunately, owingto Council regulations and deadlines, it was notpossible for these petitions to be considered forthe emerging local plan and so a new petitionwas started. South of the river in Greenwich therehas been a petition to save the large EastGreenwich No.1 gasholder. At the time of writingthis petition had received more than 1400signatures. Verbal reports that some petitions hadreceived thousands of signatures are probablygrossly exaggerated.

In Chelmsford, gasholder 114 dating fromabout 1919 is to be incorporated into a majornew housing development. Presently there aretwo holders at the Wharf Road site formerlyoccupied by the Chelmsford Gas Company. Bothgasholders were decommissioned in 2009; themore modern spiral gasholder dating from about1950 is to be demolished. The older gasholder tothe northeast, 114, will be carefully dismantledand used in the eventual redevelopment of thearea for housing. It has a guideframe whichconsists of 12 lattice standards supporting twotiers of horizontal members formed of latticegirders with diagonal bracing. It was consideredthat this guideframe provides a striking, positivecontribution to the character and appearance ofthe conservation area and reflects its industrialheritage. Both Chelmsford gasholders haveaboveground tanks. About three quarters of theupper two tiers of the guideframe of gasholder114 will be retained with a view to its reuse. Oneidea is to incorporate some of the lattice girdersin a new bridge across the River Chelmer whichwill provide access to the Baddow Road car park.

Robert Carr

GDPRYou have doubtless been swamped withmessages asking for your permission to stay intouch with any number of organisations andcompanies. As far as the AIA is concerned, wehold contact information on our members so wecan send IA News, IA Review and AGM papers.You do not need to do anything to allow this tocontinue. In compliance with the new GDPRlegislation our Privacy Policy can be found on theweb site, which allows you the right to access thedata we hold about you. Be assured we do notmake the information available to any otherorganisation.

David de Haan


Hasard Cheratte, an abandoned coal mine near Liège


Report of CouncilMeeting

2 June, 2018There were several positive outcomes from thesecond Council meeting of 2018 which was heldin London on the 2 June.

However, sadly, we had to start with notingthe deaths of five significant AIA members: DavidCrossley, John Selby, Henry Gunston, MarkSissons and John Powell. Their lives have beenmarked by obituaries in IA News.

Patrick Nott, who died in 2016, left a legacyof £15,000 to the Association. The meetingagreed that the legacy would be used in part tosubsidize the attendance of students at theannual conference and the preceding seminar.Full details are available on our web-site.

The Chairman reported that the post ofIndustrial Heritage Support Officer has been filledby Joanna Turska. Joanna will be co-opted ontoCouncil.

The Chairman believed that the Associationshould be proud of what has been achieved bythe All Party Parliamentary Group on IndustrialHeritage. The Group’s Report on the ChallengesFacing the Industrial Heritage Sector waspublished on the 1 May. (See page 21)

It was noted that the CBA continues to havea funding shortage. The Association’s annualdonation of £300 for five years will end in 2019,after which it will be reviewed.

Lancashire Mills Museums: Helmshore hasnow re-opened on Fridays, Saturdays andSundays until the end of October and QueenStreet Mill will follow from 7 July.

The idea of Research Grants, first put forwardfor consideration in 2015, has been agreed. Therewill be a total of £4500 available over three years,with up to £1500 a year available. Publicity givingdetails plus an application form will appear indue course.

The Secretary reported on vacancies onCouncil. Three existing co-opted members will benominated at the AGM to fill vacancies; KeithFalconer, Becky Haslam and Ian West. DavidPerrett has also agreed to stand for election atthe Nottingham AGM.

Conference Report – All members will receivea copy of the gazetteer produced for theCaithness Conference. This is in recognition of the£1000 grant made by the Association to theorganisers.

Bookings for the AIA Annual conference atNottingham (31 August to 4 September 2018)total 80 to date, tours A, D and G are already full.

Creative Re-use Seminar, Salford, 12 October.See page 23 for details.

Work is proceeding on the 2019 AIA AnnualConference (9 to 14 August 2019) to be held atBridgwater & Taunton College. One of the localorganisers, Peter Daniel, will be attendingNottingham AGM to make a presentation on theevent.

Liverpool University has been chosen as thevenue for the 2020 Annual Conference from 20 to27 August 2020.

The Affiliated Societies Practical Weekendheld at Matlock in April was attended by 20delegates, only half of whom were members. Thenon-members were approached to join theAssociation, and two have since done so.

AIA Annual Awards: the full list of winnerswill be published on the web-site and in IA Newsas soon as they have been informed.

The web-site will also detail the eightwinners of Restoration Grants, totalling £128500,when they have been informed.

Planning Casework Report: A list of cases from2015 to date is now shown on our web-site. Thisreport shows the date, local authority, building type,application number, stance and results & notes.

Future Field visits: Contacts are being soughtfor tours to Milan, Turin and Bologna.

Bruce Hedge

AIA Action PlanAs reported in IA News 184, AIA’s Council spentsome time last October considering thechallenges which the Association will face in thecoming years, as new generations of peopleengage with industrial archaeology and heritagein a wide variety of different ways, withoutnecessarily wishing to become members of anorganisation such as the AIA. Following on fromthis, a small group of Council members has beenformed to produce a new Action Plan for the nextfive years. The results of these deliberations willbe discussed at the AIA Council meeting inOctober and a summary of the key points will beincluded in a subsequent issue of IA News.

