tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87106116567560057472024-03-17T15:11:19.720+00:00Greenwich Industrial HistoryAIMS - to research, publish and promote the industrial history of the London Borough of Greenwich David Riddlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15841234446226688028noreply@blogger.comBlogger753125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8710611656756005747.post-21012713427484868232021-11-04T08:57:00.000+00:002021-11-04T08:57:36.625+00:00Greenwich riverside pictures<p> R.J.M. Carr has sent us a series of photographs taken of the Greenwich riverside in the early 1980s.</p><p><br /></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0CMMzDjFjQ9jc4uYeoDNg9IsEqL3sGEoE_pG7Rd-Ue34QGg8rzDyyDQXAal8DFDX4IsQHQSQ3zfklT63qCYLjyNe6hDreUy5vSBbBoaSrt7rXbpQq_t4Q0l1lOVZV6hvLsd5BL9cUcJ_V/s2048/Enderby+Wharf+Mar+81+RJM+Carr++1.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1093" data-original-width="2048" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0CMMzDjFjQ9jc4uYeoDNg9IsEqL3sGEoE_pG7Rd-Ue34QGg8rzDyyDQXAal8DFDX4IsQHQSQ3zfklT63qCYLjyNe6hDreUy5vSBbBoaSrt7rXbpQq_t4Q0l1lOVZV6hvLsd5BL9cUcJ_V/s320/Enderby+Wharf+Mar+81+RJM+Carr++1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John W. Mackay at Enderby Wharf</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirwPCgD5llLB9EGIqrCxdrQsWwdG7xvM13OA3ne2rzDxNxzH4I9nW-tXGsYOC1M2fGLV8xdq52JBydVjE7S7BWtd-qJpuo3M9OtdL2u4qvLUqHoHIV5L8xa220JO39r2_PhrQvuz-8uJYX/s2048/Lovell%2527s+Wharf+L+SE+May+79+R++Carr.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1335" data-original-width="2048" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirwPCgD5llLB9EGIqrCxdrQsWwdG7xvM13OA3ne2rzDxNxzH4I9nW-tXGsYOC1M2fGLV8xdq52JBydVjE7S7BWtd-qJpuo3M9OtdL2u4qvLUqHoHIV5L8xa220JO39r2_PhrQvuz-8uJYX/s320/Lovell%2527s+Wharf+L+SE+May+79+R++Carr.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lovells Wharf</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEd8WkoIysKeGI3eFLJCnoo2qBhaqLAYap1kBfEB954Emi1P13J8YdNOidD0OEGSka6G1XhIbkQQvCInL6ZVjN_rNs3J327eKyzcXyQgzPelLdyCCPxDvrGPyXX9RNxrWd5dlwmiuh_PUW/s2048/Enderby+Wharf+coaling+Mar81+RJM++Carr+.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1357" data-original-width="2048" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEd8WkoIysKeGI3eFLJCnoo2qBhaqLAYap1kBfEB954Emi1P13J8YdNOidD0OEGSka6G1XhIbkQQvCInL6ZVjN_rNs3J327eKyzcXyQgzPelLdyCCPxDvrGPyXX9RNxrWd5dlwmiuh_PUW/s320/Enderby+Wharf+coaling+Mar81+RJM++Carr+.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Coaling at Enderby Wharf<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKxsdGLES4bOacP73e_p5X7e8lw279-7JZTpxi8FlojGRUUiljqH5x7-fqlW76y6THwqXvKZ6jjb-NHh2GKPB2OzZOaKrs4ABNR5iP7FgLATwhF3CGVIvjee6b41Y3bQhjYTIPeWAIGzSe/s2048/L+SW+Enderby+Wharf+Mar+81+RJM++Carr..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1779" data-original-width="2048" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKxsdGLES4bOacP73e_p5X7e8lw279-7JZTpxi8FlojGRUUiljqH5x7-fqlW76y6THwqXvKZ6jjb-NHh2GKPB2OzZOaKrs4ABNR5iP7FgLATwhF3CGVIvjee6b41Y3bQhjYTIPeWAIGzSe/s320/L+SW+Enderby+Wharf+Mar+81+RJM++Carr..jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking south west at Enderby Wharf</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirwPCgD5llLB9EGIqrCxdrQsWwdG7xvM13OA3ne2rzDxNxzH4I9nW-tXGsYOC1M2fGLV8xdq52JBydVjE7S7BWtd-qJpuo3M9OtdL2u4qvLUqHoHIV5L8xa220JO39r2_PhrQvuz-8uJYX/s2048/Lovell%2527s+Wharf+L+SE+May+79+R++Carr.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8FnPL33n1LoOxP2OEPjLDhVl9ZXUXaBWEpOKOQWlXpDMNin20eEhDGfB0PLSI36JhlJU-c_KQjpUUpHj924P6dq-SSHa4eAoHi5UuQX9kt_AhaS1Tn13aoOgBpKu0hQAxsAxjU6BMIDDM/s2048/Enderby+Wharf+Mar+81+RJM+Carr++2.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1312" data-original-width="2048" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8FnPL33n1LoOxP2OEPjLDhVl9ZXUXaBWEpOKOQWlXpDMNin20eEhDGfB0PLSI36JhlJU-c_KQjpUUpHj924P6dq-SSHa4eAoHi5UuQX9kt_AhaS1Tn13aoOgBpKu0hQAxsAxjU6BMIDDM/s320/Enderby+Wharf+Mar+81+RJM+Carr++2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jimmy Piper and other lighters off Enderby Wharf<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8710611656756005747.post-16830522387617806952021-05-27T12:18:00.002+01:002021-05-27T12:18:17.692+01:00<p> <span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">ANGERSTEIN RAILWAY FOOT CROSSING -UNDER THREAT AGAIN</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">(<i>this article was written to support an ACV application last year)</i></span></p><p></p><p class="MsoTitle" style="mso-outline-level: 1; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10.0pt;">The Angerstein Railway is a freight only
railway which runs from just outside Charlton Station to the river.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We understand it is now the only railhead on
the river and it currently handles transhipped dredged aggregate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoTitle" style="mso-outline-level: 1; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10.0pt;">John Julius Angerstein was a Russian
financier, suspected to be the illegitimate son of the Empress Ann of Russia
and a British banker. In 1774 he bought Woodlands, now in Mycenae Road, and his
pictures there provided the foundation for the National Gallery. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His son John owned land which included Combe
Farmhouse slightly north of Westcombe Park Station. In 1851 when the North Kent
railway was built from Blackheath to Charlton he financed a private railway
line to the river. It is on an embankment, opened in 1852 it was immediately
leased to the South Eastern Railway. As industry grew the line was extended by numerous
branch lines to factories. Recently Network Rail have rebuilt the signaling including
that which controls the access from the line to the main railway<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoTitle" style="mso-outline-level: 1; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10.0pt;">What has been under threat is the foot
crossing?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoTitle" style="mso-outline-level: 1; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Before the line was built a footpath ran
from Combe Farm, to fields and later chalk pits. It remained when the railway
was built and thus is a right of way. Steps were built up to the line and in
the 1960s works for the Tunnel Approach included a bridge from Westcombe Park
station across the motorway to the crossing. Recently new housing built north
of Gurdon Road has meant large numbers of residents use the path to get to
Westcombe Park station. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoTitle" style="mso-outline-level: 1; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Locomotives on the line travel very slowly
and drivers have a wide view.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They can
see if people are on the crossing and stop accordingly - drivers often chat to
people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am not aware that there has
ever been an accident. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoTitle" style="mso-outline-level: 1; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10.0pt;">In April 2019 letters were posted to
residents in Fairthorn Road to say that the foot crossing was going to be
permanently closed because more trains were planned. Within 24 hours Greenwich
Council’s legal department had written to Network Rail reminding them that it
is a right of way and that there were proper procedures for such closures. Matt
Pennycook, MP, contacted the railway management and as a result Network Rail
decided they weren’t going to close the crossing after all!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This little crossing is in a charming and isolated
spot where for a second you can imagine yourself at a countryside railway in
the 19<sup>th</sup> century. Last April a local community group backed calls
for it to be given some recognition.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv2183431771msonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #1f4e79; font-size: 10.0pt;">At the time Matt
Pennycook MP said that Network Rail’s Route Managing Director for the South East
had apologised </span><span style="color: #1f497d; font-size: 10.0pt;">for various
mistakes made in terms of communication. But the temporary postponement of the
crossing closure should not be interpreted as a shelving of it, merely a
temporary reprieve. Network Rail are very clear they need to overhaul the outdated
signalling system that is currently in place on this line as it has contributed
to regular freight derailments over recent years. The installation of this new
signalling system would bring freight closer to the crossing point. They think there
is a real risk on an open crossing that people try to cross underneath
stationary freight and are injured/killed when trains start moving. Network
Rail expects an increase in freight along to 20 or so per day. Matt has told me
that he knows of nothing further.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv2183431771msonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #1f497d; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv2183431771msonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #1f497d; font-size: 10.0pt;">Council
transport staff <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>also say they have heard
nothing and that the Borough Solicitor’s letter on the legal position still
stands<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv2183431771msonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #1f497d; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv2183431771msonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #1f497d; font-size: 10.0pt;">There were some
stories circulating locally that IKEA were directing walkers from Westcombe
Park Station to their shop via the crossing in order to avoid the Angerstein
roundabout.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv2183431771msonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #1f497d; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv2183431771msonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #1f497d; font-size: 10.0pt;">Local community
groups (Westcombe Society) asked the Council to give the crossing some
recognition. It is now on the Local List as follows.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv2183431771msonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #1f497d; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="yiv2183431771msonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">Angerstein Freight Railway, SE7 </p>
<p class="yiv2183431771msonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">Crossing & Walkway between Fairthorn & Farmdale Rd <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- Age and History </p>
<p class="yiv2183431771msonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">Railway and crossing built by local landowner John Julius
Angerstein in 1852. Crossing erected for the benefit of Combe farm workers as a
cut through to avoid Woolwich Road Design: Pedestrian crossing over single-track
railway line accessed from the east via an arched walkway beneath the terraced
housing and a raised walkway between back gardens Materials Stone, timber and
brick </p>
<p class="yiv2183431771msonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">Features Arched opening beneath dwelling house </p>
<p class="yiv2183431771msonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">Degree of alteration steps have been upgraded </p>
<p class="yiv2183431771msonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">Significance Rare survival of a historic pedestrian route
over a freight railway, still in regular use by residents for its original
purpose - to avoid Woolwich Road - and as a route to Westcombe Park station. </p>
<p class="yiv2183431771msonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">Railway also still in regular use for transport of aggregates
around London </p>
<p class="yiv2183431771msonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">Qualifying criteria: Historic Interest, Environmental
Significance: i) characterful, time-honoured locally valued feature<span style="color: #1f497d; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8710611656756005747.post-15561439183306306702021-03-30T06:11:00.000+01:002021-03-30T06:11:46.056+01:00<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Operation PLUTO and the HAIS Cable</span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: medium;">By Bill Burns & Stewart Ash </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A large part of
the borough of Greenwich is currently being re-developed to provide much-needed
housing and new commercial premises. This includes the regeneration of several
old industrial sites along the river front. One such ‘brown field’ development
is the Faraday Works, in the north-west corner of the old Siemens Brothers
factory.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The factory was established in 1863 by Charles William Siemens
(1823-83), on land leased from the Bowater Estate, and the site is still
situated on the south bank of the River Thames, at the border of Charlton and
Woolwich. It is bounded on the other three sides by Eastmoor Street, Warspite
Road, and the Woolwich Road. Charles was born Carl Wilhelm Siemens on 4 April
1823 in Berlin, and came to England in March 1848 to set up a branch of Siemens
& Halske. This company had been founded in Berlin by his elder brother Ernst
Werner Siemens (1816-92) and Johann Georg Halske (1814-90). By 1858, Carl
Wilhelm had registered the Siemens & Halske Agency in London, providing
engineering consultancy to the emerging telegraph market. Its clients included
the British Government, for both the terrestrial electrical telegraph and the
pioneering submarine telegraph cables markets. At the same time, another
brother, Karl Heinrich Von Siemens (1829-1906), set up a Siemens & Halske
factory in St Petersburg to sell telegraph equipment and cables to the Russians. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On 19 March 1859, Carl Wilhelm became a naturalized British subject under a
warrant granted by Queen Victoria, changing his name to Charles William Siemens.
This was in preparation for his marriage to Anne Gordon (1821-1901) on 23 July
that year. She was the sister of Lewis Brodie Gordon (1815-76), Professor of
Civil Engineering and Mechanics at Glasgow University. In 1865, a rift developed
between William Siemens and Johann Halske over the submarine telegraph cable
market, which Halske considered too risky, so they went their separate ways.
Halske retained a large equity stake in the London company, but it was
re-registered as Siemens Brothers. In 1869, Karl Hendrich came to join William
in London, and he too would later become a naturalised British citizen. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVQZQnqQAoDSe-nBRsdXnPQzFMUGzjcJENxFRtD4yLqyQr7F08RGcy2FrgWT0boiSdsr5qpMPHPbJ7KW_Iq94D4tfs_X9zvkGIXIBuhUyugr3hzpfNYOtW9HuHz2u4gZMNPifqqK9ogaJh/s1057/siemes+site+1927.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="660" data-original-width="1057" height="333" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVQZQnqQAoDSe-nBRsdXnPQzFMUGzjcJENxFRtD4yLqyQr7F08RGcy2FrgWT0boiSdsr5qpMPHPbJ7KW_Iq94D4tfs_X9zvkGIXIBuhUyugr3hzpfNYOtW9HuHz2u4gZMNPifqqK9ogaJh/w533-h333/siemes+site+1927.JPG" width="533" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Artist’s
Impression of the Original Siemens Brothers Site in 1863, by E Neale c 1927 </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Siemens Brothers prospered and the site expanded to 35 acres (14 Hectares),
employing around 10,000 people at its peak, second only to the Royal Arsenal in
the size of the site and its number of employees. Despite its strong German
links, which would result in confiscation of share capital and internment and/or
deportation of many German national employees during both World Wars, Siemens
Brothers was responsible for several major technical developments that assisted
the allies in both WWI and WWII. In the First World War, these included field
telephone systems and trench cable, but perhaps the most significant development
was the ruggedised light bulbs for the Aldis and OL signalling lamps, used by
the Royal Navy and Army respectively in both wars. In the Second World War, the
demand for telecommunication cable was again high because of bomb damage caused
by German air-raids, but significant military projects included the ‘Clyde
Loop’, that protected and kept the mouth of the River Clyde free of mines, and
the High-Speed Motor Uniselector used in the revolutionary RADAR system, then
known as ‘Chain Home’. Siemens also produced the extremely robust light bulbs
for the Churchill Tank, without which it would have been inoperable, due to the
massive vibrations produced by its engine and drive system. However, perhaps the
most audacious and ingenious of these products was the rapid development and
manufacture, in complete secrecy, of the H.A.I.S. Cable for Operation PLUTO
(Pipe Line Under The Ocean). </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The story of PLUTO begins in early April 1942, when
Lord Louis Mountbatten (1900-79), the Queen’s second cousin, and at that time
Chief of Combined Operations, put a proposition to Geoffrey Lloyd (1902-84), the
Conservative MP for Birmingham Ladywood, at that time Secretary for Petroleum
and head of the Petroleum Warfare Department of the Ministry of Fuel and Power.
Mountbatten’s proposal was that if a military campaign into Europe against the
Nazis was to be successful, then there would need to be a pipeline across the
English Channel to provide petrol, oil and lubricants in bulk to support the
armed forces. Lloyd put this concept to the experts in his department and their
consultants who had, prior to the outbreak of war, been working on pipelines
across the Bristol Channel, the River Mersey and the Thames. Their advice was
that tidal and weather conditions in the English Channel, together with the risk
of enemy action, would make it impossible to implement using any currently known
land or sea construction method, which required pipes of 6” (inches) or more in
diameter. However, the problem reached the ears of Arthur Clifford Hartley
(1889-1960), Chief Engineer of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Co Ltd. A few years
earlier, his company had solved the problem of transportation of oil, over a
very hilly route, by the development of a 3” pipe working at 1,500 pounds per
square inch (psi) [103.4 bar]. Hartley recognised that such a pipe could deliver
100,000 gallons of fuel per day, the equivalent of 25,000 ‘Jerrycans’, the
method used to refuel vehicles in the field. So, on 15 April 1942, Hartley made
a suggestion to his Chairman, Sir William Fraser (1888-1970), who was also
Honorary Petroleum Advisor to the War Office, that such a line could make a
significant contribution to this problem and that if multiple lines were built
it would have the major advantage of not having all their eggs in one basket. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">One obvious problem was that the pipeline would need to be laid quickly to
overcome the tides and currents, and ideally it should be laid in one operation
without joints at sea. This would also have the advantage of limiting the risk
of enemy action disrupting the operation. Hartley thought it might be possible
to use submarine cable technology to contrive a cable without a core that could
be deployed by a cableship. Fraser encouraged Hartley to develop his idea
further and promised him his full support, so the next day Hartley called on the
Managing Director of Siemens Brothers, Dr Henry Robert Wright (1879-1951).
Wright thought that the concept was viable and immediately arranged for his
Woolwich factory to design and make a 200-yard (183m) test length which could
withstand an internal pressure of 500lb psi (34.47bar). It was manufactured from
materials that were already available in stock and consisted of a 2” bore tube
of hardened lead, reinforced with two layers of 10mm steel tapes, and
over-armoured with galvanised steel wires. Production was completed within a
week and a rigorous static testing regimen then commenced, which included strain
and pressure tests to failure. The results were promising and demonstrated that
a much higher working pressure of up to 750psi (51.7bar) could be achieved. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The
design of the cable was based on Siemens Brothers’ experience of developing
gas-filled power cables, combined with their vast experience in making and
laying submarine cables. The design concept was intended to deliver 30,000
gallons a day over the 20 nautical mile (nm) span from Dover to Calais. Just
fifteen days after the initial contact with Dr Wright, Geoffrey Lloyd and the
Services Chiefs involved in Operation PLUTO visited the factory to see the test
cable coiled on board the Post Office cableship HMTS Alert (2) anchored off the
Woolwich Works in the River Thames. The party included Lieutenant-General
Bernard Law Montgomery (1887-1976). So pleased were they with the progress that
Lloyd requested a short sample of the test cable that he could take to show the
Prime Minister, Winston Churchill (1874-1965). </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdtT5-XYEbTAcfu9hduWJZQEJ6RPkw3p3kOeriTew_NiNEzS4ZNKjitB3r39BEAP8cTByY16QFu2Rty9Cgivcuk2MA4_nwxwV44r1NABlhRTlc5AonDjSNBpLSCDd89R8jEMytRzM6fUXy/s1191/siemens+montomery.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="686" data-original-width="1191" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdtT5-XYEbTAcfu9hduWJZQEJ6RPkw3p3kOeriTew_NiNEzS4ZNKjitB3r39BEAP8cTByY16QFu2Rty9Cgivcuk2MA4_nwxwV44r1NABlhRTlc5AonDjSNBpLSCDd89R8jEMytRzM6fUXy/w487-h280/siemens+montomery.JPG" width="487" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Geoffrey Lloyd and the Service
Chiefs. Including General Montgomery on the far left </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Shortly after this visit
instructions came from 10 Downing Street to proceed with the project with all
speed. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Post Office, the Admiralty, Combined Operations, the War Office and
Anglo-Iranian were called together at the Petroleum Division HQ to arrange the
manufacture of further lengths and prepare a complete test programme.
Anglo-Iranian undertook, as agents of the Petroleum Division, to develop, order,
progress and supervise the whole of the pipe, pipe joints, pumping
installations, etc. that would be required, and Siemens Brothers, without
waiting for official orders or priorities, quickly produced more cable. Secrecy
from the enemy was paramount and the cable was given the codename ‘H.A.I.S.’ an
acronym derived from Hartley, Anglo-Iranian & Siemens. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">One of the most important
features of this project was the necessity for all discussions, development and
manufacture to be carried out in absolute secrecy, as if information were to
have leaked concerning the nature of what was being planned, the enemy would
have taken any risk to prevent the cable being completed, or to destroy it when
it was being laid in the English Channel. Elaborate precautions were put in
place; one section of the Siemens Works was isolated and special passes were
issued to every person, whether senior management or factory worker, who was
required to enter the area. In addition, the staff engaged in the work were
called into the factory library, where the Works Manager informed them not of
the purpose to which the new cable was to be put, but of the fact that they were
to be engaged in a job vital to the war effort. Therefore, it was of the utmost
importance for them not to talk to anyone, either inside the Works or outside,
concerning the work on which they were engaged. Everyone whom it became
necessary to allow to enter the secure area was compelled to sign a statement
signifying their complete understanding of the requirements of the Official
Secrets Act. It appears that Government security officers were brought in to
test the strength of the systems in place, and they made repeated but
unsuccessful attempts to enter the restricted areas of the Works. After the war,
Siemens was formally congratulated upon the efficiency of the precautions and
safeguards that it had put in place and operated throughout the project. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The
handling trial that had taken place on 1 May 1942 showed that the test sample
could be coiled into a tank, loaded onto a cableship, and discharged back into
the factory without impairing its performance. The next step was to manufacture
a much longer length, deploy it, and test it in situ. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The next section of test
cable to be manufactured was 1,100 yards (1,006m) in length. On 10 May 1942, it
was laid by the Alert (2) in a loop off Chatham, in the Medway. The ends were
brought ashore to pumps that had been borrowed from the Manchester Ship Canal
Co, and pumping tests at 600psi (41.37bar) were commenced. However, after two
days faults occurred in the cable structure, so the cable was recovered and the
defective sections examined by the Post Office, Siemens Brothers and W T Henley
& Co. Under normal circumstances, Henley’s would have been a major competitor of
Siemens Brothers but it was at Siemens’ suggestion that Henley’s was invited to
join the project to provide additional manufacturing capability, as its factory
at Gravesend was adjacent to the River Thames, which would facilitate transfer
of the cable to cableships. This collaboration between commercial competitors
would continue throughout Operation PLUTO. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The cable failure mechanism was
quickly identified as the extrusion of the lead through gaps in the helical
steel strengthening tapes, due to the two layers of tape being directly one
above the other in certain places along the cable. To resolve the problem the
combined resources of the Siemens and Henley’s Research and Design departments,
together with the Post Office and the National Physical Laboratory, both of
which had been brought in to assist, were mobilised. The result was that a new
specification was drawn up within two days of the failure mechanism being
identified. Lengths of this design were then ordered from both cable making
companies. The new design comprised a central lead-tin-antimony pipe, 2” in
diameter, wrapped with two layers of paper tape, one of cotton, four layers of
steel tape (right hand lay), jute, helically lapped longitudinal steel wires
(left hand lay) and further layers of jute covered with whitewash. The opposite
lays of the tapes and the armour wires were designed to balance each other,
making the cable torsionally neutral, so that it would not twist under handling
or the influence of internal pressure. This design was calculated to allow for
an internal pressure of 1,250 psi (86 bar). </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmBJWFr7My6UH_kRZKeKjgJlwjfNDn_keNdTktJlXGtdf2_aOFybwLQMb9Y0uzIvetayVAHfU_kHRNu0RzHX7MaXY0x-c5uhp7g3kC3HRfLhi5oYtgtrH2Icbq7noUlS7kMxBKYDMlSrpT/s867/hais+cable.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="585" data-original-width="867" height="309" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmBJWFr7My6UH_kRZKeKjgJlwjfNDn_keNdTktJlXGtdf2_aOFybwLQMb9Y0uzIvetayVAHfU_kHRNu0RzHX7MaXY0x-c5uhp7g3kC3HRfLhi5oYtgtrH2Icbq7noUlS7kMxBKYDMlSrpT/w457-h309/hais+cable.JPG" width="457" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;">Telescoped Section of the Final 2”
H.A.I.S. Cable </div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In June 1942, test lengths of both firms' manufacture were laid
by the Post Office ship HMTS Iris (2) in water of similar depth to the English
Channel in the Clyde estuary. Siemens' cable was the first to be deployed; it
was laid over the bow with the ship steaming ahead and with the central tube
containing air at atmospheric pressure. After the cable was recovered from a
depth of about 33 fathoms (61m), it was pressurised to 90psi (6.2 bar), and it
appeared that the cable was leaking, as after the cable had been filled with
water, the applied test pressure would not remain steady. In addition, water
appeared on the outside of the cable, seeping through the outer jute serving at
several places along the cable length. These locations were stripped down to the
lead tube, where it was found to have been pressed in on itself into a kidney
shape. The reason for this was that the tensile load applied to the cable, both
on the forward drum engine and when passing over the bow sheave, had deformed
the circular lead tube into an oval, and the external hydrostatic pressure of
the sea had then further crushed the deformed tube Because of this, some sea
water was found to have been trapped in the space formed between the lead pipe
and its steel tape protection. Under application of the test pressure, the lead
pipe had begun to return to its circular form, and this pushed the trapped water
through the outer armouring and serving, giving the impression of leaks. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUQMBfEOPUR557-IGkQdn8q5bXLNCdJ4bnAUpeJCAfNx9yP9hlSchTDnXCKt49tk47V1bX8asY9ANGgnF67VsUgOWpgROfrxnjAEZaYCmV8St84UqGDfq7ouCGgNRpHxkpRP14B2Aw9apo/s527/deformed+cable.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="435" data-original-width="527" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUQMBfEOPUR557-IGkQdn8q5bXLNCdJ4bnAUpeJCAfNx9yP9hlSchTDnXCKt49tk47V1bX8asY9ANGgnF67VsUgOWpgROfrxnjAEZaYCmV8St84UqGDfq7ouCGgNRpHxkpRP14B2Aw9apo/s320/deformed+cable.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Cross
Section of Deformed Trials Cable </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Due to the increasing urgency of the project,
it was decided to go ahead with the lay of the Henley’s cable in parallel with
this investigation into the assumed failure of the Siemens cable. It was again
laid from the bow of the Iris (2), but this time with the ship going astern to
simulate the less demanding over-the-stern laying conditions. In addition, the
Henley’s cable was laid while filled with water pressurised to 100 psi (6.89
bar) to balance the external hydrostatic pressure. The complete success of this
test lay, combined with the confirmation that the Siemens cable had not failed,
was encouraging. The Siemens cable had undergone more severe conditions during
its lay than the Henley’s cable, and in so doing had proved that the design was
capable of withstanding much rougher handling. This gave the PLUTO team the
confidence to make the decision to manufacture six operational lengths of 26
nautical miles (48.23km), plus an additional length for a full-scale trial in
the Bristol Channel, where conditions of tide and depth of water could be found
that were more severe than those that would be encountered in the English
Channel. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">When going into full production, it was necessary to evaluate the
differences in the method of manufacture of lead tubes used by the cable making
companies. Siemens believed that its technique, using a vertical press that
involving a longitudinal seam, while entirely satisfactory for extruding lead
sheath over ordinary cables, might need some development to make it satisfactory
for making the central tube for the H.A.I.S. Cable. Rather than run the slight
risk of delay, it was agreed to use lead tube made in presses, a method which
avoided a longitudinal seam. Pirelli’s lead sheath, made in a continuous
extrusion machine, was tested and proved satisfactory but before it could be
adopted Pirelli’s works were taken out of operation by enemy action. As Henley’s
lead tube, made in its ‘Judge’ straight-though presses, had been proved
suitable, this type of press provided all the lead pipe used until the
manufacturing capacity of further cable companies had to be brought in to
produce the large quantities of cable eventually required. Lead tubes made by
Pirelli’s continuous presses and by vertical presses (including those with
longitudinal seams) both in the UK and the USA, were later used with complete
success. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Full scale production on this 2” cable commenced at the Woolwich Works
on 14 August 1942, and the first completed 26nm (48.25km) length for the Bristol
Channel trial, which had an overall diameter of 3” and weighed approximately
1,050 tons (1,067 tonnes), was ready for loading by 30 October. It had been
quickly identified that no existing cableship could handle and deploy this
extremely heavy cable, and that a vessel large enough to carry it would have too
great a draft to get close enough inshore to land the cable ends. Therefore, the
Admiralty and the Ministry of War Transport made available the <i>S.S. London</i>, a
coaster of 1,500 tons. She was fitted out to lay the H.A.I.S. Cable under the
direction of the Director of Naval Construction, and renamed <i>H.M.S. Holdfast.</i>
She was equipped with Johnson & Phillips cable gear, lent by the Post Office,
and fitted with large cable tanks and specialist bow and stern sheaves. Siemens
suggested to the authorities that Commander Henry Treby-Heale (1879-1966) should
be made available for the laying operations and perhaps given command. He had,
until recently, been in command of the company’s cableship <i>Faraday </i>(2), but she
had been destroyed by enemy action off Milford Haven on 26 March 1941.
