We hope you had a superb Christmas with family and friends and didn’t suffer too many severe hang-overs.
Peter Lamb
Still time for latecomers to join us. I forgot to mention that Coneybeares and Basil Stockbridge are in the party. It is proposed to devise some entertainment for the Saturday evening in the style of the old group engineers’ dinners and we are looking for talented members to participate. Please get contact any committee member if you have any ideas or can play a musical instrument
In January 2007 the European Commission issued a document called “An Energy Policy For Europe”, which was intending to show a way forward for the Council to endorse. The greatest stumbling block has been the idea that the large European monopolies of electricity and gas industries should be dismembered in order to gain greater competition. The opponents of this policy are not surprisingly France (EDF), Germany (Ruhrgas) and Italy (ENI). With such big opposition, it is unlikely that anything will happen until 2010.
We reported in the last issue that EDF wanted a share of the future Nuclear contracts in the UK. They have offered to be a sponsor for the UK Olympics in 2012. This all might happen, since Gordon Brown’s brother is Head of Communications of the UK division of EDF!
A team from Bristol University have come up with a design for a new cheaper silicone chip and have set up a company called Xmos to develop the product. They have secured funding for £8.4M and it is expected that it will make the designer engineers a fortune, since it can be used in a whole range of electronic device
Friends of the Earth have formed an environmental lobby in Bristol encouraging firms to switch-off their lights at night and they are responding on selected days encouraged by the City Council. They organised one day in April and a second one on Halloween night.
No sooner had two nuclear power stations been closed down in October, Hartlepool and Heysham 1, but shortly after Oldbury also ran into difficulty, all due to different problems. It suddenly highlighted the energy gap looming with the coming Winter period. This caused near panic in the power “market-place”, with National Grid issuing its first Notice of Insufficient Margins (NISM). Not surprising is that a meeting was hastily convened of leading energy users and the Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) to discuss the possible shortfall during the coming Winter. There is not much “energy” in that title of this government body, which doesn’t give us much hope!
The latest plans by the Government relating to the generating business, included in the Queen’s Speech in November, will involve bills about Climate Change, Planning Reform and Energy. The Climate Change Bill will be designed to reduce carbon emissions and could affect the viability of existing coal-fired power stations. The Planning Reform and Energy Bills will be designed to assist in getting Nuclear power stations built, which will certainly upset Greenpeace who oppose any future nuclear builds.
In April Roger Hughes did a fine review of a book (a very large tome) given to us by the Reyrolle Heritage Trust charting the 100 years of Reyrolle by Alan Wright. Recently members of the Trust visited the Hebburn manufacturing facility. Members who may have done some training there as part of their apprenticeship may be interested to know that the factory is still producing electrical goods and is now owned by Siemens.
Recently we have been contacted to provide a picture of a typical battery bank, similar to that originally in the Tyntesfield generation building in 1890. This we have done after much searching in our National Library. The picture has been used to superimpose it into a picture of the present old battery housing recreating it as it was.
It’s unbelievable, the compact disc is 25 years old. First pressed by Philips Polygram in Germany 17th Aug.1982.
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At last an operational system is to be installed, but not in the UK yet. The first site will be in Northern Portugal at Povoa de Varzim, since the Portuguese Government has provided some inducement. However the major equipment is being produced by an Edinburgh based company called Pelamis Wave Power, who will provide three of their devices, with Babcock & Brown providing the connection cabling etc. The UK is not totally left behind since planning permission has recently been given for a similar scheme ten miles off the Newquay shore, called the Wave Hub using the same Pelamis equipment with a consortium promoting the project lead by EON, the German energy company. Another site being discussed is off the Orkney Islands, which is being pushed along by the Scottish Executive.
What are these Pelamis units, one may ask? Each unit is described as the length of four train carriages lying semi-submerged and anchored by a system of weights and floats. Its articulated structure is made up of cylindrical sections linked by hinged joints. The motion induced in these is resisted by hydraulic rams, which pump oil to drive generators. In Cornwall the undersea system is funded by the S.W.of England Regional Dev. Agency.
