No 197 Jan 2014 1 www.sihg.org.uk

Frank Paine extolling the virtues of . See page 6.

Stationary Engine and Tracton Engine - a small part of the display set up to accompany the Meccano talk. Photos by Pat & Neil Cryer. Newsletter 197 January 2014 2 Contents 2 Notices 4 Venues, Times & Contacts 5 Diary 20 January 2014 - 31 March 2014 6 Meccano - ‘Engineering in miniature’ by Frank Paine report by Celia Gregory 6 The Roman Wooden Water Pump - An ingenious Machine by Dr Richard Stein report by Jan Spencer 8 Guildford Railway Station by Roger Nicholas report by Allan Wheeler 9 Dash up the Channel by Roy Johnson 10 Industrial Archaeology News No. 167 Winter 2013 review by Gordon Knowles

Reports & Notices Details of meetings are reported in good faith, but information may become out of date.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

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

SERIAC 2014 South East Regional Industrial Archaeology Conference " Bricks, Bugs & Computers" Saturday 12 April 2014, hosted by Greater London Industrial Archaeology Society with the help of Croydon Natural History & Scientific Society and Subterranea Britannica at Royal Russell School, Croydon Programme & application form enclosed and can also be downloaded from www.sihg.org.uk

Surrey Industrial History Group Officers Chairman & Lectures Organiser: Robert Bryson [email protected] Secretary: Hugh Anscombe [email protected] Treasurer & Sales: Anne Lea [email protected] Membership Secretary: Pam Taylor [email protected] Newsletter Editor: Jan Spencer [email protected]

SIHG is a group of the Archaeological Society, Registered Charity No 272098 Castle Arch Guildford Surrey GU1 3SX, Group President: Prof AG Crocker FSA

Published by Surrey Industrial History Group, printed by YesPrint 3 Leafy Oak Workshops Cobbetts Lane Yateley GU17 9LW © SIHG 2014 ISSN 1355-8188 Newsletter 197 January 2014 3 SIHG Newsletter No 197 January 2014 DIARY 38th series of SIHG Industrial Archaeology Lectures Alternate Tuesdays, 19:30-21:30, Education Centre, The Cathedral, Guildford Single lectures at £5, payable on the night, are open to all. The Education Centre is the first building on the left near the top of the road up to the cathedral; enter by the first door you come to. There is easy parking and almost step-free access Maps at www.sihg.org.uk.

Thursday Morning Lectures at Leatherhead, 10:00, programme on page 7. If you wish to attend a particular talk only, please contact us first. Enquires to Programme Co-ordinator Bob Bryson: [email protected].

SIHG Leatherhead Programme on Thursday Mornings, see page 3 for more details

23 Jan Roads That Were Never Built by John Wettern, L&DLHS. 30 Jan Development of Electricity Supply in Guildford and Leatherhead by John Selves, National Grid. 6 Feb Airships - Facts and Fallacies by Alan Thomas, SIHG. 13 Feb SIHG Visit to Bletchley Park Museum, details on page 3; book now! 20 Feb Huguenot Watchmakers in London by David Thompson. 27 Feb Idle Women WWII by Mike Constable, Canal and Waterways Trust. 6 Mar Design & Construction of the Crystal Palace by Michael Gilbert, Historian. 13 Mar Crofton Pumping Station by Ian Broom, Kennet & Avon Canal Trust. 20 Mar Early Electric Railways - 25 KV by Geoff Roles & Ken Tythacott, SIHG.

Surrey Industrial History Group Half-term Visit on Thursday 13 February 2014 Bletchley Park Alan Turing has been in the news recently; Bletchley is where he and others did their code-breaking in WWII. Enigma machines, the Bombe and other devices are on display. The National Museum of Computing, can also be visited for £2.50. The National Radio Centre is free to visitors to BP, but is not always open.

Refreshments: You can buy coffee and lunch in the museum café. Travel: The coach will depart promptly at 09:15 from the furthest end of the rear car park of the Leatherhead Leisure Centre. Parking in the departure area is free, but you must obtain a permit from Geoff Roles on arrival; please share cars if possible. We aim to return to Leatherhead by 17:30. The cost is £25, reduced to £20 for those on the Leatherhead course. Guests will be welcome subject to availability of seating on the coach.

Please contact Geoff Roles (01372 453713) or Bob Bryson (01483 577809) now as we need numbers by the end of January.