Treby-Heale survived the attack and had then been seconded to the Royal Naval
Reserve (RNR). He was an ideal choice, as he had great experience in the laying
of heavy submarine cables, and so Siemens’ suggestion was readily accepted. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFH4jkscnX5swNmpYGKTfYxgGYXCsNEgFxCOHIQBD3CODK27EijhC6PhT2x3yUkkNCpIa20Jy-wS9DRhT0Dpl28JgyrWyEiJbng7MVJIC_L87dkRCFwYq790q7GgTUpSZVK2bZOa9o8Sz2/s618/holdgast.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="347" data-original-width="618" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFH4jkscnX5swNmpYGKTfYxgGYXCsNEgFxCOHIQBD3CODK27EijhC6PhT2x3yUkkNCpIa20Jy-wS9DRhT0Dpl28JgyrWyEiJbng7MVJIC_L87dkRCFwYq790q7GgTUpSZVK2bZOa9o8Sz2/w365-h205/holdgast.JPG" width="365" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">HMS
Holdfast </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This just left the problem of landing the shore ends. It was concluded
that these needed to be landed by smaller vessels and a quick coupling or joint
was required to join the main cable to the shore end cable. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Shore Ends & Cable
Couplings </b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Two satisfactory types of armoured joint were developed. The first
consisted of a conventional submarine cable laid-in ‘splice’, and the second
comprised a mechanical coupling assembly. The splicing method was used for
making up shore-end lengths and for repair work on long sections in storage
tanks or on cableships, when in dock. Altogether, some forty splices were made
by Siemens' jointers, but the job proved to be too time consuming and demanded
too great a skill-set to be practicable when laying under fire, or for emergency
repair operations; therefore, a mechanical coupling was essential. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The design of
such a coupling was a complex issue, and initial designs were prepared by the
National Physical Laboratory, the Admiralty, the Petroleum Warfare Department
and Siemens. After due consideration the Siemens design was adopted, and the
company became the sole supplier of all couplings used in connection with
Operation PLUTO. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLIAGBc_tK-ajX_GntlKGAnPzEm_mfSJtT2yIfTI3a-8Y591TSkEaGxAw-p3JEw1I6FMcRvHjSQqSRe_RNuye7cfO4KENUlXBCRgLFyNyU3ZF7Nxl_VeLf6syXKPSRKT0rmp4dnw9dROH4/s968/hais+couping.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="697" data-original-width="968" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLIAGBc_tK-ajX_GntlKGAnPzEm_mfSJtT2yIfTI3a-8Y591TSkEaGxAw-p3JEw1I6FMcRvHjSQqSRe_RNuye7cfO4KENUlXBCRgLFyNyU3ZF7Nxl_VeLf6syXKPSRKT0rmp4dnw9dROH4/w415-h298/hais+couping.JPG" width="415" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The H.A.I.S. Cable Coupling </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Each coupling was a complete
pressure termination for a single cable end and could be fitted in about two
hours by a skilled technician. Two couplings could then be brought together for
a straight-through connection and assembly could be completed in about 30
minutes. Couplings were fitted to each cable end on the ship, on shore ends, and
on spare sections for replacement or repairs. Meeting the requirement to quickly
connect the H.A.I.S. Cable was greatly improved by using the couplings instead
of the conventional in-line splice. The coupling design included bursting discs
of thin copper, which were incorporated in the joint to hold the water pressure
of up to 200psi (13.8 bar) that was used when laying the cable. Once the full
length was assembled these discs could then be burst by increasing the internal
water pressure, allowing flow through the completed pipeline. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Static tests were
continued on the 2” cables at the makers’ factories, and pressures in excess of
3,000psi (207 bar) were maintained for several months. Throughout the autumn of
1942, the Chiefs of Combined Operations conducted tests with cable on drums at
the experimental establishment at Westward Ho! in an endeavour to find ways of
handling the shore ends with craft which could be operated at the beaches. The
most promising method devised was to mount two cable drums with 1,000 yds.
(915m) of cable on horizontal axles in a landing craft (type LCT 326) designed
for landing armoured vehicles, with a view to paying the cable out over the bow
ramp, which was lowered with the craft going astern. This method was used as
part of the full-scale trial in December 1942. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>The Bristol Channel Trial</b> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">With
all the necessary building blocks in place, a full-scale rehearsal of Operation
PLUTO took place on 29 December 1942, when a 30nm length of the H.A.I.S. Cable
was laid across the Bristol Channel, and the shore-end cables were to landed
from LCTs at Ilfracombe and Swansea. Although the main cable was laid
successfully at 5 knots by HMS Holdfast, under the command of Henry Treby-Heale
RNR, great difficulty was experienced in laying the shore ends, owing to the
lack of manoeuvrability of the LCTs when going astern with heavy cable over the
bow. Further development work would be required before the trail cable could be
completed. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">As a result of a conference convened in January 1943 at Combined
Operations Headquarters to evaluate the rehearsal, it was agreed to adopt an
alternative method of landing the shore ends. This would employ the technique
used by submarine cable suppliers of coiling sufficient cable horizontally in
the hold of a self-propelled barge, specially fitted for paying out cable over
the stern through hand-controlled compressor gear. Although this involved
allotting precious Thames barges and their crews solely to this task, they were
made available, and the shore ends for the trial system were completed by the
end of March 1943. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The National Oil Refineries at Swansea, the Royal Engineers
(RE), and the Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) specially trained Bulk Petroleum
Companies had meanwhile erected a pumping station on the sea wall at Queens Dock
and connected it to their petrol tanks. The Royal Engineers, working with
Combined Operations and the RASC, had, with the help of the Petroleum Board,
erected a receiving terminal with tanks, pumps and loading racks in Watermouth
Bay near Ilfracombe. After satisfactorily testing with water, the first petrol
ever to be pumped through such a long sea line reached Watermouth on 4 April
1943. Geoffrey Lloyd was there to witness the first petrol arrive and a few days
later he took a sample to the Prime Minister. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It had always been the intention
that the vulnerability of the cable to bombing or depth charges, and the
possibilities of needing repairs should it be dragged by a ship's anchor, would
be evaluated. However, a German air raid on Swansea proved that the cable was
not damaged by a bomb that exploded within 100 ft (30.5m) of it. Also, during a
gale, a ship at the Mumbles anchorage dragged the cable with her anchor. H.M.S.
Holdfast was deployed and had no difficulty in locating the cable, cutting out
the damaged portion and completing the repair with a new length of H.A.I.S.
Cable. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In order to prove the reliability of the cable and pumps, and to train
the RE and RASC personnel who would be responsible for the operation, pumping
continued day and night. Initially the system was operated at the design
pressure of 750psi (51.7 bar) but later this was increased to 1,500 psi (103.5
bar). At this pressure, 56,000 gallons were pumped from Swansea to Watermouth
each day and distributed by the Petroleum Board around Devon and Cornwall. The
Hamel Pipe Before continuing the story of the H.A.I.S. Cable, it should be noted
that, early in its development, an alternative approach was introduced and
worked on in parallel. On behalf of the Petroleum Division, a Mr. Ellis and Mr.
Hammick were dealing with the H.A.I.S. Cable programme, and when they saw that
the cable was extremely stiff in short lengths but flexible and easily
manageable in long lengths, they suggested that a steel pipe could also be used
for PLUTO, as they had seen samples of small diameter pipes that were also
flexible when handled in long lengths in the oilfields. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">With the assistance of
Stewart & Lloyd, J. & E. Hall of Dartford, and A. I. Welding, they quickly
proved that a 3” steel pipe with sufficient wall thickness to handle the
necessary pump pressure could be bent round a wheel of 30ft (9.1m). diameter and
pulled off again, remaining relatively straight without kinking, and sections
could be flash welded together to provide any required length. However, with
this bending diameter, it could not be handled like cable and stored in a
cableship’s tanks. One reason for this was that the coiling process results in a
complete twist being induced into each turn. Although this twist is removed
while uncoiling during laying, the steel pipe would not tolerate this treatment.
Mr. Ellis, therefore, suggested the use of a large wheel mounted on trunnions on
the deck of a Hopper Barge, with its lower portion protruding into the sea
through the hopper doors. An alternative approach, also adopted, was a huge
floating drum like a gigantic cotton reel, capable of carrying any quantity of
pipe likely to be required. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Model tests of the floating drum concept were
carried out at the National Physical Laboratory’s tank at Froude in Worcester.
These tests confirmed that such a vessel could be towed at sufficient speed
without yawing. This floating drum (vessel) was named HMS Conundrum, or ‘Conun’
as it became known. Preliminary work proved that the pipe could be laid up on
the drum and pulled off without kinking. The sections could be welded together
with absolute reliability; so long lengths could be carried and laid by either
the wheel and barge or the Conun system. Although there was no previous
experience as to how a bare steel pipe would lie and behave on the seabed, it
was calculated that it would have at least a six-week operational life. As the
H.A.I.S. Cable was as yet unproven, and there was significant concern as to
whether there would be sufficient supplies of lead available to complete the
H.A.I.S. programme and meet the operational targets, having a complementary
method, even if it was short lived, was considered desirable, and so it was
decided to proceed with this approach. This pipe was given the codename ‘Hamel’
after its inventors, Hammick and Ellis. A factory at Tilbury was set up to weld,
store and wind Hamel Pipe. A Hopper Barge was converted to carry the drum and
was later called HMS Persephone, and a Conun was also constructed. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPa71Z0Yxmi7BsaVrQ0oKGcrCjP6ap0B4i6s1s5rBAPyMCY4QcNS9BTOG0wBiLYYcuBHH8aqx49UbmfWMFnGHljc-lvIJNGpDMaRaCuBzMV40qK7EurFx9_79HWVl6hoo-phiGPmXFhUSi/s1052/persephone.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="496" data-original-width="1052" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPa71Z0Yxmi7BsaVrQ0oKGcrCjP6ap0B4i6s1s5rBAPyMCY4QcNS9BTOG0wBiLYYcuBHH8aqx49UbmfWMFnGHljc-lvIJNGpDMaRaCuBzMV40qK7EurFx9_79HWVl6hoo-phiGPmXFhUSi/w398-h188/persephone.JPG" width="398" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">HMS
Persephone </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The contract for pipe manufacture was awarded to Stewart & Lloyd, and
this company also undertook to act as agents of the Petroleum Division for the
design and construction of the pipe. Subsequently the company took on the
management of the Tilbury factories. At the same time, the Director of Naval
Construction took responsibility for fitting out HMS Persephone, the design of
the Conun, and the supervision of its construction by Messrs Orthostyle. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpDnu-s76zyTntdnfBCfX2uawzASLO6FX86UMtmQd0xV6lhhC72lLbIArXRG3-0LUrIgR6Zrh5jRFBApTc8WRiZdiR0Vl7Tqg0WpPt2O63zx_Ky6pNDlJd9uKxpaXKXJL9IN5rcXhC2Ylh/s1133/conun.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="662" data-original-width="1133" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpDnu-s76zyTntdnfBCfX2uawzASLO6FX86UMtmQd0xV6lhhC72lLbIArXRG3-0LUrIgR6Zrh5jRFBApTc8WRiZdiR0Vl7Tqg0WpPt2O63zx_Ky6pNDlJd9uKxpaXKXJL9IN5rcXhC2Ylh/w424-h248/conun.JPG" width="424" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">A Conun
Loaded with Hamel Pipe </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Two adjacent factories were constructed at Tilbury to
weld 40ft (12.2m) lengths of 3” diameter steel pipe into 4,000ft (1,219m)
lengths. While being welded, the pipe was pushed down 4,000ft. conveyor channels
and, on completion, thrown off on to a storage rack. Pending completion of the
Tilbury factories, a few miles of 3” steel pipe were hand-welded in Portsmouth
Dockyard and wound on to Persephone's drum for preliminary trials. These were
entirely successful, and the work was completed by April, so that both the
H.A.I.S. Cable and Hamel Pipe had successfully completed their main trials
programmes by the Spring of 1943. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It was realised very early in the Hamel Pipe
trials that it was not flexible enough be used at the shore ends. It could not
be deployed quickly enough, especially at the French end, where the operation
would be under heavy enemy fire. For the Hamel Pipe to be used, the shore ends
would have to be H.A.I.S. Cable. However, this would reduce the diameter of the
pipe at both ends from 3” to 2”, causing a significant reduction in throughput.
A 3” diameter H.A.I.S. Cable was needed, at least in short lengths, if the Hamel
Pipe was to deliver its maximum potential. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>The 3” H.A.I.S. Cable </b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The success
achieved by the Bristol Channel dress rehearsal had already led to the
consideration of increasing the diameter of the core of the H.A.I.S. Cable to
3”. This dimensional change had been suggested as it would offer a significant
increase in capacity that would reduce the number of cables needed to reach the
required supply target. The requirement for a 3” cable to provide the shore ends
for Hamel Pipe added to reasons for progressing this design modification. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The
design of the new cable was similar in most respects to the 2” cable, with the
exception of the increased tube diameter, and the steel tapes were increased to
22mm in thickness to deal with the greater hoop stress that the cable would have
to withstand. The final overall diameter of this cable, after armouring, was
about 4.5”. Work on the 3” tube design commenced at the Woolwich Works in
September 1943 and in parallel, the coupling design was adapted. New designs
were developed for the 3” cable, with a modified version to fit the ends of the
Hamel Pipe. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>A Change of Course</b> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On 23 April 1943, full scale production of both
solutions had been authorised by the Petroleum Division and the Chief of
Combined Operations. They then handed on responsibility of the Operational Stage
to the Petroleum Warfare Department under its Director General, Major-General
Sir Donald Banks (1881-1975), K.C.B., D.S.O., M.C., and Force PLUTO, specially
organised by the Admiralty under the command of Captain John Fenwick Hutchings
(1885-1968), C.B.E., D.S.O., Royal Navy. The Quartermaster General visited the
Watermouth Bay station on 24 April to see the H.A.I.S. Cable system in
operation, and on 29 April he visited the Hamel factories in Tilbury, then
proceeded to Henley’s factory in Gravesend and the Siemens works at Woolwich to
see production of the 2” H.A.I.S. Cable. At Woolwich, he also saw HMS Holdfast
loading a length of 2” H.A.I.S Cable. From his observations he decided that no
further lengths of 2” cable should be made, and that 3” cable, then undergoing
Works tests, should be thoroughly trialled in order to maximise the opportunity
of obtaining the advantage that the 3” cable would provide almost treble the
output of the 2” cable. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">During June and July 1943, recommendations were made by
the Quartermaster General's Petroleum Committee, and these were confirmed by the
Chiefs of Staff Committee, that Operation PLUTO should be made a high priority.
Up to this point the plan had only conceived a pipeline from Dungeness to
Boulogne, but for the first time, a second line from the Isle of Wight to
Cherbourg was introduced into the plan. Plans were put in place for pumping
stations of 3,500 and 3,000 tons per day to be built at Dungeness and the Isle
of Wight respectively. Unknown to the members of the Operation PLUTO teams, this
was an indication that the D-Day landings were being planned for Normandy. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Isle
of Wight to Cherbourg Crossing</b> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The decision to lay a pipeline from the Isle of
Wight to Cherbourg would require much larger quantities of cable and pipe, and
so arrangements were made to increase British manufacture as much as possible,
but also to obtain 140nm (260km) of cable from the USA. In addition, it was
planned to duplicate the Tilbury factory for welding, storage and winding Hamel
Pipe in the USA. An American Army proposal had also been developed for laying
cross-Channel lines, but when the progress made in UK with the H.A.I.S. Cable
and the Hamel Pipe was seen by ‘Ike’, General Dwight David Eisenhower
(1890-1969), Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in Europe, he
decided to abandon the American scheme and concentrate on helping the British
programme by supplying cable to the UK design and providing additional pumping
and auxiliary plant from the USA. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Isle of Wight to Cherbourg route involved
a sea-crossing of about 70nm (130km), instead of the 26nm (48.4km) originally
visualised. This made necessary the provision of larger cableships and the use
of the Conun, which would be loaded till the axles were awash. Following a
successful trial lay of the 3” H.A.I.S. Cable, Operation PLUTO obtained three
more ships to be converted and fitted with cable gear by the Director of Naval
Construction. HMS Algerian was to carry 30nm (56.7km) of 3” cable, and the other
two, HMS Latimer and HMS Sancroft, were to carry 100nm (185km) of 3” cable,
weighing about 6,400 tons. Six Thames barges were also converted and equipped to
handle the shore ends. In addition, a large number of auxiliary vessels were
added to the Operation PLUTO fleet. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Tests using a model Conun at the National
Physical Laboratory showed that it could be handled when loaded with 70nm of
Hamel Pipe, provided that two of the largest class of Ocean Rescue Tugs (the
Bustler) were used ahead, and a smaller tug astern for steering. The production
of five more Conuns was then put in hand. When fully loaded with 70nm of Hamel
Pipe, each Conun weighed 1,600 tons, or the equivalent of a Royal Navy
Destroyer. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Pumping Stations, Storage Tanks & Camouflage</b> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Diesel-driven
reciprocating pumps, each capable of handling about 180 tons per day, had been
ordered in large numbers for the pumping stations. However, with the increase in
capacity required by the longer crossing, it was decided that centrifugal pumps
with a capacity of 1,100 tons per day, powered from the electrical grid, should
also be installed, in order to reduce the number of operating and maintenance
staff required. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Anglo-Iranian undertook the supervision of the construction of
the pumping stations and storage tanks. This involved civilian contractors, the
RE, RASC, and the Pioneers Corp. The RASC were effectively a Bulk Petroleum
Company specially trained for the operation. The Petroleum Board constructed the
land lines and Force PLUTO laid a large number of H.A.I.S Cables and Hamel Pipes
across the Solent to provide redundant lines to the Isle of Wight. These
installations were an ideal opportunity to train the personnel of the large
force that was being assembled and to develop and trial the ships and their
equipment. During these operations, it was established that the cable and pipe
could withstand all reasonable end tensile pulls, but that both would be
severely kinked and damaged if allowed to hang vertically from the laying
vessel, or if they were run back upon. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Unlike many war secrets, Operation PLUTO
could have been given away very easily. If the Germans had got hold of such
information as ‘A petrol pipe like a hollow submarine cable across the Channel’,
the project might well have foundered. Clearly, the pumping stations and storage
tanks might easily be identified by air reconnaissance, so much effort was put
into camouflage techniques to reduce the risk of discovery and attack, and the
pumping station construction was put under the supervision of a Camouflage
Officer. Any plant which might be seen from the air was moved into position
under the cover of darkness, and existing buildings such as bungalows, garages
and ice cream factories were all used as pump houses. Control photographs were
taken at regular intervals by the RAF to reduce the risk of discovery. These
precautions were often expensive and time-consuming but were successful, which
was proven by the absence of any known attempts by the enemy to interfere with
the pumping process during the period that PLUTO was operational. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Enemy Action </b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The development and manufacture of the H.A.I.S. Cable and the Hamel Pipe,
together with the conversion of vessels and the construction of Conuns, was
completed in just over two years. This would have been an exceptional
achievement in peace time, but it was carried out in what appears to have been
complete secrecy. Given the number of organisations that had to collaborate, it
is impressive that the Germans did not get wind of Operation PLUTO or its
objectives. However, there was a war going on, and throughout the development
programme London was the target of continuous bombing raids. All the major
Operation PLUTO manufacturing sites were on the River Thames at Gravesend,
Tilbury and Woolwich, close to major docks, and thus obvious targets. The
Luftwaffe’s general approach to bombing raids on London was to gather their
planes in the North Sea off the Thames Estuary or in the Channel off Folkestone,
then follow the river or the A20 respectively into London. In both cases the
Siemens Brothers Works at Woolwich was directly in the firing line. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Although
Siemens Brothers was predominantly a British company, at the start of the war
its German counterpart still held a large equity stake, and there were still a
few German-born employees. The two companies had continued to collaborate on
development programmes right up to the outbreak of war, and the Nazis thus knew
all about Siemens Brother and its products, so the Woolwich Works became a
specific target. This can be confirmed because of a unique photograph discovered
by Allied troops when they liberated the Luftwaffe Headquarters in Belgium. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2TiaZs6mC-KAuV-r490y_mkJA6T2XFS2-LNa800LfdNBywrvdCLGXkV7K6EHcMINbihJ_pHq6DNePMmJi8wJna7aUDCBOW_sG0rCgmbzjuQ1TFL5Y6wEdyfq_DjlVJewgTO8BG3agsQ8Q/s668/luftwafffe+siemens.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="668" data-original-width="528" height="493" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2TiaZs6mC-KAuV-r490y_mkJA6T2XFS2-LNa800LfdNBywrvdCLGXkV7K6EHcMINbihJ_pHq6DNePMmJi8wJna7aUDCBOW_sG0rCgmbzjuQ1TFL5Y6wEdyfq_DjlVJewgTO8BG3agsQ8Q/w389-h493/luftwafffe+siemens.JPG" width="389" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br />Luftwaffe Aerial Photograph of the Siemens Woolwich Works </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The thick black line
in the image above is shown as a thick red line on the original and outlines the
Works at Woolwich with great accuracy. The index at the bottom of the photograph
gives descriptions of the various types of buildings and in some cases
information of what they were used for. None of these footnotes refer to
Operation PLUTO or the H.A.I.S. Cable. There is no doubt that the Nazis
considered the Siemens Brothers Works an important target, and while all three
sites had to deal with German air raids, the Siemens Works probably suffered
more than the other two. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">When war was declared on 3 September 1939, the Siemens
Brothers factory site covered some 35 acres (14 Hectares) and employed over
10,000 people. The first air raid on London took place on Saturday 7 September
1940 and commenced at 17:00 that evening. The following account is taken from
Siemens Brothers official reports: </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Around 5,000 employees were working that
Saturday afternoon. There was no indication of anything abnormal, and when the
sirens sounded, an established routine was quietly followed. Air Raid
Precautions (ARP) personnel reported to their stations, and all other employees
evacuated to the shelters, as they had done on many previous occasions without
any incidents. However, on this occasion the sirens were followed quickly by the
roar of enemy bombers, and out of the blue evening sky flecked with fleecy white
clouds, hundreds of enemy bombers supported by hundreds of fighters weaving
around them came in a steady stream from the south-east, and almost immediately
a rain of bombs commenced to fall on the Surrey Docks and Woolwich Arsenal. The
crash of falling bombs was continuous, and within five minutes high columns of
black smoke began to rise from the district, which appeared to be blazing over
its whole area. No fewer than sixteen high-explosive bombs fell inside the
boundaries of the Siemens Works and caused very great damage. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgttrGbBIhAf-gY4gE1cMFy0nbmWLIvQ8x9qpz8oPfl2xb20qvFiHJqM8sFqUqZzWClb_kD4uDCaM6S2T__Hlyjfye8N24pi1VSVwN10lS4Mxz3EQXWFrcUyr58jJf40hvOUMp7MfcnfKfI/s1240/siemens+bom+damage.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="456" data-original-width="1240" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgttrGbBIhAf-gY4gE1cMFy0nbmWLIvQ8x9qpz8oPfl2xb20qvFiHJqM8sFqUqZzWClb_kD4uDCaM6S2T__Hlyjfye8N24pi1VSVwN10lS4Mxz3EQXWFrcUyr58jJf40hvOUMp7MfcnfKfI/w540-h199/siemens+bom+damage.JPG" width="540" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">High Explosive
Bomb Damage </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This was the start of what was known as the ‘Blitz’, and this
bombing campaign continued with decreasing intensity until the end of the war.
In October 1945, a plan of the Works was marked up with the number of High
Explosive (HE) missiles of various types that landed on the site, and their
locations. In addition, the incendiary bombs that were dropped on the premises
were scattered in such large numbers that it was impossible, after the first
thousand, to keep accurate records of their location, but their general
distribution was indicated on the plan. Although a great number of land mines
were dropped in the Woolwich area, only one landed on houses, in Hardens
Manorway, 50 yds (45m) to the west of the Works, shown in the plan with a
parachute attached. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisN3X9BBYX4Reoe29Fau_MPGQ3ajAl0twKRIlbmhoRVV6tgf1iDDSIZSOWgZxZHQhYd0FEE2fz35bx4BIgfb0i9yYQmijS6yq4ZWuWaCncQCS4AVoHX5X0Jljn0VPc7FtJckccbhSZ03se/s874/arp+siemens.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="746" data-original-width="874" height="337" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisN3X9BBYX4Reoe29Fau_MPGQ3ajAl0twKRIlbmhoRVV6tgf1iDDSIZSOWgZxZHQhYd0FEE2fz35bx4BIgfb0i9yYQmijS6yq4ZWuWaCncQCS4AVoHX5X0Jljn0VPc7FtJckccbhSZ03se/w395-h337/arp+siemens.JPG" width="395" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">1945 Site Plan showing the Location of Dropped Bombs </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In
addition to the bombs recorded within the Works, in the later stages of the war
three V1 rockets, known as ‘Doodlebugs’, exploded in the River Thames north of
the Works, and two V2 rockets later exploded in mid-air above the Works. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">During
the war, the Woolwich site was hit on no less than twenty-two occasions, and the
research department in Blackheath was also damaged by HE and incendiary bombs.
After 7 September 1940, the bombing of London continued with great intensity for
a continuous period of 90 nights. Records show that the intense air raids by
bombers only lasted for a period of six months, but occasional heavy raids
persisted throughout 1941. Once the Battle of Britain was won, the daylight
raids ended, and although night raids followed into 1942, they grew gradually
weaker and proved far less accurate, so very few HE bombs were dropped within
the Works. These night raids did continue spasmodically until the start of the
V1 flying bomb attacks, which commenced on 13 June 1944. These continued day and
night until they were replaced by V2 rockets, the first of which hit London on
Friday 8 September 1944, and the V2 attacks continued until the launch sites in
mainland Europe were final overrun by Allied troops at the end of March 1945. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There were, of course, many bombs, flying bombs and rockets that landed in close
proximity to the boundaries of the Siemens Works, and although these caused only
limited blast damage to the Works, they did cause serious stoppages in
production by interfering with utility services such as gas, water, electricity
and telephone. Apart from the incidents that occurred in and around the factory,
production was also adversely affected when there were attacks on the district
as a whole, or when enemy planes were over the Works, as many thousands of
man-hours were lost through the employees having to take cover in the Works air
raid shelters. A further disruptor was injuries to employees and damage to their
houses in the local area. Remarkably, the Siemens Works got though the war with
only three fatalities and one serious injury, which required the amputation of a
leg. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Despite all this enemy action, the H.A.I.S Cable development and
manufacture was successfully completed in time to meet the finally required
milestone of Operation PLUTO. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>The Installation of the PLUTO system</b> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Full-scale
trials were made with the Conun in the River Thames in February 1944, and in
Bournemouth Bay in April 1944, during which the technique for towing the Conun
at up to 7 knots was perfected, and the decision was taken to moor the drum at
the beginning of her run and haul in the H.A.I.S. Cable shore length by means of
a warp pulled in by a plough traction engine. The far-end H.A.I.S. Cable would
then be laid out parallel to the shoreline and subsequently pulled in from the
beach. However, both these methods proved difficult to accomplish and an
alternative approach would later be adopted. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">As is well known, the D-Day
landings, codenamed ‘Operation Neptune’, took place on three beaches (Gold, Juno
& Sword) in Normandy on 6 June 1944. However, Operation PLUTO did not commence
until 12 August, due to the delay in capturing Cherbourg and clearing the
harbour of mines. The first line was laid across the English Channel from the
Isle of Wight to the tip of the Cherbourg Peninsula. Two 3” H.A.I.S. Cables and
two Hamel Pipelines with H.A.I.S Cable shore ends were laid on this route. Each
of them was 70nm in length and the average time taken to lay the H.A.I.S Cables
was about 10 hours. These were followed in the next few weeks by two Hamel
Pipes. Petrol was pumped through these pipelines to support the Allied advance
along the Channel Coast to Boulogne and Calais </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The advance of the Allied Armies
into Belgium and Holland was so fast that it became essential to shorten the
lines of supply, and so further pipelines were run across the Channel on the
original planned route from Dungeness to Boulogne. The lines from Dungeness were
run to a beach inside the outer harbour at Boulogne. This saved vital time by
obviating the need to clear the heavily mined beach at Ambleteuse that had
previously been chosen as the landing point. This change to the route involved a
longer run and a more difficult approach, but a technique of laying the main
lengths of H.A.I.S. Cable over the stern and dropping the ends onto the seabed
was devised. These ends were to be picked up later by the shore-end barges and
coupled to the shore end cables at a suitable state of a later tide, and then
the shore ends were landed. Once this had been perfected, lines were laid and
commissioned without incident. The average time of laying the H.A.I.S Cables on
this route was only five hours and eleven H.A.I.S. Cables were finally
installed. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Six Hamel Pipes were also laid on this route. As described earlier,
the method of pulling in the Hamel Pipe shore ends from the Conun had proved
difficult, if not impossible, both in trials and on the Isle of Wight to
Cherbourg lines. This issue was resolved by winding onto the Conun short lengths
of H.A.I.S. Cable coupled to the beginning and end of each length of Hamel Pipe.
These tails were led and followed respectively by a special floating wire. The
Conun could then be handled like the cableship laying each tail on the seabed
for the barges to recover the floating wires. They could then couple the pipes’
cable tails to the shore-end cables and deploy them with the same method that
was used to complete the H.A.I.S. Cable lines. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Force PLUTO was responsible for
the installation of the line to above the low-water mark on each shore, and the
RE and RASC then connected the ends with steel pipe to the valves and filters
provided on the pump delivery lines in the UK and, at the far end, to valve
manifolds. Main and group control rooms were set up, with telephone
communication between themselves and the pump houses, and to the opposite
receiving terminals. These locations were provided with diagrams on their walls
on which the control officers could use coloured discs on hooks to indicate the
direction of flow of oil, the pumps and lines in use, etc., at any time. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">As
described earlier, the couplers contained bursting discs to contain water under
pressure in the H.A.I.S. Cables during the laying operation and until the
sections were connected together. When a H.A.I.S. Cable line was ready for
commissioning, a pump was started at the UK end and the rate of rise of pressure
was monitored and recorded. The rate of rise was slow at first, but when it
reached 400psi (27.6 bar) the first disc was broken, and the pressure was seen
to fall. It then began to slowly rise again until the next disc burst. This
process was repeated at each disc until the liquid began to flow at the far end
and this was then confirmed to the pump house, via a direct telephone line from
the receiving terminal. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Each of the 3” lines run from Dungeness were capable of
delivering about 400 tons a day, or 120,000 gallons. These lines were supplied
and installed sufficiently quickly to keep ahead of the capacity required to be
pumped from Boulogne into the French interior. The total length of the pipelines
laid on the Boulogne route was 500nm (928km), which provided a total capacity of
more than 4,500 tons, or 1,350,000 gallons, per day, and 1,000,000 gallons a day
were pumped across the Channel for some weeks. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There was a valve manifold system
on the beach at Boulogne, with a tank at beach level, that provided facilities
for test purposes, but the flow was usually taken direct through three lines of
6” Victaulic jointed pipe up to tanks of 1,200 tons capacity on the cliffs north
of Boulogne. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">As the Allied Armies advanced, the lines were extended inland
through 6” Victaulic pipelines. Eventually, petrol could be pumped from Boulogne
to Calais, Ghent, Antwerp, and Eindhoven, then across the Rhine at Emmerich.