A different system than above is to be built undersea off St. David’s Head in South Wales. A scheme for eight underwater turbines has won the backing of the Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR), see picture. The turbines are pretty big at 15 metres high and 25 metres long and the project is likely to cost £10M.
“Regarding the item on Wind Power in the April Histelec News, judging by the large subsidies enjoyed by the operators of wind farms it is not surprising that the young man mentioned in the last issue has made his fortune,” writes new member Tom Sheriff :-
On a train journey from Norwich recently I got into conversation with a Canadian, who was with a nuclear power plant that also operated a few wind turbines, and he said that due to extremely high maintenance costs, if it were not for the subsidies received they would not be able to retain these machines in service. One of the main reasons for high maintenance costs being the difficulty of access, expensive scaffolding and cranes being required as only a vertical ladder without safety hoops is provided up the tower.
Figures have been quoted by the Country Gardian that a 2.0 MW wind turbine operating at 30% load factor may be capable of attracting an annual subsidy of £235,000. Gas fired and nuclear power stations do not receive any subsidies.
The enthusiasts of wind turbines claim that these machines are completely trouble free, but this is not correct, the blades of a wind turbine can weigh up to 1.5 tonnes, their tips traveling at a speed of 180mph, and when broken off they can plane for over 400 m.
- On 9th December 1993 parts of a wind turbine blade were thrown 400m at Cammaes, in Wales.
- At Tarifa in Spain, blades broke off on two occasions during November 1995, one in high winds but the other in only a very light wind.
- During April 2000 three wind farms were closed for safety reasons due to metal fatigue at the following locations :-
- Cold Northcott, Cornwall
,- Cammaes, Wales.
- Llangwryfan, Wales.
- In 2004 at Honshu in Japan fifty wind turbines were destroyed by lightning strikes in one season.
- Deposits of ice have formed in layers on turbine blades up to a thickness of 150mm, and when thrown off chunks of ice can travel up to 500m.
A typical wind turbine of 2,000 kW capacity has the following dimensions:-
| Rotor Diameter. | 80m | Weights |
| Swept Area. | 5,027m2 | Tower 220 tonnes |
| Rotor Speed | 16.7 rpm | Nacelle 61 tonnes |
| Tower Height | 100m | Rotor 34 tonnes |
Total Height
(with blade vertical) | 140m | Total 315 tonnes |
Depending on soil conditions such a turbine would require between 750 and 1700 tonnes on concrete, and considerable excavation works.
The Case Against Wind Turbines by Dr J R Hetherington is given here
www.countryguardian.net/Case%202006.htm
Kind regards
Tom Sheriff”
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Exeter Meeting Review
A good attendance of 29 members and friends descended upon the Cat & Fiddle pub around 12.00noon in November for a social gathering and a talk afterwards on “Industrial Archaeology of Dartmoor” by Paul Randell. It was a very interesting and well illustrated talk largely giving us the many systems of mineral extraction from the Moors, which was mainly tin, but also copper, arsenic, granite and china clay, all of which included the use of water in some way. He concluded with some moorland pictures of the Mary Tavy Hydro-electric scheme. It was an excellent coverage.
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The Severn Barrage Review
A talk by Mr David Kerr, formerly Chief Design Engineer of Sir Robert McAlpine.given to Joint RPEC and SWEHS meeting held on 10th Oct. 2007 at Bristol.
Mr Kerr started by outlining the background. Much would be the result of work by the Severn Tidal Power Group, the Sir Robert McAlpine, Balfour Beatty, Taylor Woodrow and Alstom consortium. The first major study by Bondi produced EP (Energy Paper) 46 in 1981. A tripartite study, EP57 – 1989, costing £4 x106, defined the present scheme. A Definition Study was produced in 2002 for the DTI. If work started soon, the scheme could be producing power by 2017 – the La Rance Scheme at St Malo in northern France is already forty years old.
