1.

No. 124 February 2014

PROGRAMME

Wednesday 12th

March 2014 at 7.30pm.

Barbara Butler. Sailing Barges – The Dunkirk Story.

In just nine days in 1940 the allied Armies were rescued from the beaches of Dunkirk

by an armada of ‘little ships’ which included several Thames Barges. Speaker

Barbara Butler has written their story, and copies of the book will be available this

evening.

Wednesday 9th

April 2014 at 7.30pm.

John Jones. The Rhur.

John participated in the recent Industrial Archaeology tour of the German industrial

heartland, and tonight will illustrate some of the surviving sites in the region.

Wednesday 14th

May 2014 at 7.30pm.

Visit to the Suffolk Aviation Heritage Group’s Display Centre, housed in the Former

Wireless Telegraphy Station on Foxhall Road, Kesgrave. (OS Map reference

TL223443). Take the Foxhall Road out of Ipswich, and the Display Centre will be

found on the left just beyond the left turn to Kesgrave, (Bell Lane), and before the

local authority recycling centre. .

Saturday 7th

June 2014.

The East of England Regional Industrial Archaeology Conference.

This year’s conference will take place on Suffolk soil, in Sudbury, so there is really no

excuse not to attend. Further information and a booking form will appear in the next

Newsletter.

Wednesday 9th

July 2014 at 7.30pm

Visit to the collection of machinery of Richard Keeble at Brantham Hall, The Chase,

Brantham, CO11 1PT. See the article elsewhere in this Newsletter. A recent

purchase is of an Ipswich-made Vickers-Petter diesel engine, one of the few survivors

from this local manufacturer.

Venue: All indoor meetings are held at the Ipswich Transport Museum, Cobham

Road, Ipswich. Parking and access is via the rear of the museum.

2.

RECENT PLANNING APPLICATIONS

Babergh District Council

B/13/00500 Full and partial demolition of buildings associated with

redevelopment of former HMS Ganges site, Shotley Gate.

B/13/00695 Erection of air handling unit at Stephen Walters and Sons Ltd.,

64 – 68 Cornard Road, Great Cornard.

B/13/01238 Erection of 27 residential dwellings following demolition of

former workshop building at 2 – 4 Brook Street, Glemsford.

B/13/01338 Installation of replacement Upvc traditional tilt sash windows

at 17 Weaver’s Terrace, Weaver’s Lane, Sudbury.

Ipswich Borough Council

IP/13/01038/FUL Change of use from Ice Cream Factory to restaurant and take

away at former Peter’s Ice Cream site, 54 Grimwade Street.

IP/14/00056/FUL Change of use from car sales to car wash and valeting at

Derby Road Station.

IP/14/00070/FUL Change of use of storage areas to retail use at Ipswich

Station.

Mid Suffolk District Council

3225/13 Demolition of existing rear extension at The Old Forge,

Worlingworth Road, Horham.

Suffolk Coastal District Council/Waveney District Council (amalgamated website)

DC/13/3482/OUT Demolition of existing industrial units at Brooke Peninsula

and Jeld-Wen site, Waveney Drive, Lowestoft, & redevelop-

ment for mixed use.

THE NEWSLETTER

The Newsletter is produced four times a year by Suffolk Industrial Archaeology

Society. Contributions from members are welcomed. Thanks this time must be given

to Surrey Industrial History Group for permission to reproduce the Thames Ditton

crane article.

Chairman: S.Worsley, 24 Abbotsbury Close, Ipswich, IP2 9SD (01473 405116).

Secretary: Position currently vacant.

Treasurer: Position currently vacant.

Whilst the recent AGM failed to fill the above positions, Mark Sergeant offered his

services as a committee member, so we do have an additional body to assist us.

Thanks Mark and welcome aboard!

Newsletter distributor: John Jones. Those wishing to receive the Newsletter

electronically are urged to contact John at joneshines@btinternet.com. To cut costs,

all who are able to receive their Newsletters in this way are encouraged to make

arrangements to do so.

Website: We do not presently have our own website, but we do have a presence on the

River Gipping Trust’s site (www.rivergippingtrust.org.uk).

3.