From Cherbourg the route was extended to Alençon and Chartres, then south of
Paris to Chalons-Sur-Marne, into Luxembourg, crossing the Rhine at Mainz, and
part way to Frankfurt. The pipeline’s terrestrial extensions were constructed
under the control of the Quartermaster General to the Allied Forces, General Sir
Thomas Sheridan Riddle-Webster (1886-1974). The final joint was completed on 10
April 1945. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaUNW5dznztswc-gfvysU15ETlX7ia27vMg2jI6B_VLQ0YZRyftXtYPFvz86lMlOSU3hXpfeWL3xOirSlOdRwOFC-Zu9h3NX8Y6FexoyeL9wB4xD2aBm4lctbAOK6hJRPwAefSBqTKEHm2/s670/compleepluto.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="467" data-original-width="670" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaUNW5dznztswc-gfvysU15ETlX7ia27vMg2jI6B_VLQ0YZRyftXtYPFvz86lMlOSU3hXpfeWL3xOirSlOdRwOFC-Zu9h3NX8Y6FexoyeL9wB4xD2aBm4lctbAOK6hJRPwAefSBqTKEHm2/w377-h263/compleepluto.JPG" width="377" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The Complete PLUTO Pipeline </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In total, over 172 million gallons were
delivered over PLUTO and its extensions by the end of the Second World War! </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Siemens’ Final Contribution </b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Production of the 3” H.A.I.S. Cable continued at the
Woolwich Works until September 1944. By then, Siemens had completed the
manufacture of a number of operational lengths of the 3” H.A.I.S Cable. One of
the longest sections was 35nm (85km) and weighed over 2.200 tons when the core
was filled with water. The factory coil for this was 10ft (3m) high and 65ft
(19.8m) in diameter. The space required for coiling such long lengths
necessitated the erection of a special building, with extra-strong cable sheaves
and hauling equipment located in the roof. A long, counterpoised steel arm was
designed and fitted to facilitate the handling of this extremely heavy cable. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1WqxeQCkPJ45o_R9yMsmt57gmFwbu0p0-KuRiijNHT53aXLl1f7AjeAfD9Ewn2meA4ok1Yd_XGBIHcZudC-B5tiab1h5PNH9t7K9VNTXc-AZEitwh1nnfMldZT6KZFF0vOBICDcMyRxlF/s728/hais+ciled.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="728" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1WqxeQCkPJ45o_R9yMsmt57gmFwbu0p0-KuRiijNHT53aXLl1f7AjeAfD9Ewn2meA4ok1Yd_XGBIHcZudC-B5tiab1h5PNH9t7K9VNTXc-AZEitwh1nnfMldZT6KZFF0vOBICDcMyRxlF/w399-h273/hais+ciled.JPG" width="399" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">35nm Section of 3” H.A.I.S. Cable Being Coiled in the Tank House </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Altogether,
Siemens manufactured and delivered over 200nm of 3” H A I S. Cable to the
Petroleum Warfare Department. Some 280 couplings were supplied, and with each
set of two couplings a complete equipment set of special tools was provided,
together with numbered spare parts, to facilitate the rapid trimming of the
cable ends and fitting of the couplings. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Conclusion </b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There is no doubt that
Operation PLUTO was pivotal to the liberation of Northern Europe by the Allied
Armies in 1944-45. Together with superior manpower and the hard-won control of
the skies, PLUTO was the third key pillar in the Allied victory. Without
adequate fuel supplies, no matter how successful the military campaign, the
Allied forces would have quickly reached the limits of their logistical supply
chain, and would have been forced to dig in. Had Operation PLUTO not happened,
the advances inland after D-Day would have bogged down in a new ‘Western Front’
much closer to the beachheads, and this would have bought the Germans vital time
to prolong the war. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">German military strategists understood that the enormous,
highly mechanised Allied armies would have a voracious appetite for fuel. They
assumed that this demand could not be met, unless major Channel ports were
captured in which bulk tankers could be docked to supply the forces. This is why
the German garrisons at Channel ports such as Cherbourg were instructed to hold
out until the bitter end, and why, towards the end of the war, Antwerp became
the focus of V1 and V2 rocket attacks. Without timely intelligence of the
project, which was never forthcoming, the German High Command could not have
anticipated the massive quantities of piped fuel that PLUTO delivered.
Therefore, alongside its incredible engineering achievements, the measures taken
to keep Operation PLUTO secret were vital to its success. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The contribution made
by the employees of Siemens Brothers to Operation PLUTO, in such difficult
circumstances, was a major contributory factor to its success, and should not be
forgotten. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The authors have established that Royal London, the current owners of
the Faraday Works, are working with developers U+I on revised proposals for the
site, which will shortly be the subject of public consultation. The new
heritage-led scheme will retain and restore four of the remaining buildings on
site which formed part of the Siemens Brothers Works, including 37 Bowater Road,
which has recently been designated as a Grade II listed building by Historic
England, in part because of its contribution to industrial history and
innovation. The developers have committed to telling the rich history of the
site and recognising the vital role the site played in both World Wars,
including its contribution to Operation PLUTO and the HAIS Cable. They are
currently exploring initiatives such as the Red Wheel Scheme run by the National
Transport Trust, as well as the use of QR tags that are being promoted for use
at key historically significant stop points along the Thames River path between
the Old Royal Naval College and the O2 Arena. The QR tags are intended to link
to contextual history resources online, and a number could be deployed on the
path through the Faraday Works. In addition, public art installations are being
considered to commemorate key innovations by Siemens Brothers such as the iconic
Neophone. Finally, we are pleased to report that Local historians are in close
contact with the developers, U + I, to ensure that these important contributions
by Siemens to the war effort, and to the development of telecommunications in
general, will be commemorated in an accurate and appropriate manner. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>References</b> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Siemens’ Part in the Design of the HAIS Cable and Coupling, Siemens Brothers, 26
June 1945 Official Record of Damage By Enemy Action to Woolwich Works, Siemens
Brothers, October 1945 Operation Pluto: A paper read to the Royal Society of
Arts, A C Harley, 14 November 1945 Development of the HAIS Cable, Siemens
Brothers Engineering Bulletin No.224, January 1946 Siemens Brother 1858 – 1958,
J. D, Scott, published by Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 7 Cork St. London W1, 1958 </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Acknowledgments</b> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The authors would like to thank Anthony Chapman and Linda
Richardson for giving them access to the documents listed in ‘References’, and
for permission to reproduce the images used in this article. We would also like
to thank Clive Jefferys for his advice on the strategic benefits of Operation
PLUTO and the German bombing campaigns during the Second World War.</div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8710611656756005747.post-23242103982997080532020-11-20T19:17:00.003+00:002020-11-20T19:17:45.097+00:00GIHS lectures on YouTube<p> Greenwich Industrial History Society have now set up their own YouTube channel,</p><p>https://tinyurl.com/GIHSvideo </p><p>there you can find Alan Burkitt-Gray's 13 Oct lecture about the role of Greenwich, Charlton and Woolwich in the global telecoms revolution.</p><p>Also on the channel is Mary Mills's lecture on 10 Nov on 300 years of the Greenwich Marsh/Greenwich Peninsula.</p><p>The channel went live this afternoon, 20th November - and everything is free to view. https://tinyurl.com/GIHSvideo </p><p>Mary's lecture is of course just a few of the narratives from her new book 'Greenwich Marsh. Greenwich Peninsula' £10 from Amazon</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8710611656756005747.post-80633004305062130072020-11-13T12:13:00.001+00:002020-11-13T12:13:55.953+00:00More Merryweather - females fighting the flames- scouting for fires<p><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-size: large;">Females Fighting the Flames… Scouting for Fires… </span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-size: large;">...............Isabella’s Engagement… </span></b><b><span style="font-size: large;">...... Training a Dolphin .............and ................the Pompier Debate</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-size: large;">by Neil Bennett</span></b></p><p><br /></p><p>Fire, the devouring element, has never been known to discriminate between the genders of its victims. Accordingly, where women were alone in home premises when their menfolk were out at work, they needed to know how to fight it. Newspapers carried adverts showing women diligently waging battles with fires using Merryweather corridor pumps. But in 1886 an important institution was opened by Queen Victoria where there were nothing but women – the Royal Holloway College. Situated at Engelfield Green, just west of Egham in Surrey, it had been built by philanthropist Thomas Holloway and admitted its first students in October 1887. Twelve months later, with the co-operation of Principal and Brigade Captain Miss Bishop, and his right-hand man Mr J H Cleaver, J Compton Merryweather had by this time welded together a team who on a cold Tuesday aced their first fire drill. He was impressed with the alacrity with which the women performed their duties, being mostly quick and agile in making the connections with the internal high pressure mains and hydrants, running out the hoses and working the hand fire pumps and corridor engines. The brigade was divided into three detachments, each with a lieutenant leading about ten students.</p><p>Holloway was not the only ladies’ College to tool up – Girton and Newnham, both famous colleges in Cambridge, already had private brigades trained (‘drilled’) by Merryweather and his men. Girton, named after a village near Cambridge and the first women’s college, had been established in 1869, and brought on the start of the fire brigade movement among ladies. It was not formally to become a college of Cambridge University until 1948.</p><p>A genuine insight into student life is a rare journalistic gem, but especially so when referring to a women’s college at bedtime in 1890. Parents’ Review writes of the Girton students, who might have numbered as few as eighty in total,</p><p>“Between dinner and tea, even the hardest working student unbends. College calls are made and the debating and other smaller societies hold their meetings. Novels take for a brief space the place of text-books, and evening papers and magazines pass from hand to hand. By ten the students’ day is done. After a gossip with their friends, the wise retire to recruit themselves for the next day’s work by a long night’s rest, the foolish burn the “midnight oil.” Occasionally, however, midnight toiler and sleeper alike are startled by the rattle of the captain of the fire brigade. Then books and beds are hurriedly forsaken, and pumping, passing buckets, and the lowering of students from the college windows, is the order of the night.”</p><p>Relocating our observation to St Michael’s Mount off the south west tip of Cornwall, in August 1889, we see a new Merryweather ‘London Brigade’ fire engine arriving and being christened. It was for service in the anciently established on-shore town of Marazion. Instead of boys or men, the twenty-six places on the handles were taken by young ladies, who, at someone’s word of command “Work levers!”, brought the engine into play and threw a good stream of water. General approval was expressed at the result. This was no nineteenth-century gender tokenism, and nothing jaded their enthusiasm, as fourteen years later the women were still present in the same number, ready to pump, scale ladders or if necessary jump into a sheet. And the photo proves it…</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIn4BIoBHzHNAsOiBjJQjSUEXlLJsrSqnFzlFAuL8pIpbwMZmpQ2kz_gAAk7g7or5wFUkoloG2SXmSsmDe_t2XOJ8EuXUwq-YgDAkeaDMJR_jAdoyJ9T4zjw1L9Xsax-9FDYOIxzzX6Tpi/s478/merry+neil+1+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="378" data-original-width="478" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIn4BIoBHzHNAsOiBjJQjSUEXlLJsrSqnFzlFAuL8pIpbwMZmpQ2kz_gAAk7g7or5wFUkoloG2SXmSsmDe_t2XOJ8EuXUwq-YgDAkeaDMJR_jAdoyJ9T4zjw1L9Xsax-9FDYOIxzzX6Tpi/w343-h271/merry+neil+1+%25282%2529.jpg" width="343" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><i>Trained by Merryweather’s and manhandling the London Brigade Manual in 1903, the women of Marazion and St Michael’s Mount fulfilled an important fire protection duty</i>.</p><p>Mr Merryweather’s concern to teach the necessity and techniques of defending the ravages of fire extended far and wide, but he did not overlook the needs of those closer to home. John Blundell Maple MP (later knighted) was the husband of James’s sister, Emily Harriet. Their mansion, estate and horse-breeding farm, Childwick Bury, had a newly-built laundry, perhaps judiciously situated half a mile from the residence. Despite its modern design, it was universally acknowledged that laundries generally were a fire risk owing to dangers such as overheated flues, stove pipes, drying-closets, or linen left carelessly by ironing stoves. Mrs Blundell Maple fostered a female fire brigade from the laundry staff and they were equipped with “an elegant little copper and brass fire engine, weighing only 14 lb or 16 lb (6 - 7 kg), which is suspended in the corridor on the wall” – the hand fire pump, along with its hoses and buckets. At the call of ‘Fire!’ the engine was carried to the waterside, hoses connected and on the head laundry-maid’s word of command it pumped fifteen gallons per minute into the ironing room and drying closet, reportedly only ninety seconds after the alarm. At each drill exercise two women operated it, but they might have been the ones saddled with extra washing and drying-out afterwards. The head laundry maid was required to lead fire drills every month, while Merryweathers’ inspector superintended the training once a quarter.</p><p>Merryweather offered fire drill classes exclusive to ladies, free of charge, to those setting up private brigades at country houses and institutions of many sorts. Their advertisements carried picture impressions of women doing a fine job of combatting the flames. There was a Merryweather Fire Brigade of ladies in Greenwich, supported by the company’s established ‘school’, inculcating life saving by canvas escape chute, portable ladder escape, sling seat escape and kit bag escape. Fire extinction followed rescue training, the women becoming proficient in indoor and outdoor hydrants, portable hand fire pumps, chemical extincteurs, buckets, hose, and then manual, chemical and steam fire engines. By the time the history of fire fighting had reached the last Christmas in the 1880s, Merryweather had made by far the premier contribution to consciousness-raising, practical training and provision of apparatus to women who had the determination to save their souls and property from the all-too common blazes. Among Britain’s female leading spirits in the pursuit were Mrs Edward Smith near Billingborough, Lincolnshire and Miss Fazakerley of Banwell, near Weston-super-Mare. The nieces of the Marquis of Abergavenny christened and started the Llandudno steamfire engine, and likewise Lady Peek at Wimbledon, Lady Shafto Adair at Lambeth and Miss Czarnakow at Mitcham. We might conclude from this that ladies mastered the technical intricacies of ‘steamers’ and other relevant skills and were there to do more than push the handles up and down to the traditional London cries of “Beer-oh!”</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAxRwRJqloAo89HLEiIWP5sQ_Htl4uAzF3VTmuD0bIeEPzDO58QePXAwFyGi-ixcuIoOkoQVWSQM9WaeJuwMsXO8atj7OASCTiIzBcMhPqOX-xLXGGxkmtFr_6qWYvJCOJ0KEZi4AgfKs0/s573/merry+neil2+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="365" data-original-width="573" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAxRwRJqloAo89HLEiIWP5sQ_Htl4uAzF3VTmuD0bIeEPzDO58QePXAwFyGi-ixcuIoOkoQVWSQM9WaeJuwMsXO8atj7OASCTiIzBcMhPqOX-xLXGGxkmtFr_6qWYvJCOJ0KEZi4AgfKs0/w359-h229/merry+neil2+%25282%2529.jpg" width="359" /></a></div><br /><p><i>A Cambridge University college women’s fire brigade in the 1870s, possibly Newnham. Corridor-type pumps and small branch-pipes are in evidence. Tutoring in response to a fire was probably by Merryweather’s Captain James H Cleaver or Chief Fire Inspector Joseph Mason. Chief Officer W J Rushforth, whose name alone was befittingly didactic in this setting, may also have contributed. </i><i>AUTHOR’S COLLECTION</i></p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span> </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgllQ8c-bWjHscsTUeiXm12nMo-0Irk-BVLjDzdJXx-E98H1VA_3sbK67waLgCrflqIC8VdcEZ9LmKervfjJtPGMqnEZES4-kbA8E_-Immi5behZscCl5GxKOVAIcta-SBBVWhOjDE8w-Ul/s456/merry+neil+3+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="356" data-original-width="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgllQ8c-bWjHscsTUeiXm12nMo-0Irk-BVLjDzdJXx-E98H1VA_3sbK67waLgCrflqIC8VdcEZ9LmKervfjJtPGMqnEZES4-kbA8E_-Immi5behZscCl5GxKOVAIcta-SBBVWhOjDE8w-Ul/s320/merry+neil+3+%25282%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p><i>A Merryweather manual is made ready by four women, their garments fireproof and conducive to ladder climbing, we hope. The demonstration, leafy location unknown, appears to be for the purpose of professional male endorsement. </i><i>AUTHOR’S COLLECTION</i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDnDxIUmR4po9qii_SlWhyphenhyphen4rf-173gR5MT9DhFMPNfBhYu-o7uY6DjAI2u1EhLyGfp0qviwPhGO00XcaecD1hMAZnVsyucsUmijwVOQ2KJyZuCToniLef7gDJq4PouBPpDJxofT2ASby3V/s410/merry+nel+4+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="270" data-original-width="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDnDxIUmR4po9qii_SlWhyphenhyphen4rf-173gR5MT9DhFMPNfBhYu-o7uY6DjAI2u1EhLyGfp0qviwPhGO00XcaecD1hMAZnVsyucsUmijwVOQ2KJyZuCToniLef7gDJq4PouBPpDJxofT2ASby3V/s320/merry+nel+4+%25282%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><i>An artwork possibly inspired by the scene in the preceding picture, with the addition of the draught horses and the lady driver with the whip hand. Merryweather brass helmets are atop the heads of all the women, and the company’s standard carriage fire engine under their control. The gentleman in the peaked cap, perhaps Merryweather’s Joseph Mason, has successfully completed the ladies’ coaching and they are ready to go. The illustration appeared in the first week’s issue of the Daily Mirror in 1904. A fragment of progress in women’s liberties, but perhaps obscuring the fact that by this time the ‘real’ firemen were driving self-propelled steam ‘Fire Kings’ and were about to be introduced to internal-combustion engines. DAILY MIRROR</i></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;">oooOOOooo</p></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><p>ord Robert Baden-Powell (1857-1941) ignited the enthusiam of boys (and largely their parents) in Britain and the world in 1907. He launched his famous book a year later, and the Scouts were on their mission of outdoor awareness, adventure and personal development. A Boy Scout, as everyone knows to this day, can kindle a flame by rubbing two sticks together. But almost from the outset this incontrovertible fact was counterpoised by his ability to put it out.</p><p>There is no evidence that Mr Merryweather met Baden-Powell, but B-P’s chief scoutmaster, secretary and manager of the movement, Mr J Archibald Kyle had the idea of organising a fire drill among his own senior troop at Richmond, resident near the Thames. This was after boy scouts across the country had been reported to have given useful aid in dousing fires on several occasions. On the second Saturday in April 1910, following talks with James Compton, the first Scouts’ fire drill was held at the company’s Greenwich works, to be followed in a series. The conduct of the training was assigned to the Merryweather fire brigade’s chief officer, Mr Rushforth. The Scouts already possessed a small ladder fire escape, but James promised to loan a manual fire engine.</p><p>Both Baden-Powell and Kyle had written books, as had Merryweather, and in 1912 monographs became available entitled ‘The Boy Scouts: Baden-Powells at Fire Drill’ and ‘Fire Drill for Boy Scouts’. While Messrs Merryweather gave a nod to the unsurpassed Valiant steam pump, so well proved in the country regions in the Boer war, they had by now furnished the promised manual fire engine to the Richmond Senior Troop, and proffered the “Boy Scouts’ First Aid Kemik Fire Engine and Ladder Cart”. </p><p>A year later the Scouts held one of their first ‘Grand Exhibition and Rallies’ in Birmingham, involving competitions for twenty-eight Patrols for the Fireman’s Badge. A fire truck designed and built by Merryweather was essential to the repeated exhibition drills that took place. Captain Wells, judge of the contest and a former London chief fire officer, had assisted in its design. The compact hand cart was assured to carry two hook ladders, one fire hook, fire drag, socketed ladders, more than one hand pump, ropes, canvas buckets (the company’s staple since its beginnings), canvas tank or cistern, mops for dousing fires, adze (a type of axe), and the indispensable jumping sheet. Compressed-air extinguishers were also carried, presumably the Kemiks mentioned above. Along with the seeming dangers of using some of these self-same pieces of equipment, and the threat of fires, the boys were urged not to try to do the work of seasoned firemen. Was the implied prospect of adults sending young boys up the outside of buildings on hook ladders better than the only recently curtailed inclination to send them up the inside chimneys?</p><p>It was expected that this fire truck would become the standard Scout fire engine, approved by the Association Headquarters, for issue across the country. </p><p>Thus, formidably forearmed and trained, boy scouts could fulfil their unaided mission to quench small outbreaks in rural areas where the Brigade might take some time to arrive, or to give real assistance to the fully-fledged fire-fighters, in any emergency.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwWNkR0sE_L4aDKb2gR-Y8ETYFjAZddOnQQNkz_ytYSNbKdSReDPTlK6ZrhyAKFNH-W6HUv24PETFRdJttHgMlZ4nEw8VN9m7XgOMruuWPkw_lK8QmhMWUHEoGvmwwJlKUXUXym_L_2WSn/s324/merry+ne+5+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="280" data-original-width="324" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwWNkR0sE_L4aDKb2gR-Y8ETYFjAZddOnQQNkz_ytYSNbKdSReDPTlK6ZrhyAKFNH-W6HUv24PETFRdJttHgMlZ4nEw8VN9m7XgOMruuWPkw_lK8QmhMWUHEoGvmwwJlKUXUXym_L_2WSn/s320/merry+ne+5+%25282%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p> <i>Scouts pose meaningfully with the Merryweather Fire Brigade manual. In markings at least, it appears a different machine from that of the Ladies’ Brigade. ‘MAGIC LANTERN SLIDE’ – AUTHOR’S COLLECTION</i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh840ZG4fkWlwZHEWFpg79B7k8spa1k1OhCB73OGz-oIzH5lUPN3X7xlqaIfIU7Bl1OuV-gSMEC7Pq5pMkJzYo5yhdkFp1RdkJodZY8_3LmsTAtD0VYQ4FiedSVZ4oVDxgp8sZGFQr2p8W2/s543/merry+eul+6+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="407" data-original-width="543" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh840ZG4fkWlwZHEWFpg79B7k8spa1k1OhCB73OGz-oIzH5lUPN3X7xlqaIfIU7Bl1OuV-gSMEC7Pq5pMkJzYo5yhdkFp1RdkJodZY8_3LmsTAtD0VYQ4FiedSVZ4oVDxgp8sZGFQr2p8W2/s320/merry+eul+6+%25282%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><i>An important shot of boy scouts, with large flat-brimmed hats in the distinctive early style, posing with a partly built (or possibly part dismantled) motor fire engine with Hatfield pump, at the back of the Merryweather works, showing a view of the Ravensbourne Creek at low tide. The vehicle was perhaps being prepared for a test of the pump. The photographic source quoted a year of about 1908, but it is likely to be a little later than this. The identity of the trainer, on the right, is unknown. The scouts may have been given initial familiarisation with the motor fire engine, but would not have been placed in charge of it. AUTHOR’S COLLECTION</i><p></p><p>The equipment which Merryweather provided to the Scouts in those formative years, and even more so their training, gave the youths of the day the tools and confidence needed at a time when fires were prone to erupt at any accidental time or place, and indeed for the great conflict that was to follow imminently.</p><p><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>ooOOOooo</p><p>Mrs Isabella Jane Merryweather appears to have led a social and Conservatively political life in her own right, as distinct from her husband James Compton, and her earlier husband Henry. She was the owner of her house and its land (277 Clapham Road) and she was an active member of the Churchill (Kennington) habitation of the Primrose League. The Primrose League, originating in 1883, aimed to pursue former prime minister Benjamin Disraeli’s objectives, the society’s symbol of the primrose being his favourite flower. Like Disraeli, the League promoted popular enfranchisement and engagement in support of Conservative ideals including Sovereign and Empire. More than half its members were women. Isabella, or Mrs James Compton Merryweather as she would more often be called at the time, frequently held garden parties for the League in the mid to late 1880s. Broadly speaking, the League ran out of political puff following the Conservatives’ defeat in the 1906 election. </p><p>At some point before or after the turn of the century, the sculpted contours of Isabella’s life led her to take an interest of some sort in the ‘Waverley Hydropathic’ at Melrose in the Scottish borders. She presented it with a statue of Sir Walter Scott, the poet, balladeer and author of historical novel Waverley. The ‘hydropathic’ was a hotel integrated with a facility for the therapeutic benefits of hydrotherapy – the early name being ‘hydropathy’. Set in beautiful grounds, the opening of the Waverley ‘hydro’ took place in 1871. It was architecturally interesting as the first building in Scotland to make major use of concrete, following the patent of a Mr Tall of London (and predating Robert McAlpine’s first concrete building). ‘Hydropathy’ or the ‘water cure’ seemed to mark an early example of the divergence of so-called ‘alternative medicine’ from science-based therapy. It would have involved the use of pumps, though it is not known whether her husband’s company contributed these.</p><p><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>oooOOOooo</p><p>While opportunities for young boys seemed to be abounding, as in the previous section, adult women of the same era were becoming very assertive in their seeking political influence, that is to say enfranchisement, suffrage or the right to vote. Since the 1860s a movement had sprung up arguing nationally for better women’s education. Merryweather& Sons the company, is rightly regarded as a business of conservative precepts, but in the early years of the twentieth century Mr Merryweather’s second wife, Isabella, cited above, took the opportunity to contribute to a major cause of political advancement.</p><p>It would be too simple a judgement of the Primrose League, the women’s suffrage movement, and Isabella Merryweather to write that Isabella had a political change of course or a new inspiration in her passion and pastime, but she established herself as a suffragist, if not a suffragette.</p><p>A key figure in the Suffragette movement, and second only to Emmeline Pankhurst, was ‘General’ Flora M Drummond (1878-1949). On one of the many occasions when Flora clashed with the law in pursuit of direct action she came to be thankful to the Merryweathers.</p><p>In 1912 fiery feminist Mrs Drummond declared that the militant suffragettes, in pursuit of women’s right to vote, “…would come out and destroy property even more indiscriminately than they did before, and they would make life not worth living for Cabinet Ministers”. Flora organised most of the suffragettes’ protests and outrages, burning and damaging property and buttonholing members of parliament, but they were careful not to cause injury. She was a member of the Women’s Social and Political Union – “Deeds not words” – for whom she was both a doer and a public speaker. She earned and endured many terms of imprisonment, usually being quietly let go after feeling the effects of a hunger strike.</p><p>The women’s activists came from a broad class base. It is not quite clear whether Isabella Merryweather had the vote, as she may have gained it from being a married property-owner. These votes were somewhat restricted to local government (municipal) elections. Her tangible support for the women’s movement began on 11 October 1912, at 8.30 pm to be precise, when she and her co-operative husband made available their property at 4, Whitehall Court for the first “At Home” of a local Votes for Women group. The meeting was organised by Helen Gordon Liddle and the speakers were Georgina Brackenbury and Janette Steer. This was nine days after Flora Drummond’s fearsome deposition reported above, and six months after a notorious maritime disaster in which a ship had had the bad luck to be conceived, engineered, built, timetabled, skippered and steered by men…and sunk.</p><p>Campaigning and agitating for women’s right to vote, in Britain, had begun long before the dawn of the twentieth century, but as time went on numerous suffrage bills in Parliament were defeated, one after another. This was partly because of Queen Victoria’s implacable opposition to the women’s movement as a whole, and neither Gladstone nor Disraeli wanted to affront her. Liberal Prime Minister Asquith was later faced with the suffrage question being conflated in votes with other issues, and a further defeat, particularly in early 1913. Winston Churchill did little to help. Mrs Merryweather read the Daily Herald, a paper supporting the Labour Party and very partisan in favour of the women’s suffrage issue. Isabella wrote to them in praise of their writer’s uncompromising criticism (in an issue on 8 January 1913) of the ‘intrigue’ that led to this outcome. </p><p>Friday 18 April 1913 saw Flora Drummond and members of her cohort appear on a summons at Bow Street Police Court where they were branded “…disturbers of the peace and inciters of others to commit divers crimes and misdemeanours and were likely to persevere in such conduct by which further crimes and misdemeanours were likely to be committed by divers women”. Outside were women noisily parading placards in support of both women’s voting rights and free speech. On this occasion Flora was only to avoid a spell in the Holloway cells if she agreed to be bound over not to take part in any militant movement connected with woman suffrage by public speaking or otherwise. She eventually and reluctantly gave this undertaking, for the time being. The court accepted her providing bail in her own recognisance of £200; further sureties of £100 each for Mrs Drummond were provided by Baron von Hirst and Mrs Isabella Merryweather. One hundred pounds in 1913 would buy the equivalent of more than £11,600 in the year 2020.</p><p>It is unlikely that Flora or someone on her behalf was randomly moved to the idea of taking the short walk from the court to the company showroom (at the corner of Long Acre with Bow Street), finding that Isabella just happened to be present that day, with a sympathetic ear and a purse that could be unlocked. Isabella’s brother, Henry Clarke Hulland had been a long-term manager of the Long Acre offices, apprenticed with Merryweather fifty-seven years earlier. The financial and political wherewithal for Mrs Drummond’s bail was undoubtedly planned, the groundwork laid and backed up by the other members of her family, and Isabella may have been present in court.</p><p>Later in July, Isabella chose The Suffragette as the newspaper in which to quote her own contact name and London address advertising what seems to have been a holiday let for a five-bedroom house in Saxilby near Lincoln, the town of her first marriage. </p><p>If they had had time to converse amid the pandemonium surrounding in Bow Street, Isabella would have found in common with Flora, among other things, a closeness to manufacturing industry and the redoubtable skill of ‘typing’. Flora had been a manager of the British Oliver typewriter company, after her husband became unemployed. This (unrelated to Olivetti) was exactly the brand of typewriter used in Merryweather’s offices since around 1902 – “The Machine preferred by Engineers”.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI5xLpVZelcLAjRVfN1QdZ1nHJcRLP7BpOA48mndlMl8dxrNxYNvNrhnJj6zbu3GHBPylweNOLd4OYwDTu98aTaQnzSx_157rEThgCMKL9-WFZ3sEIeQaxetU8VdS0VWZITF-uOH65lRGW/s278/merry+nel+7+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="189" data-original-width="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI5xLpVZelcLAjRVfN1QdZ1nHJcRLP7BpOA48mndlMl8dxrNxYNvNrhnJj6zbu3GHBPylweNOLd4OYwDTu98aTaQnzSx_157rEThgCMKL9-WFZ3sEIeQaxetU8VdS0VWZITF-uOH65lRGW/s0/merry+nel+7+%25282%2529.jpg" /></a></div><p><i>Flora Drummond (of short physical stature, carrying what appears to be a bag), with Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst in a demonstration in Bow Street, London near the Law Courts and the Merryweather showrooms. <span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>daisymick</i></p><p>The first sovereign nation, i.e. not a colony, to award and maintain women’s suffrage was as far away as Norway, but it did so in 1913. Women’s evident ‘usefulness’ during the Great War stood them in better stead, but it was not until 1928 that women achieved electoral equality with men in Britain.</p><p><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>oooOOOooo</p><p>While the scouting boys accomplished their fieldcraft, fire-fighting and knot-tying, the Scout movement embraced gender inclusiveness in 1910 with the introduction of the Girl Guides. There were, however, girls as well as boys whose interests inclined more to theatrical exploits than the mainstream pursuits of scouting. Fame beckoned. One of the girls, from a family of stage performers, found with James Compton Merryweather a means to mutually promote their names.</p><p>The father of Margaret ‘Midge’ Dolphin was Walter Dolphin. He seems to have been bred in the judicious naming tradition of something like Water Ford, the town (and ford) in Ireland. Walter Dolphin was the stage manager at Daly’s, which was a Leicester Square theatre where ‘Vue West End’ now stands. It was the last theatre in the Square to be demolished, in 1937, in favour of the oncoming ‘picture houses’.</p><p>Ms Dolphin’s forenames of birth, Margaret Flora Stuart, were frequently substituted for a nom de theatre such as the aforementioned Midge, Midgie, Madge or Peggy. Just to sow doubt in a future researcher’s mind that she was real, one newspaper gave her name as ‘MidgieDolphni’. Did the plethora of names dilute her future brand as a celebrity? Born in November 1899, Midgie appeared, aged twelve, dancing in a group of plays at the Aldwych called ‘The Golden Land of Fairy Tales’. In the same year her ethereal credentials became Shakespearian as she acted the fairy Mustardseed at the Gaiety theatre in Manchester.