Addressing the technicalities he outlined the various options, showing that “ebb generation” was preferable to “flood” or “two-way”. Positioning proposals ranged from The Shoots, just north of the first Severn crossing at Aust, clear of significant shipping interests, right down to a north-south line slightly west of Minehead. 
The preferred scheme has the barrage running approximately NW from just south of Brean Down to Lavernock Point south of Cardiff, via Steep Holm. The anticipated annual output would be 17 TWh, representing approximately 5% of the UK total consumption, from an installed capacity of 8.64 GW. The barrage would make no contribution to the “renewables” obligation of the UK of 15% by 2015, but could provide the whole 17 TWh of the next tranche to 20% by 2020, provided it is sanctioned soon. Electricity costs might be 6-7 pence per unit.
In 1989 the projected capital cost was £8 billion, rising to £14-15 billion by 2005, but re-estimating would be essential because of various changes since then. The environmental lobby feels neglected, but in 1989 50% of the cost of the estimates was spent on seventy environmental studies. While there would be environmental negatives, there would be a significant number of positive outcomes. There may be an environmental balance achieved, but all issues would be studied. He emphasized that openness is a prerequisite for success in a project of this magnitude.
The barrage would be able to carry a road and rail link if factored in early, but there are doubts about this. The generator cells would necessarily lie in the deepest parts of the channel and would be formed from prefabricated caissons 80m square. These would house the total of 214 generators driven by 9m diameter bulb turbines, a tried and tested 40MW design. After a 4 year re-appraisal, construction would take six years and 200,000 man-years, providing 35,000 jobs at the peak and leading to between 10,000 and 40,000 permanent new jobs in the region around the estuary. [There is some background information, replicating some of Mr Kerr’s illustrations, at www.reuk.co.uk/UK-Hydro-Power-Stations.htm .]
Mr M Hield opened the questions, giving us a considerable résumé of his studies of the scheme. He covered issues of sediment, debris, flooding, sourcing materials and wind-power. The remaining questions were very wide ranging, mainly on environmental issues, from sourcing and transporting the fill material to the effects of the works on the local infrastructures, but also to considering alternative generation methods and, last but not least, the question of finance and ownership.
The definitive answers to many would depend on studies yet to be determined, but Mr Kerr was very clear that everything that could be affected would be considered. He was clear that the majority of the materials required would come by sea, the volumes rendering vehicular or rail transport uneconomic.
As John Conybeare, Chairman of RPEC, chaired the meeting, David Hutton, Chairman of SWEHS, proposed the vote of thanks to which the audience of 84 responded enthusiastically.
Andrew Smith
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Energy Policy
“More politics than engineering” says Dr Steve Parlour in the IET Power Engineering Journal recently. He went on to explain his views even further. I give a synopsis of his comments.
The proposal to implement a policy to outlaw filament lamps in favour of low energy light bulbs in the manner of compact fluorescents is not the panacea that we are led to believe. He said it brings with it a poor power factor and the electronic chips involved in the new bulbs have not the longevity once assumed. The public do not realise that when they throw away a compact fluorescent that they are throwing away a whole light fitting! The majority of these new lamps are made abroad which ignores the carbon footprint involved in their manufacture and when they have to be disposed of they are a greater problem than the filament lamp.
He says that the same applies to refrigerators, where we are being encouraged to change these for more efficient models, which naturally involved the same problem.
Again we are being told not to drive as much and yet the Government allows the closure of local Post Offices. We are advised to turn off our standby TV lights and computers, whilst we watch the stampede into energy hungry digital TV. There is a great inconsistency with these conflicting policies and he advises that we need greater study to find more sensible solutions.
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Members News
Charles Isherwood – He and his wife Jean have turned 90 and we have accorded him Life Membership for his loyalty to us over many years.
David Lock has moved into a Care Home, Laurel Court, in Nailsea reasonably near his home in Backwell.
