No 188 July 2012 1

www.sihg.org.uk

Rural Life Centre Receives Conservation Award

Presentation of the plaque by Miss Emma Corke (President, Surrey Archaeological Society) to Mr Gerald Baker, leader the Iron Furnace project. See report page 3. Photo Alan Thomas.

Centre: the furnace. Photo Alan Thomas. Bottom: the new roof under construction. Photo Jan Spencer. Newsletter 188 July 2012 2

Contents

2 Notices & Surrey Industrial History Group Officers 3 SIHG 2012 Conservation Award Presentation and AGM by Alan Thomas 3 SIHG Annual Financial Report for 2011/12 from Anne Lea 4 Other Industrial Archaeological Societies 4 Animal Rotary Power Around Surrey by Jan Spencer 5 The Role of the Surrey Archaeological Society by David Calow report by Glenys Crocker 6 SERIAC 2012: South East Regional Industrial Archaeology Conference 7 Research Topics Inspired by SIHG Lectures (part 2) by Alan Crocker 8 Industrial Archaeology News No.161 Summer 2012 report by Gordon Knowles 9 Rainwater and Hose Pipe Bans by Bob Bryson

Reports & Notices Details of meetings are reported in good faith, but information may become out of date.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

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

SIHG Membership Application/Renewal for 2012-13 Please make your cheque payable to ‘Surrey Archaeological Society’ and send it to Castle Arch, Guildford GU1 3SX Membership Form available at www.sihg.org.uk. You may also pay by Standing Order.

Honeywood Museum www.friendsofhoneywood.co.uk has reopened after refurbishment Honeywood Walk Carshalton SM6 3NX, There are exhibits devoted to Word War II, Wandle Industries, Railways & the Making of Sutton. A magnificent Brighton & S Coast Railway clock is on the landing.

The deadline for submitting copy for the next Newsletter is 10 September 2012. 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

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

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

Published by the Surrey Industrial History Group and printed by YesPrint 3 Leafy Oak Workshops Cobbetts Lane Yateley GU17 9LW © SIHG 2012 ISSN 1355-8188 Newsletter 188 July 2012 3

SIHG Newsletter No 188 July 2012 The 37th series of SIHG Industrial Archaeology Lectures will start on Tuesday 2 October 2012, 1930-2130, University of Surrey (Lecture Theatre F) (Oct & Nov only) Enquiries to programme co-ordinator, Bob Bryson, [email protected]. Maps at www.sihg.org.uk Free parking is available in the evening on the main campus car park. Single lectures at £5, payable on the night, are open to all. Go online for Programme & Application Form Pay before 31 July 2012 to get a £5 discount. * The new, almost step-free, venue after November will be the Education Centre, Guildford Cathedral. *

The Thursday Morning Lecture Series at Leatherhead starts on 4 October 2012. Enquiries to Bob Bryson, [email protected]. As seating is strictly limited, enrolment is for the whole course only; casual attendance is not possible. The Autumn 2012 Lecture Series is fully booked, but the Spring 2013 programme will be published shortly on our website, if you wish to apply for a place.

Rural Life Centre Receives Conservation Award by Alan Thomas, Secretary SIHG The 2012 Conservation Award of the Surrey Industrial mains and other evidence that has been found. A water- History Group was presented to the Rural Life Centre at wheel drives a pair of bellows to provide the draught to Tilford on Saturday 7 July 2012 in recognition of the the blast-furnace, and it also operates a type of trip- construction there of a working half-scale replica of a hammer (strictly speaking a helve-hammer), although in Wealden Iron blast-furnace and hammer, as used in the practice this latter equipment would have been placed on Sussex and Surrey Weald before the industry moved a separate site. No water supply or mill-pond exists at north in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The the RLC, so water is recirculated round the wheel by an award was commemorated by the presentation of a electric pump. It is intended to fire the furnace using plaque by Miss Emma Corke (President, Surrey Archae- charcoal, with the hope that it will be possible to smelt ological Society) to Mr Gerald Baker, a volunteer at the iron ore if safety problems can be overcome. This will RLC, who leads the project. See photos on page 1. require an initial stock of four tons of charcoal, and to provide it a charcoal kiln has been operating at the mu- This award is the 30th in the series of annual conservation seum for the last two or three years. It was the availabil- awards made by the Surrey Industrial History Group. ity of coke in large quantities that led to the iron industry The Rural Life Centre at Tilford, near Farnham, was moving north at the end of the 18th and in the early 19th founded in 1973 by Henry Jackson MBE and is now one centuries. of the leading museums in Surrey. It exhibits artefacts, The work has been financed by the Surrey Hills Sustain- machinery, vehicles and buildings covering all aspects of able Development Fund with other contributions from rural life.The site also contains the Old Kiln light railway. the Farnham Institute Charity, the Wealden Iron Re- For further information see www.rural-life.org.uk search Group, the Surrey Industrial History Group and Construction of the furnace and the hammer started RLC volunteers. some three years ago under the leadership of Gerald (From the press release issued by Alan Thomas.) ¤ Baker, to designs based on the few archaeological re-