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDrvp6qXBfvLGBu96QKTmP2KC_X15DgzjE1tpb3hTWDzI_mYuTN1X6JAajxZ5O1NOVj_gcozqluxOiFaquSiBn3wklwWZfAuLAnJsxP2yOhRg89zikukvhK_BEKb-x8DJr8-fo1zu5sDEP/s418/mery+neil+8+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="331" data-original-width="418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDrvp6qXBfvLGBu96QKTmP2KC_X15DgzjE1tpb3hTWDzI_mYuTN1X6JAajxZ5O1NOVj_gcozqluxOiFaquSiBn3wklwWZfAuLAnJsxP2yOhRg89zikukvhK_BEKb-x8DJr8-fo1zu5sDEP/s320/mery+neil+8+%25282%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p>Midgie was far from untalented. She could sing, dance, recite, navigate a punt, row, cycle and swim as well as act. She also won acclaim at an early age for her caricature artistry, and sketched and sold cartoons of her fellow theatre players and male and female visitors to the capital’s high-class residences and hotels.</p><p>Even in Midgie’s childhood years the onset of the ‘movies’ was perchance seen as both a career threat and an opportunity to an aspiring actress. Films were the way ahead. A fire engine factory could be just the ticket…</p><p>In the meantime, Midgie did indeed appear in two of the earliest black-and-white silent films. Billed as 'Madge Dolphin' and starring with Warwick Buckland, her first was Props’ Angel, released in March 1913. Of shorter length than we are used to today (the reel 1350 ft x 35 mm), the film was made by Cecil M Hepworth and written and directed by Edward Hay-Plumb. ‘Props’ was the nickname of the fictitious properties master of the Theatre Royal. The film’s plot, in which Midgie acted as the girl Elsie, was given in Kinematograph Weekly, 20 March 1913. </p><p>Midgie was aware, as one newspaper wrote, of…</p><p>“…hairsbreadth escapes…those thrilling films so often seen on the screen where the heroine rescues a whole family from the burning house and then jumps from a seventh storey window”.</p><p>We do not know whether these were films she had seen, but the much-inspired Midgie wanted to be the first trained stunt-woman, at the foundation of a profession now much represented in movies the like of ‘James Bond’ and ‘Jason Bourne’. This, had she known it, was surely a better destiny than that lying await for very many young women of the time: to become ‘munitionettes’ in factories such as the Woolwich Arsenal. Could Merryweather’s help fortify her career?</p><p>Midgie's next film was Detective Daring and the Thames Coiners, by the Daring Films company, where she starred with escapologist Harry Lorraine. She took the part of the girl ‘Eileen’. This was a longer opusthan Props’, being 2450 feet in length x 35 mm. Of course the running time depended on how fast the projectionist cranked the handle, but was quoted as 24 minutes. The film was ready by March 1914; on 2nd April Kinematograph Weekly detailed its action-filled plot, and it could be seen from 11 May. ‘Daring Films’ was Harry Lorraine’s production company. Directed by Sidney Northcote, the film was a detective crime caper which saw a gang of ‘coiners’ routed. (These twentieth-century gang coiners no longer clipped the edges of minted coins to melt down, but pressed their own counterfeit coins using cheap base metal). In the synopsis of the story, however, it seems that Eileen as the girl appeared in short dialogue scenes near the beginning, leaving the drama involving a crane to the adults. Did this sow the seeds of a little discontent and a ‘burning’ ambition?</p><p>Whether Midgie herself sought an invitation to Merryweather& Sons’ works, or whether she was guided by her father or one of the makers of her films, or an advantageous theatre colleague, is not known. But the fire engineering company boasted at its top not only an engineer, businessman and fire-fighter, but also a supreme trainer, and perhaps most relevant, a publicist. When James Compton Merryweather and Margaret Dolphin became known to each other, the plan to meet hatched quickly. Like Midgie, Merryweather, too, saw the declining trend expected for live theatre and with it perhaps the lessening of lucrative contracts for the installation of fire-proof curtains (‘irons’) and hydrants (although the kinematograph also proved its own fire risks on several occasions). A widely-known association of the company and its products with a young film star would benefit both Midgie and Merryweather& Sons. A photo-op was settled upon – the publicity would be worth a lot more than the pictures of anonymous boy scouts in training.</p><p>James Compton would have given the young ‘wannabe’ a fatherly greeting and taken a decently reserved pleasure in the teenager’s company. As befits a modern-day film unit, the factory took on an ad hoc costume and wardrobe department, along with a veritable props department for the former ‘Props’ Angel’. They fitted her up with a Merryweather metal helmet, a fire hose and branchpipe, to go with the necessary jumping sheet, hook ladder and words of encouragement.</p><p>Papers reported that “the ambitious young lady…took lessons in life saving…practised climbing up hook ladders, jumping into a sheet, carrying an unconscious child over her shoulder, driving a fire engine and other daring things. Such is the amazing education of the cinema actress”. The reports gave Midgie’s age as thirteen, despite the articles not appearing until nearly the end of March when she was in fact fourteen. This was all before her new film’s release date of 14 May 1914, though we don’t know exactly when ‘shooting’ of the Coiners was completed. It looks as though her dynamic training experience may have been concurrent with the filming. The Merryweather visit was documented in the Mirror’s intrepid photographs but it is not known whether any ‘movie’ footage was shot at this time and place.</p><p>Following a photo appearing in company journal The Fireman, the occasion, or occasions, of la Dolphin’s training made a splash in the aforesaid national newspaper, as below:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdj_1rq2A_U6rXF-4GCVZZoKRy3caZufPk2BoDcPrjtRMZ1oZPacrLlbmKd6UVjOV-wce1NdRKiAnLw8QwYeMNdyvVe98-4itY1MEAB1uiiK9wL4sVubi17aWv95gK6sKUz3RHd3piZ_E0/s649/merynel+9+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="649" data-original-width="582" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdj_1rq2A_U6rXF-4GCVZZoKRy3caZufPk2BoDcPrjtRMZ1oZPacrLlbmKd6UVjOV-wce1NdRKiAnLw8QwYeMNdyvVe98-4itY1MEAB1uiiK9wL4sVubi17aWv95gK6sKUz3RHd3piZ_E0/s320/merynel+9+%25282%2529.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p><i>‘Midgie’ is holding a hose branch (incorrectly), left, and preparing to jump into a sheet held by Merryweather employees – right of picture. The crane picture shows Harry Lorraine suspended and escaping from what is probably a very early Coles, either road or rail mounted. There is no evidence that Merryweather & Sons owned this crane. (Surely there would have been no escape from the much better Coles ‘Argus’ of the 1950s…?) DAILY MIRROR (February 1914)</i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWi0CksBKJlZsT7hZdWPUXFycSrNFHd3YLOagdhXgBWIZVh9lgJf3sKJakAZiRd54dyqgyViGzr5ZAiW7tEBzPuDFO7OYkuJGT_MJpIu58CA-xyjALcKlMCOc0FNFvF1OIp69P8xqUiulN/s292/merry+beil+10+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="292" data-original-width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWi0CksBKJlZsT7hZdWPUXFycSrNFHd3YLOagdhXgBWIZVh9lgJf3sKJakAZiRd54dyqgyViGzr5ZAiW7tEBzPuDFO7OYkuJGT_MJpIu58CA-xyjALcKlMCOc0FNFvF1OIp69P8xqUiulN/s0/merry+beil+10+%25282%2529.jpg" /></a></div><p></p><p><i>In this modelled photo at the Merryweather premises, the girl appears to be wearing the same pair of boots as in one of the Daily Mirror pictures. </i><i>CLARK & HYDE / MERRYWEATHER & SONS / FIRE</i></p><p>Midgie's ‘training’ and ‘rehearsals’ in the time available at Merryweather's would have had to be superficial and supervised. Some girls’ schools of the time had ‘jumping sheets’ and practised with them in case of fire. But today, jumping sheets are no longer used by British or European fire brigades as they are dangerous both to ‘jumpers’ and ‘catchers’. ‘Carrying an unconscious child over her shoulder’, we hope meant that she improvised with a reduced size of the training dummies known to exist at this early time. And a Merryweather motor fire engine of 1914, which the papers claim she drove, would have been difficult and potentially dangerous to start, and likewise to drive and steer, even if only round the works yard. She would have had to eschew plunging the valuable vehicle off the edge and into the murky waters of the Deptford Creek. We remember that only six years earlier one of the company’s motor fire engines was in a fatal accident while being tested on the road. The lady’s pose on the ‘hook ladder’ is discussed later in this chapter. </p><p>With the help of Midgie’s character the coiner gang was satisfyingly dealt with and the bursars of the Royal Mint could sleep easy at night. But after the excitement of the film and her action tuition, the locus of Midgie’s career did not soar stratospherically. In spite of her training, initial success and support by the society and general press, she did not appear in any more films, although musical comedy Theodore and Co gave her some further acting success in a Gaiety theatre at age sixteen. Her two films were among the few uplifting distractions which saw the public through the dark years of the war.</p><p>Marriage is a thing of more than one school of opinion, but within an ace of her eighteenth birthday Midgie took in wedlock Major Sydney B Edwards of the Royal Garrison Artillery, ‘one of the South African heroes’. The forthcoming matrimony was reported, with pictures of Midgie, in the Tatler and other papers. After the wedding the Major’s posting may have taken him back to South Africa. It is not known whether Margaret gave birth in that country. Artillerymen’s hearing is often said to be at risk…but for whatever reason the couple sadly divorced and Midgie took ship and sailed home from Natal to live in England, in 1925. 1938 saw her re-marry in Islington to Charles H Cartwright.</p><p>The one-time immortal Mustardseed, Margaret could not quite live up to this ideal and as it eluded her she passed away as a widow, aged sixty-two. Her resumé included working with film and theatre personalities still celebrated today with warmth and Wikipedia pages. Margaret’s address near the end of her life is now occupied by a café restaurant, near the seafront in Frinton-on-Sea. Her effects had a value equivalent in 2020 prices to just £2800.</p><p>Cecil M Hepworth's film company, lacking luck and innovation, became bankrupt, and in 1924 all his film negatives were melted down for their silver content towards payment of the receiver. Midgie's second film did not survive either. So it is difficult to know whether any early novelties in cinematograph techniques or acting were explored in these films. Frequently throughout its existence, Merryweather and Sons’ presence was discernible and germane both to historical events and the naissance of technologies, but this time in the film industry, it played the smallest of cameos.</p><p>Merryweathers’ customers, as always those in fear of fire and destruction, everyone from governments to innkeepers, were the ones who capitalised the company as the Great War came and went. James Compton Merryweather, who died in his palatial home before the end of the fighting, never appeared in a film, but many of the company’s manufactures remain preserved in this way both in fictional and newsreel productions.</p><p><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>oooOOOooo</p><p>Margaret Flora Cartwright had breathed her last, but one small aspect of her life underwent a reincarnation. Her picture became immersed in the mid-1970s debate in the British fire service on the future of a vital piece of equipment, the ‘hook ladder’, also known as the pompier or scaling ladder.</p><p>The hook ladder, possibly originating in Germany in the 1820s, or by its French name, is said to have been introduced to the Metropolitan Fire Brigade by Captain Wells. It had a singular and specialised purpose. Anyone who has used a ladder to paint part of their house will know the importance of the ladder being ‘footed’ and remaining firmly on the ground. Climbing a hook ladder, in contrast, entailed mounting the ladder as it dangled precariously from a window-sill above, while the ladder’s lower end flailed in empty space, usually at a dauntingly extreme height.</p><p>The ladder’s length of 13 ft (4 m) was a bit more than the height of a single storey of a building, it weighed 28 lb (13 kg) and at the top was the ‘bill’, a large, strong, protruding metal hook, usually with serrations on the underside. A hook ladder would be called for on occasions when victims were trapped and calling for help from an upper floor window of a burning building, where it was accepted that owing to the fire there was no other means of escape, and where extension ladders, a wheel escape or a turntable ladder could not be brought to bear owing to lack of access or lack of length.</p><p>After muttering something to his heavenly protector St Florian, and taking a deep breath, the fireman, starting on the ground outside the building, or indeed at the top of another ladder, would engage the hook end of the ladder onto the window-sill or window-frame of the floor above, probably using it to smash the glass. He would then climb the ladder to the window and secure himself on the ledge or straddle the remains of the window, haul up the hook ladder and from there aim the ladder upwards again to the next floor above, hurl it against the target window or window-ledge and when satisfied with its purchase, climb up to repeat the process. A rotten bit of wood or failing mortar could mean death.</p><p>After the hero’s necessary number of repetitions and clambering over the broken glass into the target room, this was not the time to find that your casualty was in no danger other than from a harmless veil of smoke. Did they just fancy being rescued by a fireman and having a story to tell? The fireman had to decide how to bring them down, either by what was left of the stairs or with a variation on the way he had come. The fireman would sometimes work in tandem with other firemen and/or further hook ladders if more of either were on hand. The simple ladder could thus effect access and heroic rescues at a height of many storeys, and its successful use was attested to with lives saved many times, over a span of between one and two centuries.</p><p>The fire fighter needed strength, bravery, confidence in himself, and though it was not always acknowledged, luck. Training, which itself sometimes proved fatal, was paramount. A hook ladder rescue was probably the biggest challenge a fire-fighter would meet in his career, and when the implement was used in anger it would nearly always lead to a high honour and medal being awarded.</p><p>Merryweather were the primary source and made a range of hook ladders in its own works, usually of its favourite wood, ash. The catalogue of 1938 depicts exactly the same products as 1906, though the price of the single-centre-pole type (4th from the left, below), such as Midgie was ascending, has climbed from £3/5/0 to £7/0/0.</p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-EmVBZpqTsVSrXPh3J5A60_sB8Ergto3wOjMnmlz6gIx8OT6EjJ-hXFlr3Sh0jdSbznSjvRV0F6sL9nW1Oda6Hw9DTc5BE27-M6BvVBw0RsXUjeAKJFfq_UJ2HKMrxHPFiMbUU-ppIdm1/s325/merry+neil+11+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="325" data-original-width="194" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-EmVBZpqTsVSrXPh3J5A60_sB8Ergto3wOjMnmlz6gIx8OT6EjJ-hXFlr3Sh0jdSbznSjvRV0F6sL9nW1Oda6Hw9DTc5BE27-M6BvVBw0RsXUjeAKJFfq_UJ2HKMrxHPFiMbUU-ppIdm1/s320/merry+neil+11+%25282%2529.jpg" /></a></div><p></p><p><i>Merryweather light portable hook scaling ladders. MERRYWEATHER & SONS</i></p><p>The redoubtable Midgie returned to the scene in the 1970s when one of her photos, taken in the 1913 training, was used in the discussion on whether to continue the use of the hook ladder in British fire fighting. To pose for the company’s house journal, The Fireman, she had stood with a Merryweather single-spine hook ladder, and at the time the company were surely wanting to show the ease and safety of the equipment: Even a woman could do it! Even a child could do it! Commercial publicity and promotion are everywhere, but today this seems a bit disingenuous, at least as far as the implied risks are concerned. Rightly evident in Midgie’s modelling photograph is her Merryweather safety belt, made of leather and woven flax, specific for hook-ladder use and priced the same as the hook ladder. But clearly she is attached to and standing on a convenient fixed vertical ladder, although at a significant height. It is unclear whether, or how the hook ladder is suspended. The 1913 cinema player looked every bit the Avenging Honor Blackman of the 1970s, but was safer than any fire fighter in an operational situation.</p><p>Accomplished Assistant Divisional Officer Allan Miller M I Fire E, who was a fire brigade trainer (and Associate Fellow of the Institute of Civil Defence), had the photo reprinted in Fire journal in early 1976 to support the proposal that the hook ladder be maintained in use, saying that in London alone they had been purposefully involved in twenty rescues in the preceding five years. The ghastly Leinster Towers Hotel fire was an example. However, there were factors such as modern double glazing with toughened glass, and building standards regulations bringing the gradual replacement of unsafe buildings and an end to their wooden staircases and inadequate access. These meant that the prerequisite Risk Assessment on a fireground would never realistically lead an officer to issue the order “Scale the building!”.</p><p>The civil law, reflecting possible damages awards to the families of either fire-fighters or fire or accident victims, undoubtedly had a hand. On the hook ladder issue, after impassioned pleas on both sides, ‘Health and Safety’ arguably won. Preceding Merryweather’s exit from London, the company neither received nor sought any more orders for hook or pompier ladders. Awe-inspiring skill and bravery had been ingrained in the very wood of their substance, coated with vermillion paint or varnished and polished to perfection. The life-saving appliance, made so long ago with assiduous care, was consigned to the hands of museums, antiquarians and dealers in adornments for the world’s fashionable restaurants and pubs.</p><p>Notes:</p><p>-<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>This piece is a chapter of future book “Sustained by Extinction – The Merryweather Story” and is therefore written from the perspective of the Merryweather & Sons fire engineering company of Greenwich, London.</p><p>-<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>This piece does not encompass all existing information or pictures of Margaret Dolphin, Isabella Merryweather or other persons or items mentioned.</p><p>-<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Information retrieval and text by N G Bennett. Pictures copyright other persons.</p><p>-<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Special thanks to George Dyson and Janice Healey.</p><p>-<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Anyone wishing to help write (or illustrate) the book, or publish it, please contact via Greenwich Industrial History Society</p><div><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8710611656756005747.post-60220527678352791532020-09-18T11:28:00.001+01:002020-09-18T11:35:38.792+01:00<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">ARE THESE PICTURES OF PENN'S ENGINE WORKS ON BLACKHEATH ROAD?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The pictures below come from a set which we have been given by someone who got them from an unknown source. They are copies - so someone out there has the originals.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">They are marked 'Thames Ironworks' - now that works was in Newham, on Bow Creek, and it closed in 1911. However in 1899 Thames Ironworks had taken over the famous Greenwich based Penn's Engine Works.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We think it very likely that these pictures are of the old Penn works - perhaps taken at closure in 1911.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Penn's was on the Wickes site in Blackheath Road with an entrance in Coldbath Street. Many people will remember the Erecting Shop demolished in the 1980s while listing was being considered.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There is more information on Penn's on past pages of this blog - use the search facility and see.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We know nothing about these pictures and would be VERY interested in any comments on what they show - and - where do they come from? where are the originals?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtT76sfc0hIwtry29K1gfGaadnv9JaxmkB2GIbSgnkeKq4ugILg53jo-8H4gfPsg5vtqHnpV7Evf8k_1NAsIlONnLlqlbnx68KO4YjUsm9RO1TeotBtqne2F8UNCnUq2qW6ftCccRo8qef/s2048/PENNS+tI+1.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1529" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtT76sfc0hIwtry29K1gfGaadnv9JaxmkB2GIbSgnkeKq4ugILg53jo-8H4gfPsg5vtqHnpV7Evf8k_1NAsIlONnLlqlbnx68KO4YjUsm9RO1TeotBtqne2F8UNCnUq2qW6ftCccRo8qef/s320/PENNS+tI+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAcF4dTexakOeheL8ZlLT_afeVovhwwH3xXSMIADvMC4QHcy3LlehT0DDriEjPgg78hP4zW__3Nx6x5Oe2kN9LXU2ccljKHsMcwpAWk-NobN_uUr7siycC1MJcZ-eDUgBo8SB0BX1qUfBv/s2048/PENNS+T1I+2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1547" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAcF4dTexakOeheL8ZlLT_afeVovhwwH3xXSMIADvMC4QHcy3LlehT0DDriEjPgg78hP4zW__3Nx6x5Oe2kN9LXU2ccljKHsMcwpAWk-NobN_uUr7siycC1MJcZ-eDUgBo8SB0BX1qUfBv/s320/PENNS+T1I+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxyiMUM-KOm9xTIVFNoX7HmuNalBP9jafm07SCwcC9D2VGunDtj4pddy2r7UKL7sV4mhG24-Kud_dRQ289jCbxVohlyFT5a9fIqAvgnrbCLKQNdFC4xuLYV0hdoD7xMLNqCe_ffNMWGwia/s2048/Penns+TI+3.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /><img border="0" data-original-height="1615" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxyiMUM-KOm9xTIVFNoX7HmuNalBP9jafm07SCwcC9D2VGunDtj4pddy2r7UKL7sV4mhG24-Kud_dRQ289jCbxVohlyFT5a9fIqAvgnrbCLKQNdFC4xuLYV0hdoD7xMLNqCe_ffNMWGwia/s320/Penns+TI+3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1564" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidA9-he2qhZSFnE8ZvZh3mkAhYh1oMaEO0VVcMncU9QyAZG7aTBVRy05bfmzBMQbVcxkoRRLramW_NEb25bOQWpQ5ftEigp_Ni5iaG-OU9583Tpmc6EyVEtLBGQIaozhHPlluYvBIs4lAc/s320/Penns+TI+7.jpg" /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz7sCBUnAruBkYU6S2gI-JdcY0BqTx0HS8QOSiq1S3RBIHaTODmOdXr7ERYxPOrpTpj10QlyzXj74z_NO3ALWILDsgKqWTKegyTozgGEOTYVIJHPN04K7j_l6cD6dhv0wZ5z3CTqpSIioj/s2048/Penns+TI+8.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1430" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz7sCBUnAruBkYU6S2gI-JdcY0BqTx0HS8QOSiq1S3RBIHaTODmOdXr7ERYxPOrpTpj10QlyzXj74z_NO3ALWILDsgKqWTKegyTozgGEOTYVIJHPN04K7j_l6cD6dhv0wZ5z3CTqpSIioj/s320/Penns+TI+8.jpg" /></a></div><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1424" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0B_Y-PHXETdf2cMnkPLLiSnI96BEYdlgMvNo7f-tCNBYoD_3hNkuCgpM1KX-pkeW0Nr_iDrBdI6jcDDWfW-UEBGoyOnJ_DGdzVKKui3DiGMTQICBfPj8he1Y6EGQJO-VbIE-0-H_uvbu3/s320/Penns+TI+9.jpg" /><br /><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1529" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMa-V6cjifDju4wQog89ScMB4xp75EB8qbIYz03yzbe3ymN3zmC-JTjMbcAYGeqkj6rkIrnXdUSv05PKlh0vbYr92dyVFh6dByz0ZD9PNX5BevgD2cggt-f5OplyD7_K4BByKGzMLp0FwP/s320/Penns+TI+4.jpg" width="320" /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHPB9BhHy0xK5iG3vpq_l5T8xEDLbzjHNJmi44ceY2P7ShGkE2jRBEP2Vea7zu_aaW4E_tifjfKhd0pk0msCAd3ScHThDzx5WSroDVRQeqFxWg2bTIwDsrI9kjzmd882QZM3zH8qcoFT7z/s2048/Penns+TI++10.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1453" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHPB9BhHy0xK5iG3vpq_l5T8xEDLbzjHNJmi44ceY2P7ShGkE2jRBEP2Vea7zu_aaW4E_tifjfKhd0pk0msCAd3ScHThDzx5WSroDVRQeqFxWg2bTIwDsrI9kjzmd882QZM3zH8qcoFT7z/s320/Penns+TI++10.jpg" /></a></div></blockquote></blockquote><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9nZLBoIuPJSPbtkuLabfv76updQUdCTfAs8-3nzJYvZB1DGcbUkpUHnOle3g-AsmMZbZfDgZoR1fAIlDkKn-kYqf7ol4UdISatowVRvtFC1VZlLtBg1f7gVHyQBKwBP5tTPXsz1RMb66c/s2048/Penns+TI++6.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1496" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9nZLBoIuPJSPbtkuLabfv76updQUdCTfAs8-3nzJYvZB1DGcbUkpUHnOle3g-AsmMZbZfDgZoR1fAIlDkKn-kYqf7ol4UdISatowVRvtFC1VZlLtBg1f7gVHyQBKwBP5tTPXsz1RMb66c/s320/Penns+TI++6.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: right;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1520" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF8SqUzoe6IydVJuAalvS7UJWMAAQpHovP1CBR9LmnJNxBgBqxQuiFjphZAst07IOgJMp0eZZ9rOGvLNTXWm2YDAyhZEkZddX8bqO5ZBEEf93UyAHYzK9ztTubHcEOKP0yabv_2F3t-qLO/s320/Penns+TI++5.jpg" style="text-align: left;" width="320" /></div><div style="text-align: right;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: right;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8710611656756005747.post-43026958115442837622020-09-03T17:21:00.003+01:002020-09-03T17:22:40.738+01:00GIHS AUTUMN PROGRAMME DETAILS<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHSpFsj0FffP1qbUBxPK2rjg1bbN-EBo87bi3VdUo1DZ0BWqCx0_XJl3a_3qHmKrmWJaBoLJEhSEHKe9_pPnpBk-w0iN5njpo_ZdxZBac-Zq05RSCqTGeX2t2wRB884M2h8ScWxwtBpyc6/s1754/poster+autumn+2020.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1754" data-original-width="1240" height="625" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHSpFsj0FffP1qbUBxPK2rjg1bbN-EBo87bi3VdUo1DZ0BWqCx0_XJl3a_3qHmKrmWJaBoLJEhSEHKe9_pPnpBk-w0iN5njpo_ZdxZBac-Zq05RSCqTGeX2t2wRB884M2h8ScWxwtBpyc6/w443-h625/poster+autumn+2020.jpg" width="443" /></a></div><br /><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8710611656756005747.post-29284583434707378692020-08-19T12:03:00.003+01:002020-08-19T12:04:09.807+01:00GIHS AUTUMN PROGRAMME<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">GREENWICH INDUSTRIAL HISTORY SOCIETY<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">AUTUMN MEETINGS 2020<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">All meetings will be virtual, held
via Facebook Live, YouTube, Zoom or similar technology (technology to be
decided). <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Video attendance will be free of
charge, live as they are delivered, and each meeting will be recorded for free
viewing afterwards.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">For full details, see </span><a href="about:blank"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">http://greenwichindustrialhistory.blogspot.com/</span></a><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"> or see our Facebook group at </span><a href="about:blank"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">https://tinyurl.com/GIHSoc</span></a><b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">We hope to resume in-person meetings
in 2021, depending on current laws about meetings, but we want to continue to
make meetings available online at the same time. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">There will be no charge for any GIHS meetings,
live or virtual, at least through to the summer of 2021.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><u><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Tuesday 13 October<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Starting online at 19:30<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Greenwich and Woolwich, the
birthplace of the global telecoms industry and the internet<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The global network that we now call
the internet was built in factories along the river in Greenwich, Charlton and
North Woolwich. One of them is almost certainly the oldest working factory in
the industry. And the optical fibre technology that the internet uses today was
invented by an electronics engineer trained in Woolwich and North Woolwich. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Alan Burkitt-Gray</span></b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">, SE London-based
telecoms and technology journalist and secretary of GIHS<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><u><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Tuesday 10 November<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Starting online at 19:30<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Greenwich Marsh to Greenwich
Peninsula – 300 years of regeneration<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The Greenwich peninsula, now the home
to the O2, North Greenwich station, hotels, endless blocks of flats and tunnels
to the other side of the river, has been the scene of industry for a thousand
years – with tide mills and factories that made gunpowder, rope, soap,
linoleum, concrete and steel, not to mention the gasworks. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Dr Mary Mills</span></b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">,
industrial historian and joint chair of GIHS<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><u><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Tuesday 8 December<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Starting online at 19:30<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The Eastern Telegraph Company’s first
cable system – the Red Sea Line to India<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">It’s 150 years this year since the UK
was first connected directly to India, via Gibraltar, Malta, Alexandria, Aden
and the Indian Ocean. The cable was made in Greenwich – and the Aden-Mumbai
stretch was laid by the Great Eastern, the Brunel’s paddle steamer that was
built on the Isle of Dogs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Stewart Ash</span></b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">, SE
London-based submarine cable consultant and historian <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8710611656756005747.post-34421750437036125942020-08-04T16:34:00.003+01:002020-08-04T16:38:07.713+01:00GIHS NEWSLETTER August 2020<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">Greenwich Industrial
History Society<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">Newsletter
August 2020<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Like every other Society we had to pause our meetings from
March onwards. But we have an exciting offer to all members – and to followers
of our Facebook group: online meetings, via Zoom, to start this autumn.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We are building the agenda for our autumn schedule of online
meetings, and we will announce the topics and speakers shortly.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Among the subjects we are considering are Greenwich’s
contribution to the communications revolution from 1851 onwards; the Great
Eastern and its role in the first cable from Britain to India; the East
Greenwich gasholder, recently demolished. Please let us know of other wishes
and suggestions. Please email <a href="about:blank">marymillsmmmmm@aol.com</a>
or <a href="about:blank">alan@burkitt-gray.com</a> with your ideas.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>
<h4 style="text-align: center;"><b><u>AGM report </u></b></h4>
<p class="MsoNormal">The GIHS officers are now Andrew Bullivant and Mary Mills as
joint chairs; Alan Burkitt-Gray as secretary; Juliet Cairns as auditor; and
Elizabeth Pearcey as a co-opted extra member. Our treasurer resigned, and so
Alan, Mary and Juliet are now doing it between them. It has taken some time to
sort out the paper work which our late, and very valued, treasurer, Steve Daly
left. But we are working on it. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We are not going to charge a membership subscription for
2020-21. All our online meetings will be free and – when we finally are able to
gather back in our regular meeting place – meetings for winter, spring and
summer 2021 will be free too. </p><p class="MsoNormal">Please contact Elizabeth Pearcey (details below) for membership enquiries.</p>
<h4 style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><b><h4 style="text-align: center;"><b>Facebook page and the GIHS blog</b></h4></b></h4>
<p class="MsoNormal">There is a lot going on in industrial history in Greenwich
at the moment and we attempt to report as much as possible on the Greenwich
Industrial History page on Facebook. If you are a Facebook user, search for the
society, go to <a href="about:blank">https://www.facebook.com/groups/1549240565122658/</a>,
or go to this specially <span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">shortened link </span><a href="about:blank"><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">https://tinyurl.com/GIHSoc</span></a><span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">We will also post details of all our
meetings – including our online meetings – there. </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Our Facebook group now has 500 members and new people are
joining all the time. Many of them are young people who are moving into the new
flats on the Peninsula. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We are also still running the GHIS blog at <a href="about:blank">https://greenwichindustrialhistory.blogspot.com/</a> for
longer items – and there is an Instagram and a Twitter account. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Over the past couple of years we have hosted a small
advisory group for people involved in various projects and campaigns. Hopefully
this has provided a measure of mutual support.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If you would like to contribute please contact us.</p>
<h4 style="text-align: center;"><b><u>So what is going on? A quick run round</u></b></h4>
<p class="MsoNormal">Being Greenwich, this is all about development sites – and,
with all the activities listed below, things are really still on hold. Until
the start of lockdown we had regular meetings of members who were involved in
various projects, so please keep in touch so we can tell people what it going
on.</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "times new roman";"> <font color="#2b00fe">
</font></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><font color="#2b00fe">THE GASHOLDER</font>. Clearly this has now been
demolished . We are left with an amazing photo archive and much new
information. We had four site visits and a commemorative artwork is planned. We
are also in touch with many historians and activists with an interest in the
gas industry and gas holders. The Silvertown Tunnel will include major works on
the site of the No 2. Holder (demolished in 1985) and we hope that this will
provide items of interest.</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "times new roman";"> <font color="#2b00fe">
</font></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><font color="#2b00fe">ENDERBY WHARF</font>. The Enderby Group continues to
monitor developments. It is to our regret that Barratts – which developed the
site – never constructively engaged with the group. Enderby House has now been
passed to Young’s brewery, although what is happening is still not clear. Our
members worked closely with Bobby Lloyd who designed a commemorative artwork
for the site. We have had a number of articles and books published and are
grateful to Bill Burns, who runs the Atlantic Cable Web site <a href="about:blank">https://atlantic-cable.com/</a></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "times new roman";"> <font color="#2b00fe">
</font></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><font color="#2b00fe">ROYAL ARSENAL</font>. We are in close touch with the
group running the Royal Arsenal website and with other activists on the site.