David Legg, our accounts auditor, has had a second eye operation to remove a cataract and is very shape so much so that he no longer wears glasses. Our accounts should be even more clear!!
Harry Cardy has had an operation on his back and is back home making good progress in November.
Mike Williams – Many people ask where is Mike and Jenny these days. It transpires that they have their work cut-out to look after a very old person in the guise of Jenny’s Mum. It would be nice to see them occasionally.
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Watson On Transport
I read with interest in the August 2007 edition, the article by John Perkin on tramways in Germany and Peter Lamb’s comments on the proposed trolley bus network for Leeds writes Derek Watson, member from Bury.
Having used both systems extensively as a child, a worker and in retirement, both systems have their advantages and disadvantages. In my view, the most successful tramway system is at Blackpool in Lancashire. It has its own dedicated rail network and doesn’t interfere with other forms of traffic. I spent many happy holidays during World War II using the “electric system” as fuel was in short supply.
The great advantage of tram and trolley bus systems was that they carried a large number of passengers compared with buses. As a Meter & Protection Engineer working in Glasgow during the 1960’s, SSEB staff used trams and trolley buses on a regular basis. This was due to the fact that no one was allowed to drive on business, chauffeurs being used to drive SSEB vehicles in Glasgow. Transporting a voltage recorder full of ink on these systems was a sight to be seen.
Like many other cities, Glasgow dispensed with its tram and trolley bus systems simply because no one could design a very thin motorcar to travel between the electric vehicles. Passing on the inside was prohibited due to passengers entering or leaving the vehicles.
Today I use the Metro-Link between Bury (Lancs) and Altricham (Cheshire). After an extensive overhaul of the original rail line between Bury and Manchester (Victoria), the system is in full operation again. Full car parks at each station shows the great benefit of them. After Manchester (Victoria) the system leaves the total rural area to an urban one sharing the roads with other vehicles until the rural area is reached again.
Summarising - providing there are no breakdowns everything is fine. My longest wait was 55 minutes before we were moving again. The Glasgow engineers nicknamed the trolley buses “Godess of Death” due to its silent running and many people were injured or killed by these silent giants. The trolley bus reserve battery was just about sufficient to get it to the side of the road until it was towed away. No doubt battery technology has improved during the last 40 years, but I hope the Leeds personnel, when ordering the trolley buses, ensure that they have a large battery and most importantly, a very loud horn!!
Derek Watson
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Horstmann Snippets
People may not know that besides controls and meters, Horstmann’s of Bath made some interesting things, mainly to satisfy the whims of various family directors. In the thirties they made a novel mouse trap sold through Woolworth's, but have never found one. Freddie Horstmann (Chairman in the 1970’s) was a keen bee keeper and designed a cage (9”x1”x1/4”) for transporting queen bees through the post. These were a real hit with the apiarist world and many thousands were made during the thirties.
My cousin Bevan Horstmann (Chairman in the 80’s) was an uninhibited inventor. Whilst farming he had trouble tattooing his cattle, which would often run off before he could release the instrument from the ear, so he designed a spring loaded ear marker which automatically tattooed and released the needles from the ear in one action. It became the brand leader, and was made until ear tags replaced the tattoo. We also made them for greyhounds. Another was a bloodless emasculator – a remedy I felt should be used on various members of my sales force.
Bevan never stopped trying to get us to make things he had ideas about, such as a cultivator (later adopted by Ferguson), a gripper stick for the disabled, medical equipment (made by the Horstmann Gauge company), and many others. Another cousin, Colin, designed a small garden tool, called the Dandy Dibber which we also sold in the 30’s. I have one, which is the best tool I know for removing dandelion roots
Another product range was the Newbridge Mantle Clock, also made in the 20’s/30’s – reasonable quality at an affordable price. Many were sold through the retail business in Union Street, Bath.