The deadline for submitting copy for the next Newsletter is 10 March 2014 Submissions are accepted in typescript, on a disc, or by email to [email protected]. Anything related to IA will be considered. Priority will be given to Surrey-based or topical articles. Contributions will be published as soon as space is available. Readers are advised that the views of contributors are not necessarily the views of SIHG. Website: www.sihg.org.uk Newsletter 197 January 2014 4

Venues, Times & Contacts

The venue list has been updated for 2014, with the latest times and costs (normal/concessions) where known. Opening times given for museums are for general admission, rather than the times of talks. Most venues open 30 minutes before the start of the presentation. Please keep this list for reference.

Addlestone Historical Society: 20:00; £2; Addlestone Community Centre, Garfield Road, Addlestone KT15 2NJ; www.addlestonehistory.net. Albury History Society: 20:00, £2? Albury Village Hall, The Street, Albury, Guildford GU5 9AD. Ancient Technology Centre : 10:00-16:00; £5; Damerham Road, Cranborne, Dorset BH21 5RP; (behind school); 01725 517618, www.ancienttechnologycentre.co.uk, Anne of Cleves House: Tue-Sat 10:00-17:00, Sun-Mon 10:00-17:00; £5.20/£4.80; 52 Southover High Street, Lewes, Sussex BN7 1JA; 01273 474610. , Surrey & Hants Canal Society: 20:00, free; the Pavilion, Recreation Ground, Station Road, Chobham GU24 8AZ; www.basingstoke-canal.org.uk. BIAG, Berkshire Industrial Archaeology Group: 19:30; £2.50; Garden Room, Watlington House, Watlington Street, Reading RG1 4RG ; www.biag.org.uk. : £2.50-£16.50; Sheffield Park Station, East Sussex TN22 3QL; www.bluebell-railway.com; 01825 720800 . British Postal Museum Store: Must book; Unit 7, Imprimo Park, Debden Ind Est, Lenthall Rd, Loughton IG10 3UE; www.postalheritage.org.uk; 020 7239 2570. Brooklands: open Summer 10:00-17:00, Winter 10:00-16:00; £11/£9.90; Brooklands Rd, Weybridge, Surrey KT13 0QN; www.brooklandsmuseum.com; 01932 857381. Brunel Museum: Sun 10:45, Tue 18:15; £9/£7; walks from Bermondsey Tube; just turn up, www.brunel-museum.org.uk. Bursledon Brickworks: Open days £5/£4, Thu £3/£2; Coal Park Lane, Swanwick, Southampton SO31 7GW; www.bursledonbrickworks.org.uk; 01489 576248. Chatham Historic Dockyard: 10:00-18:00, £17.50/£15; Chatham, Kent ME4 4TZ; www.thedockyard.co.uk; 01634 823800. CNHSS, Croydon Natural History & Scientific Society: 19:45; free? UR Church Hall, Addiscombe Grove, E Croydon CR0 5LP; http://tinyurl.com/qebt8sw; 0208 668 1431. Chatley Heath Semaphore Tower: Open days; £3/£2; Ockham Common, off A3, S of junction 10, M25; park at Boldermere or Pond car park on Old Lane, 20 minutes walk. Crossness Pumping Station : 10:30-16:00, £6; The Old Works, Crossness STW, Belvedere Road, Abbey Wood, London SE2 9AQ; www.crossness.org.uk; 020 8311 3711. Croydon Airport Visitor Centre: open some Sun, 11:00-16:00, free; Airport House, Purley Way, Croydon CR0 0XZ. Cuffley Industrial Heritage Society: 20:00, £4; Northaw Village Hall, 5 Northaw Road West, Northaw EN6 4NW; www.cihs.org.uk. Docklands History Group: 18:00, £2; Museum of London Docklands, No 1 Warehouse, West India Quay, Hertsmere Rd, Canary