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Issue 61 (March 2009)

Snape Maltings. Inside front cover
With railway siding passing through archway.

Horne,  John. Adderley Street Gas Works [Birmingham]. 2-9,
It is not clear when these small canalside works were opened or closed, but a new retort house was opened in 1909, and this building forms the focus of this feature. Originally coal was delivered by canal, but later had to be transported by tractors hauling bottom discharge trailers from Landore Street Goods Station. There was storage space for 7000 tons of coal and in winter 160 tons per day were carbonized in the horizontal retorts. With the exception of horizontal steam engines which drove the exhausters, all drives in the new retort house were electrical supplied by electricity generated on site via a 49 hp Kynoch gas engine. Originally a tramway was used to move coke from the retorts, but this was replaced by an overhead electric telpher. A water gas plant was opened, probably during WW1. Residual products (tar and ammonical liquor) were transported away by tank barges. Cyanogen was extracted at Adderley Street and transported by barge: it was sold to South Africa for the extraction of gold. Nechells Gas Works, opened in 1916, was a similar small plant, but most of the gas in Birmingham was produced in large plants with vertical retorts. Comment from Euan Corrie Issue 62 page 42 on the Birmingham & Warwick (not Warwick & Birmingham as stated by City of Birmingham Gas Department on its plane page 4 below) and on the activities of the narrow boat crews who were probably locking down..

Mountford,  Colin E. Burnhope Colliery and village: Part Two: The railway. 10-23.
Part 1 see Issue 60 page 2. The railway was operated by a stationary engine situated at the summit with inclines from Burnhope Colliery up to the summit, and thence a further incline down towards Cragside Colliery. This method of working demanded some complex manoeuvres for shunting wagons aat Burnhope Colliery especially for delivering and removing wagons from the Burnhope Landsale Depot, situated beyond a level crossing. The crossing was the location for two accidents: one on 3 Ferbruary 1912 when a full set collided with a grocery cart belonging to Walter Willson's shop; and another on 11 May 1937 when a sit hit a Diamond bus which had stalled on the crossing. Each set of wagons was accompanied by a set-rider who had a limited ability to communicate with the engineman by pulling a wire alongside the track. The engineman knew the location of the set by markings on the winding drum. The original vertical cylinder haulage engine was supplied by Thomas Murray of Chester-le-Street in about 1845. This was augmenterd by a horizontal cylinder probably in the 1860s when the Annie Pit was opened, and this may have been supplied by J.&G. Joicey. The Day Book kept by Joseph Snaith, manager from 1912 to 1938,  records that the boiler house had been completewly rebuilt in 1897. Expenditure on new steel ropes, steel drums and improvements to the rails are recorded. The cost of repairs to the vertical cylinder are also noted. The method of working was hazardous: engineman Joseph Talbot became trapped on the winding drum on 4 November 1922 and bank rider, John Hockaday was crushed to death bewteen a wagon and  a corner of the engine house.

Pope,  Ian. More Kentish paper railway. 24-32.
See also Issue 60 page 44 et seq: the Sittingbourne & Kemsley Light Railway is under threat. These further photographs are mainly from the Mike Chistensen collection and were probably taken by Brian Hilton in September 1963.

 Russell,  Dave. TID Class tugs at Portsmouth in the 1960s: Follow-up. 33-6.
Author joined the Port Auxiliary Service at HM Dockyard, Portsmouth in 1966 as an Able Seaman, one of three able seaman amongst a crew of six led by a skipper, mechanician, and stoker. He served on TID 32, a coal fired vessel. TID 3 was also coal-fired, but TID 99 was oil-fired and used heavy black furnace fuel oil. Heating and cooking on the tugs was provided via coal stoves and the vessels lacked the ability to generate electricity, although a shore power cable was available when tied up at night. Tugs illustrated: TID 32, TID 3, TID 99, and TID 32 awaiting cutting up..

Reading room: Archive reviews. 37
The Corringham Light Railway: a new history. Peter Kay. Author
Originally built by the explosives manufacturer Kynochs which developed Kynochtown to house its workforce and built the light railway to transport materials and workers. After WW1 it was sold to Cory Bros who changed the name of Kynochtown to Coryton and developed a small oil refinery and large tank farm. The line closed in 1996.
Ferries of Gloucestershire. Joan Tucker. Tempus.
The last to survive was that between Beachley and Aust across the Severn, but there used to be many more across the Severn, the Wye and at Twyning Fleet across the Avon near Tewkesbury.

Johnson, Malcolm.  J.J. Cordes & Co.: nail manufacturer 1835-1961. 38-53.
Founded in Newport (Monmouthshire) in 1835 by James Jamieson Cordes and Henry Ewbank. Cordes (1798-1867) was born in Charleston in the USA and arrived in Britain in 1825. Ewbank (1787-1859) was a fellow American. The Dos Works was established next to the Monmouthshire Canal to manufacture nails on a large scale.

Rose,  Juan E. de. 'Heavens Light Our Guide': the twilight era of Portsmouth's trolleybuses. 54-64.
The title is taken from Portsmouth Corporation's civic motto. The photographs were taken by Fred Ward between May and September 1960: the first trolleybus route to be withdrawn had been on 30 September 1951, and the final route closed on 27 July 1963. The tramway system was rapidly changed to trolleybus operation between 4  August 1934 and 10 November 1936. The civic electric tramway system had opened on 24 September 1901 and replaced private horse tramways..