SIHG Annual Financial Report for 2011/12 (in brieg) from Anne Lea, SIHG Treasurer The year has generally been a successful one for SIHG. The Guildford Lecture series suffered from the increas- Our income from members’ subscriptions increased and ing cost of speakers and especially the escalating cost of our investments grew in value, especially welcome giv- the venue. With this in mind it has been decided to move en the current world financial situation. The group also the lecture series to a new venue at the Cathedral Educa- received the Margery Award for the display, at the Sur- tion Centre starting in December 2012. This has an addi- rey Archaeological Society February Symposium, on tional benefit that there will no longer be steps to climb, Chilworth Gunpowder Mill, for which Glenys and Alan for those of us now finding it more of a challenge to get Crocker should be congratulated. from the university car parks to the lecture theatres. Costs increased as well however. With more members, Additionally this year, SIHG made a special donation to and rising prices for printing and postage, the newsletter the Rural Life Centre at Tilford to assist them with the costs rose. The profit from the Leatherhead lecture se- cost of constructing a half scale replica of a Wealden ries aided the cost of the two outings enjoyed by the Iron Furnace. The full financial report was presented at members of the group, together with a few from the the group AGM on 7 July at the Rural Life Centre where Guildford group, during the mid term breaks. members were able to see the Iron Furnace awaiting the completion of the permanent housing that they helped to realise. ¤ Newsletter 188 July 2012 4 Other Industrial Archaeology Societies Amberley Museum & Heritage Centre: by Amberley Railway Station on the B2139; www.amberleymuseum.co.uk. Berkshire Industrial Archaeology Group: Garden Room,Watlington House, Watlington Street, Reading, www.biag.org.uk. British Postal Museum Store: Unit 7, Imprimo Park, Debden Ind Est, Lenthall Rd, Loughton IG10 3UE. Brooklands: Brooklands Road, Weybridge, Surrey KT13 0QN. Bursledon Brickworks: Coal Park Lane, Swanwick, Southampton SO31 7GW. Chatham Historic Dockyard: Chatham, Kent ME4 4TZ; www.thedockyard.co.uk. Crofton Beam Engines : Crofton Pumping Station, Crofton, Marlborough, Wilts SN8 3DW; www.croftonbeamengines.org. Crossness Pumping Station : The Old Works, Crossness STW, Belvedere Road, Abbey Wood, London SE2 9AQ; www.crossness.org.uk. : Didcot Parkway railway station, Didcot, OX11 7NJ. Docklands History Group: Museum in Docklands, West India Quay, Hertsmere Rd, E14 4AL; www.docklandshistorygroup.org.uk. Dunsfold Park: 9 m S of Guildford, www.wingsandwheels.net. Kempton Great Engines: Feltham Hill Road, Hanworth, Middx TW13 6XH; www.kemptonsteam.org. Kew Bridge Steam Museum: Green Dragon Lane, Brentford, Middlsex TW8 0EN, 0208568 4757, www.kbsm.org. London Canal Museum: 12/13 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RT, www.canalmuseum.org.uk. London Model Engineering Exhibition: Alexandra Palace, London N22 7AY, www.londonmodelengineering.co.uk. London Transport Museum Depot: 2 Museum Way, 118-120 Gunnersbury La, London W3 9BQ, www.ltmuseum.co.uk. Lowfield Heath : Russ Hill, Charlwood, RH6 0EL (TQ 234 407). Markfield Beam Engine and Museum: Markfield Road, South Tottenham, London N15 4RB; www.mbeam.org. Museum of English Rural Life: Redlands Road, Reading, Berkshire RG1 5EX. National Trust: www.nationaltrust.org.uk. Rural Life Centre: Old Kiln Museum, Reeds Road, Tilford, Farnham, Surrey, GU10 2DL. Saddlescombe: (TQ273115) always viewable, 2 m N of A27 Brighton ring road & 1 m S of A281. STEAM - Museum of the Great Western Railway: Kemble Drive, Swindon SN2 2TA; www.steam-museum.org.uk. Twyford Waterworks: Hazeley Road, Twyford, SO21 1QA, www.twyfordwaterworks.co.uk. U3AFetcham: Fetcham Village Hall, [email protected]. Walthamstow Pumphouse Museum: 10 South Access Road ,Walthamstow, London E17 8AX. Wanborough Barn: Off A31 between Guildford and Farnham. Watercress Line (Mid Hants Rail): Station Rd, Alresford SO24 9JG or Station Rd, Alton GU34 2PZ Weald & Downland Open Air Museum, Singleton: Chichester, West Sussex, PO18 0EU. Westcott Local History Group: Westcott Reading Room, Institute Rd, Westcott, RH4 3NP