Wharf, London E14 4AL; www.docklandshistorygroup.org.uk; 01689 851982. Dunsfold Wings & Wheels: £25/£22.50; Dunsfold Park, 9 m S of Guildford, satnav GU6 8HY; www.wingsandwheels.net; 01483 542226. Greater London Industrial History Society: 18:30; Swedenborgian Lecture Theatre, Barter Street by Kingsway Underground Station; www.glias.org.uk. Greenwich Industrial History: 19:30, £1; Old Bakehouse, rear of Age Exchange Centre, opp Blackheath Stn, Bennett Park, 11 Blackheath Village, SE3 9LA; no parking. Guildford Group SyAS: 19:30, £3; United Reformed Church (side door) (parking behind church), 83 Portsmouth Rd, Guildford GU2 4BS; www.surre yarchaeology.org.uk. HIAS, Industrial Archaeology Society: 19:45, free; Underhill Centre, St. John's Road, Hedge End, Hants SO30 4AF; www.hias.org.uk; 01962 855200. Honeywood Museum: open Wed-Fri 11:00-17:00, Sat-Sun, BH Mon 10:00-17:00, free; . Honeywood Walk, Carshalton SM6 3NX; 020 8770 4297. Honeywood Museum Friends: 19:30, £3.50; www.friendsofhoneywood.co.uk; 020 8773 0185. Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE): various locations; www.ice.org.uk. Kempton Great Engines: 10:30-16:00, £7/£6; Snakey Lane, off elevated section of A316, Hanworth, Middx; entrance TW13 7ND; www.kemptonsteam.org; 01932 765328. Kew Bridge Steam Museum: closed until late March; Green Dragon Lane, Brentford, Middx TW8 0EN; www.kbsm.org; 020 8568 4757. London Canal Museum: Open 10:00-16:30; Talks 19:30, £4/£3; 12/13 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RT; www.canalmuseum.org.uk; 0207 713 0836. London Transport Museum Depot: tours 11:00 & 14:00; must book, £10/£8.50; 2 Museum Way, 118-120 Gunnersbury Lane, Acton, London W3 9BQ; www.ltmuseum.co.uk; 020 7565 7298. London Underground Railway Society: 19:15, cost? Upper Room, All Souls Clubhouse, 141 Cleveland Street, London W1T 6QG; www.lurs.org.uk. Lowfield Heath Windmill: 14:00-17:00, free/donation; Russ Hill, Charlwood RH6 0EL (TQ 234 407). www.ockleywindmill.co.uk/lowfieldheathwindmill.htm 01403 272664. Markfield Beam Engne and Museum: 11:00-17:00, cost? Markfield Road, South Tottenham, London N15 4RB; www.mbeam.org; 01707 873 628. MERL, Museum of English Rural Life: open Tue-Fri 09:00-17:00, Sat-Sun 14:00-16:30, free/donation; Redlands Road, Reading, Berkshire RG1 5EX, www.reading.ac.uk/merl/; 0118 378 8660. Michelham Priory Watermill: most afternoons, £7.80/£6.80; Upper Dicker, Hailsham, East Sussex BN27 3QS; 01323 844224. Morden Hall Park: Morden Hall Road, Morden, London SM4 5JD; www.nationaltrust.org.uk/morden-hall-park; 020 8545 6850;. National Trust: www.nationaltrust.org.uk, 01483 561389. Newcomen Society London: 17:45, free; Fellows’ Room, Science Museum, Exhibition Road, London SW7 2DD; http://newcomen.com. Newcomen Society Portsmouth: 18:30; free; Burnaby Building, University of Portsmouth, Portland St, Portsmouth PO1 3QL; http://newcomen.com. Portsmouth Historic Dockyard : 10:00-17:30, site ticket, annual £26/£24.25; HM Naval Base, Portsmouth PO1 3LJ; www.historicdockyard.co.uk; 02392 728060. Railway and Canal Historical Society :18:30, free? The Rugby Tavern, Rugby Street, London WC1N 3ES; www.rchs.org.uk. (Continued on page 5) Newsletter 197 January 2014 5