THE RESTORATION OF THE THAMES DITTON GANTRY CRANE

by Alan Thomas

The Statue Foundry at Thames Ditton, where many bronze statues and other

monuments were cast from 1874 to 1939, had in its sand foundry a gantry crane,

constructed of wood and iron, wholly manually operated and with a capacity of 14

tons. In 1975 the foundry was derelict and about to be demolished, and the Surrey

Archaeological Society was asked if it would rescue the crane. After some difficulty

in finding the site, it was taken to the Rural Life Centre at Tilford where it was stored,

dismantled, in the open until 1988, when it was decided by Surrey Industrial History

Group to restore it and put it on display. Working parties were assembled, under the

leadership of Tony Stevens, and in 1990 it was mounted on low walls and rails for the

‘down-shop’ motion. Although all its functions were immediately operable,

restoration was finally completed in 1991.

The crane became an exhibit at the Rural Life Centre, and its motions were

demonstrated to visitors. But as an industrial artefact it was not compatible with the

general nature of the other exhibits, and furthermore by the early 2000s, in spite of

heroic efforts by Tony Stevens to preserve the wooden beams, it was apparent that

these were rotting badly. Not only were they some 135 years old, they had been out

in the open for over 25 years. It was necessary, therefore, to find a new site and a new

owner who would undertake restoration. This would require replacement of the

beams, although the metal parts, being made of wrought and cast iron, were in good

condition.

Various industrial history museums were approached without success, but after some

years Richard Keeble, of Brantham Hall in Suffolk, close to Manningtree in Essex,

came forward and offered to take the crane to the family farm, where he was active in

restoring a number of items of heavy machinery. At the end of 2008 the crane was

dismantled into its component parts and taken to Brantham. Since then Mr. Keeble,

working with two assistants in time that can be spared from farming, has erected two

rails for the ‘down-shop’ motion, using new 13 inch square timbers cut from a tree on

the farm and mounted on cast iron columns salvaged from Ipswich docks and set in

substantial foundations. These will support the gantry so that its walkways are about

14 feet above the ground. This will enable the land beneath to be used for another

purpose, probably for a long saw-bench extending from the adjacent barn.

Timbers about 30 feet long for the gantry beams have been cut from two trees

obtained from the Forestry Commission near Sutton Hoo. These were trimmed on

site to 13 inches square, and the four ends are being cut to take the cast-iron end caps

which connect the beams to the trolleys running along the down-shop rails. All the

timber is being soaked with preservative contained in a long trough, a process which

takes some months to complete. No work has yet started on the mechanical parts or

the crab.

4.

Mr. Keeble’s collection of machinery awaiting or in process of restoration and

installation includes, among other items, an eighteen-foot lathe, a lathe (ex-GWR) for

turning engine driving wheels, a small drag-line excavator, a wooden jib-crane and

several tractors. Some of these are contained in a listed, early 19th

-century, barn.

There is also a splendid diesel engine used for driving farm machinery.

Because of the limited effort available, it is likely that the completion of the

restoration of the crane will take some years, to say nothing of the other machinery in

the collection also in process of or awaiting attention. Volunteers would be welcome,

as the site is too far from Surrey for SIHG members to assist in the work.

This article was originally published in the Newsletter of the Surrey Industrial History

Group, and we are grateful to SIHG and to author Alan Thomas for permission to

reprint it here. Members who have had their appetite whetted by the article and are

keen to view the collection of machinery collected by Richard Keeble should note the

programme on the first page of this Newsletter - a visit has been arranged for the

evening of Wednesday 9 July.

SUFFOLK LOCAL HISTORY COUNCIL SOCIETIES DAY

This now-annual event takes place this year on Saturday 15th

March, at the

Blackbourne Hall, Elmswell, just to the north of the railway station. SIAS members

are able to attend due to our status as members of the SLHC. The morning session

commences at 9.55am and features talks by Gary Gascoyne on managing Landguard

Fort, Jo Rothery on the Fulcher School of Tennis at Framlingham in the 1970s, Paul

Scriven on a recent addition to Southwold Museum’s collection, Beryl Sims and

Kelvin Dakin on Bramford’s Great War memorial, and Spencer Greystrong of the

River Stour Trust. The lunch break (1.00pm to 2.15pm) gives time to inspect the

stalls of various local history societies, and is followed by the afternoon session.

Speakers are Miriam Stead on setting up a community archive network, Sarah Doig

on a heritage lottery funded local history project, and Dr. Margaret Thomas with an

update on the future of the Suffolk Record Office. Previous events have been very

enjoyable, with the opportunity to see what others are up to, and learn of recent

research, and this one shows signs of continuing that trend.