Before lockdown there were successful pub-based information sessions and the
group also hosts a lively facebook page and has a terrific website.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="https://www.royal-arsenal-history.com/">https://www.royal-arsenal-history.com/</a></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "times new roman";"> <font color="#2b00fe">
</font></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><font color="#2b00fe">GREENWICH ARCHIVE</font>. We have been closely involved
in drawing attention to the deficiency in the current arrangements through the
Greenwich Archive Users Forum.</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "times new roman";"> <font color="#2b00fe">
</font></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><font color="#2b00fe">DEPTFORD DOCKYARD</font>. We are in touch with
residents who seek to challenge the development plans for the site – which were
agreed some years ago and may now be revised – and they hope to get the historical
context re-examined. </p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "times new roman";"> <font color="#2b00fe">
</font></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><font color="#2b00fe">SIEMENS SITE</font>. We have members working with the
developers here and other members working with local campaigners. It is hoped
that the new development will include some reference to the past of this
important company. Sadly, as many will be aware, Brian Middlemiss from the
Siemens Engineering Society was killed in an accident. He and other members had
provided a vast amount of help and support over the years.</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "times new roman";"> <font color="#2b00fe">
</font></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><font color="#2b00fe">MORDEN WHARF</font>. A planning application is now in
for this important site. Members have been involved in providing historical
information here.</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "times new roman";"> <font color="#2b00fe">
</font></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><font color="#2b00fe">SILVERTOWN TUNNEL. </font>Planning applications for the
actual works are now being registered. We are looking at plans for an
archaeologist on site and are seeking advice on their remit. Clearly we would
like them to evaluate the remains of the two holders on site<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(YES – two holders. </p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "times new roman";"> <font color="#2b00fe">
</font></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><font color="#2b00fe">DEPTFORD CREEK</font>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We have been happy to support West Greenwich residents who have been
campaigning for a Creekside footpath to be opened – as planning consents have
ruled. They would like this to include information with reference to the many
industrial sites on the Creek – and to include buildings currently in use by
Thames Water for construction of the Tideway Tunnel</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "times new roman";"> <font color="#2b00fe">
</font></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><font color="#2b00fe">PUBLICATIONS</font>. Many members are involved in the
production of community based newsletters and leaflets on Greenwich’s
industrial history – for example Richard Buchanan’s monthly newsletter for
Woolwich Antiquarians.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stewart Ash has produced
many articles, and three books – one on the Enderby family and one on the cable
industry in Greenwich are on the Atlantic Cable website. His biography of Sir
John Pender is available through Amazon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Mary Mills continues to produce an article most weeks on Greenwich
industry in Greenwich Weekender and hopes to re-publish Greenwich Marsh –first published
in 1998 but this time longer and with proper references – again via Amazon.</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "times new roman";"> <font color="#2b00fe">
</font></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><font color="#2b00fe">REQUESTS</font>: We currently have requests for
information on:</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 72pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "courier new"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7pt "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Greenwich Ferry Countess of Zetland</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 72pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "courier new"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7pt "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Old photographs of Park Row</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 72pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "courier new"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7pt "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Always happy to take on issue and see what we
can come up with.</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Alan Burkitt-Gray, <span style="font-family: "courier new"; text-indent: -18pt;">o<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">( 7 Foxes Dale, London SE3 9BD Phone 079 6202
1330</span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">alan@burkitt-gray.com)</span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Mary Mills <span style="font-family: "courier new"; text-indent: -18pt;">o<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">(24 Humber Road, London,SE3LT
marymillsmmmm@aol.com)</span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Elizabeth Pearcey <span style="font-family: "courier new"; text-indent: -18pt;">o<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">(125B Dalling Road London W6 0ET.: 020 8222
8468.: 07738 473547. e.pearcey@gmail.com)</span></p><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8710611656756005747.post-84920284408725218712020-07-24T18:27:00.003+01:002020-07-25T15:13:59.840+01:00Articles on Greenwich Peninsula History - by Mary Mills<div class="Section1">
<h2 style="text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Mary Mills –Works on Peninsula
History</span></b></h2>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"><o:p><b><i>As ever I find 'consultants' paid for writing histores of Peninsula sites - and getting it all wrong. They never ever seem to consult existing work - and goodness there is a lot out there for them to ignore. </i></b></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"><o:p><b><i>These are just some of my own articles and booklets on Peninsula History - there are many others I just can't track down or still trying. </i></b></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"><o:p><b><i>Sorry if this is boastful - but I am not getting paid for this, and others are getting consultants' rates for writing nonsense. </i></b></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"><o:p><b><i>bleat bleat</i></b></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="mso-pagination: widow-orphan; tab-stops: 177.2pt;"><b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Alexander</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"><b>
Theophilus Blakele</b>y. Ordnance Journal 2001</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Beale’s</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"><b> Gas Exhauster</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><b> </b>
</span></span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Greenwich Weekender</span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>10 June 2020<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Bessemer</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"><b> and Greenwich</b>. GLIAS Newsletter. Letter<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Blackadder</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Greenwich
Visitor.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Blackwall</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"><b> Point </b>Greenwich Society
Newsletter Sept/Oct 2018. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">B</span>reach in
the Sea Wall</b>, Bygone Kent. 19/.4. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 61.0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Bugsby’s</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"><b> Reach </b><a href="http://onthethames.net/2014/02/14/platform-defence-bugsbys-reach/">http://onthethames.net/2014/02/14/platform-defence-bugsbys-reach/</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 61.0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Bugsby’s
Reach</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> consultation.
GLIAS Newsletter<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Case</span></b></span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"><b>
for Listing cranes at Lovells Wharf </b>.</span></span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Groundwork 1999<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 177.2pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Ceylon </span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"><b>Place cottages</b>.
Greenwich Visitor<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 177.2pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Damn</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"><b> Your Eyes Mr.
Sharp</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Meridian Magazine. March 2000<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Dock</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"><b> That Never Was</b>, Bygone
Kent . 20/.4<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Drugs</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"><b>, Guns and High Finance</b>.
Bygone Kent. 19/7.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">Early</span></b><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"> Gas Industry and its
Residual Products in East London. Book M. Wright 1994</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 177.2pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"><b>East
Greenwich Gas Holder is Going. </b>Newcomen Links. Sept 2019<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 177.2pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">East</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> <b>Greenwich No.2</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>GLIAS Newsletter 1986<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 376.4pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">East</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> <b>Greenwich Tide Mill</b>.
London’s Industrial Archaeology 17. 2019<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 376.4pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Enderby</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> <b>Leaflet </b>(with Stewart Ash and Peter Luck)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 376.4pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Enderby</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> <b>Wharf. The True Story</b>. Westcombe
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>News Feb 2017<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(with Peter Luck)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 376.4pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Explosion</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> <b>at Blackwall Point </b>Greenwich Weekender</span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">5<sup>th</sup>
September 2018<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Explosion</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> <b>200 years ago</b>. Industrial Heritage<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Vol. 32 Winter 2007<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Explosive</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> M<b>agazine at Greenwich </b></span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Greenwich Weekender</span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> 17<sup>th</sup> June 2020<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Explosive</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> <b>Magazine at Greenwich</b>,
Bygone Kent,. 18/12.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Finding</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> <b>the Bulli Bulli </b>GIHS
Newsletter Vol.2/ 5<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">From</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> <b>Greenwich across the
Atlantic </b>. </span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Greenwch Weeknder </span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">16th July 2020<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">From</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> <b>Mr Bugsby to the
Coaling Jetty</b>. Booklet<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">From</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> <b>the Great Meadow to the
Barge Builders </b></span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Greenwich Weekender </span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">27 May 2020<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Gas</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> <b>Workers Strike in South
London</b>,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>South London Record 4, 1989.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 177.2pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">George</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> <b>Livesey </b>Business
History 1988<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 177.2pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Georgian</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> <b>Cottages on the New
Millennium Experience Site </b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 177.2pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Georgian</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> <b>Cottages nearly
demolished for the Millennium Exhibition</b>. Greenwich Society Newsletter<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 177.2pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Peninsula History </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">D</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">ocklands Forum; April 1998</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Give</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> ‘<b>em enough Rope </b></span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Greenwich Weekender<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">24 June 2020<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Granite</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> <b>wharf </b></span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Greenwich Weekender</span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>13 May 2020<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Greenwich</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> <b>and Woolwich at Work</b>. Suttons 2002 <o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">Book</span><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Greenwich</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> <b>Gunpowder Depot</b>, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">G</b>unpowder Mills Study Group, 21.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Greenwich </span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"><b>Harbour Master</b>. Greenwich Weekender</span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">16<sup>th</sup> May<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2018<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Greenwich</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> <b>Inland Linoleum</b>, Bygone
Kent, 20/3. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Greenwich</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> <b>Marsh Flood Defences</b>.
Newcomen<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bulletin 170, April 1998.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Greenwich</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> <b>Marsh</b>, M.Wright 1999 <o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">Book</span><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 177.2pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Greenwich</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> <b>Peninsula</b>. Docklands
Forum 1999<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Greenwich </span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"><b>ships travelled far. </b>Greenwich
Weekender 10<sup>th</sup> June 2019<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Gunpowder</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">. <b>Inspection and Death</b>,
Bygone<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kent. 19/l. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Henry </span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"><b>VIII King of Industrial England</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Greenwich Visitor November 2018<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="heads" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Henry</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> <b>Bessemer in Greenwich</b>. Newcomen
Society Bulletin, 172, 1998. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Hills</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> <b>Family</b>, Bygone Kent,
18/3, <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">History</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> <b>of the Holder </b></span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Greenwich Weekender </span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">16th
April 2018<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">How</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> <b>I found the Dry Dock Capstan</b>. Greenwich Weekender 23rd
April 2019<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">How</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> <b>Time and Tide shaped our History</b>. Greenwich
Visitor Oct. 2008<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Ice</span></b></span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">
<b>Well at Lovells Wharf</b></span></span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"><b> </b>Kent Underground Research Newsletter.63 <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Industrial</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> <b>Accident at East
Greenwich</b>. Bygone Kent, 17/11, 1996<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Industrial</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> <b>Site in East Greenwich</b>,
Bygone<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kent, 17/12 1996.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Innovation</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">, <b>Enterprise and Change
on the Greenwich Peninsula.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b>2018 <o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">Book</span><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Into</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> <b>the Marshland. </b></span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Greenwich Weekender </span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>29th April 2020<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 376.4pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Jetty</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">. Booklet 2018<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Jim</span></b></span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">
<b>Hughes and Orinoco</b></span></span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"><b>
</b>Bygone Kent February 2001<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">John</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> <b>Beale and Joshua Beale,
Inventors from Greenwich Marsh</b>, Bygone Kent, 18/6, June 1997<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">John</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> <b>Beale of Greenwich.
</b>Industrial Heritage. Vol 28 Summer 2002<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"><b>Jumbo.
No More</b>, Greenwich SocietyNewsletter<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Kicking</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> <b>up a right stink </b></span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Greenwich Weekender </span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">13<sup>
</sup>March 2019<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Looming</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> <b>against the sky is the skeleton of the great
holder<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b>Greenwich Weekender 8 Aug. 2019<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Lovell’s</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> <b>Wharf </b>Booklet<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Lovells</span></b></span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">
<b>Wharf</b></span></span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"><b>
</b>Bygone Kent<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nov & Dec 1999 &
March 2000<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Made</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> <b>in Greenwich. The
Appleby Beam Engine</b>. Greenwich Society Newsletter <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Man</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> <b>who laid cables under Atlantic</b>. Greenwich Weekender 13 June<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2018<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 177.2pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Maudslay</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> <b>Son and Field </b>for Kew
Bridge Engines Trust CD 2002<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Maudslay</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> <b>Son and Field in Greenwich
</b>Bygone Kent in three parts<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jan, Feb
& March 2002<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Medieval</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> t<b>ide mill </b></span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Greenwich Weekender </span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">6th
May 2020<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Memorial</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> <b>to the dead in the
Great War from the East Greenwich Gasworks</b>. Greenwich Soc. Newsletter<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Millennium</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> <b>Site - Bad Smells on
Greenwich Marsh</b>, Bygone Kent, 17/7 July 1996.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Millennium</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> <b>Site - Who built the
Gas Works</b>, Bygone Kent, 17/5, May 1996.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Millennium</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> <b>Site, New East
Greenwich, </b>Bygone Kent, 17/8 1996, <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Molassine.</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> Bygone Kent<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Mollassine</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> <b>Co. & smell to remember</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Greenwich
Weekender 8<sup>th</sup> June 2019<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Mystery</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> <b>Steel Works</b>, Bygone
Kent. 20.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Nathan</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> <b>Thompson and the Wooden
Nutmeg</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bygone Kent. 19/ 5. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Olinthus</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> <b>Gregory Description of
the East Greenwich Tide Mill</b>. Industrial Heritage<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Vol.33 Spring 2007<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Our</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> <b>Poor Doomed Gas Holder </b></span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Greenwich Weekender </span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">6<sup>th</sup>
March 2019<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">River</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> <b>People </b></span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Greenwich Weekender</span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>3<sup>rd</sup> June 2020<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Shipbuilding</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> <b>in East Greenwich</b>. Thames
Shipbuilding Study Group<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Stockwell</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> <b>and Lewis</b>. <b>Dry Dock</b>
Bygone Kent<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>20/9.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Tragic</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> <b>death of Mary Mahoney killed on her first day at the firework
factory<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b>Greenwich Weekender</span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>6<sup>th</sup> </span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">December
2017<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="BOOKSTULE" style="text-align: left;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Tragic</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> <b>demolition of Jumbo</b>.
Greenwich Soc. Newsletter<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p align="left" class="BOOKSTULE" style="text-align: left;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Thames</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> <b>Tunnels </b>AIA Newsletter<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>140 Spring 2017<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">We</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> <b>made History on an Industrial Scale</b>. Greenwich Visitor Sept. 2018<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 177.2pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Writing</span></b><span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"> <b>the History of the
Greenwich Peninsula</b>. OU Student Journal<o:p></o:p></span></p><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8710611656756005747.post-40415954228635165902020-06-26T20:30:00.004+01:002020-07-13T15:21:37.178+01:00David Cufley on sustainable building materials<p class="ydp5334c7ccyiv0109241765ydp718a41adyiv6692713461msonormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">David Cufley is President of North West Kent
Family History Society and has been to talk to GIHS on a couple of
occasions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However he is really the
local authority on bricks and building materials. So – when GIHS was asked
about by Mr.P. about local sustainable materials for the built environment we
put the enquirer in touch with David.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="ydp5334c7ccyiv0109241765ydp718a41adyiv6692713461msonormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">First David asked “What do you mean
by sustainable?Let me know your definition of sustainability and I’ll think
again of materials. As a starter:-<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="ydp5334c7ccyiv0109241765ydp718a41adyiv6692713461msonormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: red; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Include Clay used for bricks and tiles.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="ydp5334c7ccyiv0109241765ydp718a41adyiv6692713461msonormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: red; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Sand used for mortars and other industrial purposes.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="ydp5334c7ccyiv0109241765ydp718a41adyiv6692713461msonormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: red; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Gravels used for concrete<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="ydp5334c7ccyiv0109241765ydp718a41adyiv6692713461msonormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: red; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Chalk for plasters, mortars and Cement. Thus, cement for concrete.
Chalk was also used as a fertilizer and is not therefore your built
environment.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="ydp5334c7ccyiv0109241765ydp718a41adyiv6692713461msonormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: red; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I assume for the built environment you are including roads, bridges
and infrastructures.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Mr P replied. “As there are different interpretations of the term
'sustainability' I will start with that used by the Alliance for Sustainable
Building Products (ASBP): "...building products that are low embodied
carbonnatural, non-toxic, locally made and healthy in use." Another
definition is "... a material that will be available for future
generations and has the lowest impact on human health and the
environment."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It can also include renewables such as timber, straw and wool if an
equal amount is replacing the amount being used but I will focus mainly on
housing stock.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">All of the materials you mentioned - clay, sand, gravel, chalk -
will get a mention as locally available resources, regardless of their
sustainability, not least because there is some research going on into the use
of existing buildings as a 'material bank' for future construction (part of a
design for deconstruction idea).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Any thoughts on sources of info I could search regarding the
historic use of clay, sand, gravel etc in the London/Kent/Surrey area? I want examples
of historic as well as contemporary use.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Also, you mentioned the use of chalk as a fertilizer; any links you
can suggest to find out more about this?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">David wrote:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Thanks for the explanation of sustainable. I like the ‘building
products that are natural, non-toxic, locally made and healthy in use (not
always i.e. limes). Don’t like ‘low embodied carbon’ and ‘material that will be
available for future generations …” Example, historically the use of timber and
later coal to burn bricks means that they were known for fumes and smoke coming
off the clamps and you can find newspaper references (see British Newspaper
Library online) to deaths of tramps that slept on or close to the clamp for
warmth and in the morning were found dead. The other example that once
materials are excavated or quarried for buildings they are not available again
except in their new form and not as originally manufactured. The pits once
depleted may return to farmland or fishing lakes but the landscape will have
changed.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I struggle with the following.The renewable element is fine but such
as clay and chalk once used are no longer available, unless you apply your
‘material bank’ idea. One of my fellow MSc students did her dissertation on
reclamation of building materials and this is with the Weald and Downland
Living Museum (WDLM) as a York University dissertation in the museum’s library.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A problem with bricks and their reuse is their original
classification as taken out of the clamp and their use depended on their
burning. Bricks used originally only for internal walls and temporary works are
not good for use as facings because they will quickly deteriorate when
weathered and the structural quality will not accept loads that modern bricks
will take. They are too soft. The use of modern mortars will also cause them
problems. While they are okay with lime mortars, OPC mortars can be too strong
and don’t allow them to breath.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">There are other reclaimed and demolition materials that react to
modern materials and it’s a case of knowing your materials and where and in
what combination they can be used.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Jerry building is not a new phenomenon and can be found in 18<sup>th</sup>
c references. I’ll leave it to you to research the use and misuse of building
materials.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Let us consider clay, sand, gravel, chalk, timber and straw/reed in
London/Kent/Surrey areas.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Clay pits used for brick, tile (roof) and chimney pots were all made
on the brickfields. See my map produced for a talk to Greenwich Industrial
group]. I’ve done similar maps for LB Bexley, Dartford, Swanley and at present
Eynesford and Farningham for a talk in 2021. Historically brickfields served
approx. 5 miles radius (one horse and cart load, out and back in a day). Until
canals and railways changed the landscape. However, Greenwich was slightly
different as it has the Thames, which allows heavy materials to be carried not
only in larger quantities but also further. Example Vanburgh Castle on Maze
Hill used bricks from the Medway towns and Fulham areas, only needing carting
up to the site from the river. See history of Vanburgh Castle and its accounts.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The North Kent brick industry using clay and chalk mix to form
London Stocks was killed off by the fletton brick industry from late 1800s. The
threemain factors being, land values for housing becoming higher than returns
on brickmaking, industrial manufacturing mechanisation and then labour shortage
part of the WW1 factors.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Between the wars people like Stephenson the developer of housing in
the Welling, Bexleyheath, Barnhurst, area [See Bexley Library publication].
Bought up the sites of building materials i.e. sand and gravel pits as well as
brickfields. Not only did he have sources for his building materials, he could
manage costs and deliveries. Not a new idea as Durtnals, builders since the
late 16<sup>th</sup> c to 20<sup>th</sup> century had sons that not only
followed their ancestors’ carpentry/building trade but also ran the brickfield
at Sevenoaks, Otford, Kent. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Dawson family at Plumstead, East Wickham, Woolwich and previously
Dartford produced not only bricks but also a wide range of clay products; i.e
chimney pots, sugar moulds, tiles and drain pipes. The East Wickham brickfield
that Stephenson eventually took over also had a chalk mine that extends under
Rockcliffe Gardens and Alliance Road. OS Maps of this brickfield will show you they
also had a lime kiln. OS maps are very good for locating and discovering the
structures used on the sites. The maps are freely available from the National
Library of Scotland.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Henry Ward a civil engineer did a paper with illustrations on the
East Wickham brickfield (known then as the South Metropolitan Brickfield)
describing its equipment and process as an article in the Institution of Civil
Engineers proceedings c1890.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For chalk mines see Kent and East Sussex Underground by Kent
Underground Research Group. The East Wickham mine they call Plumstead Chalk
Mine. The Dartford mine was owned by C N Kidd who was also a brickmaker and a
brewer. You will also discover from the historic maps details of the sites along
Thames Road to Crayford and Erith area that had chalk, sand and brickfields.
Stephenson owned some of these eventually.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Now you have to travel down to Faversham area to find a brickmaker
trading under the old ‘Smeed Dean’ name for their London Stocks. See George
Smeed book published by Meresborough books (I’ve attached my brick bibliography
for the references) that tells of his business including barge building to
carry bricks he made up to London. London refuse was brought back to the
brickfields on the return journey to be used to temper the clay and fuel the
clamps. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">You might also like to read ‘Bricks and Brickies’ by F G Willmott
that talks about Eastwoods and transporting bricks into London and Refuse out
to the brickfields. Willmott also wrote ‘Cement, mud and muddies’ the history
of APCM barges and the cement industry. The ‘Blue water’ shopping centre is
built in the old chalk quarries used for cement manufacture. The prices for the
clay in the 20<sup>th</sup> c are given by Willmott in this book.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Because of the link of the Medway and Thames to the brick and cement
industry it was easy to transport materials into London and most of these sites
are now developed as industrial sites or housing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">You might like to read Jim Preston’s book ‘Industrial Medway an historical
survey’ that talks about all the industries that used the Kent materials that
found their markets in London and further affield. The period covered is up to
the 1940s. The same can be applied to the Thames and I expect you have seen
Mary Mills book on the Peninsular down river as far as the Thames Barrier. Few
of these were sustainable industries but might give you a glimpse into their
products.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I’ve mentioned above sand and gravel pits on Thames Road but there
was a very fine sand used for cleaning among other things in the 18<sup>th</sup>
and 19<sup>th</sup> century excavated at pits on the Woolwich Road, near Marion
Wilson Park.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The geological OS maps gives the head materials and some areas’
materialsthat have provided for industries. The gardeners at Hall Place, Bexley
mentioned in a personal conversation some years ago they had used the spoil,
which is sand and gravel, from foundation trenches mixed with cement to form
the concrete of their structures and it was returned to the trenches. You can
still see sand and gravel being extracted as you travel between Crayford and
Sidcup by rail adjacent to Bexley, Hall Place and the Black Prince area. I’m
not certain the company name but it might be ‘Bexley Sand and Gravel’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In regard chalk as a fertilizer it was used on the fields around
Wilmington, Joydons Wood and Birchwood. In fact the Birchwood Road was known at
one time as fire pit lane. The chalk pits having fires in them to break up the chalk.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The book by Bexley Library publications on Dene and Swallow holes, (sorry
cannot remember its author) talks about their excavation of chalk for
fertiliser and other uses.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Timber as a sustainable home grown material is no longer a large
part of the British Industry, now most of the woodland areas have been cleared.