(Continued from page 4) Richmond Lock and Weir: Surrey bank Twickenham TW1 1QX; TQ 170 751; Middlesex bank, Ranelagh Drive, Twickenham TW1; www.pla.co.uk/About-Us/Richmond-Lock-and-Weir. Rotherhithe & Bermondsey Local History Group: 19:00 or 19:45, £2; Time & Talents Centre, The Old Mortuary, St Mary Church Street, Rotherhithe Village, London SE16 4JE; www.rbhistory.org.uk. Rural Life Centre: open Summer Wed-Sun 10:00-17:00, Winter Wed/Sun 10:00-16:00; £8.50/£7.50; Old Kiln Museum, Reeds Road, Tilford, , Surrey GU10 2DL; www.rural-life.org.uk; 01252 795571. Saddlescombe: always viewable, 2 m N of A27 ring road & 1 m S of A281; TQ273115. Shirley Windmill: open days 13:00-17:00, free/donation; Postmill Close, Shirley, Croydon CR0 5DY, www.shirleywindmill.org.uk STEAM - Museum of the Great Western Railway: 1000-1600, £8/£6.50; Kemble Drive, Swindon SN2 2TA; www.steam-museum.org.uk; 01793 466 646. Streatham Society: 20:00, free; ‘Woodlawns’, 16 Leigham Court Road, Streatham, London SW16 2PJ; www.streathamsociety.org.uk; 020 8764 8314. Surrey History Centre: Tue/Fri, 09:30-17:00, Wed 10:15-17:00, Thu 09:30-19:30, Sat 09:30-16:00; free; 130 Goldsworth Road, , Surrey GU21 6ND, www.surreycc.gov.uk/surreyhistorycentre; 01483 518737. U3A Fetcham: Mon 10:00, £1 or £2; Fetcham Village Hall; www.fetchamu3a.org.uk/industrial.heritage1. Upminster Windmill: some Sat/Sun 14:00-17:00, free/donation; The Mill Field, St. Mary's Lane. Upminster, Essex, RM14 2QL; www.upminsterwindmill.co.uk; 0300 030 1803. Walthamstow Pumphouse Museum: from Sun 2 March 2014, 11:00-16:00, £2/£1; 10 South Access Rd, Walthamstow, London E17 8AX; www.walthamstowpumphousemuseum.org.uk, 020 8521 1766. Walton-on-the-Hill & District Local History Society: 20:00, £2; The Riddell Hall, Walton-on-the-Hill KT20 7UA; www.waltonandtadworthlhs.org.uk Wanborough Barn: open some Sat/Sun, 14:00-17:00, free; Wanborough, Surrey; SU997493; off A31 Guildford to Farnham; www.wanboroughgreatbarn.co.uk. , Mid Hants Railway: all day travel £14, free on non-running days; Station Rd, Alresford, Hants SO24 9JG; (or Station Rd, Alton, Hants GU34 2PZ); www.watercressline.co.uk; 01962 733810. Weald & Downland Open Air Museum, 10:30-18:00, £11.50/£10.50; Singleton, Chichester, West Sussex PO18 0EU; www.wealddown.co.uk; 01243 811348. Wealden Cave & Mine Society: some Sats, 10:00-16:00, £3/£2; tours of Reigate Caves in Tunnel off High Street, Reigate; www.wcms.org.uk. Westcott Local History Group: 20:00, £1; Westcott Reading Room, Institute Rd, Westcott, RH4 3NP; www.westcotthistory.org.uk. Whitchurch Silk Mill: Tue-Sun, bank hols, £4.50/£4; 28 Street, Whitchurch, Hampshire RG28 7AL; www.whitchurchsilkmill.org.uk, 1256 892065.