Members’ Evening 13 December 2011 Animal Rotary Power Around Surrey by Jan Spencer The January Newsletter contains Glenys Crocker’s report on the version of this talk given at the Surrey Archaeological Society Re- search Framework Conference 2011. To complement that account, here is a list of some muscle-powered machines worth a visit.

Beauworth SU570246 Milburys Inn, Salt Lane SO24 0PB Lacock Wiltshire ST915685 George Inn. Spitdog Tread- near Arlesford, Hampshire. Treadwheel 12ft (3.7m) wheel by the fire in the bar. diameter & 250-y-old , above a deep, 300ft (91m),well. Rural Life Centre SU859433 Reeds Road, Tilford , Farn- Carisbrooke Castle SZ486878 English Heritage, Newport, ham. Portable Horse Wheel driving agricultural ma- Isle of Wight, (Ferry Portsmouth to Fishbourne). Don- chinery. S.Owens Horse Gin safety gear, single arm key Treadwheel erected in 1587. 15½ft (4.7m) diame- Saddlescombe TQ273115 On freely accessible National ter. Over a 161ft (49m) well dug in 1150. The only don- Trust land near Devil's Dyke, Brighton. Donkey Wheel key wheel in the country still in operation, a donkey 17th Century and used until around 1910. Present wheel- raises the bucket for visitors on the hour, every hour. house built in 1855, now restored. Compton SU958478 Watts Gallery, near Guildford. Horse Salisbury Cathedral SU997493. Regular tower tours in- Driven Pugmill used by Mary Watts. clude the Treadmill Crane, powered by two men pull- Cranborne SU057137 Ancient Technology Centre Damer- ing on dowels on the outside of the wheel. ham Road, Cranborne, Dorset BH21 5RP. Roman Singleton SU875128 Weald and Downland Museum, near Bucket & Chain from Gresham Street, City of London. Chichester, West Sussex. Treadwheel from Cathering- Raised water from a deep well dug in 108-109 AD. Re- ton, Hampshire, raised water from a deep well. May discovered in 2001 and featured on Time Team. Experi- have been driven by a man or boy. Early 17th century. mental reconstruction operated by visiting school parties Horse Wheel from Knatts Lane, West Kingsdown, and on (infrequent) open days. Kent. A windlass raised water from a well. Acquired in SU725834 National Trust, near Henley. Don- 1980 and rebuilt in 2000. Horse Driven Chaff Cutter key Treadwheel, at 19ft (5.8m) diameter the largest in next to a Horse Driven Pug Mill from a brickyard at the country, in use until 1914. A one-up one-down sys- East Grinstead in a hexagonal brick & stone building tem of buckets over a 200ft (61m) well dug in the 12th from Redford brickworks. Horse Gin from Patching Century. Horse Gin originally at Shabden Park, near powering a 3-throw pump. Chipstead, Surrey. Two horses pumped water from Stanmer TQ336095 Stanmer Preservation Society, Stan- 488ft (149m). Built about 1870; moved in 1975. The mer Rural Museum, near Brighton. Open on Summer gearing and crankshaft operated two pump units Sundays; conservation work on Thursdays. 200ft (61m) down. Donkey Treadwheel by the Church. The well house Guildford SU994494 Town Wharf. Treadwheel Crane; was built 1838, but the treadwheel is much older. Horse perhaps Surrey’s most important industrial relic, proba- Wheel In the car park of Stanmer House. bly late 17th century. Early 18th Century. Two generations of mechanism. ¤ Newsletter 188 July 2012 5