Issue 62 (June 2009)

Elidyr owned by Dinorwic Quarry Co. in Ramsgate Harbour alongside John Perry & Co., coal merchant. Inside front cover
See also feature on Port Dinorwic page 54 et seq

Putley, John.  The La Belle Marie: a Forest of Dean market boat. 2-17.
The La Belle Marie had a long and strange career: it began by being a monster on a restricted navigation, the River Avon, eventually became a rather small vessel on the turbulent waters off the Ulster coast, and was finally a market boat on the River Wye. She was built by at Gloucester by Miller & Son, successor to Pickersgill & Miller. William Pickersgill came from Sunderland, but John Miller was a Gloucester man. The yard was located on the Gloucester & Berkeley Canal. The boat was a traditional craft in being built of timber and having sails, but did incorporate a steam engine, probably a two-cylinder compound and had twin screws. It was launched in May 1866 and was moved to Savory & Son for the fitting of the engine and propellers. It was registered on 3 October 1866. It had been ordered by Edward Charles Rudge, an Evesham landowner who lived at Abbey Manor House and was President of the Evesham Rowing Club. He had previously owned a screw-driven steam launch which had been constructed by Spragg & Son at Evesham in 1863. The 1871 Census appears to show that John Vincent and Emily and Charles Spragg formed the crew for the La Belle Marie.
The boat was sold in 1872 to John Payne of Bristol, a tug owner. He in turn sold it to Captain Robert Easthope, a Cardiff mariner and chandler, to operate the Cardiff to Penarth ferry to assist Kate a double-ended paddle steamer. The Cardiff & Penarth Steam Ferry Co. was acquired by Valentine Trayes and Henry James Vellacott in 1883 and they in turn sold the vessel in 1891 to George Isaac Barrett and Thomas Simons, Cardiff pilots, who probably used her as a tender.
In 1892 the boat was acquired by a Belfast boilermaker Robert James Brown who quickly sold it to Henry and Edgar Musgrove also of Belfast. They operated a ferry between Belfast and Portaferry at the entrance to Strangford Lough. The Master was John Coffy.
In 1904 the vessel was sold for the final time to James Philip Dibden, a barge owner of Brockweir, Glouestershire, on the River Wye. The Dibden family operated a ferry across the Wye, but a bridge was due to displace this traffic and a market service to Chepstow seemed to be attractive. This conveyed agricultural produce, fish, livestock downstream and returned with goods to be sold by Susannah Dibden who ran a general store. The vessel ran aground in Bristol in 1907
See also letter from Martin Gregory in Issue 63 page 39 who is critical of the description given of the vessel's engine: it would have had two cylinders, and the original boiler would have operated at at least 50 psi. W. Savory of Gloucester patented a steam ploughing engine in 1861 and it is probable that La Belle Marie had a similar engine. Compounding was not suitable for the vessel. The Cochran boiler fitted in 1889 was a squat vertical axis boiler with cross water tubes and an offset flue..  .

Mountford, Colin E. Burnhope Colliery and Village: Part 3: 1900-1939. 18-32.
Text includes the effects of the long miners' strike, the underground fire and how it was fought, the poverty of the schoolchildren, notes on the school and the system of education, business premises, colliery officials, car ownership, and on the ownership of the pit by Messrs Ritson.

Juan E. de Rose Taxi! Summerfield Hire Service: the first twenty years. 33-40
William Summerfield was born in 1922 in the Bitterne Park suburb of Southampton. He served in the RAF in WW2 and was posted to Cornwall where he met his wife Doris in St. Ives. Bill returned to Southampton following demob, lived in a prefab in the Bitterne Park area and joined the Atom Cab Co. as a driver and mechanic. During his spare time he became a speedway rider, but after a severe fall from his motorcycle his wife pursuaded him to give up riding. In 1950 they moved to the Aldermoor council estate and Bill acquired a secondhand Daimler limousine and was granted a private hire licence by Southampton Corporation. In 1958 the Daimler was traded in for nine-seat J2 Morris minibus. Further minibuses were gradually acquired and a distinctive lime green livery was adopted.. Bill died in 1994, but his widow was still alive at the time the article was prepared.

Inbye Archive's letters page. 41-2.
AA and RAC badges. Rodney Marshall.
See Issue 60 page 43: brief history of the Automobile Club of Great Britain and Ireland which was formed in 1897 and becoming the Royal Automobile Club (RAC) in 1907. In 1901 an associate grade was instigated known as the Motor Union: this broke away in 1908 and became the Automobile Association. This prompted the RAC to establish its own Associate Members. The original RAC badge, including the Associate version, is illustrated.
Portsmouth trolleybuses. Malcolm Bobbitt. 42.
See Issue 61 page 63 upper of Clarendon Road, Southsea: not comment about lack of trolleybus, but on Fiat 600 (not 500 Nuova as per caption) which was a suitable vehicle for driving schools.
Adderley Street Gas Works. Euan Corrie
See feature in Issue 61 beginning page 2: comment on what the chaps were up to in first illustration: locking down and on the name of the canal: Warwick & Birmingham, not vice versa.

Woolwich Arsenal narrow gauge Kerr Stuart 0-4-0ST Pompey. 43
WN 1267/1912: 1ft 6in gauge: from IRS work reviewed on previous page.