Diary January 2014 28 Tue Guildford SIHG Lecture of the 38th Series: Window Glass from the 14th Century up to the Present Day by Don Tyzack, Glass Historian & Author

Diary February 2014 11 Tue Guildford SIHG Lecture of the 38th Series: Alexander Raby and Downside Mill - Their place in the Industrial Revolution by Richard Savage, SyAS. 13 Thu SIHG Visit Bletchley Park Museum: See page 3 for details. SIGN UP NOW. 25 Tue Guildford SIHG Lecture of the 38th Series: Dennis Brothers Motor vehicles by John Dennis, Grandson of founder & Roger Heard, former Director.

Diary March 2014 11 Tue Guildford SIHG Lecture of the 38th Series: British engineers in Europe by Sue Hayton, GLIAS Member.

Venues, Times & Contacts are on page 4. Newsletter 197 January 2014 6

SIHG Lecture 5 November 2013 Meccano - ‘Engineering in miniature’ by Frank Paine report by Celia Gregory

In advance of the meeting the speaker assembled an ing his own company as in 1908. The sets engaging display of models, mostly made from pre-war were made in and were exported to many Meccano sets, with pride of place being taken by an countries. ex-shop display working model of Tower Bridge. This In 1912, Hornby and his son Roland formed Meccano Frank had purchased in a very poor condition for £10, (France) Ltd to manufacture sets. The original Liverpool and lovingly restored to show for charity. factory was outgrown, and a new one built in that city Another ex-shop display model was a small “Rocket” which became the company headquarters for over sixty engine, which cost him £20. This was designed to run years. for months on end. Hornby also developed clockwork lithographed tinplate One model I particularly liked was an Edwardian racing O scale trains in 1927, die-cast in 1934 and car, made from components over seventy years old. the Hornby Dublo model railway system, which was introduced in1938 after his death from heart disease in Frank emphasized that his restoration hobby was rela- 1936. tively inexpensive. Frank Paine concluded his talk by showing photographs Next we heard about the life of Frank Hornby, who was of extended Meccano sets, which at their zenith in 1936- born one hundred and fifty years ago. He initially 38 had as many as 500 parts, and of the Meccano Maga- worked as a cashier in his father’s business and later as zine published by the company, which in 1916 had sold a bookkeeper to David Elliott. In his spare time, in 40,000 copies. Members were able to look at some actu- 1899, Frank made sheet metal toys for his two sons. He al sets and magazines which Frank had brought. realized that putting regularly spaced perforations in the structural strips enabled them to be bolted together in a Frank Paine is the chair of SELMEC - The South East variety of ways and also to act as bearings for axles and London Meccano Club, www.selmec.org.uk. ¤ shafts. This was the beginning of “Mechanics Made Easy” which, with financial help from his partner, David El- liott, went on sale in 1902. Demand for the product steadily grew, and in 1907, Hornby registered “Meccano” as a trade mark, launch-

SIHG Lecture 26 November 2013 The Roman Wooden Water Pump - An ingenious Machine by Dr Richard Stein report by Jan Spencer

In retirement, Richard became fascinated by Roman wooden force pumps and studied for a doctorate at Reading University, overseen by members of both the Archaeology and Engineering Faculties.

The history of force pumps started with the inventions attributed to Ctesibius of Alexandria, 270BC. Ten early bronze pumps, with complicated soldering, have been The Wederath preserved. pump block, showing The Roman design of pumps used the ancient principles, the valve chamber but employed wood to making the pump easier and and the cheaper to produce and large enough to pump a much horizontal passages. more useful volume of water. (w 320 mm x d 230 mm x Ten of the eighteen pumps discovered were in the h 540 mm.) Rhine/Moselle area and two were found in England. The (From Inst Arch CD, Silchester, Hampshire, pump, AD 100-300, was in a Richard Stein) shallow well only 2.7m deep and 0.7m wide, while the one from Tarrant Hinton, Dorset, AD 100-400, was in a 26.4m deep well, 1.7m across.

(Continued on page 7) Newsletter 197 January 2014 7 The Roman Wooden Water Pump - An ingenious Machine (continued from page 6)

Each pump is fashioned out of a single large block of oak, as described below. The three-dimensional diagram A B on the right should help to make the construction clear. The block has several bored holes which connect inter- nally and are plugged where they are not intended to reach the outside directly. The two cylinders, each lined with a flanged lead sleeve, are drilled right through. The inlet tubes penetrate the base plugs which also hold the inlet valves. A central, cuboidal, chamber carved out from the front face has two bores from below which are capped by the pair of outlet valves. Horizontal tubes are drilled to cross these two bores to connect them to the base of each cylinder. All four of these tubes are plugged where they enter the block. The central chamber is sealed at the front. The delivery tube rises vertically from the central chamber and feeds interconnected lengths of bored tree trunk rising to the surface. Above ground is a long see-saw lever which would have been operated by men pulling down at each end. Wooden connecting rods, with oval guides at interval down the well, pull one piston up, allowing water into the cylinder, while the other is pushed down to force the water up. Similar pumps, but portable, would also have been used as effective fire-fighting units. Only one example, from the amphitheatre in Trier, has survived.

Finally, the functioning, volume of flow, power and effi- ciency were discussed. ¤ 3D view of a typical pump drawn for the author by Robert Spain References: Richard J. B. Stein: Roman Wooden Force Pumps; PhD thesis, School of Human and Environmental Sciences, Department of Archaeology, University of Reading, Left: The Sablon 2007. Download from http://ethos.bl.uk/ (near Metz, France), OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.444026; pump modelled in you need to log in to get a free download. marzipan as a birthday cake for Richard Stein Video of University of Augsburg students making a by his wife Alison. pump and using it, www.youtube.com/watch? (Image sent by v=hlckDdlUoSk, (No sound; titles in German.) Richard Stein to Silchester (Alleva Atrebatum Roman Town), Current Archaeology SU 637 626, RG7 2HP, is being excavated by the and published in University of Reading’s Department of Archaeology issue 261.) and is open to the public. See www.reading.ac.uk/silchester/. Tarrant Hinton Roman Villa exhibits are at Priest's House Museum & Garden, 23-27 High Street, Wimborne Minster, Dorset BH21 1HR.. Image www.dorsetmuseums.co.uk/priests-house- museum-and-garden. The Wederath site is Archäologiepark Belginum, Vicus Belginum, Keltenstraße 2, 54497 Morbach, Germany (near the Luxemburg border). Image from www.archaeology.co.uk/specials/cakes/ roman-pumps.htm Right: part of a Roman wooden force pump from Tarrant Hinton Roman Villa (Priest's House Museum & Garden, Wimborne Minster). Newsletter 197 January 2014 8