Ian West

Roles of Council members during 2017,including Co-opted members

Bill Barksfield Overseas Trips, Peter Neaverson Travel Bursary judge and Peter Neaverson DigitalInitiative judge.

Chris Barney Editor IA News, Local Society Publication Award judge and Best Creative Re-useof an Industrial Building Award Building judge.

Dr Robert Carr British Archaeological Awards liaison, TICCIH-UK Representative and RestorationGrant panel member.

Tony Crosby Restoration Grant liaison with donor, APPT representative and HLF IM&Trepresentative.

David de Haan Honorary Secretary, Liaison Officer, Restoration Grant panel member and HLFIM&T representative.

Stephen Dewhirst Dorothea Award coordinator.Kate Dickson E-FAITH Liaison and Best Creative Re-use of an Industrial Building Award Building

judge.Keith Falconer Chairman (until 27th August 2017), APPT representative, HLF IM&T

representative, Best Creative Re-use of an Industrial Building Award Buildingjudge and Restoration Grant panel member.

Roger Ford Sales Officer.Rebecca Haslam Assistant Editor, IA Review.Bruce Hedge Membership development.John Jones Honorary Treasurer.Shane Kelleher Industrial Heritage Support Officer, Archaeological Awards coordinator Peter

Neaverson Digital Initiative coordinator.John McGuinness Conference Secretary.Michael Messenger Professional Publication judge, Peter Neaverson Digital Initiative judge and

Restoration Grant panel member.Stephen Miles Conference Booking Secretary and Restoration Grant panel member.Ian Miller Archaeological Awards judge; Co-editor IA Review.Roy Murphy Publicity.Dr Michael Nevell Vice Chairman (Chairman from 27th August 2017), Peter Neaverson Outstanding

Scholarship Award judge and Dissertation Awards judge.Prof Marilyn Palmer Hon President, Dissertation Awards coordinator, Publication Awards coordinator

and Peter Neaverson Outstanding Scholarship Award judge. Amber Patrick Planning Casework Officer, Peter Neaverson Travel Bursary judge, Archaeological

Report judge and Best Creative Re-use of an Industrial Building Awardcoordinator.

John Powell Librarian and Archivist.Dr Tegwen Roberts Social media and Dissertation Awards judge.Mark Sissons Restoration Grants coordinator and Best Creative Re-use of an Industrial Building

Award Building judge (until 1st November 2017).Lynne Walker Affiliated Societies Officer.Mark Watson Best Creative Re-use of an Industrial Building Award Building judge Chair of

TICCIH-UK.Dr Ian West Co-editor IA Review, Health & Safety Officer, Peter Neaverson Outstanding

Scholarship coordinator and Peter Neaverson Travel Bursary coordinator.


Since the previous report in IA News, andfollowing on from the two Evidence Sessionswhich were held in early October 2017, theChairman of the Group, Nick Thomas-SymondsMP, and his staff spent the winter monthsdrafting a report based on the transcribed oralsubmissions from the sessions and the writtensubmissions which were also made. This Reporton the Challenges Facing the Industrial HeritageSector was published and launched on 1 May2018 at an event in Portcullis House, Westminster.It was well attended by representatives of varioussector organisations including the Association forIndustrial Archaeology (AIA), Historic England,Historic Environment Scotland, and the HeritageLottery Fund. A small number of hard copies ofthe report were available at the launch, but it isavailable to all on-line – see the AIA website.

The report’s key findings are that industrialheritage is vital in the formation of local andnational identities, and is highly valuable in theUK’s contemporary society as a source ofeconomic potential. By providing an examinationof the value of industrial heritage to the UK andthe major social, economic and cultural issuesimpacting this sector, the APPG has compiled aseries of conclusions and recommendations onhow to face the challenges of the future. Whilethe report identified fiscal challenges – theindustrial heritage sector is no different frommany others in the UK – the report foundexamples of innovative ways to raise capital andgenerate revenue, including communityownership, and designing projects withcommercial income opportunities. Therecommendations and key findings are below.

Future meetings of the Group will be lookingat how to implement the recommendations of thereport within Government and the industrialheritage sector.

Tony Crosby

Recommendations of the All-PartyParliamentary Group:

Recommendation 1: Develop skills training inkey aspects of industrial heritage. Examples couldinclude dedicated post-graduate training inindustrial heritage conservation, care andmaintenance.

Recommendation 2: To improve the inclusivityof industrial heritage as a sector by improvingcommunity and industry outreach.

Recommendation 3: To develop relationshipswith other trusts and groups within the sector inorder to promote industry collaboration. Keystatutory agencies and professional bodies couldestablish a standing forum dedicated to thefollowing objectives:

a) To establish a national strategy forconserving the UK’s industrial heritage incollaboration with the Government.

b) To promote and drive through thatnational strategy.

c) To regularly review and report on theprogress of that strategy.

Key Findings: This report provides an examination into thevalue of industrial heritage to the contemporaryUnited Kingdom and the social, economic andcultural issues industrial heritage, as a sector,faces today. With contributions from a diverserange of experts and volunteers throughout thesector forming the evidence base of this report, aseries of recommendations have been formulatedby the All-Party Parliamentary Group on IndustrialHeritage and its contributors. Theserecommendations can be utilised by anyonewithin the industrial heritage sector, with theexception of the Government-specificrecommendations. We aim to outline methods toovercome social and economic challenges eithercost-free or at low costs, as is necessary in timesof austerity. The inclusion of case studies in this report seeksto demonstrate sites, who by using creativemethods, have successfully overcome some of thechallenges outlined in this report.