Reading Room: Archive Reviews. 42-4.
Industrial railways & locomotives of the County of London. Robin Waywell and Frank Jux. Industrial Railway Society,
Very well received. Notes that in addition to the gas works, docks an the many military sites, notably the Royal Arsenal, that this comprehensive survey includes many contractors' locomotives associated with major engineering projects.
The London taxi. Nick Georgano and Bill Munro.
The Victorian railway worker. Trevor May
Horse drawn transport of the British Army. D.J. Smith
Shire Publications.
"The joy of the various Shire Publications is that for anybody with a passing interest in a subject or requiring a quick oversight of a topic they are idael and reasonably priced." The one on the Victorian eailway worker is on its fourth reprint since 2000. .
Soudley Valley Coaches. Colin Martin.
Independent Buses and Coaches of Bristol and Gloucestershire. Colin Martin and Geoff Bruce.
Colin Martin, 4 Willcox Drive, Woodmancote, Cheltenham, GL52 9PW
"Soudley Valley volume is an excellent record of one of the Forest of Dean's independent bus operators. The business started in earnest in 1928 by brothers Fred and Roy Bevan with the acquisition of a 14-seater Chevrolet used on a daily service between Blakeney, Soudley and Cinderford. The fleet soon grew and at its peak twenty-five coaches were being operated. The business survived until 1998..."
"The second volume is an overview of bus and coach operation throughout the county of Gloucestershire from the horse bus up to the 1950s, hence the sub-title of 'From Horses to Half-Cabs'. The volume is mostly photographic with extended captions giving details of both the vehicle illustrated and the operator."
Northern Roadways. Garry Ward
West Mon. Michael Yelton and Chris Taylor
Venture Publications
Well received. Northern Roadways was formed during WW2 for Government and military contract work. Between 1951 and 1956 the firm operated an express service bewteen Glasgow and London; following which the company returned to contract work until 1983.
The West Mon volume covers the West Monmouthshire Omnibus Board established in 1926 by Mynyddislwyn Urban District Council. Bus operations centred on Blackwood and featured poor roads and steep hills, especially Bargoed Hill, which had a section of 1 in 4 with a loose stone surface-plus a couple of sharp turns through a very narrow railway bridge.
Great Northern Railway of Ireland Road Motor Services: 1925-1958, Sam Simpson. Venture Publications,
"thorough piece of research... should appeal to both railway and bus historian"

Skimpings. 45-8.
Besses o' th' Barn brass band. 45 upper.
Postcard sent in 1905 shows band at railway station with clerestory coaches behind (Great Western Railway?): caption suggests 1903 National Championships, or part of UK tour?. See definitive letter from Derek Rawlinson (Issue 63 page 39) which notes from series of post cards issued by the magazine British Bandsman to commemorate band going to Windsor to play for the King and then to tour France. Photograph taken at Paddington Station en route to Windsor. The gentlemen in the top hats are from left to right Alex Owen Conductor, J. Henry Iles Organiser and Director of the band's tour through France and W.S. Pearce (Mr. Iles Secretary). The bandsman 6th from the left is Mr Fred Berry (Bandmaster) and later to become the professional conductor of the Brighouse and Rastrick Band in the 1920s/30s. :
Ainsdale station with Boys Brigade band. 45 lower
Shows level crossing and may be pre-electrification: interesting perambulator.
Brookes Limited Lightcliffe Works, Halifax. 46
Aerial view of works (upper) which shows stacks of non-slip paving; and four bedstones loaded onto dropside wagons for transport to Dearne Valley Railway (lower). See also letter in Issue 63 page 39 by John Scotford which cites Brooke's industrial railways published by Oakwood Press in 1972. and that Hunslet 2387/1941 is extant on Middleton Railway.
Wagon being loaded/unloaded with stone slabs. 47 upper
Single plank wagon No. 12165 with GWR-looking station building behind: slabs were large. Letter in Issue 63 page 39 by J. Richard Morton considers may be the yard at Kirkburton, terminus of the LNWR branch from Huddersfield. Everything fits nicely with the pictures and OS maps in J.N. Fisher's The Huddersfield and Kirkburton Branch published by Oakwood in 1997 (Locomotion Paper 202) but the jib of the crane, hopefully, obscures the chimney on the end gable furthest from the camera..
Postcard sent from Stafford showing railway freight inactivity. 47 lower.
Crane (manually operated), four members of staff watching photographer, four plank wagon loaded with machinery, wooden goods shed and van lettered "C L".
Gloucester Railway Carriage & Wagon Co. lorry. 48
Left and right hand views of 1899 lorry which was presumably powered via electric battery.

Corrie, Euan.  Forth & Clyde Canal. 49-53.
Canal opened in 1790 and has recently been partially restored. Illus.:
Canal Street, Grangemouth showing section of canal which has ceased to exist 49 upper
map 49 lower
puffer in pound between Locks 15 and 16 looking towards Lock 15 (also reproduced in Issue 37 page 48 lower) 50
The Arab (puffer) exiting Lock 15 at Camelon 51 upper;  
Port Dundas in Glasgow with 450ft high chimney belonging to Tennant's Chemical Works 51 lower
Puffer Porpoise rising through Lock 37 at Old Kilpatrick 52
Canal entrance basin at Bowling with Caledonian Railway bridge across Canal and Clyde in background 53

Pope, Ian. Port Dinorwic. 54-64.
Y-Felinheli, Port Dinorwic was developed to ship slate from quarries at Llanberis. A tramway using a mixture of horse power and gravity was opened in 1824, and this was replaced by an easier graded line on which steam traction was employed from 1848 using the locomotives Jenny Lind and Fire Queen (latter extant) supplied by Horlock. The gauge of the Padarn Railway was 4 feet and the operation was unusual in that the four foot gauge wagons were designed to convey two lines of quarry wagons built to operate on the 1ft 11½ gauge. See also features on slate steamers and on Padarn Railway in Issue 64..

Issue 63 (September 2009)

Pope, Ian. The Bicslade Tramroad. 2-13 + outside and inside front cover.
First published in New Regard journal of the Forest of Dean Local History Society in 1997. The Lydney & Lidbrook Railway received its Act of Parliament on 10 June 1809. In 1810 this became the Severn & Wye Railway & Canal Company. In 1868 the main lines were converted to broad gauge railways, but several of the tramways remained into the twentieth century including that in the Bixslade Valley.