WELCOME

New members recently enrolled in the Society are Tim and Louise Hunt of Ipswich.

We trust they enjoy their time with the Society and we look forward to seeing them at

future events.

5.

ABSTRACTS

Journals of other Societies frequently arrive on your Chairman’s doormat; in order to

give members some idea of what these contain, we reproduce the contents below. If

anything sounds to be of interest, please contact the Chairman and he will arrange for

photocopies of the relevant article to be made.

The Local Historian, Vol. 43 No. 4 October 2013.

The ‘Local State’ in Regency Britain, by Malcolm Chase.

The ‘Irish Gent’ and his Strumpet; the Story of Hercules Burleigh, by Ian Hancock.

Dr, George Stuart Hawthorne of Liverpool and his ‘Infallible’ Treatment of Asiatic

Cholera 1848-1849, by Chris Jones.

The Establishment and Organisation of Civil defence Operations in Berkshire 1936 –

1945, by Natalie Burton.

Prisoners of War in Britain in the 1940s. by Phoebe Merrick.

The Local Historian, Vol. 44 No. 1 January 2014.

The Architectural Provenance of Speculative Housing: Some Further Evidence, by

Kennneth C.Jackson.

Local History in Germany: an Overview, by Klaus-Joachim Lorenzen-Schmidt.

Ripples from the French Revolution in Tewkesbury, by Derek Benson.

“Open” and “Closed” Villages: A New Methodology for Assessing Landownership

Concentration, by Polly Bird.

Perceptions of Liverpool 1530 – 2010: the Historical Evidence of Contemporary

Observers, by Alan G. Crosby.

Suffolk Mills Group Newsletter, No. 112 November 2013.

The Windmills of Witnesham, by Mark Barnard. ]

The Erection and Dismantling of Post Windmills (3), by Stanley Freese.

Industrial Archaeology News, 167 Winter 2013.

The AIA 2013 Dundee Conference, by a brains trust of 7 authors, including our own

John Jones.

Deptford Dockyard 500, by Robert Carr.

The Hampton & Kempton Waterworks Railway – Hanworth Loop, by Robert Carr.

Box Boat 337 continued, by Mike and Cath Turpin.

King Edward Mine, by Graham Thorpe. (Restoration of a Cornish tin & copper mine).

Fifty Years Since Beeching, by Robert Carr.

Industrial Archaeology Review, Vol. 35, No. 2 November 2013.

The 20th

-Century Revolution in textile Machines and Processes. Part 1: Spinning and

Weaving, by John W.S.Hearle.

Workers’ Housing at Portlaw, County Waterford, Ireland, by Maria Elena Turk.

Housing Industrial Workers During the 19th

century: Back-to-Back Housing in textile

Lancashire, by Geoff Timmins.

Railways and Mining: the Role of the Train in the Exploitation of the Cerro Muriano

Mine (Cordoba, Spain), by Juan Manuel Cano Sanchez.

6.

CENTENARIES 2014

1614

Hobson’s Conduit in Cambridge, built in 1610 to bring water into the town, was

extended to Market Hill to provide a public supply.

Plans were drawn up at Government level to encourage Suffolk’s cloth finishing

trade, but failed to come to fruition. The county’s woollen industry continued its

decline.

1714

The British Government offered £20,000 to the inventor of an instrument which could

keep time at sea to enable a vessel’s longitude to be determined. Not until 1762 did

Harrison produce his marine chronometer.

1814

Birth of Robert Boby (died 1886), Bury St. Edmunds-based manufacturer of malting

equipment.

Birth of Francois Coignet (died 1888). Proposed the reinforcing of concrete with

irons rods, perfected by his son, Edmond (1850 – 1915).

Birth of Charles Richardson (died 1896), originator and engineer of the Severn

Tunnel, opened 1886.

Birth of John Ramsbottom (died 1897), railway engineer. Inventor of the tamper-

proof safety valve and the water trough method of collecting water on the move.

Birth of Frederick Barnes (died 1898), Ipswich-based architect associated principally

with railway stations, including those at Wickham Market and Stowmarket.

Birth of John Livock, architect known principally for his railway work, including the

station at Wansford near Peterborough, on the Nene Valley Railway.