The need for cost-efficient plans to promoteand sustainably support the industrial heritagesector is urgent; this paper offers some waysforward.

The conclusions reached throughout thisinquiry were:

1) Industrial heritage is highly valuable inthe UK’s contemporary society as asource of economic potential and provedintegral in the formation of local andnational identities.

2) While many of the challenges faced inindustrial heritage are fiscal, otherchallenges to be conquered includeimproving the inclusivity of industrialheritage to different age, ethnic andgendered demographics; offering moretraining programmes in order to increasethe number of skilled workers in thissector; how best to preserve thehistorical site and adaptively redevelop.

3) There are sites across the UK which havecreatively overcome issues of inclusivityand training through industry-sponsoredapprenticeship schemes and projects;reduced costs through commercialapproaches to redevelopment; improvedcommunity engagement throughheritage adoption schemes.

4) The evidence found in surveys and byexperts in the sector indicate strongsupport and interest in industrialheritage from the public. Many of thosewho strongly engage within the sectorare not having their voices heard.

John Powell1948–2018

We were all shocked and deeply saddened tohear of the untimely death on 16 April of formerAIA Librarian John Powell.

In 1980 he joined the Ironbridge GorgeMuseum where he spent the next 32 years asLibrarian and Information Officer, not onlybuilding up the Library and Archives, but alsogiving so many people from all over the world thebenefit of his vast knowledge on so manysubjects. The late Stuart Smith had already startedthe collecting of journals and reports relating toIndustrial Archaeology, and on John’s arrival hepassed on the baton and what became the AIALibrary, which he continued to manage beyondhis retirement in 2013. Non-members of the AIAwould ask for photocopies of articles, which Johnwould supply at cost. Many of the book reviewcopies are passed to the Library, as well as backissues of journals missing from the collection, soit continues to grow. The AIA material alsoincludes some archives, mostly Council papers,and we are happy to continue this work via theHon Secretary.

John was a life-long train spotter, whichformed the basis of just one of his interests, andmore locally his view from the Library windowallowed him to keep an eye on the coal trainstravelling to and from the Ironbridge PowerStation. Living just two miles away in Broseleymade it possible for him to pop down to see theoccasional ‘special’ that used the otherwisegoods-only line.

His humour was legendary, his knowledgeamazing, and his willingness to assist peopleinspiring. To many who knew him he was also atrue friend and he will be greatly missed by somany people. Our heartfelt condolences to Ritaand their children Gareth and Jessica.

Joanne Smith (Ironbridge Gorge Museum Registrar)

and David de Haan

John Powell 1948 – 2018

All Party Parliamentary Group onIndustrial Heritage


2018 RestorationGrants

This year’s applications produced another crop ofworthy projects, most of the 27 applications(valued at a total of over £400,000) arriving inthe Secretary’s inbox just hours before thedeadline of midnight of 31 March. Keith Falconerhas taken over the task of coordinating the GrantPanel deliberations, which had been undertakenby Mark Sissons since the inception of theawards, and the Panel has been joined this yearby Geoff Wallis. Among the projects were sevenrelating to buildings, five for repairs tolocomotives and four more specifically for boilerrepairs, four for road vehicles, three for railwaywagons or coaches, two for water wheels, as wellas one boat, a horse-drawn tram, a railwayviaduct, a steam winch, the launder of a cottonmill, a lime kiln and a portable steam engine.

Thanks to the generosity of the twoanonymous donors we were able to fund eightprojects totalling £126,500, the highest numberso far. These were for the restoration of a 1951Morrisons’ electric coal lorry [A] (£7,000) at theIpswich Transport Museum; the wrought iron roofof 1874 gasworks retort house (£15,500) forSudbury Hall in Derbyshire owned by the NationalTrust; [B] the No 1 brine pump, gantry and shaftof the c1890 Murgatroyd’s Salt & Chemical Worksin Cheshire (£17,000) for the MiddlewichHeritage Trust; a Bradford wooden horse tramcabman’s shelter of 1877 (£20,000) at theNational Tramway Museum in Crich, Derbyshire[C] ; a group of three small industrial buildings atColdharbour Mill in Uffculme, Devon [E](£20,000) for the Coldharbour Mill Trust; repairsto the roof, walls and waterwheel of thepumphouse that supplied water to Croft Castlenear Leominster, Herefordshire [G] (£18,000),another National Trust property; a 1947 Leylandbus (£10,000) at the South Yorkshire TransportMuseum in Rotherham [D]; and lastly therestoration of a c1910 Clark Chapman steamwinch for the Hollycombe Working SteamMuseum’s sawmill (£19,000) at Liphook inHampshire [F].

David de Haan

A

B

E

C

FG

D


Help needed withinsurance —BackbarrowIronworks

The surviving structures of Backbarrow Ironworksin South Lakeland have been described byHistoric England as ‘the best illustrationnationally of iron-smelting technologydevelopment from the early C18 to the C20’. Thesite has featured on the Heritage at Risk registerfor many years, and there have been a number ofprevious attempts to ‘save’ it without success.Until now that is.

Under the supervision of Historic Englandwork is nearly complete to conserve the remainsof the scheduled ancient monument – whichinclude the furnace stack, hot air stoves andblowing engine – alongside work to develop therest of the site for housing. The BackbarrowIronworks Heritage Trust has been established totake over responsibility for it.