Stonham, Denis. Oil under canvas. 14-27.
Transport of mineral oil in sailing ships. Sailing ships offered cheap transport for bulk cargoes, but at the cost of unpredictable transit times. Nevertheless, the Dunedin was fitted with refrigeration to convey New Zealand meat to London in 1874. Mentions James Young and extraction of illuminating oil from Scottish oil shale, but this was eclipsed when Edwin Drake succeeded in extracting mineral oil in Pennsylvania in 1859. In  1861 the brig Elizabeth Watts arrived in London with a consignment of Pennsylvania oil . Initially oil was conveyed in barrels, but these leaked and wasted hold space. Two sailing tankers (Atlantic and Great Western) were built by John Rogerson at St Peters Yard, Newcastle upon Tyne in 1863 and a third vessel the Ramsey was built by Gibson & Co at Ramsey on the Isle of Man. In the 1870s G.C. Hansen of Tonsberg in Norway converted three small wooden ships to convey oil in bulk: the brig Jan Mayn, the barque Lindesnaes and the Nordkyn. The French government encouraged the import of crude oil to be refined in French refineries and the wooden vessel Fanny was adapted as a tanker but was lost with its cargo. The Charles followed, but eventually caught fire. The Crusader was fitted with cylindrical tanks which were inter-connected and enabled bulk discharge. Following this the Deutsch-Amerikanische Petroleum converted the sailing vessel Andromeda with tanks which formed an integral part of the hull: this in turn led to the first steam tanker the Gluckaug in 1886.
The Petroleum Trading Company was formed by John Rogerson with Sir Morton Peto and Edwin Betts and the ships Atlantic, Great Western and Mary Rogerson.
Trade in oil in metal cans carried in wooden cases was popular in the Far East where the cans were exploited in roofing, childrens' toys, etc. Case-oil was a suitable cargo for sailing vessels, although some vessels were lost by fire: Bowman B. Law in Singapore; the Mobile Bay on Formosa and the Lyndhurst at sea when part of the cargo included naphtha. The Norcross and the Blengfell were also lost whilst conveying naphtha.
The Standard Oil Company acquired sailing ships for the oil trade via the Anglo-American Oil Co in the early 1900s: most were four-masted barques including the Drumeltan, Kentmere, Juteopolis and Lawhill, Falls of Ettrick (built Russell in 1894), Sindia (built Belfast in 1887), the Calcutta built at Barrow in 1892 as the Unionen.
Ships illustrated: Queville at Dieppe; Ramsey (built by Gibson & Co. of Ramsey, Isle of Man), Drumeltan owned Anglo-American Oil Company, Juteopolis and Lawhill owned Anglo-American Oil Company, Daylight built by Russell & Co. of Port Glasgow for carrying oil in cases; Perkeo (originally Brilliant, and sister ship to Daylight, but sold in July 1914 to German owner), Parma (originally Arrow in Anglo-American fleet, but sold in 1912 to same German owner as previous), Star of Zealand under full sail, The Falls of Clyde built by Russell & Co. of Port Glasgow in 1878 and converted to carry oil in bulk in 1908 (saved for preservation in 1963, but currently in poor condition in Honolulu), Ena built by Robert Duncan & Co at Port Glasgow in 1892, Sunlight built for Lever Pros. in 1907, and the Thomas W. Lawson with seven masts built at Quincy, Massachusetts in 1902 for coal trade but converted to carry oil in bulk.

Mountford, Colin E. Burnhope Colliery and Village: Part Four: the last seventy years, 28-38.
On 25 February 1939 Burnhope Colliery was taken over by The Bearpark Coal & Coke Company and in 1942 an aerial ropeway 4½ miles long was installed to carry Burnhope coal to Bearpark (sadly this is not illustrated).

Inbye: Archive's letters page. 39.
La Belle Marie. Martin Gregory.
See Issue 62 page 2 critical of the description given of the vessel's engine: it would have had two cylinders, and the original boiler would have operated at at least 50 psi. W. Savory of Gloucester patented a steam ploughing engine in 1861 and it is probable that La Belle Marie had a similar engine. Compounding was not suitable for the vessel. The Cochran boiler fitted in 1889 was a squat vertical axis boiler with cross water tubes and an offset flue..
Brookes of Halifax. John Scotford.
See Issue 62 page 46: notes Brooke's industrial railways published by Oakwood Press in 1972. and that Hunslet 2387/1941 is extant on Middleton Railway:. 0-6-0ST Brookes' No l painted blue and fitted with side tanks.
Skimpings goods yards. J. Richard Morton
See Issue 62 page 47 (upper): considers may be the yard at Kirkburton, terminus of the LNWR branch from Huddersfield. Everything fits nicely with the pictures and OS maps in J.N. Fisher's The Huddersfield and Kirkburton Branch published by Oakwood in 1997 (Locomotion Paper 202) but the jib of the crane, hopefully, obscures the chimney on the end gable furthest from the camera.
Besses o'th' Barn. Derek Rawlinson. 
See Issue 62 page 45 upper: taken from series of postcards issued by magazine British Bandsman to commemorate the band going to Windsor to play for the King and then to tour France. Photograph taken at Paddington Station en route to Windsor.
Adderley Street Gas Works. Richard Bradley
See Issue 61 page 6: suggests caption incorrect in position of lock paddles (not down but up
Motoring Medley, Issue 59. Roger Kimbell
The Royal Enfield on p19 upper registered T4797 was fitted with the company's 225cc two stroke engine and not a 488cc four stroke. Note the forward facing carburettor and lack of valve gear. The Royal Enfield vee twin seen on pp 19 lower, 20 and 21 is almost certainly the same outfit despite uncertainty noted in caption on p 20. .
Motoring Medley, Issue 59. N. Atkinson.
See Issue 59 page 8 of Guy's Cliff Mill (upper and lower) were taken possibly years apart as the lean to roof on the lower photo is in much better condition (tile alignment and moss) than the main picture.
Motoring Medley Issue 58. Roger Halse
Reference picture on page 29 of Archive No. 58. The caption stated that Swift car was in Leamington Spa: this is incorrect it was parked by the centre green at The Circus in Bath where the railings were never replaced after WW2)