However, there was a resurgence of planting trees for softwoods some years ago;
they are quick growing; because of the grants (EU?). I’ve got no references for
this for you. Certainly nothing within 25 miles of Greenwich.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I seem to remember part of the decline of the Wealden iron industry
was the lack of fuel (timber) and expense of transporting coal in addition to
the decline in the iron ore quality and quantity that moved the industry into
the midlands.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Thatch and the use of straw and reed was never a big part of
construction in London; and Greenwich; after the Great Fire of London when
building regulations required tiles, slatesand bricks in favour of replacing
more combustible materials.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A discussion I had with a thatcher at the WDLM mentioned most of
today’s thatch is imported from Europe although some is still produced in East
Anglia. He was very busy working in Sussex and south Surrey area, but I’ve not
seen many buildings closer to Greenwich that use this material. Most have been
reclad with slate or tile.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Finally, I should mention ‘conservation’ and ‘Building Conservation
Philosophy’ by John Earl published by Donhead. There are a couple of pages (P34
etc. ‘Guarding resources ‘Green’ issues) that you might like to read.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A quote by Michael Cope, Head of Planning, English Heritage 2002
leapt out of the page when I first read it. “If sustainability means anything
at all our mentality has to change … … we need a mindset where we think carefully
before we knock things down and don’t always blame the buildings for problems’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">With that thought I hope I’ve given you the information you want.<o:p></o:p></span></p><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8710611656756005747.post-70017588637468796032020-05-25T18:28:00.003+01:002020-05-27T22:32:40.758+01:00William LindleyWe are receiving a number of articles and information about engineer William Lindley - some of it is in a posting on the GIHS Facebook page. <br />
<br />
Lindley - when he wasn't designing public services in Europe - lived in Shooters Hill Road. Here is an article which Blackheath historian, Neil Rhind, wrote about him in 1998:<div><br /></div><div>WILLAM LINDLEY<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: helvetica, sans-serif;">There
simply is no shortage of erudition when it comes to the research and writing of
books, which also prove to have a Blackheath interest. And because of my local
knowledge there is also no shortage of scholars and researchers beating a path
to my door, eager to clarify a reference and seek what little information I
might have on their pet subject. They then embarrass me with fulsome thanks in
prefaces for very small contributions indeed. In fact, I should thank
them because without such investigation I would know very little of the
importance of all sorts of unlikely things.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: helvetica, sans-serif;">Take
the drains for example. There are few things more pleasing than a clean
drain except the act of unblocking it and watching the water run freely away
with a satisfying gurgle. That is what was not happening in London and
most European capitals in the first half of the 19th century. The Romans
knew what to do but their successors managed to forget the techniques. As
cities grew larger and larger so did the problems.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: helvetica, sans-serif;">London
was quite frightful with the Thames and the small rivers, which flowed into it,
being used as the main sewer and, quite often, as the source of drinking water
as well. Such was the smell that even members of Parliament in the House
of Commons were appalled and, on occasion, unable to continue their work.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: helvetica, sans-serif;">So it
was decided that the long-suffering rate- and taxpayer would meet the cost of
solving London’s drainage and sewer problems. Also, the Thames in central
London would be embanked. And embanked it was. Under the inspiring
leadership of engineer Joseph Bazelgette London was properly drained as
well. It was a massive civil engineering undertaking and created one of
the, lasting wonders of the modern world, and still in use to day. Walk
the London embankments at Charing Cross and visit the giant Crossness engine
house at Belvedere and you will see what I mean.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: helvetica, sans-serif;">The volume under scrutiny concerns something rather similar but in Warsaw,
Budapest and Prague. These ancient capitals also suffered from drainage
and water problems. It took an Englishman (more properly English</span><em style="font-family: helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, sans-serif;">men</span></em><span style="font-family: helvetica, sans-serif;">) to sort things
out. They were the Lindley family, resident of No 74 Shooters Hill </span><span style="font-family: helvetica, sans-serif;">Road
from 1860.</span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: helvetica, sans-serif;">I
knew, from short biographical notes, that they had been up to their elbows in
European drains, so to speak, but I put much down to personal hyperbole. Not so
– and it took a visit from Professor Ryszard Zelichowski, of Warsaw, hot on the
trail of these wondermen, to banish my ignorance. He is the Dale Porter
of the Warsaw water and drain systems and had learned that the Lindleys were
Blackheath people. You could have knocked me down with the proverbial
feather when he explained to me how distinguished they were. And last
year Ryszard published a special volume to mark the 110th anniversary of the
Warsaw water supply works. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: helvetica, sans-serif;">It all
started with engineer/architect Joseph Lindley (1806-1880) who moved to
Blackheath in 1860. His brother William (1808-1890), in the same
profession, “rebuilt” Hamburg after the fire in 1842 and then earned an
international reputation as a water and sewage engineer, sorting out Warsaw in
the 1870s. His sons, William Heerlein and Robert Searles carried on
the good work, ensuring happy healthy populations across the Continent,
designing and supervising water and drainage schemes in Prague, Bucharest,
Frankfurt, Petrograd, and so on. They were rarely at home. William snr’s
daughter, Julia, lived on at No 74, keeping house for the family, until her
death in 1937. It is also extraordinary, in the local context, that old
Joseph had married the daughter of Michael Searles (1752-1813) the
architect, <em><span style="font-family: helvetica, sans-serif;">inter
alia</span></em>, of the Paragon. William Heerlein Lindley was knighted
in 1911 and lived at No 17 Kidbrooke Park Road for a short while during the
Great War.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: helvetica, sans-serif;">Of
course, I would like to say more but, alas, my Polish is scant. Nevertheless,
Prof. Zelichowski tells me that the volume he sent to me is the shorter popular
version and that he is working on an extended version, which he hopes will be
published in English in due course. At least I think I know what
the <em><span style="font-family: helvetica, sans-serif;">szluzmajster</span></em> did
and the word filtro<em><span style="font-family: helvetica, sans-serif;">,
cisnien</span></em> and <em><span style="font-family: helvetica, sans-serif;">pomp</span></em> seem
to have a familiar ring about them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: helvetica, sans-serif;">You
will have to send to Warsaw for Ryszard Zelichowski’s volume and I am not sure
how many <em><span style="font-family: helvetica, sans-serif;">zlotys</span></em> you
will need but I can make enquiries. Professor Porter’s definitive tome
will be issued here in due course and for those details I must wait. The publisher
is the University of Akron Press, Ohio. Enquiries to its web site: </span><a href="http://www.uakron.edu/uapress" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://www.uakron.edu/uapress</span></a><span style="font-family: helvetica, sans-serif;">.</span></div>
<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>the article is Neil's copyright and must not be reproduced.</i></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8710611656756005747.post-66151823970192466822020-05-23T06:28:00.002+01:002020-07-06T17:08:31.829+01:00Charlton's other waterworks.<span><a name='more'></a></span>So - this is the second episode following yesterdays post, and facebook page mystery picture, about Charlton's water works - first - back to John Smith's History of Charlton.<br />
<br />
<br />
After the Woolwich Road well was found to be contaminated the Kent Water Company needed to find another site. In 1864 they leased a site in an old chalk quarry. This was on the south side of the railway line, and the west side of Charlton Lane. Today it is the site of Prentis Court housing.<br />
<br />
Once again they got a Cornish pumping engine from Harvey's of Hayle and began pumping water in 1865. This did no better than the previous site and after nine years it was closed. The well is described " <span style="background-color: white; color: #4c76a2; font-family: verdana, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Yielded 1,500,000 gallons per diem and although the water is not considered sufficiently reliable for domestic use it would be suitable for street watering or other non domestic purposes.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #4c76a2; font-family: verdana, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span>
"The engines and boilers were removed for reuse to Farnborough in 1879" by Farnborough they mean Orpington. And I have to thank Richard Albanese for details of the engines and pictures of Orpington. He says: dates for the engines don't match as they are given as 1880 and 1885.... Its likely that these are the installation dates at Orpington even though secondhand. I suspect also that the engines were probably heavily rebuilt and modernised at the same time to operate on higher pressure steam with new pumpworks to suit new well depth and delivery to alternative reservoir and head of supply.<br />
<br />
<div dir="ltr">
and, Richard says.. in 1948 ......</div>
<div dir="ltr">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr">
...... at Orpington ,.. electric pumps were installed in the wells and proposals were underway to discontinue the use of steam engines ... and (surprisingly) retain engines 1 & 2 for historical interest in terms of any parts inside the engine house. I had not heard of this before but it did happen as the photos show attached around 1950. The engines were fully broken up though later and i'm fairly certain that the buildings were demolished soon after c'1958-60?</div>
<div dir="ltr">
<br clear="none" /></div>
<div dir="ltr">
and sent us these pictures:<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj87vSomZjdcwEVdYZ6RDfcpNCMUmvMlKXMgcjoYva-aUAo4E9CUSP8Wm4_skwgbDpJUtWPEaSXjaepsMlW06-DqQyhQGTZUirMIydc3ClvT4YCLIknOUrK5EcCAIAIddBMjdtyV9VqtTWr/s1600/267+Orpington+Boilers.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1112" data-original-width="1500" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj87vSomZjdcwEVdYZ6RDfcpNCMUmvMlKXMgcjoYva-aUAo4E9CUSP8Wm4_skwgbDpJUtWPEaSXjaepsMlW06-DqQyhQGTZUirMIydc3ClvT4YCLIknOUrK5EcCAIAIddBMjdtyV9VqtTWr/s320/267+Orpington+Boilers.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Boilers at Orpington </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr">
<b style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></b><i style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></i><u style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></u><sub style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 13.26px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></sub><sup style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 13.26px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></sup><strike style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: line-through; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></strike><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1UO1mNg_bhNQ6txIMttggK6HRJ0tcOt_IqAicvn6eWDz9WHwbJVjQDMSS_SPgsNfxq2zM4N0UUCk9GbucocjzlxJbgmOX_5jdWYcmBIUq90nzzhWdhgGwABMvl5FcODfclVWxaJAWvfv-/s1600/263+Orpington+Compound.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH1Q5u8jw2Y45Ei0j9RWL40fYB3EGrtbiM5pqoCzggzwvDv2a4c-MT0kbzZBovliKU_c_MwRK-RBfamsC8BAdfA04lqd5NxdH6e10nBW0olvceZFCOzvZd5LNV5y7apY_jW4Vo9ZVW6QjR/s1600/263+Orpington+Compound.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1134" data-original-width="1500" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH1Q5u8jw2Y45Ei0j9RWL40fYB3EGrtbiM5pqoCzggzwvDv2a4c-MT0kbzZBovliKU_c_MwRK-RBfamsC8BAdfA04lqd5NxdH6e10nBW0olvceZFCOzvZd5LNV5y7apY_jW4Vo9ZVW6QjR/s320/263+Orpington+Compound.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: arial; font-size: 13.33px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">View
showing Engine in motion.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="yiv0150936176MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.33px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: arial;"></span><br /></div>
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.33px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: 13.33px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.33px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</span><br />
<div class="yiv0150936176MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.33px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdAUG4tFZ6k0oHBN10-RrLcKJ1O4UTe6eKGRE0sxztJn0lfleQhkb9l_jcTYdoVl8ZnOiFqVjfF7cMSWFQ6LXQQy37ARxBeTStY45uSa5OTE72JR99yNObTpiRimliu0SFcJxrsCPVqzMq/s1600/262+Orpington+Compound.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1126" data-original-width="1500" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdAUG4tFZ6k0oHBN10-RrLcKJ1O4UTe6eKGRE0sxztJn0lfleQhkb9l_jcTYdoVl8ZnOiFqVjfF7cMSWFQ6LXQQy37ARxBeTStY45uSa5OTE72JR99yNObTpiRimliu0SFcJxrsCPVqzMq/s320/262+Orpington+Compound.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: 13.33px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"></span></span></span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: arial; font-size: 13.33px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Closer
view, piston near the bottom of its stroke.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<u><span style="color: #000120;"></span></u><br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<i></i><br /></div>
</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<i><br /></i>
<i><br /></i>
<i><br /></i>
<i><br /></i>
<i><br /></i>
<i><br /></i>
<i><br /></i>
<i><br /></i>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6Y5Wci_xysnZByPVYTWPAL4vKf4KftSXhg9f_nY54imKZ6IhbsKH_z7tYgjg9VMe9-txsmBFeK8haerYexqQ72wT_slpwlvvwijYV1WQQpPqRKYvM1rQrQv8E6Jr57wKlpmz_Eqgsx1iD/s1600/261+Orpington+Compound.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1128" data-original-width="1500" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6Y5Wci_xysnZByPVYTWPAL4vKf4KftSXhg9f_nY54imKZ6IhbsKH_z7tYgjg9VMe9-txsmBFeK8haerYexqQ72wT_slpwlvvwijYV1WQQpPqRKYvM1rQrQv8E6Jr57wKlpmz_Eqgsx1iD/s320/261+Orpington+Compound.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 1em; padding: 6px; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 80%; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;"></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: 13.33px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: arial; font-size: 13.33px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Piston
higher up the cylinder.</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; clear: both; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
In 1881 the site was leased to the Plumstead District Waterworks Company and they put a small pump there but the water could only be used for non-domestic things, like dust laying in the roads. Around 1900 the well was sealed but the engine house remained on site until 1910. The site became allottments but was bought by Harveys in 1936 and Prentis Court was built as company housing. We posted on this blog in 2014 a report of the opening of the estate in 1952 by future Tory Prime Minister,Harold Macmillan. <a href="https://greenwichindustrialhistory.blogspot.com/2014/08/tory-prime-minister-opens-greenwich.html">https://greenwichindustrialhistory.blogspot.com/2014/08/tory-prime</a><a href="https://greenwichindustrialhistory.blogspot.com/2014/08/tory-prime-minister-opens-greenwich.html" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #0066cc; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">-minister-opens-greenwich.html</a><br />
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />
<br />
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<i>Finally .... Richard says - All material to be credited to Thames Water Collection and London Museum of Water & Steam please. (Thames water have an online historic photo collection now - which we at Kew gave a lot of help with. Lots of Kent and London water supply pics to explore!)</i></div>
</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<i>Its very likely that parts of one of the engines valve gear are preserved in store at London Museum of Water & Steam - see pics 261-3. Ive often wondered where we got them from as there are no records as they were brought in by MWB.</i></div>
</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<i>Also: London Metropolitan Archives hold the Thames Water historic records collection. Theres a big chance that drawings and contracts for both engines and buildings are there.</i></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br /></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8710611656756005747.post-47497440533476129532020-05-22T20:40:00.001+01:002020-05-22T20:43:55.357+01:00Charlton's Water WorksNow - I put this picture on the GIHS Facebook page and asked people to tell me where it was<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkBKX57L54B_6df_72PEN1SmECze2nfEjlLpod8Aaqlnlod0vqRHJwV2kHMabuDDKAG9Moww6H5NNjGz3tOhkqhPDdKvFBv2T6q76B1nWWbgD1IXvZqbAoightL7_GJ_LKRKiW8zimE5ti/s1600/wr+wih+pumping+station+old.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkBKX57L54B_6df_72PEN1SmECze2nfEjlLpod8Aaqlnlod0vqRHJwV2kHMabuDDKAG9Moww6H5NNjGz3tOhkqhPDdKvFBv2T6q76B1nWWbgD1IXvZqbAoightL7_GJ_LKRKiW8zimE5ti/s400/wr+wih+pumping+station+old.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
Now only one person got it right - Congratulations Peter Luck - it's Woolwich Road looking east towards the bottom of Charlton Lane. Here's another picture from some years later<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS3bOB71lsXfprhP-sUfDjDY9DXwxMwZB983kuvYxZpCseB-csVr9zy3EpViCsfChUj5gayWk_0qTKeZwHJlZ2FEJUZFfjfP55pbnxd_zsdX3-MDPfz-VI6jvjQJQNRXrzC00IO7R6HCOq/s1600/woold+oad+wth+tram+and+%255Bump.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS3bOB71lsXfprhP-sUfDjDY9DXwxMwZB983kuvYxZpCseB-csVr9zy3EpViCsfChUj5gayWk_0qTKeZwHJlZ2FEJUZFfjfP55pbnxd_zsdX3-MDPfz-VI6jvjQJQNRXrzC00IO7R6HCOq/s400/woold+oad+wth+tram+and+%255Bump.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Now, none of you, not even Peter twigged why I thought the picture was interesting. Well its the big building centre left. Its a water works building - and this is just the first one - you never knew Charlton had two water works, did you?<br />
<br />
The next bit comes from the estimable History of Charlton by the late John Smith. He says that in 1857 the Kent Water Company dug a deep well at Charlton. Its actually marked on the 1867 Ordnance Survey Map. They built this pumping station and installed a pumping engine from Harvey & Co. of Hayle in Cornwall. But within six years it was taken out of use because the well was becoming contaminated with river water - and a nearby new sewer didn't help. So it was shut down and the engine was sent to the Cold Bath Well at Deptford - that's one of the wells at the Brookmill Site which also was originally built by the Kent Water Co. The engine seems to have ended up however at the Crayford Water Works, which was rebuilt in 1954. A history of Crayford says that two statues of Sir Walter Scott were removed from the decorative metalwork on the engine and preserved. Has anyone got them??<br />
<br />
So - the earliest of the Charlton Water Works closed down and was let to a building contractor. From the earlier photograph above it appears to be the sort of building you expect of a 19th century waterworks. In the lower picture it has lost most of its decoration but has had an extension built. It was then in use by the Grafton Engineering Co. There seem to be many Grafton Engineering Cos around and this is described as being 'a general engineers and cabinet makers'.<br />
<br />
<br />
so - what happened to Charlton and its water supply. More to come later..................<br />
<br />
<span id="goog_1851494309"></span><span id="goog_1851494310"></span><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8710611656756005747.post-16072091882078767562020-04-29T06:47:00.003+01:002020-06-21T17:40:10.135+01:00Midgie Dolphin - the girl who trained with Merryweather's<br />
<i><span style="font-size: large;">Neil Bennett has sent us these notes on Midgie Dolphin </span></i> .................... <i>read on ...................</i><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw65EqRfyGLeoccsbSo-uRSzw7GFmRunVSPFaVad4skBcXvBmPkD1994wYJLhElX71-JxzthadkKcX3AOAkv93gFSMpWykgSSeY8cdq_LL5BZM5ORvO6Epnsc7hbNIzgvmko2OkW3X6Nw7/s1600/midgie+6.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="672" data-original-width="572" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw65EqRfyGLeoccsbSo-uRSzw7GFmRunVSPFaVad4skBcXvBmPkD1994wYJLhElX71-JxzthadkKcX3AOAkv93gFSMpWykgSSeY8cdq_LL5BZM5ORvO6Epnsc7hbNIzgvmko2OkW3X6Nw7/s320/midgie+6.JPG" width="272" /></a></i></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
Miss Midgie or Midge Dolphin (once given confusingly as Dolphni) appears to have been ‘trained’ for appearances in films involving ‘stunt’ or ‘action’ sequences at Merryweather& Sons.<br />
<br />
She would have met the famous and flamboyant company boss, James Compton Merryweather. In 1912 he was aged 72 (and had five years to live). JCM, as well as a fire-fighter, engineer and businessman was a considerable publicist for his fire-fighting equipment and fire engine company Merryweather& Sons. Known as ‘The Fire King’ he placed thousands upon thousands of newspaper adverts, wrote signed letters to newspapers and almost certainly, with editors’ approval, placed many newspaper articles he had written himself, to keep the company name in the public eye world-wide.<br />
<br />
As for Midgie/Midge Dolphin, the ‘training’, rehearsals and the photos and publicity, would have kept her, and the company, in the news. Did she initiate the visit(s) to Merryweather’s (in Greenwich, London), or her father or someone with a view to her career, or James Merryweather himself? Was she accompanied in the visit? JCM and his staff were accustomed to training provincial private fire brigades, including ones for schools and ones exclusively women. But he would surely have taken a decently reserved pleasure in the company of a 13-year old ‘film actress’.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFCf3Ffub6cS2yIl7hRW8ojcmwajn6UwB1GzbQ7bxy4rSlT1s1Ov29QfDqoHoNuC6nizMR5K99Z1Bu5wlLeis8EnxWWOLxnodDKOYrMoDP8KPJ-Z5Ct-EjajLsDwkSjJ2j30WOGU3Mu-xe/s1600/midgie+1.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="791" data-original-width="641" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFCf3Ffub6cS2yIl7hRW8ojcmwajn6UwB1GzbQ7bxy4rSlT1s1Ov29QfDqoHoNuC6nizMR5K99Z1Bu5wlLeis8EnxWWOLxnodDKOYrMoDP8KPJ-Z5Ct-EjajLsDwkSjJ2j30WOGU3Mu-xe/s320/midgie+1.JPG" width="259" /></a>Here are the newspaper clippings I found, all related to stage appearances..…can we find what film(s) Midgie appeared in, beforehand, or later (benefitting from her Merryweather training)? Did her career lead anywhere?<br />
<br />
The clippings and other sources indicate that she danced at the Aldwych in Jan 1912 in five small plays collectively known as ‘The Golden Land of Fairy Tales’, and in the same year 1912 she was the fairy Mustardseed in ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ in the play revived by Sir Herbert Tree at the Gaiety, Manchester. (Stage Yearbook)<br />
<br />
She appeared in ‘Theodore and Co’ aged 16 in 1916. She was the daughter of the stage manager of ‘Daly’s’, whose name I don’t know [see below], although there was a chap called Wilfred H Dolphin, an actor, who may have been relevant.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWRzNiJQEjOoKdyGyv6l2hK8aVAi8y3iGAK2-0jnsxMEmGTcbTnRxmIgl4KO6FfUZLbkAN2iRPDe-oY-_Od8Bsgw5RWbV88_oMNi0Uc9tbhGCtNoRzIM6hJ8zYWji5yImV_iPNTt5Lw3b_/s1600/midgie+2.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="464" data-original-width="359" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWRzNiJQEjOoKdyGyv6l2hK8aVAi8y3iGAK2-0jnsxMEmGTcbTnRxmIgl4KO6FfUZLbkAN2iRPDe-oY-_Od8Bsgw5RWbV88_oMNi0Uc9tbhGCtNoRzIM6hJ8zYWji5yImV_iPNTt5Lw3b_/s320/midgie+2.JPG" width="247" /></a>Daly’s was a Leicester Square theatre where ‘Vue West End’ now stands, at no.2 Cranbourn Street. It was the last theatre in the Square to be demolished, in 1937, in favour of the oncoming ‘picture houses’.<br />
<br />
<br />
…see cuttings below, from ‘British Newspaper Archive’I seem to have exhausted the information on Wikipedia and the Internet….<br />
<br />
Also no trace of her in ‘Encyclopedia of British Film’. At that time actors were not highly paid and considered on a par with electricians and mechanics. Films, which would of course have been silent and black & white, were often destroyed and recycled for their silver content.<br />
<br />
Daily Mirror 6 Feb 1914<br />
(Please note the precise wording – do we trust the Daily Mirror?) So far no luck (speaking as an engineer) in identifying the crane, or whether it belonged to Merryweather’s.<br />
<br />
<br />
¬<br />
<br />
Further looking finds references to her in The Stage 20 Apr 1911 p.19 as Mustardseed; The Tatler 8 Nov 1916 with photo and her drawings, Sunday Pictorial 26 Nov 1916 with pics and Daily Mirror 11 Oct 1917, with pics, where aged 18 she married Major Edwards RGA (Royal Garrison Artillery). Maybe she then gave up her acting career…?<br />
<br />
<br />
<i>George A M Dyson writes</i>…<br />
<br />
I can tell you a little more about Midge. She was Margaret Flora Stuart Dolphin, daughter of a couple from Manchester, Walter and Matilda Dolphin, who had evidently moved south shortly before Midge was born at Catford in 1900. Her father was a musician, and he was obviously keen to put his whole family on the stage, not just Midge.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9sXh3zCBCbpXlipOgUiultquwBXPaMXsi5goPLlT4NzM3HEK3mst1ul_r_5eQm8y5sg-209ERKvolN4urBySOoWWMpVmRYk6l-godiSQBPCFxIOEPdAgC5yz_1qca25eSsx0Vq3egr6o9/s1600/midgie+4.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="469" data-original-width="399" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9sXh3zCBCbpXlipOgUiultquwBXPaMXsi5goPLlT4NzM3HEK3mst1ul_r_5eQm8y5sg-209ERKvolN4urBySOoWWMpVmRYk6l-godiSQBPCFxIOEPdAgC5yz_1qca25eSsx0Vq3egr6o9/s400/midgie+4.JPG" width="340" /></a></div>
The Dolphins evidently moved around. They were in Fulham by the time the 1901 Census, and in a boarding house in Lambeth in 1911, and, though she was a south-east London girl by birth, I don’t know where Midge would have been living when she used<br />
Merryweather’s premises to practice her stunts. But with JCM keen to make sales in the theatre world it looks like a smart move on his part. (Around the time of 1914there were few if any new installations of Merryweather theatre safety curtains, perhaps as a result of the oncoming cinemas, until the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford, in 1932).<br />
<br />
As for what became of her later, all that I know is that she married a second time, in 1938. Sydney Burnet Edwards had served in the South African Horse Artillery before transferring to the RGA, and incidentally at some point he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO), though I’ve not found any report of how he earned that award. So, if he was South African, it may be that they spent the 1920s and 30s in S Africa, and as far as I know S African historical records aren’t easily available anywhere. If she did maintain her career there ought to be some kind of press records of that, but I haven’t looked and I wouldn’t know the best way to do it.<br />
<br />
What is clear enough is that in Islington in 1938 Margaret F S Edwards or Dolphin married Charles H Cartwright. No reason to assume she was a divorcee – I assume Sydney had died. And I notice that at Crosby in Lancashire in 1940 the birth of a child Michael Y Cartwright was registered with the mother’s name given as Dolphin; I can’t find a newspaper notice of that birth (nor of the 1938 marriage), and there’s no proof that’s Midge and Charles, but I think it’s more likely to have been them than another couple with the same names.<br />
<br />
I hope all that is interesting. It would have been nice to round off the record for you by finding an obituary for Margaret F S Cartwright, but I haven’t found anything.<br />
<br />
Five index entries, which record (in chronological order) -<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-2qQayMxu_1C5l8-p4kpU8cBX4lNY0gX_XsRGkqmV88fN83u3GJavwGfQZKq3KBNgvtNX9aJkvgKY6H2olib_dtkaTw2SJJNPh28hDsufxNpumHMM0RMbzZr-lfcmwknxjZEVQBYUQHez/s1600/midgie+5.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="552" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-2qQayMxu_1C5l8-p4kpU8cBX4lNY0gX_XsRGkqmV88fN83u3GJavwGfQZKq3KBNgvtNX9aJkvgKY6H2olib_dtkaTw2SJJNPh28hDsufxNpumHMM0RMbzZr-lfcmwknxjZEVQBYUQHez/s400/midgie+5.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Midge’s birth; we learn later that she was actually born in Nov 1899, but a bit of a delay in registering a birth isn’t unusual.<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Her marriage to Maj Edwards.<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Her marriage – under the two surnames – to Charles Cartwright – in 1917 and 1938 the index gives all three initials, and that’s how I’ve been able to identify her in the birth registers and the 1901 and 1911 censuses too; but with three forenames myself I’m not surprised to see the third one went missing in later records!<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The entry from the national population Register taken in England & Wales in September 1939, for 152 Widdenham Road, Islington; it’s hard to know which of them is being described as incapacitated.<br />
•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>An entry from the National Probate Index; the matching entry in the death register index for the Colchester registration district tells us that this Margaret Flora Cartwright was 62 years old, which fits with what we know of Midge.<br />
<br />
I’ve no idea who the woman who administered her estate was. It doesn’t look as though her life after marrying Maj Edwards was as glamorous as we might have hoped – but you never know, ‘dresses etc’ might have been haute couture, and she might have bestowed a fortune on her nearest and dearest before she died. But I suspect not.<br />
<br />
b 10 Nov 1899<br />
d 7 Feb 1962 age 62 as Margaret Flora Cartwright, then of Frinton, – effects £130/16/0<div><br /></div><div>Neil also add 19th June 2020</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="AOLWebSuite AOLWebSuiteM1" data-dojo-attach-point="bodyCont" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px; margin: 10px 20px 4px;"><div id="yiv7009867267"><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><div class="yiv7009867267yqt2737996579" id="yiv7009867267yqt87105"><div style="font-family: arial, helvetica; font-size: 10pt;"><div id="yiv7009867267"><div>Billed as 'Madge Dolphin' and starring with Warwick Buckland, she was in 'Prop's Angel', made in 1913. The film, of shorter length than we are used to today, was made by Cecil Hepworth and written and directed by Edward Hay-Plumb. </div><div><br /></div><div>Midge's other film, referred to in the Daily Mirror piece, was 'Detective Daring and the Thames Coiners' made in 1914 by the Daring Films company, where she starred with Harry Lorraine. It was directed by Sidney Northcote.</div><div><br /></div><div>Cecil M Hepworth's film company became bankrupt and his remaining film negatives were melted down for their silver content to pay the receiver, in 1924. Midge's earlier film did not survive either.</div><div><br /></div><div>Thank you to Melanie Williams, Lawrence Napper, Tony of Celluloidtapestry and especially Janice Healey and again to George Dyson for guidance and information.</div><div><br /></div><div>Regarding Midgie's ‘training’ at Merryweather's, it would have had to be very superficial and supervised. Some girls’ schools of the time had ‘jumping sheets’ and practised with them in case of fire. But jumping sheets are no longer used by British or European fire brigades as they are dangerous and waste fire-fighters’ time in vital seconds. ‘Hook ladders’ were very dangerous even to trained firemen when used for their intended purpose and are no longer used. A Merryweather motor fire engine of 1914, which the Mirror claims she practised on, would have been difficult and potentially dangerous to start, and likewise to drive, even if only round the works yard. Only six years earlier one of the company’s motor fire engines was in a fatal accident while being tested on the road.</div><div><br /></div><div>But long live Midgie's memory, and do visit the cafe in Connaught Avenue, Frinton where she lived in later life!</div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="inlineCompose_bar" data-dojo-attach-point="inlineComposeBar" style="background-color: #f1f1f1; color: #666666; display: inline-block; fill: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px; position: relative; width: 891.333px;"><div style="background-color: white; margin: 3px 4px 10px 3px; padding: 8px 0px;"><span class="inlineCompose_barButton" data-dojo-attach-event="onclick:inlineReply, onMouseDown: saveSelection" style="cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; margin-left: 22px;" title="Reply"><svg class="inlineCompose_barBtnIcon"><use xlink:href="#iconReply"></use></svg> </span></div></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8710611656756005747.post-83758785200549017162020-04-08T10:26:00.000+01:002020-04-09T11:09:26.719+01:00Message to all Members and Friends<div class="yiv7951138934gmail_default" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.33px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Dear GIHS Members</span></div>
<div class="yiv7951138934gmail_default" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.33px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br clear="none" /></span></div>
<div class="yiv7951138934gmail_default" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.33px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This is to let you know that the meeting scheduled for Tuesday 14 April WILL NOT TAKE PLACE. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Because of Coronavirus we have cancelled ALL MEETINGS until after the summer. </span></div>
<div class="yiv7951138934gmail_default" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.33px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br clear="none" /></span></div>
<div class="yiv7951138934gmail_default" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.33px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Your </span>GIHS<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> committee will continue to monitor -- as far as we can -- </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">the industrial heritage of Greenwich. We will be grateful for any input you can offer. We will remain concerned about and alert to planning applications on industrial sites, the demolition of the gas holder, the Charlton and Woolwich sites with recent planning enquiries, the Arsenal, Deptford Creek and so on. We appreciate any assistance you can give in these difficult times. Please keep your eyes open and let us know about anything we should know about. </span></div>
<div class="yiv7951138934gmail_default" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.33px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br clear="none" /></span></div>
<div class="yiv7951138934gmail_default" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.33px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Because we have had to cancel the programme for the beginning of 2020, we are going to waive all subscription fees until the end of 2021.</span></div>
<div class="yiv7951138934gmail_default" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.33px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br clear="none" /></span></div>
<div class="yiv7951138934gmail_default" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.33px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In the autumn of 2020, so long as the pandemic is over, we plan to come back with an exciting programme of talks, running through until summer 2021. </span></div>
<div class="yiv7951138934gmail_default" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.33px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br clear="none" /></span></div>
<div class="yiv7951138934gmail_default" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.33px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Meanwhile we have been thinking about the venue for our events, but we'd welcome your views. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Old Bakehouse benefits from easy access by public transport, but is limited in size. Do you have a</span>ny<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> suggestions of alternative </span>locations<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">? Would anyone enjoy afternoon sessions? Would anyone like us to record sessions or even transmit them live by YouTube, Facebook or some other medium?</span></div>
<div class="yiv7951138934gmail_default" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.33px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="yiv7951138934gmail_default" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.33px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">"While we are not having meetings we are still very busy on-line and are always happy to publish items of news on our Facebook page - and look forward to comments and discussion on items which appear there. Longer articles are more than welcome for the GIHS blog. You will also be glad to see that we also now have an Instagram and a Twitter account'. Please send items to <a href="mailto:marymillsmmmmm@aol.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: blue; cursor: pointer;">marymillsmmmmm@aol.com</a> <a href="mailto:indhistgreewich@aol.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: blue; cursor: pointer;">indhistgreewich@aol.com</a></span></div>
<div class="yiv7951138934gmail_default" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.33px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br /></span></div>
<div class="yiv7951138934gmail_default" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.33px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Facebook: </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/1549240565122658/?ref=bookmarks" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: blue; cursor: pointer;" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/groups/1549240565122658/?ref=bookmarks</a></div>
<div class="yiv7951138934gmail_default" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.33px;">
Instagram: <a fg_scanned="1" href="https://www.instagram.com/greenwich_industrial_history/?fbclid=IwAR2x-LtdpK1SaiLb6boNFMSlalIiiGfiXN3AHRq14KSgogqHfmT9qLThWlY" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="background-color: #f2f3f5; color: #385898; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px;" target="_blank">https://www.instagram.com/greenwich_industrial_history/</a></div>
<div class="yiv7951138934gmail_default" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.33px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br clear="none" /></span></div>
<div class="yiv7951138934gmail_default" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.33px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We shall continue to be in touch with as many of you as possible via email. We know there are some of you who do not use the internet and therefore may not see this email. If you know of anyone like this, please let them -- and us -- know. </span></div>
<div class="yiv7951138934gmail_default" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.33px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="yiv7951138934gmail_default" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.33px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Alan Burkitt-Gray</span></div>
<div class="yiv7951138934gmail_default" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.33px;">
Mary Mills</div>
<div class="yiv7951138934gmail_default" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.33px;">
Elizabeth Pearcey</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8710611656756005747.post-27886119810380843392020-03-26T09:21:00.003+00:002020-03-26T09:21:29.687+00:00Greenwich Materials Recycling Facility<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 3;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 3;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 3;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">GREENWICH MATERIALS RECYCLING FACILITY<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">By
Richard Buchanan<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">The Blackheath Scientific Society had a visit to the Greenwich Materials
Recycling Facility on 16 Jan 2007. Numbers were limited to ten. Unlike other
Councils, the Greenwich philosophy is to ask people to put all dry waste in one
blue top bin, and to collect it w</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">ith a single lorry. They then separate it at a mixed, dry, recycling
plant. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">The plant occupies a big grey building at the far end of Nathan Way,
Plumstead. Mr Peter Dalley, the manager, took us round, on a first floor walkway,
and showed us the various machines which are linked by rising conveyor belts.
The day we went there was much rubbish on the floor under the conveyors, and
paper/plastic separation did not seem as good as it might have been, though
presumably acceptable.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">The first process is bag splitting, so any pre-sorting one might have
done is nullified. Then oversized items are removed with a Trommel Screen, to
be manually sorted. This is followed by a Ballistic Separator (a large spinning
drum) which does an initial sort of containers from paper. Containers are
separated into iron, aluminium and glass: a Magnet (people with pacemakers are
not let on the visit) takes out iron cans etc; an Eddy Current separator
removes aluminium; leaving glass. Plastic bags, paper and a residue remain. An
infra-red lamp detects Plastic and drives a puffer machine to separate it from
paper. Paper is sorted first automatically, and then manually - it is important
that no glass gets into it, though small wispy pieces of plastic are tolerated.