The decision was made as part of theplanning process that the ironworks would beaccessible at all times by the public from thefootpath that will run (when building works onthe site are completed) between it and thehousing development to connect one part of thevillage with the other. Potentially dangerous

sections have been fenced so, for example, no-one can wander inside the furnace stack.

Is anyone reading this involved with a site ina similar situation? Not ‘owned’ by a largeorganisation; not gated off but open at all times;in the middle of a village; drawing visitors fromfar and wide?

What advice would you give the Trustregarding public liability insurance, and can youpoint us in the direction of an appropriate insurer?

Roger BakerBackbarrow Ironworks Heritage Trust

and AIA [email protected] 01229 586573

AIA OctoberSeminar Creative

reuseThe Creative Re-use seminar will be on Friday 12October at Islington Mill in Salford, 10am to 4pm.The programme will showcase some of ourcreative reuse award winners as well asdiscussing the impact of regenerating industrialheritage with an opportunity to tour the mill. Afull programme and booking will be available atthe end of July.

The AIA understands that many industrialbuildings will only survive in any form if they canbe converted and reused but that this conversionshould recognise the original use if it is tocontribute towards preserving our industrialheritage. This was the primary reason forintroducing the Award for Creative Reuse of anIndustrial Building in 2015. Awards have beenmade to buildings as varied as a redundantgravediggers hut in Painswick converted to alocal information centre, to the FairfieldShipbuilders drawing office converted by GovanWorkspace to modern offices.

Islington Mill had been out of use for 30years before it was converted into a successfulexhibition and art space with the first event in2000. The current development programme willregenerate and remodel a further 6,000 sq ft –two floors –of the building.

New AIA IndustrialArchaeology

Research GrantFund

From 2019 the AIA will be offering researchgrants for industrial archaeology and heritageprojects. Details of the scheme and theapplication form will be launched at our annualresearch seminar at Nottingham conference thisAugust with a closing date in March 2019. Theintention is to promote research into sites,processes, and landscapes from the industrialperiod through survey work, excavation, anddocumentary study. Grants up to £1500 will beavailable for proposals from the voluntary,academic or professional sectors. The successfulapplicants will be expected to provide a summaryof their proposed research for IA News and a finalwritten report that may be published in IAR. Thisis a partner scheme to our conservation awardsand expands AIA’s commitment to understandingand promoting industrial archaeology landscapesand the process of industrialisation in Britain andbeyond.’

A very warmwelcome to ournew members:

Andrea Brownsdon, Newent

Robert Fletcher, Chester

Anthony Lee, Blackburn

Paul Dottridge, Berkhampsted

Daniel Graber, Oensingen, Switzerland

Brain Kane, Bedford

Angela and Richard Knisely-Marpole,Burbage, Derbyshire

Rebecca Trow, Sale.

Miller’s time offIn earlier, more conservative times, the miller waspunished for working on Sunday, but he didn’talways care. When a protest against Sunday workwas made to Mr. Wade of Wicklewood towermill,Norfolk, he retorted: “If the Lord is good enoughto send me wind on a Sunday, I’m going to useit”. On the other hand, when there was no wind,millers did other work, like maintaining theirmachinery, or took time off. Noah Edwards, thelast miller of Arkley tower mill, Hertfordshire,would “sit on the fan stage of a fine evening andplay his fiddle”.

Rex Wailes, The English windmill.

LETTER

Backbarrow ironworks – stack under scaffolding. The photo was taken from the public road, there is no access to theironworks until the housing development is complete.

VISIT THE AIAWEBSITE



The 49th annual SWWERIAC was held in WestCoker, near Yeovil, on Saturday 14 April and wasattended by 100 participants from all over theregion. This year’s conference had been arrangedby the Somerset Industrial Archaeological Society(SIAS) in conjunction with the Coker Rope andSail Trust.

Geoff Rowton

Richard Sims began the day by providing anoverview of the twine, rope and cloth industriesthat dominated the area surrounding West Coker,and which would be the focus of the morning’sproceedings. The limestone geology betweenBridport, Crewkerne and the Coker villagesproduced soils that were ideal for growing flax andhemp. The demand for twine, rope and clothproduced from these crops led to flourishingindustries from medieval times. Richard describedin detail the harvesting, preparation and spinningof the fibres to form yarn, the raw material fortwine, rope and cloth. Huge quantities of rope andsailcloth were required to equip sailing ships of theeighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Thesuperiority of Coker Sailcloth was widelyrecognised, and was the cloth of choice for theNavy. Such was the demand that the flax and hempbased industries predominated in South Somersetand West Dorset, and have left a rich legacy of millbuildings, housing and associated structures in thearea.

Ross Aitken, Chair of the Coker Rope and SailTrust, continued the story of this local industry byrecounting the remarkable survival of Dawe’s TwineWorks and the challenges that were met during itsrestoration. The site, within West Coker and only ashort walk from the conference venue, has a longhistory of twine and rope making. The presentbuildings date from the end of the 1800s, and werein use until 1968 when the works were closed andwere left to decay. In the 1990s research by thelocal community, assisted by SIAS, revealed theuniqueness of this site, and that almost the wholehistory of this nationally important industry withinthis local area had been lost. The Coker Rope andSail Trust was set up, and in 2005 South SomersetDistrict Council compulsorily purchased the site.Appearance in the BBC series ‘Restoration’ in 2006brought welcome publicity, and although theproject did not win nationally, significant fundingfrom other bodies enabled restoration to begin.Following a successful application to the HLF forfunds to finish the project, work is now almostcomplete. This year it is intended to build a visitorcentre, and soon twine-making will once again beseen in South Somerset, in the last survivingVictorian twine works in England with its originalmachinery.