SIHG Lecture 1 October 2013 Guildford Railway Station by Roger Nicholas report by Allan Wheeler

The talk covered the south of the SER’s Shal- history of Guildford ford junction, both compa- station from its begin- nies having joint running nings until the end of powers on LSWR’s lines steam in the late 1960s, into Guildford. reflecting the speaker’s At this time Guildford sta- life-long interest in the tion had no signal boxes. railways of Guildford. It There was thus no central- became the junction be- ised control of signals, tween the lines of three these being individually railway companies: the operated by hand, as were London and South West- points. ern Railway (LSWR), the South Eastern Rail- In 1873, three people were way (SER) and the Lon- killed in an accident in- don, Brighton and South volving a derailment at Coast Railway (LBSCR). Peasmarsh Junction and in 1895 there was a roof col- By 1840, the London and lapse in St Catherine’s Southampton Railway Tunnel, the more southerly had been completed from Guildford Station in 1958, viewed from the road bridge. tunnel. Nine Elms (Vauxhall) Photo from www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2663116, through Woking Com- © Copyright Ben Brooksbank and licensed During the 1880s, the sta- mon, Basingstoke and for reuse under a Creative Commons licence. tion was enlarged and re- Winchester. The compa- built with seven platforms ny soon changed its name to the LSWR, and in 1845 a and the provision of a station master’s house. In 1885, the branch from Woking to Guildford (the Guildford Junction LSWR’s Guildford New Line opened via Clandon, Horsley Railway) was opened, operated by the LSWR from the and Oxshott joining the LSWR main line near Surbiton, outset. The GJR promoters had intended to build it with with a branch to Leatherhead, providing additional routes to square-section wooden rails, employing a principle invent- London. An engine shed lay to the north of the station, later ed by William Prosser. This involved the use of flangeless demolished to make way for the station’s enlargement. It wooden wheels on locomotives and rolling stock which was replaced by a larger semi-circular one to the south. were kept on the track by grooved guide wheels pressing at By 1900 there was a goods department. West of the station, 45° to the sides and tops of the rails. However, this would the Guildford Park Road area was developed to house prevent through working to Guildford meaning a change at railway employees. Woking, and so it was decided not to adopt the principle, resulting in the GJR paying Prosser compensation. (He During the First World War the by then South Eastern & went on to successfully demonstrate his idea on Wimble- Chatham route was used to supply the Western Front. Its don Common.) The system was used on the Paris Metro 50 1848 viaduct over the had been replaced in years later. 1913. The Reading, Guildford and Reigate Railway reached In 1923, the LSWR, LBSCR and the SECR were merged to Guildford from Redhill in 1849, the year after Waterloo create the Southern Railway under the Railways Act of had become the London LSWR terminus. The RG&RR 1921. The SR soon embarked on electrification of was soon operated by the SER leading to a merger of the many of its routes between then and 1939. In 1925, electri- two companies. (The SER, its London terminus at Charing fication reached Guildford via the New Line and a new bay Cross, had hoped that by linking to Reading it could tap in platform (1) was built. Celebrations heralded the arrival of to cross-country traffic for the Kent Channel coast.) the first electric train; these early trains comprised ex-steam stock bodies put on new underframes. By 1937 electrifica- Also in 1849, the Woking-Guildford line was extended to tion of the Portsmouth and Farnham/Alton routes was com- Godalming and the LSWR opened a line to Farnham via plete. Ash and Tongham (extended to Alton 1852). SER trains to Reading used this route as far as Ash. The Godalming ex- In 1945 there were 80 steam locomotives allocated to tension’s construction included two tunnels – through the Guildford shed, but by the end of steam in 1967 just four North Downs and St Catherine’s Hill. The SER built earth- were left. Post-war, they were used on non-electrified works for an east-south spur at Shalford Junction on the routes such as to Reading, Redhill and the Bentley- Goldalming extension but it was never used. In 1859 Godalming was connected to Havant on LBSCR’s Bright- branch of the Alton line, as well as on freight workings. on-Portsmouth line as the Portsmouth Direct Railway. There were sidings on the west side of the station; uses (This had been promoted by Portsmouth townsfolk wanting included the handling of cattle and D-Day traffic. In 1965, a shorter route to London – the LBSCR and LSWR had the Horsham line, steam operated throughout its life, was already reached Portsmouth via Brighton and Bishopstoke closed. Today, the station handles 8m passengers a year. ¤ [Eastleigh] respectively.) Operated by the LSWR from the outset, the failure of protracted negotiations with the LBSCR concerning territorial and joint operating agree- ments led to the ‘Battle of Havant’. This prevented PDR trains reaching Portsmouth for a month (with passengers having to continue by horse bus) until resolved in law. In 1865, LBSCR trains reached Guildford from Horsham; this route joined the main line at Peasmarsh Junction just Newsletter 197 January 2014 9