SIHG Lecture 24 January 2012 The Role of the Surrey Archaeological Society by David Calow report by Glenys Crocker

As Secretary of SIHG’s parent body, Surrey Archaeo- Major projects include the dating of timber-framed logical Society, David Calow attends committee meet- buildings by dendrochronology and detecting features ings of various groups within the Society and also plays and archaeological potential by magnetometer. This an active part in some of their projects himself. The So- developed from the work of a member, the late Tony ciety started in 1854 in a period when many county soci- Clark, whose book Seeing Beneath the Soil was pub- eties were being established to enjoy, protect and study lished in 1990. The method has been used by the Socie- the historic environment. Many are still active today. For ty’s Roman Studies Group at sites including Ewell and about 100 years SyAS has been based in two rooms and Chiddingfold and notably at Flexford near Guildford a garret in Guildford Museum, next to Castle Arch. Cur- where no trace could be seen on the ground or from the rently it has about 750 ordinary members plus associate air of an important site of the first to fourth centuries and young members and institutional members, includ- AD. David himself has been directing the work there so ing libraries, many of which are overseas. The Society he made it his main example of an excavation. The site has a Council to which a management committee and has yielded a hoard of Roman objects, evidence of a research committee make recommendations. Work is settlement of timber-framed buildings, large amounts of carried out by a number of committees and groups, of pottery and iron slag, a possible bustum burial (rare in which one is SIHG, founded in 1975-9. Others include Britain and involving a funeral pyre over a pit) and a the Local History Committee and several local and peri- vessel of the high-class Samian pottery imported from od groups, such as the Prehistoric and Roman groups. the Rhineland that is the only known example of its type. Another exciting event has been the rediscovery in SyAS was fortunate to receive a legacy from the Roman a museum in Ireland of a long-lost Bronze Age shield specialist Ivan Margary, which has allowed it to be fi- from the Thames at Molesey, thanks to detective work nancially viable and independent. This is significant in the Society’s archives by the librarian Hannah Jef- because of the way archaeology is generally organised fery. today, around developer-led contracts. This restricts the sites available to many professional archaeologists, The Community Archaeology programme is an im- whereas the Society can take a research-led approach portant part of the Society’s educational role. The recent and provide training and education. The Society’s edu- seasons of excavations at Woking Palace have been suc- cational role is particularly important as the provision of cessful in involving local people. Another project that is adult education has generally contracted because of fi- ideal for introducing archaeology to inexperienced nancial constraints. members of the community and young people is test- pitting. A one-metre square is carefully excavated and The Society’s achievements include its part in creating recorded as a statistical sample so that a valuable re- the modern Treasure Act and in starting the Portable source is built up from individual contributions. Antiquities Scheme for the proper handling of finds made by members of the public. It also received a grant Regular publications are Surrey Archaeological Collec- from the County Council to employ the first County tions, the smaller annual journal Surrey History, and the Archaeologist. The Society has been developing a re- bimonthly Bulletin for news, announcements, short arti- search framework, inaugurated by a conference in 2001. cles and interim reports on projects. The website is at The proceedings were published in the 150th anniver- www.surreyarchaeology.org.uk. ¤ sary year of 2004 as Aspects of Archaeology and History in Surrey, and this has been followed up by a continuing series of annual conferences.

Welsh Highland Railway www.festrail.co.uk is now fully operational and joined to the Ffestiniog Railway. You can now ride from Blaenau Ffestiniog via Porthmadog to Caernarvon. The rebirth of this railway was the subject of a special SIHG talk by Robin Higgs held on 17 March 2009 at Shalford Village Hall.