Conference then split into groups to visit thetwine works. The imposing 100 yard-long covered‘walk’, working machinery and preserved artifactsall demonstrated a high level of restoration andcommitment by all involved, whilst retaining theatmosphere of a small workaday Victorian factory.

Dawe’s Twineworks in West Coker, Somerset,is said to be the only surviving rural twineworkswhich still has its twine-making machinery inplace. In June 2015, as part of the restoration, theAIA awarded the Coker Rope and Sail Trust agrant of £3,700 for ‘the restoration of a range ofmachinery and other artefacts used in the twine-making process.’ This included work on the lineshaft, restoration of the 54in pulley andacquisition of a ‘new’ water pump which will beused to irrigate the new flax plot from theunderground cisterns.

After lunch SIAS member Peter Daniel, aChartered Civil Engineer and retired wastemanager, was well placed to describe the historyand archaeology of solid wastes management

with a talk entitled, ‘What a Load of Rubbish’.The beginnings of the industrial age, and the

rapid urbanisation that followed, presented awaste problem on a scale never previously seen.In urban areas waste of all kinds was piled inhuge heaps, from which anything saleable wasremoved. By the late nineteenth century‘scavenging’ had become an organised industry.The Public Health Act of 1875 marked the end ofuncontrolled tipping; refuse destructors wereoperating as early as c1876, and by the 1890selectricity was being generated. The systematicseparation of wastes was accelerated by wartimesalvage drives. With the decline of coal as a fuelthe proportion of ash dropped sharply, but that oforganic waste consequently grew, forcing the

South Wales and West of England Regional IA Conference 2018

Dawes Twine Works


industry to address the problems of pollution,leachate and landfill gas.

Dr Peter Stanier led a visit to Ham Hill, nearWest Coker following the conference, so his talkentitled ‘England’s Most Seductive Stone’provided an understanding of the significance ofthis golden Somerset building stone. Hamstone isa sedimentary rock, and being a freestone, it canbe carved and has a distinctive texture. Ham Hillhas been quarried since Roman times and wholevillages west of Yeovil were built of Hamstone.

Joseph Lewis; Heritage Coordinator at SouthSomerset District Council’s Community HeritageAccess Centre outlined the history of Yeovil’s glovingindustry. He spoke about the workers and also thetools which were unique to glove making. Glovinghere dates back to the fourteenth century and by theeighteenth it was the town’s main industry. In the1890s three quarters of the town’s workforce wasengaged in leather, gloving and associatedindustries, in both factories and homes. By the 1950sYeovil was producing half of Britain’s gloves, but thisboom was halted, again by the lifting of importbans, and also by the aircraft and engineeringindustries which could offer better wages.

The Somerset Industrial Archaeological Societywill be hosting the 2019 AIA Conference, atCannington near Bridgwater between 9 and 14August, the first time it has been held in Somersetin its 40 year history. It is planned to include a visitto Dawe’s Twine Works as part of the programme.

Lea Valley HeritageAlliance aspires to

World Heritagestatus

Lea Valley Heritage Alliance (LVHA) is anorganisation based in Chingford that upholds theindustrial heritage of the area, promotes localsites such as museums and living history projects,and champions business investment in the LeaValley. The Lea Valley already contains severalsites of special scientific interest and an area ofoutstanding natural beauty but is also home toover 100 world-first industrial achievements, thehighest concentration in a single locationanywhere in the world. For this reason, LVHA’slong-term objective is to have the area added tothe UNESCO World Heritage List on the basis thatits breadth of industrial inventions andinnovations have made an outstanding universalcontribution to humanity. This contributionincludes the first British airplane, the first electriclight bulbs used in houses & public buildings, thediode valve (which paved the way for just abouteverything electronic), the first beer that could betransported and the first sale of petrol.

The World Heritage list contains 1,073locations across 167 United Nations’ memberstates. Nominations for inclusion on the List aremade by the UK Government, from a tentative listthat it complies during the period betweenUNESCO reviews. The next review is due noearlier than 2019 and LVHA is keen to beconsidered on the Government’s tentative list.

Brunel thwarts roadwidening in Devon

A feature of Starcross, Devon is the Italianatepumping engine house, the best survivingbuilding from Brunel’s ‘Atmospheric Railway’. Butthere is more to it than just the building as workhas been suspended on a road widening schemewith the discovery of a ‘nationally significant’underground reservoir.

It was part of system which used suctiongenerated in pumping stations to move trains byextracting air from pipes laid between the rails.The pumping stations used water from theunderground reservoir to create steam but thesystem proved more expensive than usingconventional steam-power and operated for lessthan a year.

The discovery was made by the EnvironmentAgency, which has been carrying out tidaldefence work in the area.

Devon county councillor Alan Connett said:“There have been some significant developmentsthat are likely to prevent any improvementscheme in Starcross. As the chamber lies beneaththe area where the road widening was to takeplace, the council will no longer pursue thescheme.”

The Environment Agency confirmed work hadbeen suspended due to the ‘historicallyimportant’ discovery, with archaeological surveysidentifying two chambers, 32m (105ft) in lengthjoined by 10 underground arches.