Birth of Sir Richard Moon (died 1899), chairman of the London & North Western

Railway, 1861 – 1891, at the time Britain’s largest business.

Birth of Sir John Bennett Lawes (died 1900). Patented his process for producing

phosphatic fertilizers in 1841. Saxmundham chemist Edward Packard was soon using

his process, moving later to Snape, Ipswich, then Bramford.

7.

Death of Joseph Bramah (born 1748), machine tool and hydraulic power pioneer.

Carried out water works at New Mills in Norwich in 1796.

Death of William Jessop (born 1745), canal engineer and founder of the Butterley

Company.

The parish of St. Margaret’s, Westminster, was lit by gas.

The German Koenig’s steam cylinder printing press was used by proprietor John

Walter II to print The Times.

The Staute of Artificers of 1563 was repealed. This had set out regulations for

apprenticeships, but had broken down as fewer skilled men were needed in the new

age where semi-skilled men were able to man the machines of the industrial

revolution.

The Finch family commenced work at the Sticklepath foundry near Okehampton.

Worked until 1960, and now restored and administered by the Finch Foundry Trust.

Steam engines designed by Richard Trevithick were exported to Pasco, Peru, to drain

and work the silver mines. Trevithick followed in 1816, not returning until 1827.

George Stephenson built his first railway locomotive, the Blucher. The first of a

series of progressive developments which resulted in the Rocket of 1829, from which

virtually all subsequent railway engines evolved.

Matthew Murray of Leeds took out a patent for a cloth baling machine worked by

hydraulic power.

George Courtauld of Braintree, silk throwster, was granted a patent for an improved

spindle for the manufacture of silk, thread, and various other articles.

Ransome & Son of Ipswich cast an iron bridge which was erected at Witham. Known

as Saul’s bridge, it remains in use, on the road between Witham and Maldon.

Buxhall post mill burnt down. In this same year, Rushmere St. Andrew smock mill

was erected.

1914

Birth of Wendell Bollman (died 1884), designer of the Bollman truss of 1852. His

use of iron instead of wood allowed US railroads to replace timber bridges with iron

allowing for heavier trains.

Death of Joseph Wilson Swan (born 1828), inventor of the electric filament lamp.

Death of William Robert Galbraith (born 1829), Scottish railway engineer, principally

known for his works in Scotland, the south-west of England, and the London

underground system.

8.

Death of George Westinghouse (born 1846), railway signalling and air-braking

engineer.

In May, the House of Lords rejected the Women’s Enfranchisement Bill, whilst the

House of Commons passed the Irish Home Rule Bill.

The obvious one – 1914 saw the start of the First World War, which is receiving much

media coverage. A substantial amount of technological development occurred in a

relatively short period.

After 33 years of sporadic construction, the Panama Canal, engineered by George

Washington Goethals, opened on August 15, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific

Oceans across the isthmus of Panama. It was the largest engineering project

completed by that date, at a cost of over $336 million.

The Grand Concourse and Boulevard in New York City opened. The first major

street in which local and express traffic was separated, and with limited access to the

express lanes. Based on a concept by Frederick Olmstead.

Ford introduced full assembly-line production, having the year before applied the

principle to magneto assembly. The time taken to build a Model T car chassis fell

from 12.5 hours to 1.5 hours.

Sydney Guy, previously works manager at Sunbeam, set up Guy Motors Ltd. in

Wolverhampton.

Bottomley discovered the fertilization properties of peat.

The first British portable electric drill was marketed.

Ipswich furniture store Bretts first opened their doors to the public, at 28 Fore Street,

with a warehouse on Tackett Street. They are still trading today from a site on

Bramford Road.

Lockwood & Co. was registered on 17 March to continue brewing at the Castle

Brewery, Castle Hill, Woodbridge. Had become cider merchants by 1926.

Expansion for Ipswich malsters R & W Paul with the purchase of the Barnetby

maltings in Lincolnshire from Truswell’s Brewery Company.

The William Paul Housing Trust built its first tenements in Ipswich for the poor and

aged.

Wattisfield post mill was demolished, as was that located between Chalk Road and

Victoria Street in Bury St. Edmunds.

Beccles’ Cinema in Saltergate opened; closed 1960. Lowestoft’s Cosy Corner, later

the Regent, opened the same year.