Editorial Note Many thanks to all who have sent in contributions.

Please send in reports or photos of holiday visits or thoughts on local, national or international Industrial Archaeology for the September 2012 SIHG Newsletter! Newsletter 188 July 2012 6

SERIAC 2012 South East Regional Industrial Archaeology Conference 28 April 2012 Hosted by Berkshire Industrial Archaeology Group, www.biag.org.uk at St Bartholomew’s School Newbury RG14 6JP (This note is an abstract of the booklet provided for those attending the conference. A Web version of the booklet can be read at www.sihg.org.uk/seriac/seriac2012.htm. JS)

Talks

The Times of Plenty The Steam Mechanisation of Agriculture 1840 - 1920 Ellie Thorne, Archivist, Berkshire Record Office, Jane McCutchan, University of Reading, www.berkshirerecordoffice.org.uk, www.reading.ac.uk or www.merl.org.uk, [email protected] [email protected] At the turn of the 19th century William Plenty moved Jane won a Museum of English Rural Life (MERL) from Southampton to Newbury and set up as an iron scholarship in 2009 to study the topic. The current schol- founder manufacturing agricultural tools. Products de- arly consensus is that the widespread development and signed and produced by Plentys range from ploughs to adoption of the steam plough was a failure, but her work marine steam engines and from lifeboats to motor vehi- sheds new light on a neglected sector of an important cles and in later years to pumps, filters and machinery Victorian industry. Members of the Steam Plough Club used in the oil industry. When the company was taken provided invaluable help with their collection of records. over at the beginning of the 21st century the historical records where deposited at Berkshire Record Office and Watermill: its History and Recent have since been catalogued and made available to the Developments public for research. Mildred Cookson, The Mills Archive Trust, Reading, www.millsarchivetrust.org, [email protected] 20th Century Military Heritage in West Berkshire: Mildred took over the milling operation in 1982 and as The Role of the Local Authority was also responsible for the maintenance of the machin- Duncan Coe, ery, including the dressing of the French stones. Archaeological Officer, West Berkshire Council, Mapledurham watermill is the last traditional working www.westberks.gov.uk, [email protected] mill on the . The earliest timbers have The growing appreciation of the historical and archaeo- been dated to 1646. Both the main wheels continued in logical value of military sites and features in the land- full working use until 1920, when the wheel on the scape has led to a significant change in the way that lo- Thames side was eventually replaced by a Gilkes turbine cal authority archaeological teams treat this component for generating electricity. This worked up to 1995 but of our heritage. West Berkshire is blessed with a number was replaced in 2010 by an Archimedean screw to once of important 20th century military sites. The local au- more generate electricity. thority manages these features, ensuring that the most significant elements are protected and that an appropri- 200 Years of Boulton and Watt at Crofton ate record is made of those that are to be lost through Jon Willis, Chairman, Crofton Beam Engines, development activity. www.croftonbeamengines.org, [email protected] Allens of At Crofton on the Kennet and Avon canal a Boulton and Jonathan Brown Watt engine of 1812 and a Harvey engine of 1846 are Museum of English Rural Life, Reading, both fully operational using a 100-year-old Lancashire www.reading.ac.uk/merl, [email protected] steam boiler. Still in its original location and able to do In the 1860s Messrs Eddison and Noddings set up their its original job the Boulton and Watt engine is the oldest Oxfordshire Steam Ploughing Company in Cowley, Ox- working beam engine in the world in situ and on the 18 ford. They started as agricultural contractors using steam or more days a year when the engines are run, British ploughs but before long there was a workshop at Cowley Waterways switch off their electric pumps and Crofton in which ploughs and steam engines could be repaired. comes to life again. The machines are currently being They then moved to fabricating new parts, making ancil- subjected to a thorough inspection programme by skilled lary equipment, rebuilding steam engines, and in 1908, engineers to ensure that they continue to operate, in the building of the company's first new steam ploughing steam, for the foreseeable future. engine. After the First World War the manufacturing (Continued on page 7) side of the business, now called John Allen & Sons (Oxford) Ltd, expanded still further to produce several new products including the famous Allen ‘Scythe’ grass cutter.