Thanks to Neil Preston for forwarding this

National HistoricShips UK

National Historic Ships-UK (NHS-UK) is aGovernment funded, independent organisationwhich gives objective advice to UK Governmentsand local authorities, funding bodies, and thehistoric ships sector on all matters relating tohistoric vessels in the UK. NHS-UK has a wideremit, looking not only at the immediate issuesconcerning historic vessels in the UK, but alsoaddressing questions relating to the supportinfrastructure for historic ships, their potential forcontributing to the wider economic, social andcommunity context, and maintaining a watch listof vessels abroad with potential UK significance.

NHS-UK promotes the availability andstandards of ship and boat conservation skills andtraining, and shares experience and expertiseacross the sector, particularly by establishing anumber of maritime heritage hubs through itsShipshape Network initiative. A current project isShipshape Heritage Training Partnership (SHTP2),a revised version of the first phase of this schemewhich is funded by HLF under Skills for the Futureand will see 16 trainees undergo 12 month-longplacements in conserving, maintaining andoperating historic vessels.

The organisation also runs a number ofaward schemes, including the Flagship of the Yearand Marsh Volunteer Awards, together with anannual Photo Competition.

Energy in StoreThe Science Museum Group (SMG) stores itslarger objects in old aircraft hangars atWroughton, near Swindon, but the vast majorityof its collection – around 320,000 items in total –is kept at Blythe House in West London. ThisGrade II listed building, originally theheadquarters of the Post Office Savings Bank,also provides storage for the British Museum andthe Victoria and Albert Museum.

The Government, which owns Blythe House,has decided to sell it for commercial or residentialuse, and some of the sale proceeds are beingallocated to provide new storage facilities for thecurrent tenants. SMG recently obtained planningconsent for a 20,000m2 building at Wroughton tohouse objects from Blythe House, as well somematerial currently stored in unsatisfactoryconditions in the existing buildings at Wroughton.The new building should enable SMG to offermuch better access to their collections forresearchers and the general public. The process ofmoving the objects, which begins in 2020, will alsoprovide an opportunity to enhance the cataloguingof the collection, with photographs of every object,and to make more of this available on line.In preparation for this massive move, SMG has beenworking with King’s College, London on a project,funded by the Arts and Humanities ResearchCouncil, which explores how users engage withmuseum objects in store. This project uses theenergy sector (steam, gas, electricity, nuclear etc.) asa pilot for the SMG’s collections as a whole, and isworking with a range of professional and non-professional researchers to help shape the systems,facilities and processes needed at the new store toimprove access to the collections.For more information search – science museumenergy in store or – science museum collectionsmanagement Wroughton

Ian West

Paddle SteamerMonarch is for Sale

Monarch has a 42ft steel hull, fitted with awooden saloon and wheel house.

She is powered by an inclined condensingcompound engine supplied with steam from anoil fired scotch dry-back boiler. Licensed for 12passengers she has been successfully operatingriver trips on the Frome and into Poole Harbour inDorset.

Offers over £75,000 – Enquiries to WarehamSteam Navigation Co. Ltd


Martin RandallTravel

are running guided tours with anIA interest including –

16 to 22 September – ‘Early Railways: The North– History, technology, architecture, landscapes’

13 to 20 August, – ‘The Victorian Achievement –Architecture, Industry & Art in Lancashire &Yorkshire’.

Also London Days Out on –

26 October – ‘Great Railway Termini –Paddington, King’s Cross & St Pancras Stations’

13 September ‘London’s Underground Railway –A History & Appreciation of the Tube’

Full details on their website

Augustin Mouchot 1825 – 1912) was an earlyadvocate of ‘renewable energy’, believing thatthe coal would eventually run out. By August1866, Mouchot had developed the first parabolictrough solar collector, which was presented to theemperor Napoleon III in Paris. It did not survivethe 1870 siege of Paris.

He presented a paper on his experimentalsolar generator to the Academy of Sciences in1875, and in the same year he presented to the

Academy a device he claimed would, in optimalsunshine, provide a steam flow of 140 liters perminute. The following year he sought permissionfrom the ministry to take leave from his teachingposition in order to develop an engine for theUniversal Exhibition of 1878, where he won aGold Medal for his work, most notably theproduction of ice using concentrated solar heat.This is his solar powered printing press, 1882.

EMIAC 95INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE DAY –Keeping One in Suspenders!

Saturday October 6 2018 Roman Way Community Centre, Market Harborough, LE16 7PQ

Our EMIAC day will look at the industries which flourished in Market Harborough, the restoration of The Old Grammar School, and the canalsystem which linked the town to the rest of Britain before the coming of the railways.Speakers include:

Rosalind Willatts – Market Harborough: the industries of a market town

Mike Stroud – The Symington Brothers ‘From Soups to Suspenders.’

Bryan Martin – Rebuilding of The Old Grammar School.

Mike Beech – Foxton Locks and the Harborough Arm

Followed by afternoon tours. To download EMIAC 95 Booking form – search EMIAC 95

Please complete this form and post it to the address below by September 29 2018 together with a cheque made payable to LIHS. EMIAC 95, 3, The Orchard, Groby, Leicester LE6 0BA

The cost of the event is £15 per person including lunch. Any queries please e-mail [email protected]

History of IndustryBilbao City Safari 19th – 23rd September 2018

Our Safari will explore the remains of the city's industry from milling to iron mining. We will also look at the transport including a narrowgauge railway (Feve), a transporter bridge and a funicular. Architecture will not be forgotten with some interesting groups of workers'housing, a walk round the new town and a visit to the Guggenheim Museum. Our visit to Bilbao will be a day longer than normalbeginning on the Wednesday evening and finishing at lunch time on the Sunday. Booking is still open for the few remaining places soif you fancy a late summer trip go to the their website for more details and booking arrangements.