Parsons, Brian. Unknown undertaking: the history of Dottridge Bros, wholesale suppliers to the funeral industry. 40-53.
Firm was founded by Samuel Dottridge who was born in 1811, was apprenticed to the building trade, and after three years in Herne Bay, started a building and contracting business in Hoxton in East London. Here he became involved in the funeral business acquiring his own carriages and horses and operating out of Dorset Works, based in a former coaching yard near Old Street. In about 1855 he was joined by his eldest son, also called Samuel, and slightly later by his brothers Edwin, William and Henry.  The firm became involved in the manufacture and supply of coffins, hearses (initially horse-drawn, later motor vehicles), biers, urns (for cremated remains) and embalming (last not illustrated). During WW2 the Company wass involved in organizing funerals for air raid victims, and its coffin-making factory was cremated. In 1950 the firm opened a factory at Marshmoor, Welham Green near Hatfield in Hertfordshire. Latterly the firm's head office was at The Grange in Hoddeston. The illustrations are taken from the firm's own literature and from the Undertakers' Journal. See also letter in Issue 65 page 39 from Mike Worthington-Williams concerning his father. Ernie Bill Williams who worked for Dottridge Brothers from 1933 until his retirement in the 1870s.

Reading Room: Archive Reviews. 54.
The Industrial Railways and Locomotives of County Durham. Part 2. The National Coal Board and British Coal. Colin E. Mountford and Dave Holroyde. Industrial Railway Society,
The first part of the IRS Durham Handbook: see Archive 51 page 29. "Once again Colin Mountford and Dave Holroyde have assembled a mass of information regarding the locomotives used both by the National Coal Board and by British Coal since nationalisation of the coal industry."
The London Bus. James Taylor. Shire Publications
"excellent overview"
Brooklands: cradle of British motor racing and aviation. Nicholas H. Lancaster. Shire Publications
"fascinating glimpse of a past era of motorsport and flight and of a site important in both World Wars. Well written by a member of the Brooklands Society and illustrated with a good selection of images this represents excellent value for money".

Gough, Gordon E. Underground transportation at Bentley Colliery. 55-64.
2ft 3½in gauge colliery underground railway with Hunslet flameproof diesel locomotives and Wickham cars for man-riding. There was considerable competition at the end of the shift to be at the front of the train to enable men to get hot water in the pit-head baths. Author relates how he obtained training to become a driver by seeking an interview with the colliery manager.

Issue 64 (December 2009)

Foden FE6 four axle truck with two-stroke supercharged diesel engine owned Fraser Brothers of Greenock. front cover
Same view repeated in black & white but with extensive caption also notes presence of Burns & Laird Line Laidburn moored in dock.

Whitehaven Harbour. inside front cover
Two colour illustrations of locomotives at Whitehaven Harbour taken by David Hindle in the 1960s: both show Victoria a Peckett 0-4-0ST WN 2028/1942 and the lower also shows a Robert Stephenson & Hawthorn 0-4-0ST shunting steel hopper wagons

Fenton, Roy. The slate steamers. 2-14.
See also Issue 62 page 54.

Bottle, Ted. Dinorwic revisited (Follow-up). 15-16.
See also Issue 62 page 54.: Photographs taken during a visit made in 1960 or 1961 with permission to travel on trains, including up and down inclines. Full explanation of how narrower gauge wagons transferred onto and off "main line Padarn Railway" transporter wagons.

Bobbitt, Malcolm. Foden and ERF. 17-38.
Based on business of Plant & Hancock in Elworth, near Sandbach in Cheshire. George Hancock was the son of Walter Hancock who was an early operator/designer of steam carriages in East London and whose work is described in The Hancocks of Marlborough by Loadman and James. In the 1930s Edwin Richard Foden set up on his own as E.R. Foden & Son Diesel taking over part of the Jernnings coachbuilding works in Sandbach. Ernest Sharratt moved from Fodens to join ERF

* Designed by Eddie Twemlow and Jack Mills [same view repeated in colour on cover]

Inbye Archive' s letters. 39.
Dottridge Brothers. Mike Worthington-Williams
See Issue 63 page 40: writer's father, Ernie Bill Williams worked for Dottridge Brothers from 1933 until his retirement in the 1870s

Reading Room: Archive Reviews. 39
Richard Dunston Ltd of Thorne & Hessle. Mike Taylor. Pen and Sword.
Author is regular Archive contributor.
Building a railway: Bourne to Saxby; edited Stewart Squires and Ken Hollamby. Lincoln Record Society.
Construction of line between 1899 and 1893 as recorded in photographs taken by Charles S. Wilson, resident engineer

Jackson, Paul. Non-recovery coke making in the UK: the Coppée Oven. 40-55
Evence Dieudonné Coppée was born in Belgium in 1827 and graduated at the Mons Mining Academy. From 1851 he operated a coking plant located between Manage and La Louvière near the Haine-Sainte-Piere coal mine.

Pope, Ian. Industrial Bixslade. Part 1. The stone works. 56-64.
E. Turner & Sons, a Cardiff-based firm, involved with works for the Marquis of Bute in Cardiff, started quarrying and works for stone dressing in rhe early 1900s. The quarries and works are still in operation.