SIHG Members’ Talks 10 Decenber 2013 Dash up the Channel by Roy Johnson

Schlachtschiff Scharnhorst This file is licensed under the Creative Commons - Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Germany license Attribution: Bundesarchiv, DVM 10 Bild-23-63-07 / CC-BY-SA

In February 1942 the German High Command had three some thirty ships, having collected a defensive screen of of their capital ships in the Atlantic part of Brest under- six destroyers and numerous E-boats and minesweepers. going repairs for battle damage and re-arming in prepara- Overhead the Luftwaffe were able to maintain a superi- tion for future active service. or air cover of mainly ME109s and FW190s, from their close range airfields in France. The possibility of these three ships joining up with the battleship Turpitz, located in the Norwegian port of Although the bravery of the British attacking forces was Trondheim, posed a major threat to future allied convoy outstanding and almost suicidal, their endeavours turned movements in the Atlantic and the North Sea. out to be totally ineffectual. The Royal Navy made contingency plans to cover, in MTBs and MGBs never got past the E-boat screen. The particular, the possibility of the ships at Brest going up antiquated Swordfish, Beaufort torpedo and Hudson the Channel through the Straights of Dover, whilst all the bombers with limited Spitfire protection were time the RAF mounted hundreds of raids sustaining sitting ducks for the ack-ack screens and superior heavy loses against the now heavily fortified French German fighters. port. The shore-batteries at Dover, virtually blind in poor Fully aware that intelligence about preparations for any visibility with ineffective and inefficient radar, only got movement of the vessels would be passed to the British off 33 rounds and did not score a single hit. by the French Underground, the Kriegsmarine (German As a last ditch attempt at naval interception, six old RN Navy) mounted various ruses to confuse the true inten- destroyers, relieved temporarily of convoy duties, made tion; a major factor in these was the destination and time steam from Harwich but apart from being bombed by of eventual departure. the RAF who were unaware of their involvement, never British understanding was clear; if and when the three got near enough to make the torpedoes that were fired battle cruisers attempted to move up the Channel to the effective. safety of home ports they would do so by passing Such it was that the formidable German battle fleet through the pinch point of the Dover Straights at night. arrived in safe home waters almost completely Such was the beginning of the fiasco which would be unscathed; suffering just slight mine damage to recorded by history as the “Dash up the Channel”: since Scharnhorst and Prinz Eugen. the Kriegsmarine decided to leave Brest at night passing The “Dash up the Channel” is now documented as much Dover in the daylight mists and completely wrong- for its chaotic, suicidal approach by the British as it was footing the British. for a propaganda coup by the Germans at the time. ¤ Although now somewhat out of sync with expected tim- ing, the Scharnhorst, Gneisenau and Prinz Eugen, having travelled some three hundred miles without de- tection; still had to pass through the narrows of the Dover Straights. Everything available, albeit rather late, was now thrown at the formidable battle group which now consisted of Newsletter 197 January 2014 10