Newsletter 188 July 2012 7

(Continued from page 6) Display Notes

Isle of Wight Tin Structures Ridgeway Military & Aviation Research Group (SERIAC supported research) Museum Mark Luis Earp, Project Manager, RAF Welford, Newbury, www.rmarg.org.uk Kitbridge Enterprises Trust, Isle of Wight, RMARG was formed in 1991 to collect, record and pre- www.iwias.org.uk, [email protected] serve WW2 history from the Oxfordshire, Berkshire and The Isle of Wight once had many corrugated and galva- Wiltshire area. There are two floors of relics and dis- nised structures. A comprehensive gazetteer will be pro- plays. duced in both hardcopy and CD-ROM formats. Historic Newbury Walk River Adur Basin Bridges and Crossings The Newbury Society www.newbury-society.org, (SERIAC supported research) Newbury District Field Club www.ndfc.org.uk and Martin Snow, Sussex Industrial Archaeology Society, The Kennet & Avon Canal Trust www.katrust.org. www.sussexias.org.uk, [email protected] Newbury has had three main phases of prosperity - The project sought to identify all present and past cross- weaving in the Tudor period (up to the mid 16th centu- ings in the River Adur catchment area and produce a ry), the coaching trade in the 18th and early 19th centu- complete record of them for comparison with the Coun- ries, and the current ‘hi-tech’ industries of the M4 ty Council highways database. ‘Silicon Valley’ corridor.

Crux Easton Wind Engine Site Visits Newbury RG20 9QF, www.hampshiremills.org Greenham Common The Wind Engine is open to the public on several Sun- Bury’s Bank Road, Thatcham RG19 8BZ, days during the summer and at other times by arrange- www.greenham-common.org.uk ment. ¤ The WWII airfield on the site led to prominence in inter- national affairs at the end of the Cold War in the 1980s.

Research Topics Inspired by SIHG Lectures (part 2) by Alan Crocker The two series of SIHG lectures presented, at Guildford borrowed from a neighbour. He showed me the follow- and Leatherhead, hope to inform us about interesting ing original drawings: topics and sometimes inspire us to undertake research 1 ‘Compound cylinders. Messrs Moore, Waddington, 30 projects ourselves. In my own case I was very interested HP Engine by Haig Foundry, Oct 1848’, 9" x 11". in the talk by Lynne Mayers at Guildford on 1 Novem- 2 ‘Roving Frame Constructed by Hibbert Platt & Sons, ber 2011 which I reported on in SIHG Newsletter 185 Sept 1848’, 11½" x 26". (Jan 1012). This was on the employment of women and 3 ‘Beam and Parallel Motion of Park Place 60 HP En- children in Cornish industries and I asked her if she had gines, May 1850’, 26" x 38". information on Cornish paper mills, particularly Kennall 4 ‘Working Drawing of Two Fifty HP Steam Engines Vale, which is about half-way between Falmouth and constructed by Messrs Hick Rothwell & Co, Bolton, Redruth. This was because Glenys and I had researched June 1846’, 39" x 57". Kennall Vale gunpowder mill and the paper mill was just upstream. In practice Lynne had an enormous Don wanted advice on where they might be deposited amount of information obtained from the census returns and I sent an email about them to the National Monu- from 1841 to 1891, parish registers etc and she sent me ments Record office at Swindon. Regrettably I did not copies. She had of course concentrated on women and get a response. However, Don acquired the drawings children but was also able to include some records of the from his neighbour and presented them to SIHG. I then men involved. I contacted the editor of the Journal of the started to research the drawings and soon realised that British Association of Paper Historians, known as The they were prepared by Lancashire firms. So, I contacted Quarterly, and he said that he would be very interested the Lancashire Record Office at Preston to see if they in publishing an account of this information in a future were interested in accepting them. They were definitely issue. Lynne and I have therefore started to write a joint interested as the drawings are very early compared with paper and are collecting additional data. In particular similar material they hold. The SIHG Committee has Glenys and I are planning to visit Cornwall soon to visit approved of them being deposited in this way and we the sites of the Kennall Vale and other paper mills (there will be taking them to Preston in April on our way back were 16 in Cornwall), to take relevant photographs and from our timeshare at the Elterwater gunpowder site in to visit the local record offices. Cumbria. Another project which has arisen from attending the Part 1 of this account, which appeared in May’s Newslet- Guildford lectures concerns a collection of engineering ter, considered how new information about the engineer drawings which a member of the class, Don Brown, had John Rennie led to investigation of his work in Surrey. ¤ Newsletter 188 July 2012 8