Issue 65 (March 2010)

Glamorgan Llwynypia Collieries Coppée ovens (coloured). front cover

Ship lock at Ellesmere Port looking towards Manchester Ship Canal. inside front cover
Emily (sailing ship) and Lancashire: see also Roy Fenton Issue 66 page 39 and further photograph of Lancashire berthed on page 38.

Corrie, Euan. Ellesmere Port. 2-23.
Originated near Netherpool on the Mersey to serve the Ellesmere Canal which became part of the Shropshire Union Canal and which for a time was exploited by the LNWR to compete with the GWR. The opening of the Manchester Ship Canal had a profound affect upon the port. see also Roy Fenton Issue 66 page 39 .

*or Telford Warehouse or Great, General or Winged Warehouse; completed by William Cubitt

Ward, Alan. A Wiltshire agricultural business. 24-8.
Photographs from the R. Selbourne Collection which were probably taken by John Campbell Crowdy between 1920 and 1924 and show the activities of the Swindon Motor Engineering Company. Further selection in Issue 66 page 58..

Reading Room: Archive Reviews. 29-31.
Brodsworth Colliery, Woodlands and Highfield.
Bentley Colliery & Bentley New Village.
Bullcroft Colliery, Carcroft & Skellow.
Askern Main Colliery & Instoneville.
Dave Fordham. Fedj-el-Adoum Publishing.
First four volumes of series intended to cover the collieries in the Doncaster area; compiled and published by Dave Fordham. Each volume is well illustrated, mainly with images from postcards plus plans, maps and further photographs. An extremely informative text outlines the colliery history, the people behind the concern and major dates and happenings.
William Robertson and the Gem Line. Roy Fenton and Philip Robertson. Ships in Focus Publications.
"a solidly researched and well-illustrated volume". One author is the great-great-grandson of the founder of the shipping line and was able to add family details, recollections and some company records. The founder of the business was William Robertson, born in 1832, who shipped coal and pig iron into Renfrew.
Brunel in South Wales: links with Leviathans. Stephen K. Jones The History Press.
Final part of trilogy looking at the Brunelian influence in South Wales. This time the emphasis is on BruneI's maritime legacy, not just his well-known large ground-breaking vessels but also the number of ports with which he had a connection across the district.
Nautical Training Ships - an illustrated history. Phil Carradice. Amberley Publishing.
Many of the ships were ex-Royal Navy vessels from the period of 'wooden walls', several surviving into the second half of the twentieth century. There were not only the training ships which took young men set on a nautical career but also the reform schools and industrial schools which used vessels afloat and these are all covered here.The book provides a very good insight into the conditions aboard and the problems faced in this area of education. It is a very interesting and informative.
Road travel and transport in Georgian Gloucestershire. Nicholas Herbert. Carreg Limited.
Relates the story of the road network and its useage during the 18th and early 19th century. Based mainly on reports and announcements in contemporary newspapers but each chapter has a 'scene setting' introduction giving the background to turnpike roads, inns, coaches, carriers, others using the roads and the dangers of travel during this period. The author was for over thirty years the editor of the Victoria History of Gloucestershire and his insights and comments add greatly to the work. Many of the newspaper extracts are recorded verbatim in the prose of the time with interesting tales of drink drivers and fraud and journeys interrupted by floods and snowstorms. The volume is enhanced with many contemporary illustrations from paintings, woodcuts and engravings, together with photographs showing interesting features still to be found today. This is a very good study of the road network and the effect that it had on the county.
Lancashire's Seaside. Piers Martin Easdown. Warncliffe Books.
History of piers along the Lancashire coast, plus those along the River Mersey, in Cumbria and on the Isle of Man. Each pier receives its own section with a historical overview and the majority are illustrated either by photographs or engravings. The demise of many, usually by fire or contact from a passing vessel, is also covered. Written by one of the leading historians of piers in the country this is a very readable volume with plenty of good illustrations, mostly from postcards.
The Harveys of Hayle. Edmund Vale. Trevithick Society.
Classic book documenting the history of leading engineering firm republished in a revised edition. Foundry in Cornwall, established by blacksmith John Harvey in 1779 built fine pumping engines for mining around the world. Harvey's moved into other areas of engineering including marine engines and shipbuilding. This is a masterly, scholarly volume which well records the history of the company. It is illustrated with a number of photographs, plans etc. of Harvey' s output, the works and some notable survivors.
Northumberland & Cumberland Mining Disasters. Maureen Anderson.
South Yorkshire Mining Disasters, Volume 2 The Twentieth Century. Brian Elliott.
Warncliffe Books.
The Northumberland volume covers accidents with multiple fatalities from 1710 onwards and includes some of the worst disasters to hit this country: Hartley Colliery in 1862; Wallsend in 1835 and Whitehaven in 1847. The South Yorkshire volume, dealing as it does with the twentieth century, covers a period when larger disasters were less common, mines rescue was being perfected and medical care was improving but there were still some sizable disasters: Maltby Main, Bentley, North Gawber and Wharncliffe Woodmoor. These more recent disasters have allowed personal recollections to to add great poignancy. Both titles are well-researched and put together.
Great Western way. Historical Model Railway Society. HMRS.
Mainly aimed at railway modellers and aims to show how the Great Western Railway did things in terms of external appearance. Great Western Way, now in its third edition, has grown from a slim, stapled, volume to what has become a rather unwieldy, weighty (just over 2kg), tome, "unfortunately produced in landscape format". The growth has been brought about by a revised text using a larger font, although known errors from the previous edition have still been perpetuated whilst new ones, especially in captions to photographs, have been introduced. There are also annoying cross references to other books, some now out of print, to gain illustrations of the feature being described. As a book intended to show the various livery variations and lettering style to have had them all illustrated should have been possible, especially as images are known to exist and have been published elsewhere. Perhaps the book would have benefited from being split into two volumes — one purely the Great Western and one on the absorbed lines. As it is the section on the Great Western occupies 186 pages whilst that for other companies — all of which were finished in standard GWR livery after absorbtion anyway— takes 132 pages. There are also 49 pages of appendices and 58 of miscellanea. Some of the text additions are most useful, extra photographs are welcome, especially those in colour, plus the use of colour to show lining and panelling layouts are good additions to the work.
Indian broad gauge steam remembered. Lawrence G. Marshall. Taverner Publications.
Good album of images of the various classes of locomotives used on the broad gauge in India, many of which are in colour. The well reproduced photographs are accompanied by informative captions together with introductory texts to each section.