Having started in 1904, making controllers for gas lights, we invented and made many products for gas control – the solar dial – a domestic long distance gas light switch (this comprised a wall switch containing a battery, a Bowden cable, and an igniter on the lamp) - a tariff switch for gas – cooker lighters – cooker timers – and many others. One interesting product was the ‘Lunar Time Switch’, cycling according to the moon. This was used for controlling sewage outlets ensuring that effluent went out with the tide. Rumour has it that Aberdeen used them on street lights to keep the lights off at full moon.
Roger Horstmann
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Sarah Guppy
John Coneybeare and I saw a most interesting theatrical production recently, “An Audience with Sarah Guppy”, which is very entertaining to people involved in Industrial Archaeology. It is a one woman show written by a local writer with the most up-to-date accompanying technical aid, an interactive Hitachi screen, showing pictures of her life with the Brunels.
Sarah married a Sam Guppy who owned a copper manufacturing business in Bristol. They became extremely rich enabling them to buy Arnos Court, Brislington for their home. Their business expanded and they opened a head office in London and Sarah went to London to manage it living next door to the Brunels at Cheyne Walk. They became close friends of the Brunels and her son Thomas worked for Isambard. The hour long sketch implies that she had engineering skills of her own aiding and abetting Isambard.
Peter Lamb
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South Crofty Mine – Stop Press
A new company has been formed, Western United Mines Ltd., to reopen South Crofty Mine. In excess of £3.5M is to be spent between now and June 2008 with a staff of 35 full-time employees. The reason for the renewed interest is the big rise in the world price of tin.
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Arc Lamps
When ever I am in European cities I am always surprised to see the old arc lamp standards still in place. I was no more surprised when visiting Barcelona earlier on in the year to see the most elaborate arc lighting standards I have ever seen anywhere along one of their main thoroughfares. The central supporting structure consisted of four vertical bars intricately interlaced with scrolled ironwork rising from a base consisting of a white marble seat. On the top of the main stem was a burgee rising out of a crown. The supporting arm of the arc lamp was finished in a tulip shaped finial. Obviously there would not be an arc lamp in the tubular housing now having been replaced by a filament lamp at some time, but each standard was in impeccable condition.
Peter Lamb
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Farm Electrics?
One bright May morning last year, my elder son and I set off to walk from Broadwindsor in west Dorset, over the hills and down through the Marshwood Vale to the sea. Our intent was lunch at the Royal Oak in Charmouth, a coastal village between Bridport and Lyme Regis.
Along the way we met an old farmer, Farmer Dare, who told us how he remembered when mains electricity first came to the Marshwood Vale. “That was in the fifties,” he said. “We would stand in the field under the power lines holding a fluorescent tube, and it would light up,” he claimed. “What did you do before then?”
“Come and have a look at this.”
He took us to an outbuilding and, behold, there was this machine. I think he called it a ‘Startomatic’. “And it still works.” They must have been very common, at least on farms. At nationalisation in 1948, according to a speech by Frank Forrest CBE, the South Western Electricity Board estimated that within their area there were 35,000 farms and small holdings. Yet of these only 20% had mains electricity and only 8% were using it for any purpose other than lighting.
Later I found out that Farmer Dare bought the Startomatic in 1958, five years before the mains reached Great Bluntsea Farm in 1963. It was a diesel-powered generator producing standard AC240v current, with an output of 1.75kW. It started up as soon as you switched a light on. The only electrical appliances in the house apart from lights were the TV, radio and an electric iron, but to use the latter they also had to have a light turned on to produce a constant demand for current. Otherwise the thermostat in the iron would be constantly starting and stopping the diesel generator. Farmer Dare had a dairy herd of 20 cows and continued to milk them by hand twice a day until he bought a second-hand electric milking machine in 1969. The arrival of the Startomatic's electricity at Great Bluntsea roughly coincided with the end of Farmer Dare's use of a heavy horse for hauling and ploughing!