Industrial Archaeology News No.161 Summer 2012 report by Gordon Knowles

There is a fulsome obituary of Chris Urwin, 1938 - ciation. Seventy people attended the first meeting at 2012, who was well known to attendees of AIA and Crediton in March. Most of the talks were on the devel- SERIAC Conferences. Many of us have perused Chris’s opment of industrial archaeology in the county from the book stall and probably bought something which we had 1960s to date. Peter Stanier - who has spoken to us at not realised until then was indispensable to our collec- Guildford on several occasions - gave a lecture “Seven tion. Although he retired from the business full time in Wonders of Devon’s Industrial Past” outlining the 2008, his daughter Brigid continues it now as a purely breadth of the county’s heritage. internet based business. He will be missed for his friend- The first TICCIH (The International Committee for the liness and willingness to assist in many AIA activities. Conservation of the Industrial Heritage) International David de Haan writes on Box Boats - the first container Conference to be held in Asia will take place in Taiwan ships. The first one was designed by James Brindley in in November 2012. The theme will be “Post-colonialism the 1760s and they were typically 70 ft long and 6 ft and the Reinterpretation of Industrial Heritage” and aims beam, although the example under restoration at the to investigate the connections between historical, politi- National Waterways Museum in Ellesmere Port is only cal, racial, environmental, economic, technical, and so- 68 ft long. It was built in around 1860 and was used on cial issues. (That is certainly a wide thee, and perhaps the Bridgewater canal. It is largely built of pitch pine brave and somewhat contentious. GK) with oak for the stern. The coal was in ten removable Brunel University Transport History Collection is once boxes which were craned out and emptied by means of a again accessible on the campus at Uxbridge. It contains double leaf flap in the bottom. The boxes, each contain- the Charles Clinker collection of 2,730 railway books, ing 2 tons of coal, were carried two abreast in the boat. photographs and his notes and correspondence. (It is a Andy Savage of the Railway Heritage Trust describes must for any serious railway historian and I can recom- the origins and aims of this body. It was formed in 1985 mend a browse through it. GK). The collection also in- largely responding to the demolition of the Doric Arch cludes a photographic collection by Charles Mowat at Euston and other lost Victorian railway architecture. It (lately Professor of History at the University of Bangor). now gives grants to support listed buildings and struc- It contains some 2,500 photographs taken between 1924 tures on the rail system in Britain. A recent example is and 1969. There is also a collection by Wookey, a former illustrated, the removal of retail kiosks from the front, Brunel student, of railway stations and signal boxes in and the refurbishment of, Liverpool station. the 1960s and 70s. Also included is the Channel Tunnel Collection of the CT Association, covering the first pro- A well-illustrated article on the Re-use of industrial posals in 1802 through to the opening of the tunnel in buildings in New Zealand is by Henry Gunston who 1994. I can recommend a visit to the Collection in the visited them earlier this year. Two examples are the Old Research Commons within the library. Visitors can ar- Railway Station in Auckland and the Ferry Building in range access by appointment by emailing Spe- the same city. The former was converted into student [email protected] at least one working day accommodation after the railway was privatised in the in advance. Details of the Collection’s published books, 1990s. It was built 1928-30 in the style of American journals and maps are available in the Library catalogue models and was a grand ornate building in the Beaux www.brunel.ac.uk/library_calalogue. Arts style. The Ferry Building was built 1908-12 and housed the offices of the two main ferry operators in the The Kew Bridge Steam Museum Trust has received a harbour; later tenants included trade unions and consular confirmed grant of £1.845 million from the Heritage offices. After the Harbour Bridge was built in the 1950s Lottery Fund to provide improved visitor facilities, finish the building deteriorated. It was refurbished 1986-88, outstanding repairs to the buildings and install new dis- when it was converted to office and retail use. plays, including outdoor water based interactives and modern education, community and volunteer develop- Hornos de Cal, Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, was one ment programmes. The Museum is now trying to raise of the leading industries on the island. Derek Brumhead the £185,000 of matching funding before work can describes the operation of the lime kilns from the seven- begin. teenth into the mid twentieth centuries. Output from the kilns was even exported to Tenerife, Gran Canaria and Among a number of Regional news items there are some Las Palmas. Inland kilns used gorse for fuel, those on from the south of . The Pump House Museum at the coast, imported coal, some from England. An inland Walthamstow is a further stage forward now that a lease kiln at Tefia has been put back into operation using tra- on the site has been finalised. The target date for opening ditional methods; it provides lime for the island farmers. is summer 2013. The Castlethorpe Railway Water Sof- tening Tower between Wolverton and the former station The AIA Secretary, David de Haan, gives a full report of at Castlethorpe is a remarkable survivor. Ownership is the work of the AIA Trustees for 2011. Of interest are unknown and help in this respect is requested before any details of Awards: Journal of the Year went to Sussex possible steps can be taken to preserve it. Recent repair Industrial History Society and the Newsletter award work has been carried out on the 1830s suspension went to the Hampshire IA Society. It is noted that the bridge by William Tierney Clark at Marlow. It is the present Chairman is Mark Sissons, who replaced Tony only suspension bridge across the non-tidal Thames. ¤ Crosby at the 2011 AGM. A new IA Group has been formed in Devon, the IA section of the Devonshire Asso- Newsletter 188 July 2012 9 Rainwater and Hose Pipe Bans by Bob Bryson