Skimpings. 32-3.
A mystery gas works. 32
A reaper binder, horse-drawn, in foreground with agricultural workers armed with shotguns; a gas works below; a curving single track railway line within a soft landscape. See response from Ron Harper in Issue 66 page 39: view over Boxmoor/Hemel Hempstead.
Gas locomotives. 33.
See also Issue No. 1 for account of East Greenwich Gasworks belonging to South Metropolitan Gas Co. Upper picture shows Number 2, a Hawthorn Leslie 0-4-0ST WN 2095/1887, and No. 16, a Peckett 0-4-0ST WN 1285/1912. Lower picture shows No. 17, another Peckett 0-4-0ST with train of side-tip wagon.

Jackson, Paul. Non-recovery coke making in the UK. Part 2: The Coppée oven continued: a survey of Coppée non-recovery coke ovens built and use in the United Kingdom. 34-51.
Coppée ovens were installed at Plean Colliery near Glasgow in Scotland; St Helens Collieries at Siddick near Workington; by Bolckow Vaughan & Co. at Leasingthorne Colliery near Bishop Auckland and at West Auckland Colliery; by North Bitchburn Coal Co. at the Randolph Coking Plant in Evenwood; Bowling Iron Co. near Bradford; Barrow Hematite Steel Co., Worsborough near Barnsley; Newton Chambers & Co. Thorncliffe Ironworks Chapeltown; Guest Keen & Nettlefold, Dowlais, Merthyr Tydfil; Pyle & Blaina Works; by Ebbw Vale Steel, Iron & Coal Co., at Victoria Coke Ovens, Ebbw Vale and at Marine Colliery, Ebbw Vale; Blaenavon Iron & Steel Co.; by Tredegar Iron & Coal Co. at Ty Trist Colliery, Tredegar and at McLaren Colliery, Abertysswg; Rhymney Iron Co., Rhymney; Crawshay Bros., Cyfarthfa Ironworks, Merthyr Tydfil; Powell Duffryn Steam Coal Co., Elliot Colliery, New Tredegar; by Baldwins Ltd, at Swansea Haematite Works, Landore and at Cwmavon Works near Port Talbot; Briton Ferry Works Ltd; Cambrian Coke Co., Briton Ferry; by Glamorgan Coal Co. at Llwynypia Collieries and at Penrhiwfer Colliery, Williamstown, near Penygraig; by North's Navigation Collieries at Maesteg Deep Colliery and at Tondu Ironworks; Ffaldau Collieries Co. at Pontycymmer; United National Collieries at North Risca Black Vein Colliery; Great Western Colliery Co., Gyfeillion, near Trehafod; Elders Navigation Collieries, Garth Merthyr Colliery; Bryncethin Colliery, near Tondu.   

Pope, Ian.  The Chain Makers & Strikers Association. 52-64
Photographs from booklet produced to celebrate Semi-Jubilee in July 1914 of this trade union in which Thomas Stitch (1852-1923) was a leading figure

Issue 66 (June 2010)

Pontywaun Viaduct. front cover (colour)

Churchbridge edge tool works of William Gilpin & Co. inside front cover
Near Cannock: works manufactured edge tools (such as chisels), augers, hammers etc and had tilt, rolling and grinding mills and furnaces. It was connected to the Gilpin family owned collieries and brickworks by a narrow gauge railway (visible in picture), the Churchbridge branch of the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal (visible) and a siding from the LNWR (vans visible), also open wagons from GNR and MR.

Frowen, Foster. Hall's Tramroad: Abercarn. Pert 5. The Great Western years: deep mines and passengers. 2-33.
Previous Part see Issue 60 page 17. This part follows the route of the Tramroad mainly as illustrated by photographs taken by the GWR prior to upgrading the line to handle traffic from new collieries (illustrated during construction); then during the railway's final decline with the closure of the collieries and the railway. Since then a road bypass has been built over the route (not ilustrated).. Some sections (photographs) defy description; other pages required detailed analysis (especially where they spread over two pages)>