Dates for your 2019 DiaryPlanning is already underway for 2019 and I am pleased to announce that the dates for next year’s tours (although not yet all thedetails) are now on the website: Safaris, Country House tours and the AIA Spring Tour. Check out all the upcoming tours opn the Heritageof Industry website.


Local Society and other periodicals received

Abstracts will appear in Industrial Archaeology Review.

Bristol Industrial Archaeological Society Journal, 50, 2017

Greater London Industrial Archaeology Society Newsletter, 296,June 2018

Hampshire Industrial Archaeology Society Journal, 26, 2018

Historic Gas Times, 95, June 2018

ICE Panel for Historical Engineering Works Newsletter, 157, March2018

Leicestershire Industrial History Society Newsletter, 5/1, Spring 2018

London’s Industrial Archaeology, 16, 2018

Manchester Region Industrial Archaeology Society Newsletter, 157,Summer 2018

North East Derbyshire Industrial Archaeology Society Newsletter,70, May 2018

Piers: the Journal of the National Piers Society, 127, Spring 2018

South West Wales Industrial Archaeology Society Bulletin, 132, June2018

WaterWords: News from the Waterworks Museum, Hereford, Spring2018

Welsh Mines Society Newsletter, Spring 2018

Worcestershire Industrial Archaeology and History SocietyNewsletter, 52, March 2018

Yorkshire Archaeological Society Industrial History SectionNewsletter, 103, Late Spring 2018

Bristol Area GazetteerAn updated and greatly expanded version of Joan Day’s 1987 gazetteer ofindustrial archaeology in the BIAS area is available from the Museum ofBath at Work, Julian Road, Bath BA1 2RH. Price £9.95, p and p £3.00.Cheques payable to BIAS please.

Ring bound, the gazetteer uses map references and postcodes alongwith easy to use maps to identify the sites; 123 printed pages. A thematicapproach has been adopted to this revised version. Industry sectors,Banking; Food, Drink & Tobacco, Mining & Quarrying, Metals,Manufacturing, Transport, Utilities; it covers 308 sites of industrialarchaeological importance within the four unitary authorities of Bristol; Bath& North East Somerset; North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.

BooksThe ups and downs of Bristol's Clifton Rocks Railway and the CliftonSpa, by Maggie Shapland, Bristol Industrial Archaeological Society for theClifton Rocks Railway Trust 2017, 317 pp, 430 illus, ISBN 978-1-908905-05-5. Hardback £15 to pick up from Clifton library, Princess Victoria StreetClifton Bristol BS84DD or order online from cliftonrocksrailway.org.uk. It canalso be purchased from Clifton Suspension Bridge and Bristol Archives. Allproceeds to Clifton Rocks Railway Trust.

This is a major definitive work by a BIAS member, 12 years research hasproduced a fascinating collection of oral histories from those who remembertravelling on the railway, to those who experienced the Bristol Blitz, workingin the Balloon squadron, and reminiscences of the remaining few BBCpersonnel. There are descriptions of the artefacts from each period, andwork done by the volunteers since 2005 after years of dereliction.

Having gone bankrupt twice in its life (it ran from 1893 to 1934), it wasthen converted into wartime shelters, barrage balloon workshops, atransmitting station for the BBC Bristol complete with a small studio. All thetransmitting between 1940 and 1945 was performed here and then from1946 up to 1950 it was used for the Third Programme.

Early Railways 6Edited by Anthony CoullsNational Railway MuseumThe series of Early Railways Conferences held its sixth gathering in June2016 in the cradle of railway history that is Newcastle, with visits and eventsacross Tyneside away from the conference venue. A full programme ofpapers showed that there is still a rich seam of research being undertakeninto early railways across the globe. In this volume, a selection of paperscover that international aspect whilst others break new ground in terms oflocation and subject, always part of the excitement of the conference, whereconversations over coffee turn up new research potential almost everyminute. Dr Michael Lewis examines the very basics of early pointwork andtrack, John R New’s paper explores why the horse was displaced as motivepower and Dr David Gwyn reflects on the first railways in Africa. Betweenthe variety of other papers, the social, economic and technological history ofearly railways is covered. Following the amazing wooden wagonwaydiscovery and excavations on Tyneside in the summer of 2014, the bookbegins with Discovering the Willington Waggonway which was the publiclecture and sets the tone for the rest of the publication.

The papersDiscovering the Willington Waggonway: Archaelogical excavations atNeptune Yard on North Tyneside in 2013, R Carlton, L Turnbull & AWilliams

Early Railways in The Bristol Coalfield, Steve Grudgings

Why Killingworth?, Robert F Hartley

Pointwork to 1830, Dr M J T Lewis

Why Displace the Horse? John R New

Early Locomotives of the St. Etienne-Lyon Railway, Miles McNair

Blücher and After: A Re-assessment of George Stephenson’s FirstLocomotives, Dr Michael R. Bailey

Interpreting Sources for the operation of the Durham & SunderlandRailway 1836-56, Colin Mountford

Early Locomotive Performance, Peter Davidson

Penydarren Re-Examined, Andy Guy, Dr Michael Bailey, Dr David Gwyn,Robert Protheroe Jones, Dr Michael Lewis, John Liffen, and Jim Rees

Two Early French Non-Railways, Dr M J T Lewis

Joseph Atkinson and the Early Images of the Tanfield Arch, RobinAdams

Plateways, Steel Road Rails, and Rutways in Australia, Dr JimLongworth and Phil Rickard

The First Railways in Africa, Dr David Gwyn

When to Stop Digging: Assessing the Excavated Evidence, HelenGomersall

Sierra Leone: Proposals for a Colonial Early Railway, Anthony Coulls

PublicationThe book will be published by Six Martlets Publishing on behalf of thesponsors at the discounted price of £35 each plus p and p. To reserve a copygo to www.earlyrailways.org.uk or contact the publisher for an order form.