The last piece of equipment is a Baler. Some incoming waste, such as bulk paper
from a business, can go straight to the baler. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Depending on market prices,
particularly for plastics, extra manual sorting can be done. Manual Sorters
work two or three to a room about 6 m (20 ft) square, for seven hour days, no
shift lasting more them four hours. The plant is run with a staff of about 20
per shift.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Mr Dalley took questions
afterwards and outlined future plans. He gave various prices: Paper for newsprint
earns £250 per ton; Cleanaway, who take the baled waste, put up £6m towards the
cost of the plant; National Land Fill permits come with a fine of £150/ton for
excess; and an EU fine of F/Wday; a waste disposal lorry costs £125,000;
wheelie bins for 120, 240 & 330 litre capacity cost £25, £18 & £40. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">At
present 72% of residents voluntarily use blue top bins, and produce high grade
waste. It is proposed to revise the use of bins so that all residents use
blue-top bins for dry waste and green-top bins for kitchen and garden waste –
with weekly collection for both. Other waste would be put in a bag and
collected fortnightly. Biodegradble Cornstarch bags would be used for kitchen
waste - fitting in a kitchen container, tied off when full and put in the
green-top bin. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">It is proposed to build an anaerobic digester for green waste so
that methane given off as it rots can be fed to a Combined Heat and Power plant
(better than a garden compost bin venting to the atmosphere). If restaurant
waste were properly sorted this too would be taken and would improve digester
efficiency. Other by-products would be a good quality top soil and liquid
fertiliser, both useable by the Council. In the future it might be worthwhile
to adapt the digester to produce hydrogen</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8710611656756005747.post-29105396133742648052020-03-24T10:45:00.003+00:002020-03-24T10:45:39.239+00:00Merryweather 'Bottell' and W.R.Crow <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCrrICi75x_DdnoaAko-QdeuQ9l4-sZ5hg0T_jd5ynj6N-BWw1roQiaeITXvW6SAkzGPAxxo19d-7dKJSu01ELmfFbSR_oHZ9sjWlGKW8de_4h59Js1cP7YlFxZu6UKqSgfWmuDAaEiH8M/s1600/merryweatehr+bttle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1020" data-original-width="765" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCrrICi75x_DdnoaAko-QdeuQ9l4-sZ5hg0T_jd5ynj6N-BWw1roQiaeITXvW6SAkzGPAxxo19d-7dKJSu01ELmfFbSR_oHZ9sjWlGKW8de_4h59Js1cP7YlFxZu6UKqSgfWmuDAaEiH8M/s320/merryweatehr+bttle.jpg" width="240" /></a>We received an enquiry about a Merryweather leather pitcher which we put on our Facebook page. (<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/1549240565122658/">https://www.facebook.com/groups/1549240565122658/</a>).<br />
<br />
Merryweather were the Fire Engine specialist manufacturers based in Greenwich High Road . They made lots of other things to - pumps, trams, etc etc.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
We sent all the stuff off to Merryweather expert, Neil Bennett, and here is what he says:-<br />
<br />
"In reply to your enquiry about the Merryweather pitcher or Black Jack, ................... this is clearly a superb example of the very rare leather 'black jack' and may have come from the Merryweather museum in Greenwich Road / Greenwich High Road, London.<br />
<br />
The firm also had longstanding premises in Long Acre (Covent Garden) among others. The inscription 'Merryweather Fecit' most likely refers to Moses Merryweather, although there were other members of his family already in Long Acre when Moses came down from Yorkshire in 1807. (One was a carriage-maker whose work included leather items).<br />
<br />
A major customer of Merryweather black jacks was the Greenwich hospital for the Royal Navy, founded in 1694. Some information on black jacks is in a chapter from my book. (we have a copy of this if anyone is interested)<br />
<br />
If you are reading the inscription "...ngton" correctly, this would be<br />
<blockquote style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" type="cite">
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="yiv7715328807ox-6445ed7c25-ox-f3e60272cd-ox-f061f0d016-ox-28dab68588-ox-c52717a593-mce-item-table yiv7715328807ox-6445ed7c25-ox-f3e60272cd-ox-f061f0d016-ox-28dab68588-mce-item-table yiv7715328807ox-6445ed7c25-ox-f3e60272cd-ox-f061f0d016-mce-item-table yiv7715328807ox-6445ed7c25-ox-f3e60272cd-mce-item-table yiv7715328807ox-6445ed7c25-mce-item-table yiv7715328807mce-item-table" style="border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 1em; margin: 0.5em auto;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(85, 85, 85); border-top: 1px solid rgb(85, 85, 85); outline: none; padding: 0.4em 1em;" width="487">Richard Edwin Stubington L I Fire E, A I Fire E, ACA, FCA, RE (TA)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="yiv7715328807ox-6445ed7c25-ox-f3e60272cd-ox-f061f0d016-ox-28dab68588-ox-c52717a593-default-style" style="padding: 0px;">
</div>
</blockquote>
He was (born 1893, chairman of Merryweathers from 1943, retired from work 1966). So this gives a wide possibility of dates for the gift.<br />
<br />
As far as W R Crow and Son are concerned, I cannot find any further evidence as to why they received the black-jack from Merryweather's. Your mother may be right that Crow's provided storage and accommodation after one of MW's bombings (5 Nov 1940 and 24/25 Jun 1944), or for some other favour. Merryweather were always a considerable user of timber in their products and patterns etc, so Crow's may have been a dependable supplier or may have helped out in special circumstances.<br />
<br />
I have found the following about W & R Crow & Son Ltd:1885 - see attachment<br />
<blockquote style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" type="cite">
<div class="yiv7715328807ox-6445ed7c25-ox-f3e60272cd-ox-f061f0d016-ox-28dab68588-ox-c52717a593-default-style" style="padding: 0px;">
1891 - still at 6-8 Benjamin Street/Cowcross Street, EC. timber and mahogany merchants and importers of joinery.</div>
<div class="yiv7715328807ox-6445ed7c25-ox-f3e60272cd-ox-f061f0d016-ox-28dab68588-ox-c52717a593-default-style" style="padding: 0px;">
</div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" type="cite">
<div class="yiv7715328807ox-6445ed7c25-ox-f3e60272cd-ox-f061f0d016-ox-28dab68588-ox-c52717a593-default-style" style="padding: 0px;">
In 1943 moved from Greenwich? to Crow's Wharf, Crabtree Manorway, Belvedere, nr Erith, Dartford, Bexley. Had a 300ft quay.</div>
<div class="yiv7715328807ox-6445ed7c25-ox-f3e60272cd-ox-f061f0d016-ox-28dab68588-ox-c52717a593-default-style" style="padding: 0px;">
</div>
</blockquote>
1948 - Aerial photos - see internet. Jenningtree Point, Erith.<br />
<blockquote style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" type="cite">
<div class="yiv7715328807ox-6445ed7c25-ox-f3e60272cd-ox-f061f0d016-ox-28dab68588-ox-c52717a593-default-style" style="padding: 0px;">
1954 - still at Crabtree Manorway</div>
<div class="yiv7715328807ox-6445ed7c25-ox-f3e60272cd-ox-f061f0d016-ox-28dab68588-ox-c52717a593-default-style" style="padding: 0px;">
</div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" type="cite">
<div class="yiv7715328807ox-6445ed7c25-ox-f3e60272cd-ox-f061f0d016-ox-28dab68588-ox-c52717a593-default-style" style="padding: 0px;">
In 1961 at 6-8 Benjamin Street, London EC1 (registered office), Faringdon/Islington/Clerkenwell.</div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" type="cite">
<div class="yiv7715328807ox-6445ed7c25-ox-f3e60272cd-ox-f061f0d016-ox-28dab68588-ox-c52717a593-default-style" style="padding: 0px;">
In 1961 the company was liquidated, apparently on a voluntary basis, by Redford Crosfield Harris FCA</div>
<div class="yiv7715328807ox-6445ed7c25-ox-f3e60272cd-ox-f061f0d016-ox-28dab68588-ox-c52717a593-default-style" style="padding: 0px;">
</div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" type="cite">
<div class="yiv7715328807ox-6445ed7c25-ox-f3e60272cd-ox-f061f0d016-ox-28dab68588-ox-c52717a593-default-style" style="padding: 0px;">
1967 - Crow's (apparently still extant) presented a petition for the winding up of Ridgebild Ltd.</div>
<div class="yiv7715328807ox-6445ed7c25-ox-f3e60272cd-ox-f061f0d016-ox-28dab68588-ox-c52717a593-default-style" style="padding: 0px;">
</div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" type="cite">
<div class="yiv7715328807ox-6445ed7c25-ox-f3e60272cd-ox-f061f0d016-ox-28dab68588-ox-c52717a593-default-style" style="padding: 0px;">
1970s - appears to have morphed into a timber protection company with several addresses - see attachments.</div>
<div class="yiv7715328807ox-6445ed7c25-ox-f3e60272cd-ox-f061f0d016-ox-28dab68588-ox-c52717a593-default-style" style="padding: 0px;">
</div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" type="cite">
<div class="yiv7715328807ox-6445ed7c25-ox-f3e60272cd-ox-f061f0d016-ox-28dab68588-ox-c52717a593-default-style" style="padding: 0px;">
I don't know if the 1945 cutting is relevant.</div>
<div class="yiv7715328807ox-6445ed7c25-ox-f3e60272cd-ox-f061f0d016-ox-28dab68588-ox-c52717a593-default-style" style="padding: 0px;">
</div>
</blockquote>
The following books and newspaper articles are about black-jacks and Merryweather:<br />
<blockquote style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" type="cite">
<div class="yiv7715328807ox-6445ed7c25-ox-f3e60272cd-ox-f061f0d016-ox-28dab68588-ox-c52717a593-default-style" style="padding: 0px;">
Oliver Baker: Black Jacks and Leather Bottells, 1924, esp. p.116-117 and p.188</div>
<div class="yiv7715328807ox-6445ed7c25-ox-f3e60272cd-ox-f061f0d016-ox-28dab68588-ox-c52717a593-default-style" style="padding: 0px;">
Isle of Wight Observer 15 Apr 1916 p.6</div>
<div class="yiv7715328807ox-6445ed7c25-ox-f3e60272cd-ox-f061f0d016-ox-28dab68588-ox-c52717a593-default-style" style="padding: 0px;">
Millom Gazette 17 Jan 1902 p.6</div>
<div class="yiv7715328807ox-6445ed7c25-ox-f3e60272cd-ox-f061f0d016-ox-28dab68588-ox-c52717a593-default-style" style="padding: 0px;">
'Nor-Rider' (fire brigade magazine) Jun 1955 p.28-29</div>
</blockquote>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUmxmbX0f35cOdBDboFt6WcipdhETyB6vr-DaVYV1Rxy98WiAIIcP6_UQMb0U9v-rNIqOLngERqx_C7DzFTYoqqKjCUq-sHeRYGrh78_Iuf13dpUrb468lxglIUceaCtne3_IkaJURMHex/s1600/Crow+-+family+-+Worthing+Herald++31+Aug+1945+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="479" data-original-width="419" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUmxmbX0f35cOdBDboFt6WcipdhETyB6vr-DaVYV1Rxy98WiAIIcP6_UQMb0U9v-rNIqOLngERqx_C7DzFTYoqqKjCUq-sHeRYGrh78_Iuf13dpUrb468lxglIUceaCtne3_IkaJURMHex/s320/Crow+-+family+-+Worthing+Herald++31+Aug+1945+.jpg" width="279" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs-l5fYh_rulyhFlEWzr28LWwQu1Pp6QOqLQOeaptlcuyy5-wjXGLWlvUppA2vBCwikGChZ4eogw55lY4CzzF7_868YbVbFXN2g-06eRYLIgqRy1PYR5hzk-e5fexn0KZO0mQtsvOCsijP/s1600/W+R+Crow+%2526+Son+advert+2+Jan+1971++.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="534" data-original-width="824" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs-l5fYh_rulyhFlEWzr28LWwQu1Pp6QOqLQOeaptlcuyy5-wjXGLWlvUppA2vBCwikGChZ4eogw55lY4CzzF7_868YbVbFXN2g-06eRYLIgqRy1PYR5hzk-e5fexn0KZO0mQtsvOCsijP/s320/W+R+Crow+%2526+Son+advert+2+Jan+1971++.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN5nUhg7iGh6OJr0Sl03z2mTmRRBPMMNsAMZP-ExfZqll1B9nrUMmRCpXZ5nFMokPYyhQXWZF0YUnG_l5__extVVXphJFLrosO65Kh_zknJ4dtTLhhEWpqC27dMS62kb4n7v9e497x4hFR/s1600/W+R+Crow+%2526+Son+advert+Hendon+%2526++Finchley+Times+27+Feb+1885+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="567" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN5nUhg7iGh6OJr0Sl03z2mTmRRBPMMNsAMZP-ExfZqll1B9nrUMmRCpXZ5nFMokPYyhQXWZF0YUnG_l5__extVVXphJFLrosO65Kh_zknJ4dtTLhhEWpqC27dMS62kb4n7v9e497x4hFR/s320/W+R+Crow+%2526+Son+advert+Hendon+%2526++Finchley+Times+27+Feb+1885+.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnPS2GH50yRD_l1FdJyrTUA-ooRYtPH6VaD-oGFTUPubxvT9VgB8J79O1ysZRFZl6DE5Gy3ngTq6gL7ZFD3QvEODhiuMPJCilzR3BrwVoPenwjcwHHaosrZOLwZJ77F0xSlFTOZd7Avfdl/s1600/W+R+Crow+%2526+Son+advert+Thanet++Times%252C+21+Jul+1970+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="502" data-original-width="889" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnPS2GH50yRD_l1FdJyrTUA-ooRYtPH6VaD-oGFTUPubxvT9VgB8J79O1ysZRFZl6DE5Gy3ngTq6gL7ZFD3QvEODhiuMPJCilzR3BrwVoPenwjcwHHaosrZOLwZJ77F0xSlFTOZd7Avfdl/s320/W+R+Crow+%2526+Son+advert+Thanet++Times%252C+21+Jul+1970+.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8710611656756005747.post-11012633209827657602020-03-23T15:09:00.000+00:002020-03-23T15:10:40.938+00:00Street furniture - old Greenwich Borough sites<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 3;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">STREET FURNITURE<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 3;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<i><span style="color: red; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">In an issue of 2006 Richard Buchanan and
Susan Bullevant described how they and other members of GIHS/Woolwich
Antiquarians rescued an old Borough of Woolwich Electricity Junction box.
Richard later wrote expanding on the subject. </span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<i><span style="color: red; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<i><span style="color: red; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">Are these features still there - comments?? please??</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">The junction box with the Woolwich Arms is presumably the earliest type
they used (and the only one of this type I have seen in recent years). I have
seen three other types of electricity distribution box in the Borough of
Woolwich; two made by Siemens, and one by Henleys. These are somewhat bigger -
it is never easy to dress the cabling in the confines of a junction box - and
are fitted with a door that is hinged at the very edge of the box for maximum
accessibility. Woolwich boxes have double sided access, being designed to be
put near the edge of the pavement, with a door or removable panel facing the
road; and a door facing the pavement. (Modern BT and CATV distribution boxes
are single sided and usually set at the inner side of the pavement, backing
onto the adjacent property). Overall Height of the distribution boxes described
below is </span><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">above</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"> an integral plinth at </span><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">ground level</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">; below ground they extend about another foot. A rounded height is
given, as there is variability in how the box is set in the ground,
particularly where the ground is not level. I list below boxes I have seen at
the end of 2006. There are probably more.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">Woolwich</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"> Junction Box
with the Woolwich Arms on Shooters Hill: removed from Eaglesfield Road opposite
the end of Cleanthus Road. It has a door on either side, hinged on the right
with a key operated lock on the left. Overall dimensions: Height: 52 in, Width:
19.5 n, Depth: 14 in. Weight: assuming an average thickness of 1 cm, this
junction box works out at 250 kg (1/4 tonne). It is unusual in having a round
cap fitted over the centre of the top, suggesting that it was designed to mount
a lamp (or alarm?) standard.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">Siemens</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"> Junction Box I
Shooters Hill, Laing Estate (built 1935-6).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">I have counted the following on the
Laing Estate: Ashridge Crescent: 4, Bushmoor Crescent: Kinlet Road: 2
Plumstead: one in Timbercroft Lane at the junction with The Slade. Overall
dimensions: Height: 56 in. Width: 24 in Depth: 15.5 in. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">These boxes have a door
hinged at the right hand edge of the side facing the pavement, with pintles
held in the base and top; on the left is a key operated lock. Below the door,
on the base is cast “SIEMENS”. The roadside face has a removable panel held by
six screws. On each side there is a 4 inch square plaque stating: REGISTERED No
750202/29. PATENT No 336752<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">Siemens</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"> Junction Box II
- Shooters Hill, Wimpey Estate, one in Condover Crescent. “Siemens” is not
visible, the base being sunk in the pavement, but the box has the same plaque
on its sides. It is wider than Box I, with full width doors of the same type,
on both sides: Overall dimensions: Height: 56 in Width: 30 in Depth: 15.5 in<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">Henley</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"> Junction Box -
Plumstead, one in each of Pegwell Street and Lucknow Street by Timbercroft
Lane. Overall dimensions: Height: 60 in, Width: 20 in, Depth: 16 in. These
boxes have a door on the side facing the pavement, hinged, for maximum
accessibility, on the left hand edge. The door has two key holes on the right,
at top and bottom. The roadside face has a removable panel held on eight studs
by nuts. On the base, below the panel, is cast “HENLEY”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">Woolwich</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"> Junction Box
with the Woolwich Arms. Further to the one taken from Shooters Hill to the
Greenwich Heritage Centre, I have now seen three more. Plumstead: one, at the
junction of Burrage Place and Burrage Road; two, diagonally opposite, at the
junction of Frederick Place and Bloomfield Road. They have a door on either
side, hinged on the right with a key operated lock on the left. The door on the
side facing the road is not the full width of the cabinet, while the one on the
pavement side is the full width of the cabinet. Both doors bear the Arms of the
Borough of Woolwich. These boxes are of a regular pattern, and do not have a
cap fitted on top as the one taken from Shooters Hill did.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">We have had a number of other details
sent in about historic street furniture around the Borough</span></i></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">From a Greenwich Transportation Engineer about an old traffic light pad
in Farmdale Road. This dates from when Farmdale was at the end of Westcombe Hill
before the construction of the motorway. Recent road works by the Water Board
may be in the process of destroying it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">From Mike Neill: The lamp column and base at White Hart Lane Depot have
recently been removed – within the last few months - presumably as part of
Tilfen's site clearance. It used to stand in the space between the gate pier
and the weighbridge office. The weighbridge still survives however, as does an
ornate thing that I think was a sign holder - not a light as the old column was
right behind it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">There is a Council Tramways cover just beside the bus stop o/s
Dreadnaught House on the Woolwich Road<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">The last surviving wood block paving that I know of in the Borough -
maybe from the works featured in the GIHS? - curiously enough in Powis Street,
Woolwich.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">There is also an old tram telephone box near the Blackwall Tunnel
entrance in Blackwall Lane – almost alongside ‘Ranburn’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><span style="color: red;">(<i>this was cleared during Olympic tidying up)</i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">In Vanburgh Hill outside the nurses homes, now converted to flats, is a
metal plate marked ‘Merryweather & Co.’ – was this part of some sort of
integrated fire extinguisher system within the building?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8710611656756005747.post-58809570836341649722020-03-22T08:49:00.004+00:002020-03-22T08:49:36.964+00:00Dunkirk and the General Steam Navigation Company
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span style="color: red; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></b></div>
<span style="color: red; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><div style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
</div>
<div style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 3;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">Dunkirk and the General Steam
Navigation Company</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><span style="font-size: large;"></span><b></b></div>
</span><div style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span style="color: red; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><span style="font-size: large;"></span><br /></span></b></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span style="color: red; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">By
Tom Mogg</span></b></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span style="color: red; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The General Steam Navigation Company
was founded in 1824. At the start of the 1939-45 war they had about 45 ships,
of which 10 were pleasure boats. These were ideal as they could carry up to
2000 passengers at up to 21 knots. These, and some of the Company's cargo
boats, saved around 10% of all those rescued from the French beaches. This is
the full story of those ships.</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The twin-screw motor vessel </span><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Royal Daffodil,</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> built in 1939,
could carry 2073 passengers at 21 knots. She started the war by helping to
evacuate school children from London to the east coast ports of Lowestoft,
Felixstowe and Yarmouth. She made seven trips to Dunkirk and saved over 8500
troops. On her final voyage she was dive bombed and hit on the starboard side.
The bomb passed through three decks, through the engine room, just missing the
main fuel tank on that side, and exploded astern of the ship. This caused the
engine room to flood. The Master ordered all on board to move over to the port
side, causing the ship to list sufficiently to lift the hole out of the water;
enabling the second engineer and the donkey man to crawl in and block the hole
with mattresses and timber. She then returned to Ramsgate, disembarked her
troops, and had temporary repairs. From there she travelled round the coast,
into the Thames and on to the Company's repair yard at Deptford for full
repairs. The upper structure was riddled with bullet holes, one of the
lifeboats having 187 holes, all of which had to be filled.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Her sister ship, the </span><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Queen of the Channel,</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> managed only
one trip to Dunkirk, taking off some 950 troops, but after leaving she was
attacked by Stukas and straddled with a stick of bombs. This lifted her out of
the water and broke her back. While every effort was made to save the ship she
had to transfer her troops to a coaster and then sank.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The twin-screw motor vessel </span><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Royal Sovereign</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> made six trips,
four to Dunkirk and two to La Panne, rescuing some 12,000 troops. Later that
year she struck a mine in the Bristol Channel and was a total loss.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The paddle steamer </span><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Royal Eagle</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">, (built 1932) made
two trips to La Panne, saving at least 2000 troops. She was one of the last to
leave Dunkirk on 2'"1 June, with a number of wounded on board.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The paddle steamer </span><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Golden Eagle</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> made three
trips, but on the first visit she found the </span><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">PS Waverly</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> sinking so she rescued the crew and troops and took them back to
Margate. On returning to near the east pier at Dunkirk her lifeboats managed to
take men off the beaches; in two trips a total of 3200 were saved.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Another paddle steamer involved was the </span><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Medway Queen,</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> bringing back a fall complement of 800 troops each time.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The paddle steamer </span><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Crested Eagle</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> arrived at 1400
hrs on 29th May and berthed on the east pier along with a trawler, a cross
Channel ferry, and a destroyer. The Germans made a sustained attack, destroying
each in turn, troops and crews transferring from one ship to the next, until
they were all on the Crested Eagle. But as she left she too was bombed and had
to beach farther down the coast, and became a total loss.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">A further 4000 troops were rescued by the </span><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">PS Queen</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> of Thanet, which included 2000 taken off the </span><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">SS Prague</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> which had been disabled. All of those rescued were taken over to
Margate jetty. Fortunately the SS Prague was able to limp back into Dover.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Some of the Company's cargo boats also took part in the rescue. The
motor vessel </span><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Bullfinch </span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">was ordered to stand
off the beach at La Panne, but as the troops were unable to reach the ship she
was instructed to run ashore. She dropped her anchor and ran up onto the beach,
but the anchor did not hold and she swung broadside on and was firmly aground.
Quickly 1500 troops piled on board, but she could not pull herself off. While
she was stranded the Germans attacked with bombs and strafing. All the troops
were below in the holds and 'tween decks. The Bullfinch struggled to get free. A
Sergeant Head, one of the troops on board, asked if he could man one of the
ship's two Bren guns. When three dive bombers next attacked the Sergeant shot
down one, and again with the next attack. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The GSNC later recommended him for an
award. While still struggling to get free the Royal Sovereign came along and
soon pulled the Bullfinch off.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">All along the French coast right down to Bordeaux GSNC ships rescued
refugees and others wanting to leave France, as well as their own staff and
agents. Exact numbers are not always known, but the following ships took
part: </span><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">MV Goldfinch </span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">saved some 500 from
St Valery, where about 2400 waited on the beach. </span><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">MVs Drake </span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">and </span><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Crane </span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">went to other N
French ports and on down into the Bay. The </span><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">SS Falcon </span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">brought back 60 refugees including 24 officers and
men of the RAOC from Bordeaux. While the </span><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">SS Woodlark </span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">saved not only the GSNC staff but also 73 members
of Lever Brothers who had fled down the coast from port to port hoping to find
transport before it was too late.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Other GSNC ships which participated were the </span><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">SS Groningen</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">, the </span><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">SS Cormorant </span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">and the </span><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">MV Stork</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">; exact details of their efforts are not recorded though they would have
collected GSNC staff from the other agencies in France together with others
wishing to escape. Undoubtedly GSNC ships must have rescued at least 35 000
people, perhaps more.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Acknowledgement: "Semper Fidelis
", GSNC's official history from 1924 - 1948.</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Tom Mogg served a 5 year apprenticeship
at the GSNC's Deptford yard, later serving on 14 of the Company's ships, from
1945 to 1957.</span></i></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">This article appeared in the GIHS Newsletter of April 2007 and had previously appeared I a Woolwich Antiquarians Newsletter</span></i></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8710611656756005747.post-13289152091733746482020-03-11T11:40:00.002+00:002020-03-11T11:40:27.076+00:00Enderby family notes<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">NOTES ON THE ENDERBYS</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span style="color: red; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Barbara
Ludlow<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Enderby Wharf on the Greenwich
Peninsula - and the activities of the family who made rope and canvass there,
and built Enderby House (the only listed building on the Peninsula) - are of
great interest to industrial historians. I have acquired a mass of material
over the years about the Enderbys and their business - therefore I am dealing
with only a few specific points but would be pleased to expand on, and answer,
more if approached.</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Samuel Enderby</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">.1640-1723. Samuel
and family owned a tannery in Bermondsey. The Enderbys were granted forfeited
estates in Lismore, County Waterford, Ireland. In l660 these were sold and the
money was invested in the oil and Russia trade.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Daniel Enderby</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">, 1681-1766. Several
researchers have stated that Daniel married Mary Cook, the sister of Captain
Cook. During Daniel’s lifetime the firm of Buxton, Sims and Enderby, Oil
Merchants, was established at Paul's Wharf, Thames Street. Daniel's son,
Samuel, married Hannah Buxton (1st wife). Samuel was a barrel maker at first.
It was through marriage that the business became dominated by the Enderby
family.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Samuel Enderby</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">, 1719-1797. His
second wife was Elizabeth. Enderby ships were registered in London and Boston
in America. They transported goods to the colonists and brought whale oil back
to the UK. In 1773 the Boston 'Tea Party' took place and it has been said that
an Enderby ship carried the tea. However, Dan Byrnes of Australia has stated
that there was no direct involvement of Enderby ships in the event. By 1775 The
War of Independence had cut off American whale oil so British ship-owners, and
Samuel Enderby in particular, decided to go whaling in the South Atlantic. In
about 10 years the whales in the South Atlantic were nearly extinct. The
Enderbys then concentrated on the seas around New Zealand with The Bay of
Islands as a main base. In 1789 after much pleading with the government the
Enderbys won the right to go into the South Seas and were then bitten by the
exploring bug. This was the start of a drain on their profits.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Samuel Enderby</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">, 1756-1829. Son of
Samuel described above. Samuel and all his brothers and sisters were baptised
and entered in the Protestant and Non Conformist Register for London, now kept
at the Dr. Williams’ Library. Money was left to the preachers at Sailors Hall.
It is just possible that the forfeited lands in Ireland were given to the
Enderbys for their allegiance to the Non-Conformists during the English Civil
War in the 17th century. No proof as yet, just a thought. Samuel got his
Captains to go to the Antarctic - thus Enderby Land. Mount Gordon - his
daughter Elizabeth married Henry Gordon and so General Gordon was his grandson.
By the time of Samuel's death the British whaling industry was in trouble and
his son Charles Enderby thought of ways to expand the firm. He was interested
in the new 'technology' that was emerging and he was a founder member of the
Royal Geographical Society.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Charles, Henry </span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">and</span><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> George Enderby</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> were Samuel's sons. In 1841 Charles was
living in Enderby House at Enderby Wharf, while George and Henry were living
with their mother in Old Charlton. Previously the family had moved from
Greenwich/Blackheath to Eltham. By 1846 Mary Enderby was dead and Charles tried
to save the firm by setting up the South Seas Whaling Company with others. As
he sailed out of Plymouth to go to the Auckland Islands, NZ, a notice to the
effect that the Enderbys were unable to meet all their financial commitments
appeared in a London newspaper. There is an excellent book on the ill-fated
settlement.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">George Enderby. </span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">It is unlikely that
George lived on Greenwich Marsh. The Enderby Rope Works and other buildings
were destroyed or badly damaged by fire in March 1845. Enderby House was
eventually repaired.In 1849 Charles moved away, never to return to Greenwich. I
had a letter from a Gravesend historian who found George Enderby living in the
1850s and 1860s at Orme House in Northfleet, Kent. The 1861 census listed him
as unmarried, age 58; a retired ship owner. His housekeeper Mary Nunn called
him ‘Captain Enderby’ and when George moved to Dover Road, Mary moved with him.
I have no death date for him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Henry Enderby. </span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">After leaving the
Charlton area at some date, he went to live with a male opera singer in West
London.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">William Enderby. </span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Born 1805. William
had money in the firm but does not appear to have been that involved. He
married a Mary Howls in 1830 and they had 8 children, e.g. Baptism entry from
St. Luke's Church, Charlton, May 23rd 1837:- Charles, son of William and Mary
Enderby. Abode Eltham. Father’s profession - Gentleman. Later William Enderby
is listed as a ratepayer in Shooters Hill Road. Other information is taken from
a notebook of H.H.Enderby of Kai Iwi Beach, Nr.Wanganui, NZ. - H.H. Enderby was
William and Mary's grandson. After the firm crashed it is quite likely that
William went to Australia or New Zealand. I have no death date for him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">One whaling historian described the Enderbys as "Clogs to clogs in
three generations".<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8710611656756005747.post-45114909328673365292020-03-11T11:37:00.002+00:002020-03-11T11:37:18.047+00:00Letters from 12 years ago December 2006<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8710611656756005747" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8710611656756005747" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Letters from 12 years ago December 200</span></b><span style="font-size: 18px;">6</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<i><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<i><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<i><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">From: Gordon Braughton</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<i><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">Re. </span><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">Johnson and Phillips</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"> material in the
August Newsletter. I was born in 1915 in Eastcombe Avenue. Adjacent and to the
rear of our flat was the premises of Johnson and Phillips. Through my early
years I recall them being a major employer in the area. The works were in three
sections spanning the then Southern Railway line in Victoria Road (now Way).