The first part of the scheme comprising three dams (Caban Coch with Garreg Ddu, Pen-y-garreg and Craig Goch, see photos on page 20) with a total capacity of about 50,000 million litres (11,000 million gallons) was opened in 1904 by King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra. The scheme cost £6m and employed 50,000 men in total. As well as supplying Birmingham with up to 360 million litres of water per day the scheme typically puts 68 million litres of water per day back into the riv- er. Work started on the second phase in 1946, which as a result of developments in technology is a single concrete struc- ture 56 m high and 355m long holding In mid June I went on a group cycling holiday to Here- 48,300 million litres of water. (10,600 million gallons) ford and on one of the days found myself cycling around When complete the Claerwen dam nearly doubled the the dams and reservoirs of the Elan Valley in mid amount of water which could be extracted. Wales. When we passed a number of the reservoirs which were full to overflowing the vexed issue of on- The dam was however stone faced to harmonise with going hosepipe bans came into the conversation. The the older dams. One hundred Italian stonemasons com- discussion was however short lived as one of our group pleted the task because it is said that all the local stone- was able to inform us that the hosepipe ban in most of masons were employed rebuilding the House of Com- the Surrey area had been lifted that day. This led me to mons and other buildings damaged during the war. In think more about the farsighted action of those who had total only some 470 men worked on this dam which was commissioned the dams to be built more than a century opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1952. ¤ earlier. In the 19th century epidemics caused by water borne diseases and the scale of industrial development in the Birmingham area led the City Council to look for a source of clean water. The Elan and Claerwen valleys 118km (73 miles) to the West had previously been iden- tified as suitable for a number of reasons. The area has an annual rainfall three times that a Guildford! (1830mm vs 647mm) The narrow valleys were consid- ered relatively easy to dam and the bedrock was imper- meable, preventing water seeping away. The area is also at a higher level than Birmingham allowing water to be gravity feed to the City via an aqueduct down which the water travels at less than 2 miles per hour, taking one and a half days to get to Birmingham. (A fall of 52m, giving a gradient of 1:2,300.) An Act of Parliament was passed to enable 180 sq km (70 sq miles) to be compulsory purchased and work commenced in 1893. One hundred people had to be re- located and 18 farms a school and a church were demol- ished. The work force of up to 5,000 at any one time was housed in a temporary village of wooden huts, com- plete with a pub (for men only), a school for children under eleven and a small hospital. A bath house was also provided which men could use up to three times a week but women, who presumable did not get so dirty, only once. A railway line was also constructed to assist in moving materials such as the facing stones from Gla- morgan; local stone only being suitable for use as infill. The track bed of the former railway is now part of the Graig Goch Dam creates the upper-most of the Elan Trail along which we cycled. Elan Valley Reservoirs.