The postage and packing rates will be: UK, £3.50 per book. Europe,£9.00 per book. Other countries, £14.00 per book.

All subscribers will receive a copy of the book at the discounted pricefor advance payment and will have their subscription acknowledged in thepreliminary pages. The subscription list will close on 15 October 2018 andbook will be published shortly after.

This will be the only opportunity to obtain a copy at the discounted price

Six Martlets Publishing, c/o Better Prepared Ltd, 15 Diamond Court, OpalDrive, Fox Milne, Milton Keynes MK15 0DU. [email protected]

Sponsored by The Newcomen Society, The Railways and Canal HistoricalSociety, The Institution of Civil Engineers, The National Railway Museum

PUBLICATIONS

28 © Association for Industrial Archaeology, August 2018Registered in England under the Companies Act 1948 (No. 1326854) and the Charities Act 1960 (No. 277511)

Registered office: c/o IGMT, Coach Road, Coalbrookdale, Telford, Shropshire TF8 7DQ

DIARY

31 August – 5 September2018AIA CONFERENCENottingham

9 – 16 September 2018TICCIH CONGRESS Santiago ChileIndustrial Heritage – Making aSustainable future by understandingthe pastticcih.org/ticcih-chile-2018-congress

20 – 22 September 2018ICOMOS International Symposium on CulturalHeritage and Legal IssuesBled SloveniaManagement of Cultural HeritageSites

29 September 2018NORTH WEST INDUSTRIALARCHAEOLOGYCONFERENCECross Street Chapel, ManchesterThe Archaeology of Peterloo

6 October 2018EMIAC 95Market HarboroughIndustrial Heritage Day – ‘Keepingone in suspenders’See page 26

12 October 2018SEMINAR – CREATIVE REUSESalford UniversitySee page 23

24 – 26 October, 20182nd INTERNATIONALCONFERENCE ONINTERNATIONAL HERITAGEAND PUBLIC WORKS. Alcalá de Guadaira, Seville, SpainFor information search – fupia.es/ii-congreso-internaciona

27 October 2018DEVIZES CONFERENCEDevizes Town Hall 9.30 – 4.30Information – IA News 185 p24 andAIA Website

9 – 14 August 2019AIA ANNUAL CONFERENCE,SOMERSET

INDUSTRIAL ARCHAEOLOGY NEWS(formerly AIA Bulletin ISSN 0309-0051)ISSN 1354-1455

Editor: Chris Barney

Published by the Association for IndustrialArchaeology. Contributions should be sentto the Editor, Chris Barney, The Barn, BackLane, Birdingbury, Rugby CV23 8EN.News and press releases may be sent tothe Editor or the appropriate AIA RegionalCorrespondents. The Editor may betelephoned on 01926 632094 or e-mail:[email protected]

Final copy dates are as follows:

1 January for February mailing1 April for May mailing1 July for August mailing1 October for November mailing

The AIA was established in 1973 to promotethe study of Industrial Archaeology andencourage improved standards of recording,research, conservation and publication. Itaims to assist and support regional andspecialist survey groups and bodies involvedin the preservation of industrial monuments,to represent the interests of IndustrialArchaeology at national level, to holdconferences and seminars and to publish theresults of research. The AIA publishes anannual Review and quarterly News bulletin.Further details may be obtained from theLiaison Officer, AIA Liaison Office, TheIronbridge Institute, Ironbridge GorgeMuseum, Coalbrookdale, Telford TF8 7DX. Tel: 01325 359846.

The views expressed in this bulletin arenot necessarily those of the Associationfor Industrial Archaeology.

Keep an eye on the AIAwebsite for details ofthe seminar in Salfordon Friday 12 October onthe subject of CreativeReuse. This is concernedwith the essentialstrategy which holds thekey to the preservationof many of our mostimportant industrialsites but it needs to bedone well.

Delegates to the Caithness conference atWick Town Hall. Front Row: Jenny Brucewith three local councillors, Willie Mackay,Nicola Sinclair and Donnie MacKay

photo Miles Oglethorpe

The Dounreay party in front of the iconic‘dome’ – access to the interior is throughthe tube on the right at mid height.

Photo James Gunn

IMPORTANT NOTICEIA News would like to publiciseyour event, particularly if it willappeal to members outside yourarea BUT if you don’t tell theeditor IT WILL NOT HAPPEN. Theproduction schedule is long andit is no good leaving it to thelast minute.

For events before the end ofMay, copy information needs tobe with the editor by emailbefore the end of December tomake the edition distributed inFebruary.

Likewise for events beforethe end of August information bythe end of March (distribution inMay) and events before the endof November then information bethe end of June (distribution inAugust).

You are welcome to senddetails a year in advance if youwish and the date will be in thediary.

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Documents

AIA News 140 Spring 2007 · 2019-08-28 · and listen to all the 14 entries. The Santorini Tomato Factory won the vote with 51% of the total. It would seem that the local town was