Lower Cross Keys and Risca June 1930: junction with Hall's Tramroad. 3
Halls Viaduct: plan (GWR). 4-5.
Pontywaun viaduct 1887 with timber supports. 4 bottom
Pontywaun viaduct "later" with timber supports removed and old viaduct taken down. 5 bottom
Pontywaun 1887 viaduct elevation. 6-7
Pontywaun original viaduct elevation with collapse shown on elevation..
Pontywaun original viaduct showing deterioration, timber supports
Pontywaun viaduct plan from R.A. Cooke's Track layout diagrams of the GWR 8 upper
Ebbw Vale Iron & Steel Co's Cwmcarn Colliery under development. 8 lower
Edward Marsh dropside three-plank wagon built Gloucester Railway Carriage & Wagon Co. of 1911. 9
Tir Philkins Colliery. 10 upper
Tir Philkins bridge. cf 31 upper 10 lower
level crossing prior to colliery development. 11 upper 7 lower; 12
Waterloo Colliery with wagons owned W. Alfred Phillips, coal exporter. 13
Sod cutting at Oakdale Colliery on 20 April 1907. 14 (2 views)
Site of Oakdate Halt. 15 upper
Oakdale Colliery 15 lower; 16 (2 views)
View from Argoed towards tramroad showing train and spire of Cwrt-y-Bela Church in far distance. 17
Level crossing at Cwrt-y-Bela with crossing keeper's cottage. 18
Argoed : shows sharper curve followed by original tramroad. 19
Cwrt-y-Bela school with level crossing. 20 upper
view over valley to Cwrt-y-Bela school. 20 lower
Christopher Pond's siding. 22 (2 views)
Llanover Colliery owned Bargoed Coal Co. 23
Llanover Colliery. 24
Southern portion of Tramroad as shown on R.A. Cooke's Track layout diagrams of the GWR. 24
Abernant-y-Felin viaduct (2 views). 25
Markham Colliery under construction (2 views). 26
0-4-0ST Diamond owned Abercarn Tinplate Works. 27
Later period
9F 2-10-0s on route of former Tramroad (No. 92005 in lower illus.. 28.
Oakdale Colliery in NCB/British Railways days. 29 upper
Markham Colliery in NCB/British Railways days showing Telfer ropeway. 29 lower
No. 6434 0-6-0PT at Penar Halt with SLS special on 12 July 1958. 30 upper
Penmaen Halt in 1990. 30 lower.
Tir Philkins. cf 10 lower 31 upper
railway near Spiteful Cottages. 31 lower
Type 37 on last train from Oakdale Colliery on 1 June 1990. 32 upper
Salvage train hauled by 37174. 32 lower
Hall's Road Junction. 33 upper
Lime Kiln Sidings signal box. 33 lower

Skimpings. 34-6
Buses in Didcot Station forecourt c1960. 34.
City of Oxford Motor Services AEC Reliance WJO 741 on service to Wallingford and Tappins Albion Nimbus NJB 819.
Thames Valley Traction Co. Guy Arab Mk III. 35 upper
Guy Arab Mk III FMO 516. on service to Lambourn
Reliance Motor Services Ltd of Newbury: two vintage coaches. 35 lower
Leyland Tiger UF 8832 with diesel engine and Bedford OB KKX 40

A Yankee in the North East. 36 upper
Davenport Locomotive Works 0-6-0T (WN 2509/1943) leaving Percy Main with train of empties for Seaton Delaval. Further information on Hartley Main Colliery and its railways in Archive 4 page 30, 5 page 23, and 6. page 47.
Two road locomotives hauling one railway locomotive. 36 lower
In spite of rhe new level crossing in Sheringham visiting locomotives to the "North Norfolk Railway" still arrive by road so the awe inspiring vision of a locomotive on a low loader being hauled by a diesel-engined road "traction" is still an everyday occurence.  In the 1900s it must have been more unusual. The road locomotives are fairly typical and the railway locomotive is probably an 0-6-0ST probably supplied by Manning Wardle and is not new. There are six onlookers and a dog (unlikely candidate for Cruft's).  One of the boys is wearing an Eton collar (does not imply future prime minister) and one of the men is wearing a bowler. Trees not in leaf: looks like an estate road.

Coalbrookdale locomotives. 37.
No. 5 and chassis of No. 6 are preserved at Coalbrookdale at the Ironbridge Gorge Museum, but this pair of photographs probably date to period just before WW1.

Ellesmere Port. 38.
Lancashire: see also Issue 65 inside front cover

Inbye [letters]. 39
Ellesmere Port revisited. Roy Fenton.
See Issue 65 page 2 et seq and especially illustration inside front cover and the one opposite (page 38) where steamer is identified as Lancashire: vessel was built at Paisley in 1892 and was originally owned by John J. Mack & Sons of Liverpool, then passed through several hands before being broken up in 1936 on River Wear. Also identifies ships in images on page 8 upper and lower which had letter "M" on funnel as the Marena built in 1908 for Joseph Monks & Co. and on page 9 the Clarrie. Also visible are the distinctive crossed battleaxes on the funnle of vessel which was probably the Admiral, built in Maryport in 1906 for Rear Admiral John Parry Jones-Parry to convey slate from his quarries in the Llyn Peninsula eventually named First when owned by Ulster shipping company. The decline of Ellesmere port was due to lack of interest by its owner, the LNWR, which concentrated upon developing is dock at Garston. The effect of the Manchester Ship Canal was beneficial in the longer term 
Mystery gas works. Ron Harper.
See Issue 65 page 32 view over Boxmoor/Hemel Hempstead with gas works on Midland Railway branch line from Harpenden: see also Woodward, S. and Woodward, G. The Harpenden to Hemel Hempstead Railway: the Nickey Line (KPJ wonderful cycleway until it fades away in an industrial estate)

Taylor, Mike. A history of the Humber waterways on picture postcards. Part 1: craft and their evolution. 40-57.

Ward, Alan. Wiltshire Fordsons at work. 58-60
Further selection in Issue 65 page 24 Photographs from the R. Selbourne Collection  Includes thrashing machine being driven via a flat belt off a tractor; an elevator; Fordson F alongside timber silo, a Martin cultivator, Fordson M O M with Oliver two-furrow plough,  Fordson F powering a McCormick reaper/binder, adapted horse-drawn muck spreader and a Cockshutt riding plough.

2010-06-12