The terrace housing of nearby Troughton Road, Rathmore Road, and Fossdene Road
suggests that these were established to house Johnson and Phillips workers. As
a pupil of Fossdene Road, LCC School, I was well aware that J&P was an
important manufacturer of cables in particular. My knowledge of the company
after 1939 was cut short by the evacuation of the Research Department –
Metallurgy Section at Woolwich Arsenal to Cardiff University. I think that some
time in the post war years it was taken over by the </span><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">Delta Company</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">
</span><br />
<hr align="center" noshade="" size="3" style="color: black;" width="75%" />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">From: Brenda</span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">It’s a wonderful newsletter and I am happy to be able to receive it. My interest
is in the </span><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">Strong Fisher</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"> families. They
are my direct ancestors and their sons came to New Zealand on the ann in 1848.
I believe that there was a business of the name Strong Fisher or Fisher Strong.
My lot lived in Silver Street, Rotherhithe and were boatmen, sawyers and
watermen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">From: Jeremy Cotton</span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">During the First World War my maternal grandfather, </span><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">Charles Corner</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">, who had recently retired from building railways in various parts of the
world, came out of retirement to help manage the </span><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">railway inside Woolwich Arsenal</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"> (usually described as powered by
superheated steam) while the regular managers from the Corps of Royal Engineers
went off to run the railways behind the lines in Northern France. That is about
as much as anyone in my family knows.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">I would be grateful for any further information, (a) on the actual
technology of the railway (b) on the way it was manned and managed, in
peacetime or © under the conditions of 1914-18. I have lived in Thamesmead
since 1984, and began a botanical survey of the area including the railway in
1975 (aborted once the degree of contamination became apparent). There were
still a few recognisable relics lying around then, and one or two items of
rolling stock at the Railway Museum in North Woolwich Station a little later,
but in Thamesmead at least there seem to be no traces left. I find this
frustrating. Any documents, references, or other information would be of great
family interest.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<i><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">From: D.A. Parkinson</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">Would you know if there are any ship's models, paintings, or prints of:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">Breda</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"> - 70 Guns, 3rd-Rate warship,
built Woolwich 1692 or </span><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">Defiance</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"> - 64 Guns,
3rd-Rate Warship, built Chatham, 1675. Rebuilt Woolwich 1695.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<i><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">From: Malcolm Tucker</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">Some corrections to the August 2006 Newsletter<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">1) In my letter on p5, in the last sentence, 'drains' should read
'drums', I this is hope self-explanatory.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">2) Response to query, p8: </span><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">Albion Sugar</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">, makers of glucose,
occupied the former Rigging House, Sail Loft and Engine Store of Woolwich
Dockyard. It was demolished in 1982 (not 1932 as mis-printed in Pevsner). It
was a monumental 4-storey brick building from 1842-6, except for an infilling
on the landward side of 1856-7. This had a cast-iron-framed wall with a
resemblance to the Boat Store at Sheerness but slightly more ornamented. Unlike
the pioneering Boat Store, from 3 years later, it had the brick walls of the
existing building to help it stand up. It proudly bore the plaque of the
structural ironfounders, “H & MD Grissell”, and it was presumably designed
under G.T. Greene, the Director of Engineering and Architectural Works at the
Admiralty.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">
</span><br />
<hr align="center" noshade="" size="3" style="color: black;" width="75%" />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<i><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">From: Rachel Langdon</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">My grandfather, </span><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">Charles Patrick Langdon</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"> is 98 years
old. He was born in New Zealand in 1908 and was still, until recently, in
pretty good health for a person of his age. He has now been diagnosed with a
kidney problem and I am concerned about how much longer he will be with us. In
1905 my grandfather's father Charles Robert Langdon came to New Zealand with
his wife Hannah Winifred Ryan aboard the steamer </span><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">SS Morayshire</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">. Charles Robert was an interesting man. He was a shipwright who was
very much a socialist and, on coming to New Zealand, became involved in the
communist and fledging unionist movements. Possibly this involvement came from
his apprenticeship days in England as a shipwright where he had to sign an
agreement to be subservient to his 'masters'! Unfortunately for my grandfather
and my family, Charles Robert also decided that he would sever all ties with
his family in England. He wanted nothing to do with them! This knowledge that
my grandfather has never had contact with any of his direct family, has led to
my recent quest to try to find some direct relations that he can have contact
with before he dies. Apart from his mother and father (and his children), my
grandfather has no idea of any other living Langdon relation! I have over the
last months gathered and researched the following information.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">Apparently Charles Robert was an amateur photographer; and because of
this, we have photos' of some of his relations, and images of presumably
Greenwich and Kent in the late 1890's. My hope is that by contacting you, you
may be able to help me in my quest to find some living relatives of my
grandfather.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8710611656756005747.post-72327697395001173692020-03-11T11:29:00.002+00:002020-03-11T11:29:25.222+00:00Notes and snippets from 12 years ago - December 2006<b><span style="font-size: large;">Notes and snippets </span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">from 12 years ago - December 2006</span></b><br />
<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>GREENWICH EMOTION MAP</b><br />
<br />
Whaaat!? The East Greenwich-based Independent Photograph Project have produced an Ordnance Survey-type map of the Greenwich Peninsula based on people’s emotional reactions to it – via a clever little hand-held device and some clever computer software. See www.emotionmap.net. The Independent Photography Project has an ambitious programme, much of which is based on research and memories of industry on the Peninsula.<br />
<br />
<b>VICTORIA DEEP WATER TERMINAL</b><br />
Victoria Deep Water Terminal, Greenwich Peninsula SE10<br />
<br />
MoLAS geo-archaeological monitoring of geo-technical test pits and boreholes, November 2002.<br />
The site lies on the western side of the Greenwich Peninsula, where a ridge of floodplain gravel, overlain by sand exists below the alluvium. A peaty soil had developed above the sand, which was buried by a bed of peat, about 1m thick. At the interface of the soil and peat struck flints were recovered, which may be of Neolithic date. The peat represented several cycles of increasingly wet then increasingly dry conditions, with probably episodes of dry woodland, wet Alder Carr and sedge fen interspersed with periods of prolonged flooding in which much wood was found. It was overlain by clays and silts, representing a transition to salt marsh and mudflats. The high clay content and increasing iron-staining especially in the upper parts of the minerogenic alluvium suggests it might represent seasonal flooding of a marshy / grassy floodplain soil as opposed to mudflats and salt marsh. The pre-Victorian land surface was represented by a soil that had developed in the upper part of the alluvium in parts of the site, and in the north of the site waterlain channel-edge or foreshore deposits were found between 0 and +1m OD, which may represent (or link with) a post-medieval sluice, tidal creek or watercourse. A sluice dating from the post-medieval period and linked to drains and watercourses existing into the 19th century is known to have existed in this part of the Peninsula. Tarry contamination was found in the lower levels of the made ground, which was up to 3m thick close to the river, in the western side of the site. This is likely to relate to the use of the site from the 1840's by the Improved Wood Pavement Company to make coal tar-soaked wood blocks for paving using the waste products of the gas industry.<br />
Thanks to David Riddle who spotted this piece.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>SPREAD EAGLE ART COLLECTION</b><br />
Dick Moy – who was a founder member of GIHS and whose recent death was a great blow to many who cared about Greenwich left much to remember him by. His involvement with The Spread Eagle is part of the remarkable story of post-war development in Greenwich. In addition to food, music and theatre, The Spread Eagle has had close connections with the visual arts. The Moy family managed an art gallery and antique business in adjoining buildings for more than fifty years. After Dick Moy's death in 2005, The Spread Eagle was acquired by Frank Dowling. Their respective historical art collections are brought together to form The Spread Eagle Art Collection. The catalogue is a pictorial souvenir of the people and places in Greenwich. It features a wide range of distinguished artists and illustrators, from the 17th century to the present day, who were inspired by Greenwich, including many who were familiar with the tavern, coaching inn, and restaurant. The Spread Eagle spans more than 300 years of history. It is situated on Stockwell Street, one of the most ancient roads in Greenwich and a tavern from before 1650.<br />
<br />
The advent of rail travel in the 1830s and later the development of motor transport led to the demise of The Spread Eagle as a coaching Inn. It survived as a tavern until 1922. For more than forty years it was occupied by a Printer and bookbinder and finally became the receiving office of a laundry. The Moy family purchased the property in 1964 and Dick began the task of restoring the building as a restaurant. During the restoration process many original features were uncovered and many lost relics were discovered. Roman pottery, a Tudor show and a Kentish 'fives9' board - the forerunner of darts, were found. Also a whip that may well have been used by Joseph Steel the Spread Eagle's coachman renowned in Greenwich for his bare-fist fighting. In 1819 he fought Bishop Sharpe and lost a £25 wager. A print, now part of The Spread Eagle Art Collection, portrays him knocked upside down. A trunk was discovered in the attic which originally belonged to Mrs. Webb - the landlady of The Spread Eagle during the Victorian and Edwardian eras. This was also the popular period of English Music Hall and the trunk contained her collection of dedicated photographs and letters of her musical and theatrical clientele. The artistes had all performed at the neighbouring halls of present-day Greenwich Theatre.<br />
<br />
These - and many other pictures of Greenwich are included in the catalogue.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>GAZETEER OF INDUSTRIAL ARCHAEOLOGY IN BEXLEY BOROUGH</b><br />
We have been given a copy of the 2nd edition of the Gazetteer of pre-1945 industrial sites in Bexley Borough with the compliments of The Bexley Local Studies and Archives Centre who have supervised and paid for the production of the Gazetteer, and The Bexley Civic Society who have given their unstinting support for the preparation of this new edition. It is the work of Michael Dunmow – better known for his devotion to the Crossness Engines Trust. The relics of the industrial past of an area are always under threat from vandalism, dereliction and redevelopment. Bexley has had its historians and photographers at work for many years, most of them working in specific locations or on specific topics. This booklet is based upon a survey which has attempted to secure a record of the industrial relics in the Borough in a systematic way which, it is hoped, will enable future workers to add to and to amend the record and to draw on it for future studies. The work on this gazetteer began some years ago and from the outset was supported by the Planning Committee of<br />
The Bexley Civic Society who have followed its gestation with great patience and have kept the project on their agenda since its inception.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>ARMING THE FLEET</b><br />
Explosion! The Museum of Naval Firepower in Priddy's Hard, Gosport, Hampshire, is pleased to announce the launch of this highly anticipated new publication: Arming the Fleet - The Development of the Royal Ordnance Yards 1770 - 1945. The publication, by David Evans, has been produced by the Museum in association with English Heritage. This major new book reveals, for the first time, the complete history of Britain's naval ordnance yards from the early conversion of fortifications such as Upnor Castle and Portsmouth's Square Tower, to the underground strongholds of the Second World War. From extensive research using a wealth of original documents, David Evans, author of the acclaimed Building the Steam Navy, traces the development of the sites, buildings, workers and policies that underpinned Britain's armed forces for over 150 years.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>THE HILL FOLK</b><br />
Life in Rural Kent 1950's to 70's by Iris Bryce. 'The Hill Folk' follows Iris' award winning book Remember Greenwich and Tree in the Quad. It is a collection of essays of life on a farm near Wrotham in Kent in the fifties, sixties and early seventies.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>CABLES ON TV</b><br />
It was with some excitement that we received an email from Allan Green – who spoke to GIHS about cable-maker Henley in October – about the Coast programme on BBC TV. The programme was to visit the Telegraph Cable Museum at Porthcurno in Cornwall where Allan is based and where the archives of Greenwich cable makers are kept. Cable enthusiasts everywhere were emailing each other frantically. In the end it was an interesting description of the Museum and the revolutionary nature of the telegraph cable – shame they never mentioned that ALL of them were made in Greenwich!<br />
<br />
<b>SEVERNDROOG CASTLE BUILDING</b><br />
<b>PRESERVATION TRUST</b><br />
London's most romantic castle is set to enter a new phase of life, if the support it gained during this year’s London Open House weekend is anything to go by. "As good as the Monument", "a wonderful gem... full of magic and presence" and "really spectacular" were just some of the comments from visitors. "It's not the biggest castle I've been it but it has the best views" and "I would love to live here" were comments from children. Nearly a thousand people queued, some for hours, to go up the 18th century folly in Castle Wood, Shooter's Hill, London SE18, and to see its rarely accessible interior. The three-sided castle, holds fond memories for many South Londoners as a place to visit for relaxation and enjoyment, for children to play - and as the area's only castle.<br />
<br />
Severndroog Castle Building Preservation Trust, the group which has been campaigning to save the Castle, appointed Waloff Associates Ltd in August 2006 to prepare an Audience Development Plan for the castle and its surroundings. The Plan, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and English Heritage, will help the Trust decide which uses are most sustainable and viable for the castle, and then approach the London Borough of Greenwich to obtain a long-term lease. The local authority is currently the owner of Severndroog Castle, which is not accessible to the public at present. Dr Barry Gray, Chair of the Trustees, said: "The Open House event showed the amount of public support. Now we need to be clear what the castle can be used for - and how this can be to everyone's benefit. We look forward to working with Greenwich Council to make sure this happens".<br />
The Trust has also commissioned 2 further reports, a Conservation Management Plan and an Access Plan. This work will be undertaken by Thomas Ford & Partners, a firm of Chartered Architects and surveyors who also act as historic building consultants. When all 3 reports are completed, the Severndroog Castle Building Preservation Trust will approach Heritage Lottery Fund for funding to fully restore the Castle.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>NEWS FROM CROSSNESS</b><br />
<b>VICTORIAN PROGRESS</b><br />
Victoria's intermediate pressure (IP) cylinder has been laid bare. All the old metallic cladding has been removed and the lagging stripped off. In the main, the cladding on the cylinder was in a sound condition and although the outer surface was pitted with rust there were patches on the inner surfaces that retained their original 'blued steel' finish. Plain horizontal joins in the cladding were covered by 2 inch wide circumferential brass bands which are in store prior to cleaning and polishing. The metallic cladding itself has also been stored pending a detailed inspection and a decision on which bits to retain. It is interesting that many of the complex non-plain joints in the cladding, such as those between cylindrical and flat parts of the cladding, have brass fascias attached by brass rivets that cover the joins themselves. Again, a decision has to be made as to how many of these brass pieces we retain. Each part of cladding has been measured, a sketch made and a numbered disc attached to it. Removal of the lagging proved to be a very dusty job although much of it came away in chunks. It was applied in about 1900 before asbestos was used for lagging and seems to be a mortar-like material. Samples have been kept for display, testing and record purposes but the rest of the removed lagging has been disposed of as ground in-fill around the site.<br />
<br />
With the lagging removed, the intermediate pressure cylinder casting was cleaned down by needle-gunning and wire brushing whereafter it has been primed with red lead paint. The flanges for the steam heating pipes and the pressure tapping points have been left unpainted so that they can be faced off to ensure they make steam-tight joints when the mating flanges are fitted. However, there is still a lot of cleaning to be done and this will be ongoing as we progress. Having removed the lagging, we were then faced with the question 'What do we take off next?' The simple answer was 'The part that is easiest to get at' but that part proved to be crucial to the timing of the cut-off of the steam inlet valve. To ensure that the valve timing is right when the engine is reassembled it is essential that the distances between various adjustable parts of the valve gear go back as found.<br />
<br />
On Prince Consort the standard engineering practice of 'pop-marking' the components was used but what we had overlooked was the fact that when the rust and corrosion was cleaned off so the pop-marks were also removed. Therefore, on Victoria, learning from that lesson, before we removed any parts a sketch was made showing the critical setting dimensions by measuring centre-to-centre distances between the pins and bolts also from pins/bolts to flat surfaces of associated parts. The parts that we finally decided to remove were the inlet valve trip rods, complete with adjustment devices that are essential components in determining the trip timing of the steam inlet valve. These parts have now been stripped down to their individual components, detail drawings made of them - and numbered discs attached. They are now being cleaned up and polished prior to being put on display until they can be reassembled back on the engine. This we hope to do progressively - it being probably as efficient a way of storing the various parts as any, and at least we should still be able to remember where they came from!<br />
<br />
Published in Crossness Record – apologies for publishing without their consent – due to difficulties in contacting them.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Crane Exported From London</b><br />
The elderly grey-painted Stothert & Pitt crane, used to unload the small sand and gravel carrying motor ships of J. J. Prior Ltd at their wharf on Deptford Creek has recently been replaced by a tall PLA-type crane of the kind common in the larger London docks about 30 years ago. J. J. Prior carefully dismantled the old crane and it left the Creek on one of their vessels about Friday, 8th September 2006.<br />
<br />
Bob Carr - from GLIAS Newsletter.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Siemens Brothers Engineering Society</b><br />
Members will remember that Siemens Brothers Engineering Society have produced a catalogue of items in their possession. Brian Middlemiss, their Secretary and GIHS member, has written to tell us that following a recent large donation of archive material to the Engineering Society, they have now produced a formal Supplement to this Main Archive Material Catalogue. They have been kind enough to supply us with a copy of the Supplement to be associated with the Main Catalogue previously supplied in 2004. They point out that the need to produce this Supplement was triggered by the sad death of Bill Speller, one of their Members, following which his family made a large donation of archive material to the Society. They took the opportunity to include in the Supplement all the other donations received since publication of the Main Catalogue in June 2004. There will be no further Supplements – all subsequent donations will be treated as 'private donations' and passed, with a covering letter, to an appropriate new holder. The Supplement lists all the items donated, with the identity of the new holders to whom they have been given for the benefit of future generations and researchers. The Society remains indebted to Siemens, UK, Corporate Communications who continue to support their activities and have facilitated the printing and binding of the Supplement.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8710611656756005747.post-90645199608007866412020-03-10T21:54:00.004+00:002020-03-10T21:54:58.597+00:00Borough of Woolwich Electricity Junction Box<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 3;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 3;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 3;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">Borough of Woolwich Electricity
Junction Box<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span style="color: red; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">Richard
Buchanan and Susan Bullivant<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">Some years ago Woolwich Antiquarians Newsletter mentioned that:
"on Shooters Hill one of the roadside electricity distribution boxes
(green, about 3 '6" high and 1'6" by 1' in plan) still has its cast
iron doors with the Arms of the Borough of Woolwich, from pro-grid days when
the Borough generated its own electricity".<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">On the evening of Monday 25th September 2006, Dr Barry Gray who lives in
Eaglesfield Road (its location), phoned GIHS Chair Susan Bullivant to say that
it had been knocked by a car, and was leaning across the pavement at a
dangerous angle. As there are very few of these junction boxes left, they were
both concerned that the box should not be consigned to a skip. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">The next morning
Susan phoned the Greenwich Highways Department, as they are responsible for
'street furniture' and are the owners. They showed no interest in the matter; but
did give her the phone number of EdF, the electricity supply company, whose
office is in Ipswich. The staff there were sympathetic and concerned - that the
box should be saved - that the electricity supply was safe - and to determine
its owner. Susan then rang Chris Foord at Greenwich Heritage Centre who
confirmed that they would like to acquire the box, and gave him the Ipswich
phone number. On the evening of Tuesday 26th, Dr Barry Gray again rang to say
that men were removing the junction box, and had told him they had to be
careful with it as "a lady has phoned up about it". Susan went along,
and was assured they were taking it in their big EdF van to their depot in
Bexleyheath Broadway. They gave her the phone number of their boss. This she passed
on to the Heritage Centre the next morning, who then made arrangements for the
junction box to be transferred to them from the Bexleyheath depot on the
following Tuesday, 3rd October. EdF duly delivered it (less a small part of the
bottom of one of the doors which had been broken off). </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">So thanks are due to the
EdF staff in Ipswich for their concern over a historic junction box with the
Woolwich coat-of-arms on it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">The Heritage Centre staff (and Richard Buchanan, a volunteer who was
there that day) were pleased to see it and immediately started to talk of
refurbishing it, and putting it on a plinth so that it could be stood upright.
Below ground the casting continues for another foot with a leg at each comer,
presumably to fit over a conduit, leaving a clear cable entry from below.
However, two of the legs had been cut off, probably to avoid a below ground
obstacle when the box was in service. Its top has a round cap fitted over the
centre, suggesting that it was designed to mount a lamp standard. Most such
electricity junction boxes surviving on Shooters Hill are of (probably) later
manufacture, on the 1935-6 Laing estate where they are situated in roadside
verges planted with shrubs. These boxes were made by Siemens to a similar
pattern, but lack the Woolwich Arms and do not have provision for mounting a
lamp standard. Nowadays electrical supply connections are generally in boxes
below the footway.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<i><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<i><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">This item originally appeared in the
Woolwich Antiquarians Newsletter in 2006 – with thanks.</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8710611656756005747.post-31456947504517868932020-03-10T16:18:00.001+00:002020-03-10T16:18:22.477+00:00Letters August 2006<b><span style="font-size: large;">Letters August 2006</span></b><br />
<br />
<br />
From: Malcolm Tucker<br />
<br />
The illustration in GIHS 9 (2) of ‘a fireman’ was not photographed in the retort house of a gasworks. The features behind are a bank of classic Babcock and Wilcox-type water tube boilers, for raising ‘high’ pressure steam. The configuration was patented in the USA in 1867 and continued to be installed well into the 20th century with the addition of mechanical stoking. The stoking arrangements at the front of the firebox are hidden by the man. The cupboard-like doors above gave access for cleaning the ash from around the inclined bank of water tubes and for withdrawing the tubes themselves for renewal. Above, again, are drains in which the steam, separated from the water, provided a reservoir of steam.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
From: Tim Serisier<br />
<br />
I am researching Thomas Humphreys who described himself as a blacksmith. He died in 1844, leaving his wife and many children quite wealthy. Most of his daughters moved to Australia, but his son Thomas remained in Greenwich along with his sister Mary Ann who married David Fraser, a cooper. Has Thomas been researched previously?<br />
<br />
<br />
________________________________________<br />
<br />
From: Keith Dawson from Toowoomba, Queensland Australia.<br />
<br />
I am a descendant of the Whaling Enderbys, being a descendent of a mysterious William Enderby, mysterious because I do not know his Mother or Father - he just appears in the records in 1805.<br />
<br />
I have written a book on the Enderbys - who I maintain were responsible for the Endeavour, The Tea Party & the First Fleets all in the name of trade/oil industry of the day and to spread religion of the Evangelical brands of Protestantism, being assisted by the descendents of the founders of the Massachusetts Bay Company, the book will be titled The Founding of Sydney.<br />
<br />
To the Wharfe - the Enderbys originally operated the oil & Muscovy trade from St. Paul's Wharfe at Lower Thames Street. After 1783 a Henry Vansittart built the wharf on the site of a disused ammunition wharf. Vansittarts & Enderbys had been friendly for years, before Vansittart Snr., an officer for the East India trade went missing together with the ship he was travelling on around 1770. Henry’s brother Nicholas was the Chancellor of the Exchequer for 12 years. The Vansittarts were investors in the Enderby whalers, hence the first whaler known to have sailed around Cape Horn into the Pacific being called Emelia, after the widowed mother of Henry, the ship collected the British government bonus of 800 pounds for so doing which it did sailing from the Thames in 1788 an auspicious year for Australia. My information is that Morden College is quite likely to have had a hand in the ownership of the wharf. It would appear that the Enderby's leased all property, domestic & industrial through the College. With luck, I may be in Greenwich next year. Family correspondence from a Col. Moffit, descendent of the Gordon family of Khartoum fame, says that Uncle George lived in the house on Greenwich Marsh & that he was deaf & argumentive so that when his dwarfed sister was on her weekly visit there was a scene that looked bad to an outsider not in the know. Col Moffit states that he was often called Uncle George because he was argumentive as a child. Hope I have told you something new.<br />
<br />
I have numbered the Samuels, it was Samuel Enderby II (1719-1797) that had the wharf built, his son Samuel III (1755-1829) carried on the business, it was his son George II who died in 1891 who lived in the house, and I think he must have purchased it when Charles II (1798-1876) lost the family fortune in the Auckland isles. Lord Auckland was Mr. Eden who is thought to have been Britain’s master spy during the American War of Independence. The aforementioned Nicholas married Lord Auckland’s daughter Isabella. Samuel Enderby II was friendly with Benjamin Franklin, the American, at the time.<br />
<br />
<br />
________________________________________<br />
<br />
From: John Poole<br />
<br />
I lived in Aldeburgh Street from 1948 until 1969, then, having married, moved toliterally around the corner in Fearon Street, from 1969 until 1978. As a child and even as a young teenager, the Greenwich Marshes, particularly down at the bottom of Horne Lane and along the riverfront was my playground. My family, at least back to my Great Grandparents, also lived in the area. Great Grandfather McDuff, his wifeand his family, including my paternal Grandmother (Margaret) lived in Aldeburgh Street from when the houses were newly-built for workers on the railway.My Grandmother's brother, (my Great Uncle) Edward McDuff was a Manager in the chemical laboratories at the Gasworks until retirement in around 1968. My paternal Grandfather, Percy Poole, an Old Contemptible and railway worker,also lived in Aldeburgh Street, but on the other side of the road. My wife lived all her single life in Annandale Road and her father worked at Redpath Brown Dorman Long until his retirement.Now living at Greatstone-on-Sea, Kent, so I suppose you could say that I've swapped the Greenwich Marshes for the Romney Marshes - a true 'marshman' of one sort or another, anyway.<br />
<br />
________________________________________<br />
<br />
From: Lorraine Smith<br />
<br />
My grandmother was born at Rectory Buildings in Deptford. I can find no record of where in Deptford this actually was. I see from a previous posting on your site that someone had mentioned the building was owned by the Industrial Buildings Company in the 1890's. My grandmother was born in 1914. Was it still owned by them at that stage? What sort of accommodation was it? Do you have any pictures?<br />
<br />
<br />
________________________________________<br />
<br />
From: Brenden Adams<br />
<br />
I am trying to locate a small book written by my father in the late 70s. He wrote it whilst on a sabbatical from teaching in Bermondsey. The subject was the locomotive builder George England who had a works in Hatcham. He did lecture on the subject locally and I assisted him sometimes. He is now 87 and does not enjoy good health. When I asked him the other day if he had a copy, he said he did not keep a copy for himself.<br />
<br />
________________________________________<br />
<br />
From: Jacqui Simkins<br />
<br />
I have just received from my distant relative some pages from your website on John Lloyd, the millwright (who built the East Greenwich tide mill). He died in 1835. His will leaves considerable sums to many - including the family of his sister Mary who married Henry Payne Jeffries. I have a copy of John Lloyd’s Will, and a transcription of it. You are welcome to either if they would be of interest. Have you any information about John Lloyd or Lloyd & Ostler?<br />
<br />
<br />
________________________________________<br />
<br />
From: D.A.Parkinson<br />
<br />
Would you know if there is any ships models, paintings or prints of Breda, 70 guns, 3rd-rate warship, built Woolwich 1692? Or Defiance, 64 Guns, 3rd-rate warship, built in Chatham 1675, rebuilt Woolwich 1695?<br />
<br />
________________________________________<br />
<br />
From: Geoffrey Forrest<br />
<br />
Back in 1970 I worked for a while at the Albion Sugar Company, located in the old Woolwich Dockyard. At the time my father was working for the RACS Funeral Services, which were also located there, in Commonwealth Buildings. I know the Co-op funeral services are still there, but I have not been able to find any mention of Albion Sugar, either past or present. All I know is that much of the Dockyard site is now housing. I wondered if you or anyone else in your Society knows what happened to the Albion Sugar Company? My recollection was that it occupied quite a large site, right on the river, and had many employees. Thanks for any information you can provide.<br />
<br />
<br />
________________________________________<br />
<br />
From: Victor G. Beaumont (Rev.)<br />
<br />
I must agree with Phillip Binns, a committee member of the Greenwich Conservation Group. When speaking of the Woolwich Congregational Church, he said: "We very much regret the loss of such a wonderful Victorian Building."<br />
<br />
Although I now live in New Zealand, much of my formative years were bound up with the Rectory Place Church. Consequently I well remember the efforts made, in the 1950s, by the Rev. Harold Eburne, with the support of the congregation, to restore the church which had been damaged in an air raid. Having heard about the proposed demolition of the church, I wrote in April of last year to Pastor Aaron Flanagan expressing my sadness that the present congregation should find it necessary to destroy such a building. In his reply he wrote; "It is true that we are planning to demolish it, (only because of the terrible condition it is in) but we are planning to build a brand new one in its place. This is a big project for us, but I believe that God has led us and brought us to this place." The thing which puzzles me is firstly, why is the building in such a poor state of repair and secondly, if there is money available to build a "brand new church" then surely it would be better to renovate the old structure, which when I saw the outside a few years ago, seemed to be in a reasonable state of repair? There was no mention in the Pastor's letter about building 13 flats. But then architecturally-pleasing historic churches (and often other buildings) seem to be relatively unimportant today. Another question I would like answered, and which the good Pastor in reply to my letter, ignored, is: What will happen to the two-manual organ built by Foster and Andrews of Hull, in 1881 which I used to play for some of the services?<br />
<br />
When I last came to Woolwich I also noticed that The Paley Press, a small commercial printers on the corner of John Wilson Street, where I worked for seven years has been demolished, together with Fishers, the military tailors.<br />
<br />
________________________________________<br />
<br />
From: Jim Jones<br />
<br />
I'm looking for a Greenwich street - AIRY? which is on a relative’s birth certificate dated 1914. I've tried every avenue I can think of with no luck. Wondered if you could possibly help?<br />
<br />
<br />
________________________________________<br />
<br />
From: Colin Sawie<br />
<br />
Hello. I was an apprentice carpenter in the Central Works (Green & Silley Weir Ltd) in the Royal Albert Dock in the mid-1950s. Around that time, a crest was carved in teak by one of the great craftsmen, Arthur Silversword. As far as I can remember it was for the P&O line. I think it was meant be on a building at the entrance area of the Royal Docks. Does anyone recall such a crest?<br />
<br />
I am asking through sheer curiosity as I was telling my Grandson about the crest carving. We now live in British Columbia, Canada.<br />
<br />
<br />
________________________________________<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">From: Ray Hoggart</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Hello there! In 1960 I was a N/S Royal Artillery soldier and briefly stationed at Woolwich in some old Barracks there. I have memories of the place and as I get older they seem to matter more. I stood guard on a gate there one Saturday night in May but I have never known the name or where they were, the whole area was a warren of old buildings (what history!) and one could get lost easily.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I returned to Woolwich in about 1978 for a visit to see if I could find
these old Barracks. The gate was there but the buildings had gone and the
Regimental Square was a lorry park. I realize now that I was a few years too
late! I have searched all over the place and never found the name. Google always
found the Front Parade. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;">Today I tried a different type of search and the GIHS
turned up with articles on the Barracks which I now know were </span><b><span style="color: black;">Red</span></b><span style="color: black;"> and </span><b><span style="color: black;">Cambridge</span></b></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">. Are there any
photographs anywhere of the barracks that I could download, particularly the
gate, and any written articles on the history of them? I've seen a map of the
area from about 1917 at Godfrey Maps which I will send for and that should give
me a layout of the place.</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0