Industrial Archaeology News No. 167 Winter 2013 review by Gordon Knowles

There is a major review of the 2013 Conference in Robert Carr makes several contributions. He comments Dundee by several authors. In spite of the distant loca- on proposals to develop the site of Deptford dockyard tion it was well attended by members from all over and notes that there are extensive subsurface remains Britain and some from overseas. Among the talks, including the Tudor storehouse, the Great Dock, Mast Professor John Hume spoke on the industrial archaeolo- Pond and numerous dock walls. Above ground the Mas- gy of the region with many slides from his own collec- ter Shipwright’s house and the covered shipbuilding tion from the 1950s and 60s, and the Rolt memorial lec- slips of 1840 remain virtually complete. Some redevel- ture was given by Dr Miles Oglethorpe on ‘The public opment is inevitable but hopefully not the proposed benefit of industrial heritage – taking a positive view’. demolition of most of the above ground remains and the The general opinion was that it was one of the most construction of 48 storey tower blocks. He notes that the stimulating Rolt Lectures for some time and as usual Hampton & Kempton Waterworks railway at Hanworth will be published in full in a forthcoming copy of AIA recently reopened after originally working from 1916 to Review. The annual dinner was held on board HMS Uni- 1946. It was used to carry sand for the filter beds and corn, one of last surviving wooden warships. took away boiler ash. Today there is a short 2ft gauge passenger-carrying line. Robert muses that it is fifty There were the usual many and varied visits over the years since Dr Beeching published his infamous report conference period with a day devoted to bridges; from on the reshaping of British railways which led to the the Tay Railway bridge to Smeaton’s 1766 bridge in closure of a third of the railway network and more than Perth via Wade’s Aberfeldy bridge, Brunel’s at Balmor- half the stations. Today railway investment is said to be al, and more. Then trips on the Caledonian Railway and at an all-time high, both here and abroad. ‘Beeching was on an open topped bus around Dundee; mills in Perth, wrong’ is indeed the slogan of the day. Robert also notes Braemar and Aberdeen, printing in Blairgowrie, granite that King’s Cross square has been inaugurated, the quarries, a fishing station, a boatyard and of course a scruffy structures in front of the station have gone and whisky distillery (or two) – with samples! Several muse- Cubitt’s original façade is one again exposed to view. It ums, from jute to aviation and fisheries, with both work- was an advanced design when built in the 1850s. ing and static examples, were included in the varied and extensive programme organised by Mark Watson and his Amber Patrick reports that the South Silo of team. All round an excellent conference. Ditherington Flax Mill, Shrewsbury, for which an appli- cation for its demolition was considered by the AIA, has The 2014 AIA Conference will be held in Chester from now been supported, as it would enable the rest of the 5th to 10th September. site to be retained and developed. The silo was in a poor There is an update by Mike and Cath Turpin on state and the cost of repairs to make it safe would be Box Boat 337 at the National Waterways Museum at considerable and there is no forseeable future re-use of Ellesmere Port. The AIA had made a £15,000 grant the building. The iron-framed building on the site is the towards the rebuilding of the unique vessel. It proved significant one rather than the concrete silos. The AIA impossible to obtain seasoned oak suitable for the also objected to proposed redevelopment of the remain- replanking so ‘green’ timber had to be purchased, caus- ing tannery buildings in Ashford, Kent and the Guest ing an inevitable delay to the project. During the and Chrimes buildings in Rotherham. In both cases dem- ‘deconstruction’ phase all details of the original olition and development applications were granted. construction were documented. As often found in such Other reports include one by Tony Crosby on the air restoration work unforeseen problems arose, the major raid shelters at Halstead, Essex, which were threatened issue was that rot was found in the stem post that had by development for a supermarket, but planning permis- been replaced during earlier work. There was no option but to replace it, shaping and fitting a new oak post. sion has been refused: and Peter Bone reports that Pres- Caulking and hardening up all the seams in the planking ton Bus Station has been listed Grade 2 after a long and was time consuming but the boat at last has begun to bitter campaign. The City Council wanted to demolish look ‘complete’. the building which is one of the outstanding post WWII structures in Britain, but English Heritage intend to con- Graham Thorne reports on the King Edward Mine in tinue dialogue with the Council to seek ways in which Cornwall. It was the site of the then state of the art tin mining instructional school of the Camborne School of the station can remain to play a key role in the life of the Mines in 1897. In 1987 a preservation group was set up city. ¤ and their subsequent work in restoring the mine and opening a museum has been recognised by the award to the Mine Trust of the 83rd Engineering Heritage Award by the Institute of Mechanical Engineers. Security of tenure of the site has also been obtained by the granting of a 30 year lease by Cornwall County Council who had obtained the freehold.