Martin Roundell Greene
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Ferrier Holiday
With my interest in 'old' model railways members may know already that I am also a member of the Hornby Railway Collectors Association, and that I have been to Australia 5 times prior to 2007, mainly for a family wedding as the lure. In 1999 on my second visit, as a lone traveller, I visited Adelaide for the first time, liked the city very much and made contact with fellow members of the HRCA there. I spent a superb evening attending their weekly get-together, which is held in rotation at the home of each. Each of those I have visited have a massive permanent layout in a dedicated 'railway shed', some of these are 'brick built' as part of the house. Such evenings always conclude most sociably with nibbles and tea courtesy of the domestic controllers. On each visit to Australia since I have designed a different itinerary so that to date I have done Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney, Brisbane, Cairns, Alice Springs and Ayers Rock, all by road. I have also managed to repeat my initial visit to Adelaide and have made extremely good friends with the HRCA membership there, who have arranged a meeting on each occasion to suit my tight schedule. Consequently we have 'played trains' each time. Naturally I have an interest in 'real railways' also and on the earlier trips targeted the railway systems past and present for much of each holiday.
John Ferrier
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Night In 1940
Following the cancellation of the John Dike’s “Night in 1940” for SWEHS, Backwell Drama Club decided to invite John to put it on in Backwell on 8th March. Those interested to coming along should contact Peter Lamb. A table of 10 will be reserved, but all will be expected to dress up in clothes provided by John.
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New Acquistions
The Museum has seen a glut of new appliances and equipment arrivals, which has created problems of where to display them. After a suggestion by committee member, David Hole, some more shelving is to be constructed. We have had a 1915 slide-in-and-out toaster, an Adler slide projector, two 1930 coal-effect fires, an earth testing device, three HV detector rods and a package of HV pole labels and manufacturer’s labels. The toaster is particularly unusual and a very early type of appliance by Buchanan & Cartwright.
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Durley Park Archives
At long last we have had a chance to explore the box of archive material from the old Grid Control Centre at Durley Park. The box was collected together by Tony Dilworth from material from the old Costing, later Statistics Section - a lot was used for lecture material.
It proved to be a veritable Pandora's Box with material dating back to the original control room in Oakfield Road. There are several glass 3 1/4" slides of the construction of the SWE & S. Wales Area office in the 1930's and some of the Control Room interior from that time. One is a very good shot of LB Law as the then Senior Control Engineer. A gem from the early days is the "milk book" recording the contributions to the Control Room tea fund. This starts from about 1941 and runs up the mid 50's when the move to Durley Park took place. There are quite a few names to savour - John Bird as an Assistant in the late 1940's and myself as a new boy in 1954! There is also a fine set of glass slides of power stations in the early part of the last century.
Regrettably there is no record of the establishment of Durley Park, either when the Emergency Control Room was established in the basement of the old house, or when the new Control Room as built in the mid 1950's. There is however an excellent set of photographs of the construction of the new Area and Severn Control Rooms in the 1960s (so called three tier) and the subsequent modifications following the transfer of 132kV system control to the Area Boards (two tier).
We now have a set of slides of the installation of the 400kV cables under the River Severn and a tantalising set of colour slides of the 132/33kV substations inherited from the CEB. Unfortunately they are neither identified nor dated! Probably Bridgwater Main and Dorchester in the 1950s. John Gale and I are in the process of indexing the material we have inherited - come and have a look yourselves.
Roger Hughes
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Bath SWEB Offices
A picture of the demolition of the old Bath Offices, reported in the last issue, has come to us via Australia,
our Foreign correspondent, Geoff Yates.
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Welcome New Members
Gwyn Evans, Ian Hopley, Thomas Sheriff and Andrew Smith
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Christmas Jokes
Q : What kind of candle burns longer?
A : No Candles burn longer. They all burn shorter!
Q : What do you get when you inadvertently eat Christmas decorations?
A : Tinsel-itis!
Q : What do you give a railway station-master for Christmas?
A : Platform shoes!
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